I thought my website review was good enough for indie and debut authors. I wrote something nice when I found something I liked, even if it was just the idea or the promise of something better in the future, and I sent it into the Internet ether on my Twitter and Facebook pages while trying to remember to add the appropriate hashtags and tagging the people involved.
What I failed to take into account was that my readership hovers just above 10,000 people a week (according to one measurement, other measurements are less kind). Everything I have ever written garners those views, not every new page I publish. So, maybe my review was helpful, but only marginally so.
Since releasing a book of my own, I have come to realize that an Amazon review for books on Amazon is essential to help move a book forward in rankings, suggestions and purchases, especially as a new author. One thing that Russell Nohelty points out in "Sell Your Soul: How to build your creative career" is that businesses, authors and other creatives need to build trust in order for someone to buy something from them. On Amazon, this can be done through having multiple good reviews – hundreds would be amazing, especially if they came from people who purchased the book.
I am not at that point, yet. For me, it would be amazing if you have purchased my book (or received a copy from me for some other reason) to see a good review from you. If you haven’t gotten my book yet, but you have read another indie or debut author’s work and can leave him or her a good review, that would be amazing, too. If we can help independent and new authors be successful, we will be able to get more diverse stories while enriching our culture and the future stories told in larger forums.