Why I 'Like' Low Star Reviews On My Work

[J.E.]

This is simple and I touched on it in another thread here. Readers take the time to write a review, I should take the time to acknowledge it.

Years ago I was involved in a thread on a writing forum where an author said, "I don't have time to respond to readers." That mad me angry. Most of my life I have been a reader, to think that an author was too good to respond with a respectful thank you pissed me off.

I don't get fan mail so giving someone that took time out of their life to read my book and then even more time to write up a review (good, bad, or neutral) - they deserve a like from me.

I'm interested to know how readers feel about non-responsive authors. Also, how other authors respond to reviews or those elusive fan mails/emails.

[McKenzie]

I'm a little confused why you like the low star though? I intend to be as responsive as possible. In this day and age, you can't afford to live disconnected from what is going on with your own work or other people's work. If I got any-star review I would thank them for taking the time to first, read my stuff, and second, to comment on it.

[G.G.]

The problem is that you never know if it is ok to do so or not. Some places, like here for instance, seem to look down on that kind of interaction. Well, that's what I heard anyway. It might not be true, but it still leaves me wary about doing it.

There are so many 'etiquettes' about not doing this or that, that I think it comes in between readers and writers.

Without the use of a blog or website, the interactions between my few fans and I are limited to Facebook mostly. Since I haven't enough of them yet to be overwhelmed by messages, I can't speak for those who do and maybe that is why some seem cold and distant.

As a reader, I try to review every book I read (at least those I read after joining GR, I do) and it's not always easy. Often, I just feel like picking up the next and skip the review due to lack of time. I believe that this opened my eyes and made me more appreciative of any one who takes the time to read and review a book, any book.

Of course, any comments from the authors are always welcome. :)

[Feliks]

So, 'like' (in quotes) is different than like (no quotes). When you 'like' something, it doesn't mean that you actually like it. Words don't mean what they really mean on the internet. Thanks. Got it! :\

[Laurel]

the way I've responded to less than stellar reviews is to listen to what the reviewer has to say and then actually make suggested changes if I can. That is why the first edition of The Great Succession Crisis has a very different cover art than the revised edition; a reviewer told me that the old design did not convey to her that she was looking at a story set in outer space.

So in the new cover and the one you see ever after, Princess Anlei and the three Beinarian heraldries chosen for the book are in front of the M31 Galaxy. Anlei walks among the stars.

Much better design!

Less than stellar (or interstellar) reviews also meant I went into revised edition; I re-wrote about 25% of the first three chapters.


Of course I do not listen to reviews unless they are written constructively. If they are just trash talk well -- I think anyone can see through those for what they are.

[Rita]

When I first joined Goodreads I reviewed or rated each book I read because I thought it was just for my collection. Once I realised that it affects the author's star rating I made a decision to only review the ones I liked and just to skip on the ones I didn't like. After all, it's mainly personal choice unless it's really badly written.

[Martyn]

J.E. wrote: "I'm interested to know how readers feel about non-responsive authors. Also, how other authors respond to reviews or those elusive fan mails/emails."

I usually don't respond to reviews, as reviews are meant for readers. And, from what I read in a thread recently, clicking the 'like'-button or thanking a reviewer can make some reviewers 'uncomfortable', so I tend not to do that (anymore). Even at the risk of coming across as 'non-responsive'. If someone wants an interaction with me, they can write me a feedback email.

Feedback emails always get a response. Not just because I appreciate readers getting in touch with me, but also because I gather that readers writing feedback emails are interested in an interaction with the author, whereas a reviewer often isn't.

[Elaine]

J.E. wrote: "This is simple and I touched on it in another thread here. Readers take the time to write a review, I should take the time to acknowledge it.

Years ago I was involved in a thread on a writing for..."

I was taught by my publisher that it's not a good idea to respond to reviews. A like here or there is fine, but no comments and no favouring one review over another. As Martyn said, reviews are for other readers to decide if they like the book.

[Justin]

When it comes to Goodreads there are many different sides to this question. As a few have pointed out it's not a good idea for an author to write a response to a review. It's greatly frowned upon here as some may tell you. It is especially a bad idea when you get a bad review or one star but then again if you got a 5 star rating would you really feel the need to write a response for the review? Probably not yet because its a 1 star and opinionated review on how bad they thought the book was the more likely you are going to want to chime in in defense to your book. It's better to just read the review and the rating and if your going to respons just say 'thank you kindly for reading and reviewing my book, much appreciated'. Whether or not you mean that should be kept in your own mind and not made in the comment.

