General sci-fi round (CLOSED)

[L.N.]

Right, Alistair. I don't know what to do now? People have started picking up their books.. i'll be at work until 1, so can't do anything about it. You are going to have to have a BYE, and I will find a reader only reviewer for Barry's book.

[Steve]

I now also have Alistair Potter's Perax Frontier. All present and correct!

[L.N.]

To those of you reading my book in the rounds...it is a sequel. So, if you need a bit of background, PM me.

[H.]

I have Alistair's book (Kindle Unlimited) but need E.M's still. I've reached out to both reviewers for "Midnight to Morning"

[L.N.]

I have picked up Barry's book for my first round.

[Christina]

I've got Midnight to Morning.

[L.N.]

Jack Furnard will be stepping in as alternate for this round.

[Christina]

Does anyone know how to gift a book, so it counts as a verified purchase?

[Sarah]

I have picked Hyde's Lament: A Dark Novella

Kindly send me the review copy please

:-) Sarah

[L.N.]

Sarah wrote: "I have picked Hyde's Lament: A Dark Novella

Kindly send me the review copy please

:-) Sarah"

Christina, being in the UK we don't have the gifting facility, so I can't help you there. No worries, Sarah. you have jumped in to a round. I have PM'd you.

[Alistair]

Christina wrote: "Does anyone know how to gift a book, so it counts as a verified purchase?"

Hi Christina,

If enough round participants are tuned into the 'swings and roundabouts' idea, they just purchase the books they've been allocated to read (as long as they are not 'silly' prices) and that solves the verified purchase problem. Lots of little (relatively inexpensive) plusses to that way of doing it for reviewer and reviewed. But it's not a requirement.

Cheers, Alistair.

[L.N.]

Alistair wrote: "Christina wrote: "Does anyone know how to gift a book, so it counts as a verified purchase?"

Hi Christina,

If enough round participants are tuned into the 'swings and roundabouts' idea, they jus..."

As Alistair has pointed out, most of the books are relatively cheap to buy. The other alternative is to pick it up as KU. I know it won't be a verified purchase, but it still counts.

[L.N.]

H. wrote: "I have Alistair's book (Kindle Unlimited) but need E.M's still. I've reached out to both reviewers for "Midnight to Morning""

E.M's book is also available on KU.

[Barry]

I have a copy of Immundus to review; I'm awaiting a copy of Trust a Few.

[Barry]

I have both copies of stories to review, and I'm proceeding.

[Christopher]

Finished and reviewed Unfathomable Chance:
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
Tried to review it on Amazon but for some reason received:
"Amazon does not permit reviews from customers whose relationship with the production or seller may be perceived as bias." which is odd considering I gave it 3-stars, so it's probably better for her ave rating that it didn't work.

[Theodore]

OK!

Finished Hyde's Lament: A Dark Novella

Here are my links:
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
https://www.amazon.co.uk/review/R1EK4...
https://www.amazon.com/review/RCQPBHZ...


Cheers,
Theo

[L.N.]

Thank you for your links Theo. Enjoy your next read.

[Scott]

My review for Algorithm.... different ratings on Goodreads and Amazon to reflect the different weightings:

https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

https://www.amazon.co.uk/review/R3TVR...

https://www.amazon.com/review/R7Q97TX...

[Barry]

Here is my review for The Immundus:

Goodreads:
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

Amazon:
https://www.amazon.com/gp/customer-re...

Amazon UK:
https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/customer-...

[Alistair]

Hi all,

I notice that some reviewers are following the rating system descriptions on Goodreads and Amazon 'correctly'. At first I didn't spot the variation in descriptions and applied the Amazon system to all my reviews. Then I spotted the difference and started using the descriptions accurately. Very quickly, the advice came back from the round moderator, instructing me to make both the same, with the Amazon rating descriptions as the guide. There were a number of arguments I put forward for following the accurate descriptions, but the reasoning behind matching the star ratings was that regardless of the description, most see the three stars as a 'mid-point' in a five star rating scheme. This has become the 'norm' in people's heads, and Goodreads seems to be about the only place this is different. Following this guidance, I went back and adjusted the Goodreads ratings on my previous reviews to make them match the Amazon rating.

[Scott]

I think the reviewer should have the freedom to choose the number of stars. As pointed out, the systems are different.

Myself, I used it for "split" decisions... when a book is really halfway between stars. I use it sparingly, i.e. when I'm genuinely torn, and to prevent giving it the lower number of stars all across the board. What the moderator may not realize is that if one instructs the reviewer to give the same number of stars all across the board, the number of stars may end up lower on both systems.

[Alistair]

Hi Scott,
I was of the same mind as you. It seemed odd to almost 'ignore' the rating descriptions. But as was pointed out, regardless of the Goodreads descriptions, most judge a books performance on the 'mid-point' 3 star premise. A 'friendly' 2 star rating in Goodreads might seem OK, but many will see it as a 'negative' comment. Consider that the guidelines for the group suggest that if a book only achieves a 2 star rating, the reviewer has the option to withhold the review. Right or wrong, many bring quite raw work to the review process, using it as feedback to help with polishing (or they don't realise how raw the work is). If the rewrite is much improved, it's a bit of a millstone struggle to pull its rating average back up again if there's a 'general perception' of low ratings.

[Scott]

To each his own. Thank you.

[Alistair]

Hi folks,

Here's my review of Christopher Keene's Stuck in the Game;

https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

https://www.amazon.co.uk/review/R2ZJE...

https://www.amazon.com/review/R2CJ692...

