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Authors, What Do You Feel When You Read Negative Reviews of Your Books?
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Adam
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Apr 09, 2013 03:54PM
I agree with you, David. Worse still is when someone gives you one star and then goes on to say it was a great fun read. What?
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Adam wrote: "I agree with you, David. Worse still is when someone gives you one star and then goes on to say it was a great fun read. What?"I have yet to have that pleasure :-)
I don't like those star only ratings period. They tell me nothing and I'm nosy.
The worst of it is that since eBooks have taken off and "everyone" is an author, a secondary market of leeches has appeared - an entire industry designed to get "likes" and "reviews" and promote this and sell that, most of which don't work to start with, all of which prey on authors new, old, and in between, and most of which have caused this sudden "need" to have huge numbers of positive reviews. There are services that you have to have five or more five star reviews for just to qualify to PAY them to promote your book...I say...what? You only promote books that are already successful so you can say all your promotions are successful? (lol) It's nonsense, and, in the end prevents you from getting as much writing done. I have enough distractions. For instance, there is a Cockatiel on my shoulder trying to pull out my whiskers...
I do, however fully appreciate an intelligent criticism as it helps me hone my craft.
David, I was unaware of this phenomenon. That could be disheartening if I wasn't an eternal optimist. I write to please others. Maybe your bird is hungry?
David, but the reader doesn't owe you an explanation. Reviews are for readers, not authors.
I read for fun. Being required to tell why I liked or didn't like something makes it not fun. If I feel like it I will. If I don't, then I don't owe anyone an explanation of why I rated it like I did.
Reading this back I sound pissy but I'm really not.
Wow, David. I can see how that would put pressure on writers. You'd then have to pimp your books for ratings to qualify for those sites. (I'm sorry? Did you say I have to sign in blood for you to promote my book? Naw, I'm good.)
Charlene, I don't think you are being pissy. No one should feel obligated or required to write an extensive review of everything they read. It takes the thrill out of it, somewhat. I like getting them, but it doesn't hurt my feelings if I don't.
Charlene wrote: "David, but the reader doesn't owe you an explanation. Reviews are for readers, not authors.
I read for fun. Being required to tell why I liked or didn't like something makes it not fun. If I fee..."
No they don't "owe" an explanation, and that wasn't the point. A one star rating with no explanation helps no-one. Potential readers, or the author.
Mod
Reviews are for readers, not authors.
I read for fun. Being required to tell why I liked or didn't like something makes it not fun. If I fee..."
It's true!
She always sounds this way. ;)
Charlene, I never meant to imply that they do. I love reading responses to my writing, but mostly I like those that take me by surprise, positive or negative, because it's clear that the person really read the book. All of it. Personally, I don't finish books that suck - there are too many good books to read that I'll never get to as it is...and I don't always review what I read (obviously, a lot of what I read is for my publishing company) ... but it would be nice if we could just get back to where reviews were - as you said - meant to help someone decide whether or not to read the book. Really gushy positive reviews don't do that, and really troll-like negative reviews don't either. Mostly you have to either ignore them and get on with it, or read them, take it in, THEN get on with it...
Mod
Here's a question maybe you can answer for me, David.
What the Hell happened to the blurbs and synopsis' you used to find on paperbacks?
Frankly, the descriptions on most ebooks suck.
I can't tell what a book is about half the time, now.
Jon Recluse wrote: "Charlene wrote: "David, but the reader doesn't owe you an explanation. Reviews are for readers, not authors.
I read for fun. Being required to tell why I liked or didn't like something makes it ..."
LOL
I'm sorry, that was addressed to the other, David. :)
David W., I really liked your answer. You're respectful and honest.:)
Walter I can't even find the amazon boards half the time now that I've dropped down in the rankings. So many of the posters get under my skin that its probably a good thing.And Charlene I trust your star ratings( and those on my friends list) because I've read your reviews. It's the anonymous star reviews that don't work for me.
John, we try very hard never to fall into that group. You're right half the time people just put up a book and expect you to figure out what it's about. On our old reprints we try to work from the original paperback blurbs, but we always try to get the authors to help us write something more meaningful. Same is true on eBay for used books. If you don't explain what the book is about you limit your audience to those who were already looking for it...
Mod
Who's John? ;)
Don't get me wrong, I wasn't suggesting that Crossroad Press doesn't do an excellent job on that count. But it seems that a lot of ebooks are put up as if people already know them.
Mod
I once picked up a new paperback from a major publisher with a blurb from a dead author. Wound up being an altered blurb from a previous book. Real cute.
Jon, (see how I got that right?)It's appropriate to use blurbs form previous books, as long as they differentiate. We'll say, for instance, PRAISE FOR SUCH AND SUCH and then below that either PRAISE FOR THE AUTHOR or PRAISE FOR such and such earlier book.
Almost everything about the way people publish their eBooks has a sense of haste - hurried, not edited, marketing text not good - and it's not just self-published or indie eBooks - I read one recently by Tom Robbins - major publisher - they obviously just dumped the file from their print proof, never looked at it, never proofed it, and published it - and it cost too much to get it.
Mod
It's appropriate to use blurbs form previous books, as long as they differentiate. We'll say, for instance, PRAISE FOR SUCH AND SUCH and then below that either PR..."
I feel lightheaded....