Some of us like one stars and some of us don't. It's better to realize that what one person thinks another may not and it's best to just read the review and carry on your merry way. It may hurt yes but there's not much you can do about it other then hope the next person will enjoy it. If there's a build up of bad ratings and reviews maybe that then becomes a hint of realization for the author to go back and re-work the book. Or they just take it and say 'hey thats fine not everyone is going to like my book but I stick by it and that 1 star is their opinion'.

Finally,
Some people abuse the review and rating system on here. I don't mean the ones who are highly opinionated and leave a long hate review on how they hate the book but rather in another sense. The people who have never read the book, you know have never read the book and have no intention of reading the book yet they mark it ones star, leave a review on it and put it in a folder saying not to read or whatever created name makes them giggle. This speaks for itself really and just reading that you get the just of what it means. I did this once and while it was in fun I regret it. If you have no intent of reading a book you should not be aloud to rate it 1 star or whatever other star and review it, although people will be free to express themselves however and this is one way.

[Rion]

Elaine wrote: "J.E. wrote: "This is simple and I touched on it in another thread here. Readers take the time to write a review, I should take the time to acknowledge it.

Years ago I was involved in a thread on ..."

I think you may be letting the vocal minority speak for the majority. From what I have read in various threads and in my own personal opinion, most readers enjoy hearing from authors, and a simple thank you would not be received negatively.

[J.E.]

It's interesting to read your responses. For myself, I don't think it would be productive to contact each reviewer no matter how many stars they give.

Yes, I meant the Like button when I put 'like'. Sorry if that was confusing, I'm still learning the ropes here.

By clicking like, I feel - in my perspective - that I am thanking the reviewer for their time. Maybe I should place that one my profile or blog so readers that would feel uncomfortable could know to avoid my weird idea of validation?

Unless someone contacts me directly, you sure as hell won't see me replying to a review. I've seen some nasty things happen online. Nope. No way. Nuh uh. Nor would I go arguing with a reviewer or try to change their mind.

I'm a little crazy, but not stupid. :-D

[Laurie (barksbooks)]

Some readers enjoy interacting with a writer but others find it intrusive and stifling. So, if you don't know the reader, why take the chance and leave a comment on their review?

OTOH, if a reader sends you a personal message and you are too busy to respond you probably just lost a reader.

[Angel]

I think feedback is so important. I don't 'like' low-star reviews, but I do send a message thanking the reader for taking the time to read my book and express their opinion. The only time I would communicate with a reader who left a negative review is if I feel that a spoiler alert should be provided. I would never try to convince someone to change their opinion. Besides, quite often, low-star ratings actually get other readers curious, especially when the vast majority of reviews are positive.

As far as personal messages from readers--why wouldn't an author respond? It would be foolish not to--even a "generic" response would be better than nothing. I, personally, welcome comments, questions and suggestions and always take care to make my readers know how much I appreciate them.

[Lisa]

Lisa Marie Gabriel

To be honest, I would like to have the luxury of a few more reads and reviews of any star number, but I don't yet as I am quite new to all this. I do have a view on replying to reviews though.

I have heard it suggested that interacting with a reviewer who leaves a good review can be considered "stalky". I wouldn't think so, but people can be quite paranoid on the internet, so I would not interact. If a review is bad you can be perceived as a troll if you disagree. I really don't think we are encouraged to do either. I think Goodreads wants authors to interact generally as readers with readers but that reviews are for other readers, not us.

If someone gives you a bad review, it might be because of something you can correct in the editing or because they simply didn't enjoy the genre, the ending, the story, the style - all of which are strictly personal value judgments rather than literary critique. If somebody hates chocolate, for instance, no amount of arguing will change their mind and make them eat it. Authors just have to respect other people may think differently!

[Misfit]

Lisa wrote: "Lisa Marie Gabriel

To be honest, I would like to have the luxury of a few more reads and reviews of any star number, but I don't yet as I am quite new to all this. I do have a vie..."

Note: While I'm replying to some of Lisa's comments, when I say your below, I'm speaking to all authors in this thread and they aren't directed towards her. Just want to make that perfectly clear.

