How to Write and Obtain the Best Book Reviews - Interview with Brenda Daniels

Welcome to the Write for a Reason podcast. My name is Janet Wilson; I'm a publisher of Christian fiction for young people with Dernier Publishing. If you are a Christian, and new to writing stories for kids and teens, stay tuned for encouragement, creative writing tips and actionable strategies you can implement immediately to become a better writer.

Today we’re going to be looking at the whole subject of book reviews. It’s something that came up in our writers for a reason unite group -  there’s a certain amount of confusion about what makes a good book review, and we want to do it well, so I’ve asked book reviewer and blogger Brenda Daniels to come and talk to us (all the way from South Africa!), to give us clarity and make the whole thing simpler.

Brenda has worked as a freelance journalist for 20 years and has her own blog – A Feast of Tales – on which she features book (and sometimes move and travel) reviews. In the last few years she has tried her hand at fiction and has written two children’s novels, a dissertation of children’s short stories and a number of other short stories, one of which won a prize.

I’ve asked Brenda if we can discuss two different sides of writing book reviews:

1. How to write the perfect review yourself, for fellow authors’ books – or any book you’ve read, for that matter. What to put in, what to leave out... best practice - that sort of thing.
2. What to ask readers to put in their reviews for our books. This is a really useful thing to know! As you are aware, having good book reviews can make a massive difference to book sales, and if we can make it simpler for our readers, so much the better!

So grab a pen and paper, or your writing journal and get stuck in. You'll be glad you did. :-)

See you next time,

Janet