A question we get asked frequently by our partners is: “How many reader reviews or ratings does my book need to have to get a Featured Deal?” It’s a good question with a nuanced answer, but never fear! Your friendly BookBub Featured Deals editor is here to help.
When it comes to reader feedback on a book that’s been submitted for a Featured Deal, editors are looking at two things:
- Ratings, which are one to five stars and don’t include text
- Reviews, which include both the star rating as well as the reader’s written opinion about the book
Both are valuable to our selection process because they help us determine what a reader’s experience with your book is like, but I’m going to use the word reviews to talk about both of them for the sake of brevity. First I’ll address what we look for when we look at reviews, and then I’ll dive into how we use them to guide Featured Deal selection.
What we look for in reviews
Quantity
The short answer to how many reviews your book needs to get selected is: It depends.
Editors have no hard-and-fast rule or minimum number of reviews that a book must have to be chosen for a Featured Deal. Generally, we want enough readers to have weighed in on your book to help us fully understand how satisfied buyers are with their purchase (and, subsequently, how satisfied BookBub readers will be with their purchase if we promote your book to them).
The context and timing of our evaluation is important as well; if an editor is considering two books that are a great fit for our readers and only has space in the schedule to accept one of them, having more reviews (and higher-quality reviews, which you can read about below) is something that could tip the scale in one direction or another. Sometimes we’re comparing a book that has 8-10 reviews with one that has 20-30; other times we’re looking at books with hundreds or even thousands of reviews. It varies from day to day and category to category, which is why we can’t give authors a set number of reviews they should aim for to get selected for a Featured Deal.
Quality
Having a lot of reviews on your book is great! But the quality of the reviews is also an important factor in our selection process.
You may have 100 four- and five-star reviews that are all variations of “I loved this!” While that’s wonderful, it doesn’t help editors get a sense of the content and quality of your book and what it’s really like to read it. We can learn a lot more from substantive reviews full of thoughtful critiques and specific praise — from what a reader liked or didn’t like about a particular character to whether the inclusion of a certain trope or topic was unexpected. Reviews like this help us determine whether a book will meet BookBub readers’ expectations and whether it aligns with their tastes at the time of evaluation.
Veracity
One of our goals at BookBub is to be a trusted partner and resource — for authors, publishers, and readers. Part of maintaining that trust with readers in particular is our editors’ confidence that the books we promote are being marketed authentically and ethically, and that they’re being represented truthfully.
To that end, editors use various methods to check the veracity of reviews on retailers and other platforms. We assess a book’s review skew between different platforms to see if there are sizable and suspicious discrepancies; we keep an eye out for books that only have four- and five-star reviews (or only one- and two-star reviews, for that matter); and we use digital tools to analyze whether reviews might be falsified. We know that our readers look at reviews as a way to gauge the quality of a book and whether they might be interested in buying it for themselves, so we want to feel assured that the books we promote are presenting an accurate picture of their content and reader satisfaction.
How we use reviews to evaluate submissions
To get a fuller picture of the book’s content
BookBub editors have a deep understanding of our readers’ unique preferences and tastes in each category, and we want to be sure a book falls in line with what’s currently on trend for our subscribers. Reviews can shed light on what particular tropes are salient in the book, how characters might behave or the worldviews they espouse, and the tone of the book.
We want to know things like: Is this sci-fi book a thought-provoking meditation on human existence, or a rollicking space adventure? Is this romance a slow-burn love story, or does it move at a faster pace? There’s no right answer to these questions, but having the context helps us decide if a book will perform well with our readers, and which category it might be the best fit for. Reviews that help us learn about the content of a book can also help us fill in gaps if a book’s description on the retailer page is vague or doesn’t lay everything on the table.
To learn about the reader’s experience
What worked and didn’t work in this book for readers? Did the pacing feel off, or was the ending unsatisfying? Is there a cliffhanger that wasn’t alluded to in the retailer description? As editors making recommendations to our readers, we want to select books that are marketed honestly and provide a stellar reading experience. Reviews can help us toward that goal.
By “marketed honestly,” I mean: Is the experience promised in the book’s description true to the reader’s actual experience? For example, a book may be marketed as a lighthearted and funny rom-com, but reviews could reveal that it deals with heavy topics not mentioned in the description. Readers may feel misled if they buy a book that doesn’t live up to its promises, and at BookBub we want to avoid that kind of experience for our readers.
To find out about the quality of writing and proofreading
Another way we earn and keep our readers’ trust is by promoting books that are well-written and error-free. Reviews are a helpful way to find out if a book could benefit from more editing or proofreading, or if the writing isn’t up to par with what we’d want to recommend.
To make sure sensitive topics are covered with nuance and thoughtfulness
The last way we use reviews is to ensure that a book deals with sensitive topics with consideration and intention. This could be anything from a character’s experience with a mental health condition to a historical narrative about enslavement to the representation of an LGBTQ+ character — the list goes on.
Are these characters and topics handled with the nuance and sensitivity they require? Does the writing sensationalize tragedy or feel overly glib about a serious subject? Are harmful stereotypes perpetuated in place of authentic, lived experiences? Reader reviews are our best window into how an author is managing important themes and whether the book’s content aligns with BookBub’s company values of inclusion and belonging.
As you can see, the way we look at reviews is more complex than simply checking for a particular number or an average rating. Editors at BookBub take our role in promoting your books to our readers seriously, and combing through reviews to better understand a book’s content and how a reader will experience it is a big part of our job. While we know it would be helpful to have a simple threshold to meet to be eligible for a Featured Deal, each part of a submission — from the book’s reviews to any additional comments from you — deserves flexibility and careful consideration. Our ultimate goal as editors is to match readers with books they’ll love, and the effort you put in as authors into garnering authentic, substantive reviews does not go unnoticed when you apply for a Featured Deal!
I hope this offers a clearer understanding of what our editors are looking for in reader reviews. Even if you’re still not sure whether your book’s reviews meet these criteria, we encourage you to apply for a Featured Deal! Our editors are always looking for great books to recommend to our readers, and you never know when your book will be the right fit at the right time.
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