Importance of Reviews

[Robert]

I must be missing something.

I am looking at the list of Goodread's popular science fiction for 2015, the ones you can vote for.

Then I looked searched for the best selling science fiction stories of 2015. Looking for numbers. The top results were mostly Amazon, so I thought, that would show the numbers.

I saw books that had very few ratings but were number 1 or in the top whatever of Amazon's lists.

How are people selling all these books and getting few reviews. Some reviews did have 50 to 90 likes for one review, or at least found it helpful.

[Christina]

For the same reason you'll see books that have hundreds of reviews and are not selling: some people seek reviews, others do not. Reviews are a tool that some find helpful, but ultimately, they do not sell books.

[[deleted user]]

True. My first book sold very slowly, even though it had several good reviews. A year later, my second book caught up and passed it within two months after it was out, almost double the sales of the first, without a single review. It still has no reviews, just three ratings.

[Martin]

Amazon Reviews feed their algorithms. Verified purchase reviews get you linked,"People who bought this book also bought..."

[Christina]

Martin wrote: "Amazon Reviews feed their algorithms. Verified purchase reviews get you linked,"People who bought this book also bought...""

Nope. People buying your book along with other people's book gets you on also bought lists.

[Andrew]

Perhaps it's because we have all become rightly suspicious of reviews. I have bought books on the basis of 5 and 4 star reviews and then found them to be amateurish rubbish. Other things maybe become relevant to the reader, like the cover 'blurb' or being able to 'look inside', or even the title, which attracts their interest initially. But it it's still often a mystery why some books sell and others don't. If I knew the answer I'd be a millionaire writer!

[Martin]

Christina wrote: "Martin wrote: "Amazon Reviews feed their algorithms. Verified purchase reviews get you linked,"People who bought this book also bought...""

Nope. People buying your book along with other people's ..."

Christina, I am talking about "Verified Purchase" reviews. Amazon weighs them heavier in their algorithms. Especially 5 star reviews. It is the foundation of the scandle regarding paid reviews. Gaming the system.

[Richard]

The story in the news today is the new physical bookstore Amazon has opened, somewhere in silicon bay. They are saying criteria for inclusion is 4-star average on reviews and some unspecified number of sales. How long until an "as seen in the Amazon bookstore" sticker shows up on covers?

[Robert]

I bet they have already designed the stickers.

[[deleted user]]

Good honest reviews are always helpful in a number of ways, but dishonest ones are nothing but a pain which only lowers your rating falsely, let alone the crude remarks that some put on. Amazon are not the quickest at dealing with them either.