I accept that. This one was just the blurb. Other blurbs on the same book were properly done. "A probing thriller": The San Jose Rectal Examiner for "The Finger"
That was the case wiyh Jon Farris' All Heads Turn As the Hunt Goes By. An excellent story that was marred by horrible formatting. It was obvious that no one even looked at it before putting it up for sale.
If I don't like the pacing or story elements I try not to be negative, not everything is written for me to read. Some people like different things. HOWEVER if there are grammatical errors or continuity issues then I will post about them. I think the only book I have recently posted negative things about was
it was bad
Nikki wrote: "The only time I feel guilty (I do have a soul) is when I've chatted or associated with the author~ "LOL. Yeah, that's when I feel the guiltiest. You want to like their work, but sometimes it's just not there.
BarkLessWagMore wrote: "I don't like those star only ratings period. They tell me nothing and I'm nosy."Oh, I may do this with a 3-star rating. I didn't hate it so I can't rag on it, and I didn't love it and can't brag on it, so if it's just an "eh" kind of read I really don't have much to say. It didn't move me, but it was a pleasant story that will probably be forgotten unlike some of my all-time faves.
Tressa wrote: "Nikki wrote: "The only time I feel guilty (I do have a soul) is when I've chatted or associated with the author~ "LOL. Yeah, that's when I feel the guiltiest. You want to like their work, but som..."
Exactly!
David wrote: "but it would be nice if we could just get back to where reviews were - as you said - meant to help someone decide whether or not to read the book. Really gushy positive reviews don't do that..."I have a handful of gushy positive reviews and I meant every single word of them. And I know for a fact they've helped people become fans of the books and authors.
Charlene wrote: "That was the case wiyh Jon Farris' All Heads Turn As the Hunt Goes By. An excellent story that was marred by horrible formatting. It was obvious that no one even looked at it before putting it up f..."Charlene, we published the eBook of John Farris' All Heads Turn. If there are formatting issues / typos in any of our books, we'd love to hear about it. We have to sort of farm out our proofing and copy-editing - we keep a very small amount of the profit, so there's not much budget. John's books are very long, and the scans (in most cases) were horrible, as well as being riddled with actual errors from the original publisher. Do I need to review that title?
I'm looking at the PDF and I'm wondering where you got your copy, and which type of eBook format it was? We have had very few formatting complaints, but you can be sure if something is wrong we want to know - and fix it.
Mod
Yes, David.
Yes, David what? I guess I'm asking what the formatting problems were, because we have a set template we use for almost every book we publish... I meant, what was bad about the formatting, or, was it copy-editing, typos? Certainly easier to fix if I know what was wrong :)
Mod
Sorry, I had to curse at a telemarketer.
Typos.
Misplaced commas and periods.
"Hall" spelled "hail".
Names changed randomly.
Tressa wrote: "David wrote: "but it would be nice if we could just get back to where reviews were - as you said - meant to help someone decide whether or not to read the book. Really gushy positive reviews don't ..."If the reviews have actual content, I have no doubt that is true. The gushy positive reviews I meant are the ones that are all fluff - pretty obviously written by family members or friends....like that.
Tressa wrote: "David wrote: "but it would be nice if we could just get back to where reviews were - as you said - meant to help someone decide whether or not to read the book. Really gushy positive reviews don't ..."It's funny how hard it is to write a positive review. Most of the time I can't articulate a good review when I love a book, but yet I can nit-pick and write a mediocre one.
I do have to say that some of the reviews that I write are written out of pure disappointment. The story started off so great then the author got sloppy or threw in some predictable coincidences or tried to make a certain word count by throwing in unnecessary musings or plot points. Readers are not dumb and I have to wonder if some authors have qualms about the choices they make, like those above, but just do them anyway, and then see them commented on negatively in reviews? That would suck pencil erasers.
David wrote: "Yes, David what? I guess I'm asking what the formatting problems were, because we have a set template we use for almost every book we publish... I meant, what was bad about the formatting, or, was..."I'll get that one through another round of proofreading. I should make the offer here... we pay a very small pittance, and all the free books you can read, for those interested in proofing books for us. Just saying. You can message me if you are interested. This is the number one bottleneck in our publishing.
Mod
Sorry about the delay getting back to you, David.
Lol. There was not much delay ... I have not yet morphed into one of those critters who thinks every note they post on the Internet, text they send, or e-mail they post should be answered immediately ... but I do like to jump on top of any problems with the company so we can fix them. I found (as you suggested) 8 instances in the manuscript where hall was hail ... so we definitely will get another reader through that one.
Mod
I keep hitting send when interrupted.
The other notable glitch was Aunt Clare's name morphing to Aunt Gene, I believe.
Hmmm but her name is (and appears a lot as) Aunt Clary Gene - both... It's "Clary Gene"
Mod
If I remember correctly, it switches from Clary Gene to Gene Clary.
Lol...if that is true, it was in the original printed book that way, because no way a scanner did that. his paperbacks were just littered with typos...we are going to have someone proof it again...another person had already mentioned some stray apostrophes that seem to have been marks on the page...
Mod
I always beg to differ.
I can prove it. Oh, and we found the name issue. In a couple of places Clary turned to Gary, and Cary. Fixed. One thing you'll find about us...we never just sit back if there is a problem. We hate them :)
Mod
Gotta respect the literature, right? ;)
I must be one of the few who isn't bothered by formatting errors. I just glance over them.
I must be one of the few who isn't bothered by formatting errors. I just glance over them.
Mod
Charlene wasn't here to respond, so I just did it for her.
Mod
Ditto.
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