UK Amazon Kindle Forum discussion
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Your opinion please. Is this ethical?
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Alicia wrote: "No one is obliged to leave a review OR a rating, but I feel kindly toward those who do."Me too.
Like you say, it is the least worst method.
Patti (baconater) wrote: "Actually, there is a star rating thing on kindle that comes up when you finish a book. I use it all the time."Is there?
Isn't technology wonderful.
I think I tried to use it back when I first Kindled and it didn't work, so I stopped trying it.
I'll give it another go next time.
David wrote: "I suppose the problem is that there is no real incentive for people to leave reviews, and unless you enjoy writing them they are a pain in the [insert portion of anatomy here] to write and upload...."
Yes, you are right, David. The lower % is for the book with the higher number of reviews and it does sell better than the later book.
I took the number of sales/borrows from publication date until the date when it became difficult to work out how many borrows there are, so it should be reasonably accurate. I shan't attempt to monitor it now that the number of borrows is not so clear.
My US ratings are lower than my UK ratings but I sell more in the US than in the UK. However, two low ratings and reviews in the US are from people who have not had their purchases verified.
We authors could spend so much time pondering and agonizing so I shall discipline myself to ignore such things. So there!
Anna wrote: "We authors could spend so much time pondering and agonizing so I shall discipline myself to ignore such things. So there!"A wise move.
Surely, if an author can't write his or her own emails, he or she shouldn't be an author.
Patti (baconater) wrote: "Yep, it shows on Amazon."Are you sure? I read somewhere recently that the star rating that customers are asked for by Email doesn't show, only the ratings of those who have actually written reviews. If that's correct, it means that Amazon have data on the customer reaction to books that authors and readers do not have, and that data comes only from customers and can't easily be fixed. One reason they might want this separate data is to see if a significant difference appears in the average star ratings on a book, which might help them identify those who are being unethical with the review system. If so, good luck to them, I say!
David wrote: "Patti (baconater) wrote: "Actually, there is a star rating thing on kindle that comes up when you finish a book. I use it all the time."Is there?
Isn't technology wonderful.
I think I tried to ..."
Yes and I'd bet a lot of the really short reviews are from folks doing exactly that.
Robert wrote: "Patti (baconater) wrote: "Yep, it shows on Amazon."Are you sure? I read somewhere recently that the star rating that customers are asked for by Email doesn't show, only the ratings of those who h..."
Dunno if it shows publicly but if I look through my books on manage my kindle, the books I've read show the ratings I've given them.
I think they just show for you, Patti. They may also give Amazon an idea of what new books to shove in front of your face based on previous ratings, too. Suspicious? Moi?
I think you can make them public, if you choose to.
There's a little-known site that collates all the public comments that people make from within their Kindles:https://kindle.amazon.com/
(I thought it also collated all the ratings made from Kindles, but looking at it now, I may have remembered that wrong.)
I've just taken a look at that site, thanks, Rosen. Odd - there are three books on there that I would never have downloaded. One is in Chinese and two are in German.I clicked the link to the Chinese book and it has been removed, I think. But the reviews remain and one reviewer said he couldn't seem to remove the book and he'd certainly not ordered it.
Interesting... It's not on my Kindle.
I think the thing with reviews and giving freebies/read for review books or asking people to review is that it's fine, as long as you accept whatever review you get. They might not like the review but as long as the author understands that everyone likes different things and might not like their book. The moment the author demands 5 star reviews (or 4 stars etc) or acts unfairly and unprofessionally towards those who give lower ratings, it becomes unethical behaviour.
It's interesting how when the question "is this ethical" comes up, the answer is almost always "no".
Quite! If you have to ask, you really know...
Ethan wrote: "It's interesting how when the question "is this ethical" comes up, the answer is almost always "no"."Kath wrote: "If you have to ask, you really know...
I think this is partly because they see other authors doing it - offering to trade reviews, or buying reviews - and they want those reviews.
I have been more active on Goodreads since my book came out (Oct. 29, 2015), and I've already received five or six offers which blatantly or subtly offer me reviews for money. I've reported them here - but one at least popped right back up. I'm not going to pay for reviews - so I will have to wait for reviews to come in naturally - and it's going very slowly, and that's the nature of the beast.
Meanwhile, I'm deep into revising Book 2 of the trilogy. That's what will eventually get me more readers (people who finish Book 1 often say they can't wait for more).
I could buy reviews - but even if it got me more visibility, and more genuine readers, it would leave a very bad taste in my mouth. I'm of an age where that matters. A lot.
Oh, not fair! I've been reviewing for years and nobody's offered to pay me! Then I started writing and nobody's offered to sell me a review. I'd enjoy telling them how unethical it is :)
Kath wrote: "Oh, not fair! I've been reviewing for years and nobody's offered to pay me! Then I started writing and nobody's offered to sell me a review. I'd enjoy telling them how unethical it is :)"I saved all those offers, if you'd like them - I can easily forward the emails.
The poster asked for an opinion - that was mine.
I would never tell someone else what to do - but there can be repercussions later if you're found out (with the readers, and possibly the places you post the reviews). Just because I don't approve of a business practice (and that's what it is) doesn't mean I think my opinion is the only right one and everyone should do what I say - that's a little arrogant, and is too common on the webs already.
If I find out someone has done that, I don't buy their books. Others don't care. Some more radical will take to the internet and make all kinds of threats - the world online can be a very uncivil place.
I have had one 'private message' through Goodreads which didn't specifically ask for payment for a review.It asked for payment to push my book to the front of the queue "because they have so many books coming in to be reviewed."
I've noticed that this 'pay to jump the queue' is quite a popular approach with some sites and some individuals.
Still stinks
This is all quite interesting.So far, all I've had are people asking for free copies of my book in exchange for promising to eventually post a review.
I'm always happy to give copies of my books to people that ask for a review copy, although I always ask them first where they are going to post the review, and to let me know when they've done it (weeds out some of the people that just wanted a freebie. There's still a large proportion never post the review though.)
Tim wrote: "I'm always happy to give copies of my books to people that ask for a review copy, although I always ask them first where they are going to post the review, and to let me know when they've done it (..."Ditto. Too be fair, PC is long - 482 pages in trade paperback, 990 KENP - so I think there are people out there who are not finished reading, who, now after the holidays, might get back to it and write the reviews when they finish. That's the hope, anyway - and you can't force anyone to review - and probably shouldn't even nag.
But 1) it allows those who are passionate pro or con a particular book to say so and why, and 2) how else are new authors who happen to be good going to rise above writers who are not as 'good'?
I like to look at a few reviews of each kind, and prefer those where the reviewer gave a reason for an opinion. But some people prefer to leave a quick star rating, and others don't want to participate in the system at all.
No one is obliged to leave a review OR a rating, but I feel kindly toward those who do.