Face to face compliments versus written reviews

Is face-to-face complimenting an author's writing as rewarding as reading a written review?

I'm not entirely sure of the answer to that question. On the one hand, it's amazing when someone physically tells you that they loved reading your book. The actual physical buzz from a direct compliment is such an exciting feeling but it's a fleeting one that's very personal and totally lost to the reading population unless shared in some written way.

Yesterday, while I was manning my 'novels' table at the FOCUS Craft Fair in Inverurie, an elderly woman stopped and waited till I'd finished a conversation with a primary teacher I used to work with. At first, I'd thought her to also be a supply teacher since I recognised her face but couldn't do that 'placing her' thing- my memory for faces quite good, but not my ability to remember contexts or names of people.

It turned out that she was, in fact, a previous customer who had bought a copy of my contemporary mystery/ thriller Topaz Eyes and had loved reading it so much she'd ventured out into the cold winds to walk a mile to buy another of my books. She went off saying she was happy to walk back the return mile since she was so looking forward to reading another of my novels.

Telling me she loved reading my work brought a rush of intense feelings - almost of embarrassment because I was taken aback, it being unexpected. Her also telling me that she'd pass the word around her friends about the quality of my novels was absolutely wonderful to hear.

And that is a very good reason for selling my work personally over the counter.

However...and there often is a however involved, that doesn't make it easier for me to sell ebooks as my return customer only reads print books. There will be no glowing review written on Amazon to endorse my writing there and to encourage more people to buy my books.

What I need now is to encourage anyone who has read Topaz Eyes (or any of my novels) to leave a short review on Amazon, or the place they have got the book from if it has a review section. It would be much appreciated and even more so if my novels reach the magical threshold of reviews needed for some promotion sites. Such sites where an author can pay for them to promote a book is only possible if the book already has on average around 10 genuine reviews. (though I believe some sites demand an even higher quota)

I'm personally getting caught up with writing my short reviews on books read because I regularly do write reviews.

Slainthe!