I also apologize for straying into tl;dr territory :)

Just my own opinion of course, but authors should never ever comment on reviews, even positive ones. I've seen that happen where every new glowing review on Amazon gets a thank you from the author. Then I come along reading the book and it's not going well and I know I'll leave a not-so-positive review. Since it's obvious the author is watching for every new review to come up, I have to wonder if I'm going to get a backlash from the author. If I see that happening, and since I'm tired of drama (and have plenty of books to read that don't come with drama), I'll put that book aside and move on.

Edit: I think I confused this thread with another in this group I was lurking on. Comments below are a bit OT, so I'll stick them behind spoiler tags. (view spoiler)[

Same if I see an author on FB gushing and posting a link to every new five star review. I know one blogger who took notice of an author doing that, and then when she only gave him/her three stars (and worked very, very hard on that review to keep it as positive as possible under the circumstances), all she saw from the author on FB was crickets. Same if I see authors sniveling on FB over Amazon reviews. Sure, they're *cough* behaving *cough* themselves and not naming names and/or linking to the review, but it's obvious they're watching every one. I won't go out and shelve an author DNR for that, but there's at least one I used to recommend frequently to fellow readers, but after seeing one too many whiny and/or spammy FB posts, myself and another friend have stopped recommending him/her to reading friends.

There was a group read going on a few years ago in one of my groups and the author kept jumping into the discussion to the point some of us took the discussion to a private group so that we could discuss the book openly. Not that we hated the book at all, but there were some plot issues we wanted to debate freely without feeling like the author was looking over our shoulder.

There's another author that gets all excited over have his/her book on a list here and drums up voting support at Facebook and Twitter to get his/her book to the #1 spot on the list.

And note, the examples I've noted above were all traditionally published authors with agents and publishing houses behind them.

As for how to promote - and this is coming from a reader's perspective - don't spam, ever. I do have author friends here at GR, FB and one other reader forum I participate in. They aren't my friends because they are authors though, they are my friends because they are here as readers and participate here as readers - there's a difference than just popping in here and shoving your book into everyone's face.

Three authors I like to use as examples (in no particular order) are Sharon Penman, Elizabeth Chadwick and Susan Higginbotham. They are on FB, Twitter and GR, but you rarely see shameless book promotion. When I see them on the FB feeds, they're talking about some research or historical tidbits, or a brief quote from their current WIP. Or taking about their favorite pets and sharing pictures. They come here to GR and act as readers, and when readers have questions about historical details, they'll take the time to pop in and share what they know and hopefully answer our questions. Susan H actually self-published her first novel, and through her blog, website and reader sites gained a following and it sold through word of mouth. (hide spoiler)]

I hope this helps. If not, just put me on ignore :)

[Reed]

I've seen a few readers here on GR mention that they find an author commenting on their review to be quite off putting, whether the review was good or bad. There is also the issue of possible retaliatory action from people who take offense to the perceived intrusion. It's the better part of valor to just leave the reviews be.

[Andrew]

My rule of thumb is that if a reader gets in touch directly - via email, blog comment, tweet or FB message, I'll reply (though not always particularly quickly. Sue me). If they post a review, I may tweet a link to it, but I won't respond directly because I don't feel that's appropriate.

I've not had a bad review yet, but the law of averages dictates someone somewhere must be brewing a stinker for me. When it happens (and it really is a matter of when, I'm sure), I like to think I'll keep a dignified silence on the subject. If the one star review in question is a careful and considered critique, well, each to their own. If it's a mad foamy rant, then I rather feel that sort of thing says a lot more about the reviewer than it does the reviewee.

[J.E.]

I find commenting on the reviews to be unprofessional, good or bad. There's a lot of authors that reply like crazy on Amazon. That's insane, IMHO.

I wouldn't touch the like button on a review that had a personal attack or the like in it. Hopefully I'll never get one of those.

This group for reader and author interaction is probably one of the best things for us all. Maybe I'm naive. Haven't read through any ranty threads, but as with replying to reviews, replying to any personal attacks here or putting down readers here is nuts.

I don't understand it when authors behave badly.

[Misfit]

BTW, not just commenting, but down-voting reviews on Amazon and/or rallying the troops to down vote critical reviews just to get the review off the main page is unsportsmanlike . Most regular Amazon users can spot this a mile away, especially when all the gushy reviews are getting the same number of helpful votes as the critical reviews receive not helpful votes. It's even more noticeable when a critical review receives 10-20 negative votes within minutes of a review being posted.

