The seventh in a series of articles on writing online book reviews. Click here for Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4 , Part 5, and Part 6. Today’s article features an interview with established online reviewer, Heidi Strawser. In addition to her blog, Heidi also reviews for The Old Schoolhouse, and is running their Summer Reading Splash Contest blog as well.

How long have you been reviewing books for?

About 2 years.

How and why did you get started writing online book reviews?

I actually started out by doing product review for The Old Schoolhouse® Magazine. I have a friend who is one of the founders of Curr-click (a site that sells e-books to homeschoolers); she encouraged me to start doing e-book reviews and it just spiraled from there.

How does your faith impact the types of books you review, and how you review them?

I much prefer to stick with Christian books, just because I know they will be more uplifting and encouraging to read. I do, however, on occasion, find a secular book or novel that sounds interesting to me, and I will agree to review them.

On average, how many books do you read and review each week?

Life is so busy and I don’t have a lot of time to read these days. The most I can read in a week is 2-3 books tops. I do, also, review children’s books and homeschool curriculum, etc. Children’s books are easy and don’t take a lot of time. Homeschool curriculum is something that I like to be able to use in our school for a few weeks or months before writing a review. Also, I am the E-Book Reviews Specialist for the Schoolhouse Store; so I review as many E-Books as I can each week.

What do you feel are the main differences between print and online book reviews?

So many people are online these days that I feel that online book reviews are more effective at spreading the word to a broader range of readers.

What do you feel are the most significant benefits of online book reviews, both for the reviewer and for the author?

There are so many people who are doing online reviews these days. I think the online blog tours are a very effective way for authors and publishers to promote their books. The online audience is HUGE.

Who do you tend to review more books for? Blog tour alliances, or books that are submitted directly to you and your blog through authors/publicists/publishing houses?

I do participate in some blog tour alliances- Christian Fiction Blog Alliance and FIRST and Non-FIRST. I still continue to do product and book reviews for The Old Schoolhouse® Magazine and review e-books on a daily basis for our online store (the Schoolhouse Store). I do reviews for several publishers, including Kregel. And I will take on freelance reviews when asked (which is turning out to be quite a bit).

What advice would you give to an individual who is just getting started reviewing books online?

I think the most important thing to remember when doing book reviews (or product reviews) is to remain objective, but to also be honest in your review. If you truly hate a book, you need to say so, and include the reasons why. Maybe those very reasons are what someone else actually likes in a book, so it’s still a good review if you are balanced with it. People want you to be honest so that they know they can trust your words. And words are very important, especially with online reviews, where people can’t see your facial expressions or hear your tone.

If you have anything else you’d like to share, please feel free, we’d love to hear it!

Thanks for letting me share my thoughts. I love doing reviews. I hope people appreciate my work and efforts and enjoy reading my blog. I try to keep it light and fun.

Thanks so much for joining us Heidi! To read Heidi’s reviews please visit her at Reviews by Heidi.

Please sign up for updates to the blog (in the upper right hand corner) to read the rest of this upcoming series, featuring interviews with established online book reviewers, more opportunities to review books online (both with and without a blog) and advice for new reviewers.