I don’t know about other authors, but lately, I’ve been getting ratings, but hardly any reviews. Don’t get me wrong. I’m grateful to any reader who takes the time to rate my book, but I sort of miss the reviews that tell me WHY they ranked the book the way they did.
I first noticed the difference on Amason. People hit how many stars they thought the book was worth, but no reviews. But I expected more from Goodreads. Not so much. I have a lot more ratings than very few reviews.
I don’t know if readers felt that writers didn’t pay attention to what they wrote, but I checked on my reviews occasionally, and was always interested in why a person gave me 3 stars instead of 5. Or 5 instead of 3. I think the problem might have started when Amazon wouldn’t let me respond to reviews with even a “like,” a thank you in my mind. I know there are writers who get so many ratings and reviews they couldn’t possibly respond to them, but mine trickled in and I enjoyed reading them.
I know this proves that I’m not a huge author. But I used to get reviews, and I miss them. Something’s changed. Readers who used to take the time to write a review aren’t anymore. I miss them.
Judi Lynn 
It’s quick and easy to hit a rating, I suppose. I tend to do that when I’ve read a trad pub book by a ‘big’ author, but I do try to review for indies whenever I can.
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I know writing reviews takes time, and everyone’s short on that these days.
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I noticed that a while ago, and I’m not crazy about the “rate without review” policy, either. Good or bad, I’d like to know what someone thinks.
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I’m seeing the same thing. I’d like to know what people thought.
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There is so much to be learned from an honest review. I have a few dedicated followers/readers. Every comment they make I take to heart and have made changes when sincere concerns are voiced in a review. And I will be honest. When I get down and discouraged, reading a happy review makes my day and gives encouragement to keep plugging away. I know that’s like the character Sally Field played in the movie Soap, where she goes to the mall just to be recognized and sign autographs. Acting and writing are tough fields where the artist is bare-assed in every way, whether walking out onto a stage or placing our babies out on the Spartan field of authorship. I’ll take that compliment, thank you very much, and if someone thinks that’s pathetic, read somebody else’s book, or better yet, try writing one.
The decline in reviews is worrisome. They can be useful when it comes to advertising, especially getting picked up by an online advertiser like BookBub.
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I do the same thing. When someone criticizes my book, it makes me think. Did I screw up? Can I make it better? And when they praise me, I dance around the house, happy with myself. So when I get rankings with no review, I’m not sure what to think.
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