Reviews-Are they real or are they Memorex?
I have a confession...I rated Emma, by Jane Austen five stars and never actually completed it. Shocking, I know! But I LOVE Jane Austen and I had seen the movie...you know the one with Gwyneth Paltrow. And I simply knew I would love the rest of the book!
I am not new to the publishing world. I am new to Indie publishing, in a very new world!
Recently...actually today...I discovered that it is quite easy for anyone to pay for a host of good reviews. Evidently they can be fairly pricey. So how do you know if reviewers are legitimate or not.
Truly, in the end, a book will sell because it was liked. But in the beginning it takes a lot of marketing to simply get it read.
After all, Susan Lucci made it to the final rounds on Dancing with the Stars and...I love her, but the woman is NOT a dancer. So there is a bit of a marketing/popularity issue going.
For me, I am fortunate that my husband is a marketing maniac! I followed the advice of a number of sites about marketing my book. And had some early fans that insisted on helping the book become known.
I had offers to publish my book with traditional publishing houses and after looking at what they offered and paid out, I chose the Indie route.
Someone once said, that the internet is the bathroom wall of the 21 century. And that appears to be true, especially since Bobrick transitioned to plastic laminates removing the opportunity to defame others behind those closed doors.
But how do you validate a challenge? You fill the void with information and facts! Here is what I discovered:
1) If a large percentage of reviewers were new to Good reads or Amazon, I would search to see if a percentage follow the author as a fan. A purchased review probably would not. I think I would expect to see at least 10%. Remember though, it may take a few weeks on a new site to build that fan base.
If the author and the reviews have been there for more than a month and are not at 10%, I would begin to suspect purchased reviews...or poor reviews.
2) I would check social media and discover if a percentage of the reviewers followed the author or book on Twitter, Facebook or other social media.
3) I would send the reviewer a message and ask them how they discovered the novel and perhaps even ask them if they had been paid to review the novel.
If at least 70% of the reviews follow the author or book and have legitimate responses, you have good reason to believe the reviews are legitimate.
Hope this helps sort out the gems from the chaff!
The Sibylline OracleDelia J. Colvin
I am not new to the publishing world. I am new to Indie publishing, in a very new world!
Recently...actually today...I discovered that it is quite easy for anyone to pay for a host of good reviews. Evidently they can be fairly pricey. So how do you know if reviewers are legitimate or not.
Truly, in the end, a book will sell because it was liked. But in the beginning it takes a lot of marketing to simply get it read.
After all, Susan Lucci made it to the final rounds on Dancing with the Stars and...I love her, but the woman is NOT a dancer. So there is a bit of a marketing/popularity issue going.
For me, I am fortunate that my husband is a marketing maniac! I followed the advice of a number of sites about marketing my book. And had some early fans that insisted on helping the book become known.
I had offers to publish my book with traditional publishing houses and after looking at what they offered and paid out, I chose the Indie route.
Someone once said, that the internet is the bathroom wall of the 21 century. And that appears to be true, especially since Bobrick transitioned to plastic laminates removing the opportunity to defame others behind those closed doors.
But how do you validate a challenge? You fill the void with information and facts! Here is what I discovered:
1) If a large percentage of reviewers were new to Good reads or Amazon, I would search to see if a percentage follow the author as a fan. A purchased review probably would not. I think I would expect to see at least 10%. Remember though, it may take a few weeks on a new site to build that fan base.
If the author and the reviews have been there for more than a month and are not at 10%, I would begin to suspect purchased reviews...or poor reviews.
2) I would check social media and discover if a percentage of the reviewers followed the author or book on Twitter, Facebook or other social media.
3) I would send the reviewer a message and ask them how they discovered the novel and perhaps even ask them if they had been paid to review the novel.
If at least 70% of the reviews follow the author or book and have legitimate responses, you have good reason to believe the reviews are legitimate.
Hope this helps sort out the gems from the chaff!
The Sibylline OracleDelia J. Colvin
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Sandy
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Aug 31, 2012 07:31PM
Perfect! Now....back to your awesome FIVE star book ;)
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What GREAT advice on how to help everyone and ANYONE to get at the TRUTH about reviews! AWESOME and worthwhile advice that MANY authors will be able to use with their fans and readers! This is just as good as your ability to tell a GREAT story!
Thank you! Hope it helps the readers! There is a lot of confusion out there!
There's "something " for sure.... ;) hi from CA!!!
Delia, I'm completely in love with both you and your work, but we're gonna fall-out big-time if you don't stop saying things that might encourage people to read Emma. EVERYBODY, LISTEN TO ME INSTEAD, EMMA IS AN IMMENSELY CRAPPY BOOK.
Paddy, Thank you!!! As far as Jane Austen's Emma...Paddy this is for you:
WARNING: Nothing in this blog should be perceived as a recommendation of the novel Emma by Jane Austen. While the author of this blog is a fan of Ms. Austen, she is ignorant as to the content of the last two-thirds of that literary work.
Further, in the interest of honest reporting I have removed my five star rating of Emma.
Better Paddy? ;-D
Paddy wrote: "God bless you Delia - LOL."Any time!!
I like your post, but I disagree with #2. The social networks are so overly used that help they may have once provided has been negated.I also want to thank you for going the indie route. Writers like you have breathed new life into books. While I once followed, many of the "popular authors" represented by publishing houses I found that overtime their books became hackneyed and boring. I sometimes feel that the only reason their last book was released was that it was a contractual requirement. When you look at the books they are releasing they all have around the same number of pages, even if they have to use large spacing and blank pages to get to the “magic number”.
Anne wrote: "I like your post, but I disagree with #2. The social networks are so overly used that help they may have once provided has been negated.I also want to thank you for going the indie route. Writer..."
Hi Anne,
Thanks so much for your wonderful comments and the great insight!
