I had originally planned something much longer and cleverer than this, but things are Bad on all scales from the personal to the global, so this is what I’ve got.

Okay. Reviews. By now, you’ve probably gotten your copy of Beyond the Frost-Cold Sea and maybe have had a chance to read it (no judgment; I either read books in a single day or over the course of several months, so I get how it is). I would love it if you would write a brief, honest review on the platform that suits you best.

Lots of people will tell you that leaving a review on a book helps boost it in the Amazon algorithm. I don’t know if that’s true; it seems like sales and clicks are the things that make the algorithms happy, but they’re inscrutable and threatening, so who knows. What reviews do is help readers who would like the book find it, and keep readers who wouldn’t like it from wasting their time and money. This is true whether the review rates the book one or five stars. I’ve read plenty of one-star reviews that make me want to read the book in question, because my taste is evidently the opposite of the reviewer’s.

Reviews are not for authors. The book is already published; if there’s a typographical error or misplaced comma on page 37, for instance, the author can’t go back and change it. They also can’t change major plot details or unsatisfying endings. You can give constructive criticism if you like, but the author can’t put it to use until the next book (or several books in the future, depending on when the review is published). Reviews are for helping readers to determine whether a book is a good investment of their time and money. What that looks like is entirely up to the individual reader.

There has been a lot of drama in the independent publishing world surrounding reviews, ranging from authors throwing social media tantrums to stalking reviewers and turning up at their homes to harass them. Given this history, I want you to feel safe and free of judgment if you choose to leave a review for my book. I can’t promise that I will never read your review, but I give you my word that I will never try to figure out who you are, doxx you, turn up at your house uninvited (some of you are my real-life friends, so I will turn up at your house eventually, but only for normal things), argue with your review on any platform, or even complain about it on social media. I’ve written this promise here on the Internet, where everything lasts forever, so you can hold me to it.

You also don’t owe me a review. All you owe me, if you choose to read my work, is to acquire it legally (purchasing it/getting it secondhand from a shop or a friend/borrowing from a library/reading it for free here on the website). I’d love it if you wrote a review–again, it helps new readers find my work–but you’ve got your own stuff going on. If you have the time and inclination, great. If not, I still appreciate you reading. You’re what makes this all worth it.

That’s my post about reviews. I’ll be back on Monday with a new Song of the Week. In the meantime, let’s voice our opposition to war, protect trans kids, and tell our pets we love them.