And never, ever go on FB and ask your fans to rally 'round the flag and downvote critical reviews. Yes, it's been done and yes, someone will spot it and word gets around.

[Andrew]

Everyone behaves badly, now and then. But if you do it on the internet, it's preserved for all eternity...

[J.E.]

Misfit said: BTW, not just commenting, but down-voting reviews on Amazon and/or rallying the troops to down vote critical reviews just to get the review off the main page is unsportsmanlike...

What can authors do to discourage friends or fans from doing that? Other than asking them to not downvote? After reading this I checked the reviews over on Amazon and saw the most critical had 1 out of 3 people saying it was helpful. That worries me now.

Recently I learned about 'street teams'. While it's kind of cool to think of having a fan club, from what I read these street teams could damage an author's reputation.

It's almost like having well meaning buddies that constantly click on your Adsense. They think they're helping, but you end up losing everything due to fraud. Behavior you weren't aware of. Unless, like you said, the authors are asking their fans to do it.

Ugh. This sort of thing makes me think of just becoming even more of a hermit. Just using the internet to submit the work, then move on to the next.

[Elaine]

Rion wrote: "Elaine wrote: "J.E. wrote: "This is simple and I touched on it in another thread here. Readers take the time to write a review, I should take the time to acknowledge it.

Years ago I was involved ..."

Yes, I thought so too Rion. This is just the advice my publisher gave me. I thought fans would like to hear back. Especially when it's a Read 2 Review in a Goodreads group. But I've actually found that when I do make a comment or like a post, it generally goes ignored and unanswered, even if I have a question. I think it's an individual thing.

[Misfit]

J.E. wrote: "Misfit said: BTW, not just commenting, but down-voting reviews on Amazon and/or rallying the troops to down vote critical reviews just to get the review off the main page is unsportsmanlike...

Wh..."

I hadn't thought about that much, but there are times when a certain someone (who usually looks very sock-puppetish) gets over eager over negative reviews. Usually someone comes around and lets the person know they're not doing the author any favors.

Just trust readers to be savvy enough in this day and age to know what counts when making a reading decision and what doesn't. Honestly, I've got a friend here who has decided to read a book after I gave it a scathing review, said it sounded like something she'd like.

And I have seen authors going on FB asking their fans to go and up vote and/or down vote reviews on Amazon. I don't think many realize that negative votes can and do impact reviewer ranking there. I know it shouldn't matter, but it was kinda cool to make the top 500 for a while, only to get beaten back from a massive vote campaign.

Oh snap, cancel that about the calling out the troops on FB. He/She ended up claiming his/her account had been hacked. My bad.

/sarcasm

[Stan]

I take the time to respond to any reader or reviewer who emails or pm me. I used to mention the next book in the series to reviewers at Amazon who gave the first book a 5 star rating, but I stopped doing that when Amazon started mentioning the book. I don't respond to reviewers here at Goodreads, because the culture is a little different, but I would be happy to respond to any reader or reviewer who has a comment, positive or negative.

[Mary]

Justin wrote: "When it comes to Goodreads there are many different sides to this question. As a few have pointed out it's not a good idea for an author to write a response to a review. It's greatly frowned upon h..."

I agree. But we've already discussed this on another board... Thanks for mentioning it. I agree that it's immature and hurtful. I also think the negative attention can garner a few readers. For instance: The other day while I was waiting for a prescription at a pharmacy I picked up "50 Shades" to see if it was as bad as everyone said. If people hadn't said so many bad things about it, I might have never noticed. My take away was that the prose and the voice were a bit weird, but it wasn't the literary Holocaust I was led to believe it was. I probably still won't buy it, but the negative reviews made me want to look.

[Kelly]

I don't like to comment on anything if I don't know the reviewer. I think it messes with the organic process of the reader and their book.

[Justin]

Your right Mary, it had been mentioned before but I wanted a more understanding goodreads members to get the just of it.

[Mary]

No I'm glad you mentioned it. I just didn't want to drag my own dead horse over here and start flogging it some more. (Smiles)

[J.E.]

Misfit wrote: "J.E. wrote: "Misfit said: BTW, not just commenting, but down-voting reviews on Amazon and/or rallying the troops to down vote critical reviews just to get the review off the main page is unsportsma..."


That bit at the end reminds me of that bakery fiasco. Crazy Amy? That chef walked out on them on reality TV, then the owners went ballistic on social media. Claimed they were hacked afterward.

