Three, Four, Five Stars a Liar?
Something hasn't been sitting well with this Writer Chick and I would like to discuss with you, my wonderful friends and followers. That subject is:
1 STAR AMAZON REVIEWS
(dun dun DUNNNNN)
I've been reading a lot lately, particularly books by indie and self-published authors. So far, I've been quite impressed. However, there are times when I am not. You can't please everyone all the time, right? But although I have received a 1 star review (ouch), I've never left one and I probably wouldn't leave one on books by authors I web-know. So here's the thing: I've checked out several debut authors' self-published books and found an insane amount of 5 Star reviews. I look through them and realize that more than half of the reviewers are also indie/self-pubbed authors. Okay, a little strange but no huge deal.
Then, I look at the 1 Star reviews.
Most of these unfavorable reviews are not malicious; they simply state that they did not like the book and the reasons why: shoddy character development, unrealistic plot, clunky prose, etc, which are all typical mistakes made by first-time authors. (I call attention to my own 1 Star review for my first novel, "Maladrid"). These are things you learn through time, experience, and critique.
However, when you click on the "comments" below the negative reviews, there are a barrage of responses from the same 5 star-giving authors accusing the negative reviewer of "attacking" the author or trying to "bring down the rating on purpose". Just like a high-star review lays out what the reader liked about the book, shouldn't a low-star review talk about what they didn't like?!
It really makes me wonder if we, as authors and reviewers, are doing a disservice to our readers by perhaps not being as honest as we could be. Plus, I don't care if the author is your best friend, an author should never EVER insult a reader because they had a differing opinion. Personally, I think Amazon should ditch that "comments" section.
But I won't ditch mine. Feel free to let me know what you think. Thanks for the time, droogies!
1 STAR AMAZON REVIEWS
(dun dun DUNNNNN)
I've been reading a lot lately, particularly books by indie and self-published authors. So far, I've been quite impressed. However, there are times when I am not. You can't please everyone all the time, right? But although I have received a 1 star review (ouch), I've never left one and I probably wouldn't leave one on books by authors I web-know. So here's the thing: I've checked out several debut authors' self-published books and found an insane amount of 5 Star reviews. I look through them and realize that more than half of the reviewers are also indie/self-pubbed authors. Okay, a little strange but no huge deal.
Then, I look at the 1 Star reviews.
Most of these unfavorable reviews are not malicious; they simply state that they did not like the book and the reasons why: shoddy character development, unrealistic plot, clunky prose, etc, which are all typical mistakes made by first-time authors. (I call attention to my own 1 Star review for my first novel, "Maladrid"). These are things you learn through time, experience, and critique.
However, when you click on the "comments" below the negative reviews, there are a barrage of responses from the same 5 star-giving authors accusing the negative reviewer of "attacking" the author or trying to "bring down the rating on purpose". Just like a high-star review lays out what the reader liked about the book, shouldn't a low-star review talk about what they didn't like?!
It really makes me wonder if we, as authors and reviewers, are doing a disservice to our readers by perhaps not being as honest as we could be. Plus, I don't care if the author is your best friend, an author should never EVER insult a reader because they had a differing opinion. Personally, I think Amazon should ditch that "comments" section.
But I won't ditch mine. Feel free to let me know what you think. Thanks for the time, droogies!
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