Do Book Reviews Still Matter?

Contributed by John Oughton

A GOOD BOOK REVIEW is a time-delayed conversation with writers¹. It allows them to see how a well-informed reader finds their writing technique, structure, style, suspense, and the overall effect of their work. Worse than a one-star review on Goodreads, a negative review can greatly affect an author’s psyche. Famously, John Bentley Mays’ dismissive review in the magazine Open Letter of the work of poet Phyllis Webb made her stop writing for a few years. (She would later win the Governor General’s Award.)

While a negative review may hurt us, I think most writers would agree there is a value to reviewing. Unfortunately, today, standard short-to-medium-length print reviews seem endangered. Major Canadian newspapers once ran reviews in arts or entertainment sections or in weekend book supplements. Now newspapers, with subscriptions and advertising shortfalls, are thinner and offer fewer reviews. Once-reliable periodicals like Books in Canada and The Canadian Book Review Annual have ceased publication. The Pacific Rim Review’s last issue was in 2021. Broken Pencil (small press and zine reviews) announced its final gasp in November 2024.

Publicist Heather Wood believes “the lack of good quality reviews is stifling the growth of our literary culture.” She notes that the Winnipeg Free Press is the only major Canadian daily with a dedicated books editor. However, some online review sources are filling the gap. There’s The Miramichi Reader and The Seaboard Review, and, of course, informal responses from fans and readers on Goodreads and at Amazon or Indigo play a role. The Amazon-free Goodreads alternative StoryGraph is growing more popular. And TikTok is driving book sales through BookTok.

These are my guidelines for good book reviewing, regardless of where the review appears:

• Describe the book’s genre, theme(s), approach, and what makes it unique.

• Outline the writer’s apparent intentions. State how this work compares with the writer’s previous publications (if any).

• Highlight both good points and flaws. Quote examples from the book.

• Remember, you’re not reviewing the book you’d have written.

• Don’t be too negative, because the writer may be on the next jury for your grant, award, or writer-in-residence application. (Joke.)

With these guidelines in mind, and given the changes to the book reviewing landscape, I asked people in various roles in the Canadian industry whether the traditional review still can sell books, and whether newer media help.

James M. Fisher founded The Miramichi Reader, which reviews Canadian books, in 2015 — at a time when many media were retreating from reviewing. “There is such a dearth of book reviews in mainstream media, such as newspapers. A website dedicated to a long-form review certainly fills that gap,” he says. Fisher has moved on from the Reader and now runs another review publication, The Seaboard Review. While he understands that social media can raise awareness of books, he thinks nothing compares to a proper review: “Serious readers like to read a review, and the authors certainly appreciate it.”

rob mclennan is an Ottawa poet, publisher at above/groundpress, and blogger. He is also very active on social media. “Occasionally a review or an interviewer might offer something revelatory I hadn’t quite seen prior, which is delightful,” he says. As for social media, he notes, “I think those are no less or more important, but differently important. Not everyone reads reviews. As an author and reader, I’d rather a formal, full-length review, but not everyone pays attention to those. To ignore Amazon and Goodreads, etc., would be rather limiting.”

Publisher Noelle Allen, of Hamilton-based Wolsak & Wynn, believes reviews are particularly important for small presses and their authors. She says, “Not only are they vital on a critical front, but they increase the visibility of a book. Those reviews reach people who are committed readers. They let them know the book is out there, people are talking about it, and it’s something they might want to read.”

In the last several years, book reviews in the Ottawa Citizen (which historically came out on Saturday), says Mark Frutkin, author of 19 books of fiction, non-fiction and poetry, “have been 80-90 percent reprints from the Washington Post. I never see any Ottawa books, or very few Canadian books, in those reviews. I think this is terrible for a Canadian newspaper which apparently is American-owned. I don’t know if that’s the same with other Canadian newspapers (but I hope not).”

What about sales? Visibility and serious discussion are great, but do reviews help drive sales?

Poet and writing-workshop leader Stuart Ross thinks they play a role in “attracting people to my writing” but the effect is “modest.” He adds, “An enthusiastic mention on social media sites like Facebook and Instagram likely has more effect than a formal full-length review when it comes to sales.” However, reviews do help raise awareness of his work in circles that matter, serving as promotional vehicles. He says, “I suspect that they might help library sales and maybe make some indie bookstores aware of my books.”

Bookstore staff confirm that reviews do bring people in. “We get dozens of people in every few weeks with newspaper clippings of reviews, or saying that they heard the author on the radio (usually CBC, but occasionally the college station CFRC) and asking if we have the book,” says Nicola Malan, of Novel Idea, an independent bookstore in Kingston, Ontario. “Most of our orders for new releases happen months before the books are available, and we get emails every week from book reps at different publishers sending us reviews.”

Lynne Warnick of Entershine Books in Thunder Bay, Ontario tells a similar story. She says, “We often get customers in asking for the books” local reviewer Michael Sobota recommends in The Chronicle Journal. “We get asked for books reviewed in the major papers but not as frequently.” She adds, “Reviews help tremendously with our curation of titles.”

Wood, the publicist, has a similar perspective: “Reviews, like other kinds of publicity, do not necessarily have any relation to sales. Some books that get a lot of good critical attention don’t sell well at all and vice-versa, but they do help get the attention of bookstores, librarians, and some dedicated readers.”

Sometimes, reviews can be valuable in unexpected ways. Novelist Heather Babcock says she has never “had someone tell me that they bought a copy of my book based on a good review. However, someone once told me that he bought my book based on a bad review!”

Reviews play another role too, beyond sales and awareness, Wood says, and it may be the most important one: “They encourage authors to keep at it.” Or, as mclennan puts it, “When I feel a reviewer ‘gets it,’ it is quite refreshing, a further push to keep going.”

The consensus among those I interviewed seems to be that traditional reviews still help get books sold and so do online communities and book-related sites. I guess I’ll keep writing and reading them. Will you?

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John Oughton lives in Toronto and has retired as a Professor of Learning and Teaching at Centennial College in Toronto. He is the author of six poetry collections, most recently The Universe and All That (Ekstasis Editions), the mystery novel Death by Triangulation, and over 400 articles, reviews, and interviews. John is a long-time member of the Long Dash Poetry Group. He is also a photographer and guitar player. https://joughton.wixsite.com/author

1. This article was first published in Write Magazine, a periodical for the members of the Writers Union of Canada. Thirty days after publication, Write generously allows the copyright to revert to the author.