Track These Numbers
- Total review count — quantity indicates readership and platform trust
- First 10 reviews matter most for algorithm visibility
- Average rating trend over time — is it stable, improving, or declining?
- Declining trend signals something to investigate
- Percentage of 4–5 star reviews — reader satisfaction across the full pool
- 70%+ is healthy; below 60% warrants investigation
- Review velocity — how quickly new reviews are appearing
- Slowing velocity = awareness problem; sudden spike = promo working
Ignore These Numbers
Avoid
- Avoid: Individual star ratings — focus on patterns, not outliers
- Avoid: Comparison to other books — different audiences, different contexts
- Avoid: Perfect 5.0 averages — often indicates too few reviews to be meaningful
- Avoid: Review rankings on platforms — algorithms change constantly
Monthly Review Health Check
- Total reviews increased from last month
- Average rating stable or improving (within 0.2 points)
- Positive themes appearing consistently across multiple reviews
- Constructive feedback identified for application to next book
- Mental health stable — reviews not affecting daily mood or writing output
Productive Review Engagement
- Thank reviewers privately — never publicly argue with negative reviews
- Use constructive criticism to improve future books — not to revise this one endlessly
- Save screenshots of strong reviews for marketing materials (with permission)
- Celebrate positive reviews briefly — then return to writing the next book