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At Book Cave, we use the MBR (My Book Ratings) system to give content ratings to books. We feel that this is an important service to both readers and authors, and rating the book honestly best serves the author. So why are content ratings for books so beneficial to authors?
Content Ratings for books will help you . . .
Sell more books
1. Readers who are able to see a book’s content rating are more likely to buy the book, because they already know the book’s content. Too often, readers may decide not to get a book because they’re not sure if the content is something they’ll want. For example, some readers want to know if there is too much violence in a thriller or not enough to be exciting for them. Some people enjoy explicit romance, and others prefer closed-door intimacy. Some readers don’t mind swearing, but for some a few words is enough to make them return the book.
2. With our content ratings for books, parents can feel comfortable giving books to their children to read, without reading it first. This means that children and teens can read more and more of your books without having to wait for their parents to check the content first. Could you imagine taking your child to a movie you’ve never seen before without movie ratings? Many parents feel the same way about books.
Receive more positive reactions to the content of your books
3. We’ve seen many reviews where readers complain of unexpected scenes, or content that doesn’t live up to their expectation. With content ratings for books, readers know what they’re getting before they pick up the book. Those who won’t like the content won’t read the book, and you’ll get fewer bad reviews.
4. Readers can recommend your book to their friends with confidence, using the content rating of the book to let their friends know the content if it’s been awhile since they read the book.
Reach a larger target audience
5. Readers can filter books by content rating to specifically find the book they’re interested in. This means that your book will be seen by more readers in your target audience, rather than getting lost among all the other books out there.
6. Authors can see where their book falls on a content-rating scale and may decide to adjust their writing to better reach their target audience. Not that we are not trying to change your writing at all, because we don’t personally care what you put inside your books, only that you rate them accurately. However, there is a reason large publishers have limits or minimums on certain content—because they can sell books to more people.
7. Authors can download the Community MBR ratings to use on blogs, websites, and books. That way readers know from the minute they reach your site if your books are going to be worth a time investment to them.
8. The MBR system rates seven categories, including crude humor/language, profanity, drug and alcohol use, kissing, nudity, sex and intimacy, and violence and horror, and then the book is assigned an overall rating (and not an age range). This means that readers know exactly what they’re getting and can choose books based off on their comfort level, and not based on their age. In other words, your audience is not limited by an age recommendation.
We hope this blog post has helped show you why content ratings for books are helpful to authors. If you have any questions or comments, let us know below.
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