[Misfit]

J.E. wrote: "Misfit wrote: "J.E. wrote: "Misfit said: BTW, not just commenting, but down-voting reviews on Amazon and/or rallying the troops to down vote critical reviews just to get the review off the main pag..."

That was cray-cray at its finest.

Honestly, critical reviews can be so helpful. What floats my boat in a book may not float the next person's boat. I like historical romances with a good solid historical feel to them, and not wall paper. Most of today's readers like those faux regencies with lots of sex. Look at all these New Adult crap romances like 50 Shades that are so popular despite horrible writing and bad grammar.

Sometimes the cover and/or book blurb don't properly represent what the story is about, thus misleading readers - and I'm thinking of older published books and not picking on the self-pubbers here. Without reviews, a reader might pick a book that is ill-suited to their individual tastes and give a critical review expressing his/her thoughts.

I recently finished a book that a reader might have chosen based on the older cover alone and expected a romance, when it was based on real events (and very gruesome events).

A critical review, lower rating for the most part is just a blip in the reading universe, quickly forgotten unless someone deems to make comments somewhere in internet-land and then it becomes drama.

[Ashlee]

I haven't written a book yet (I'm thinking about it) but as a reader, I don't write a review with the intent that the author is going to read it and then respond to me. If I wanted a response, I'd find the author's e-mail or some other means of contact. I mean, that sounds kind of creepy, but what I'm saying is if I wanted to contact an author and get a response I wouldn't write a review about it. Sure, reviews are for the author in a sense, but they're also for other readers. I don't see the reason for an author to respond to a review, whether it's a polite thank you or not. If another reader says "thank you," I can understand that because the review is a public thing meant for them to read to help them make a decision on the book. The author could probably set up a blog or something like that if they wanted to start getting personal.

I know everyone doesn't operate that way, but maybe some people out there do? But I do know that I'm not alone when I think that thanking people for reviews, whether good or bad, looks to me like the author is refreshing the Amazon page every couple of minutes to see if there's something new. Other reviewers have expressed that they feel that puts pressure on readers to write nice things, because they don't want to hurt the author's feelings. Or the reader might get upset that the author's helicoptering and write an intentionally bad review. It just has the feel of fishing for compliments to it, I don't like to be a part of that kind of thing.

I feel the same way when I run into an author who gets upset with readers who don't review. It just looks like they're fishing for compliments instead of just allowing the reader to make a choice to review.

[Martyn]

That's why I have my twitter and email in the heading of my blog, so readers can send me direct feedback if they so desire.

Reviews are for readers, not for the authors. Although other authors can learn from the mistakes their peers get crucified for.

[Sharon]

J.E. wrote: "This is simple and I touched on it in another thread here. Readers take the time to write a review, I should take the time to acknowledge it.

Years ago I was involved in a thread on a writing for..."

Reviews are not for us as authors. They are for other readers.

[J.E.]

I didn't think of it like that, the helicoptering.

Instead of clicking like if I see a new review, the admiring from afar is probably best. Cthulhu knows, I don't want to be a creeper.

[[deleted user]]

Is the point of, and value of, a review being missed here? First we should bear in mind that reading is a subjective experience. Those readers who do choose to write a review are doing so from their 'personal' perspective. In my opinion a review is for both readers and authors.

Readers when considering their next book will often like to know how someone else viewed it. Before all these social media, reading etc. sites observations upon a book were primarily word of mouth, except for those lucky few who's books were reviewed in newspapers and magazines.

Authors should be looking to learn. A negative review is not a bad thing in itself. We are frequently too close to our 'babies' to be objective and need input from others. I hope we are not so arrogant as to think we know it all and have always got it right.

Whether an author should or should not respond I think is partly to do with what relationship they have with the reader(s). For example, I have reviewed some books written by people I am connected with through Facebook, Twitter, Goodreads etc. We therefore have some sort of connection and I usually try and let them know when and where I will post my review of their book, even if it includes an odd negative observation. There have been no reviews of my first book but I did receive a couple of helpful observations from my contacts (I am thoroughly revising my book as a result). If I had received a negative review I would most likely go back and thank them because, as mentioned above, we all need external input.

If there is no relationship between author and reader(s) then it has to be down to the individual as to whether they respond or not. I would however agree that it is not good to constantly seek approbation.