Writing good content is one key point to get your site ranking highly by search engines and get visitors to your site. One good strategy is to write a review on an item that people are interested.
Here I am going to share with you some handy tips on how to write your own review page on a book to illustrate the key points.
Tips on how to write a review on a book
1. Select a book that visitors are interested in
Put yourself in the visitor’s shoes. This way you will see better whether the book you are reviewing will be interesting to the visitors.
2. Do research or find out more about the book
The best way to find out more about a book is to read it. Some people would think this is silly but what other way is better than reading the book yourself.
3. Find out about the author of the book.
You have to pay due respect to the author of the book that you are reviewing. Find out some background about the author and his works. List out a few success stories of the author, if any. This way you can be more confident on your review of the book.
4. Make a list of pros and cons
Make a list of pros and cons of the book as an unbiased party. Tell the readers how the book will benefit them. While talking about the good points about the book, also talk about the critics, if any. Be sincere in your opinions and always provide reasons or evidence to support them. One good way is to look at various angles and form you opinions.
5. be honest on your review
Writing a review page is a challenge. Readers like to see unbiased opinions on the book. Therefore you have to be honest and say what you think about the book. Back up your facts.
Structure your review page
1. Introduction. (You must include the title of the book in this opening paragraph.)
2. Description of the author. (Who is he/she? What other books have they written? Are they an expert in this field?)
3. What promises does the book make?
4. Are there any interesting questions raised or debates discussed etc? (For example, do the ideas contribute to an industry debate?)
5. How topical or important is the book?
6 Are there any pitfalls in the book? Is there anything you disagree with?
7. Pick around three or four examples from the book which back up the points you want to make or the opinions you have.
8. Why should I read it? (Think about the books target audience. What made you choose to read the book?)
9. Look at the book’s introduction; is there anything that you can pull out of it which helps put the book into a wider context?
10. How does it compare to other books which look at a similar issue? (Does the book you are reviewing add any new opinions?)
11. Has it changed your mind about anything?
12. Even when a book is awful, if the reader gets one good idea from it, it’s worth the cover price. (Does this apply to the book you are reviewing? Did you get new ideas or form a different opinion after reading it?)
13 Conclusion (this is where you should be tying everything up).
You can copy the rough structure outline I have given above and then fill in any subdivisions you want to include. This will allow for you to expand on the basic points I provided.
Being critical of someone else’s work doesn’t come easy to some, but think about when you last received bad service. Did you complain? Disagreeing with someone or something is not necessarily a bad thing. If you read a book and completely disagree with the author, that’s fantastic – tell other readers how you feel. This is great material for generating debate so you should not water down your opinions, nor sit on the fence. Instead, treat a book review with considered judgment and go for it.
Don’t carry the book everywhere you go – you need time to gain some perspective. Read the book, make notes as you go along, and then put it down. Go back to it after a few days and re-read your notes and key chapters and then begin to formulate a structure for your review.
Make sure any quotes you lift from the book are put in quotation marks (“”) so as to avoid any confusion for you and your readers.
The concluding paragraph should sum up or restate your central argument and judgment about the book. NEVER introduce a new idea at this stage. It’s also worth reading the book’s introduction when you come to conclude your review as it can serve to reaffirm the context the book was written in.