Cheers, Alistair.

[Steve]

Hi all,

I've reviewed Scott Spotson's Life II:

https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
https://www.amazon.co.uk/review/R1QBS...
https://www.amazon.com/review/R2J0FZU....

Thanks, Scott, for an enjoyable read.

[Scott]

Thanks, Steve!

[L.N.]

For all of you who have posted your round one links...thank you. For those still reading. you have until April 2 to finish round one. Thank you all.

[Christopher]

Reviewed both books, sent the links to Theodore in a personal message.

[L.N.]

Christina wrote: "I’d like to include The Immundus by Christina Enquist. https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/3..."

Hi Christina,

When it comes to reading my book, I have a little background from the first part that might help you with this story. PM me when you need a copy.

[Jack]

Here is my review of Solar Scavengers:



Goodreads

Amazon

[H.]

Here is the review for Perax Frontier

Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/gp/customer-re...

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

[Alistair]

H. wrote: "Here is the review for Perax Frontier

Hi H, thanks for the great review. Much appreciated! :-)

However (and I'll hang my head in shame and admit to a very recent additional look at my 'enthusiastic' use of the colon and semi-colon), your comments on spelling have me confused. (That strange noise you hear coming from the screen is my teeth grinding in frustration!) I've run the manuscript through some rigorous spell checkers (Word, ProWritingAid and the Kindle file submission spell check ), and if there was still any confusion or doubt, I checked again using a range of online dictionaries: Cambridge, Collins and the Oxford English.

I'm wondering if it is the UK/US spelling variations that you are seeing? I'm sure my spelling is 99.9% correct for UK English. (Not covering words I made up myself! I always like to have a few of those. Why should Shakespeare have all the fun!)

Regarding grammar, hopefully my last 'correction iteration' will sort out most of your observations, but other variations have been commented on before. In the UK we don't use the third 'Oxford comma' in a list (unless there is a need for clarity due to an 'and pair' (E.g. Baskins and Robbins) forming the second last item in the list). There are also different hyphenation rules. Some US word pairings get hyphenated and their UK version are made into a compound word. (Some go the other way, a compound word in the US and hyphenated in the UK). And there are probably a few more grammar variations I'm not even aware of!

I've been reading UK and US novels for so long I'm usually not bothered with the variations that come with each. And in my reviews I don't 'mark down' on UK/US variations as I don't think that would be fair.

But I feel this raises a valid point. Should I be submitting different grammar and spelling versions of the same novel, depending on where it is likely to be read?

This is probably an issue experienced by other UK writers on Goodreads, so any feedback would be welcome.

Cheers, Alistair.

[Arthur]

Alistair,
I'd stick to your language. It would be as appropriate as a German writing in German, or a Swede writing in Swedish. Readers get it.

[L.N.]

I have also had this problem. I had an American reader tell me that my book was riddled with spelling mistakes, but having read it myself, I found nothing. It was the spelling of certain words that had them saying that.

[Barry]

Here is my review of Trust A Few:

Goodreads:
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

Amazon US:
https://www.amazon.com/gp/review/R1UF...

Amazon UK:
https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/customer-...

[E.M.]

Thanks, Barry! So glad you enjoyed :)

[L.N.]

Thank you for your links Barry.

[Alistair]

Arthur wrote: "Alistair,
I'd stick to your language. It would be as appropriate as a German writing in German, or a Swede writing in Swedish. Readers get it."

Hi Arthur,

'Most' readers get it, but I think there should be a little guidance regarding the different 'strains' of English that might appear here on GoodReads - it's a pretty international membership.

I can happily read through the 'gottens', 'specialized' (and all other 'z' varieties) without a blink. If I hit a word I'm not sure of, like one I encountered recently - 'wreckages' - I make an effort to look them up to see if they're OK. (Which wreckages was, to my surprise.) I really don't think it's fair to judge and review based on just your narrow 'native' experience. My only recourse is to add a response to the review, pointing out the reason for the reviewers comments, which I don't think is a very positive approach. More input from the Moderators please!

Cheers, Alistair.

[L.N.]

You need to start PMing me about matters such as these, Alistair, as this is a review thread and not a debate thread...thank you in advance. Long comments like the ones you are leaving take up a fair chunk.of space. PM's in future, please...then we can discuss in depth.

[Scott]

Actually I like the "debates" in discussion groups. It's more like explaining and revealing different methods of writing, in a group of authors. Otherwise review groups are sometimes a boring list of links to reviews one after the other. (the links are boring, not the reviews themselves).

If the discussions were hidden some of us may not learn as much in a sharing environment. Although if the discussions were heated and combative, and names were called, then they could be too distracting, but I don't think this topic has gone off the rails.

Just my two cents (maybe increase to two dollars due to inflation).

[L.N.]

Okay, but I don't want it bogged down by debates. I will start deleting if they get too much.

[E.M.]

My reviews for


The Mindruler

Goodreads
Zon UK
Zon US

and Midnight to Morning

Goodreads
Zon UK
Zon US

[L.N.]

Thank you fror your links E.M. See you in another round soon.

[Steve]

Thanks, E.M. Points noted!

[L.N.]

Here are my first round links for Barry Marshall's book: Solar Scavengers.

https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
https://www.amazon.com/gp/customer-re...
https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/customer-...

[L.N.]

In addition to what Alistair was saying about the English language in books. American English and standard English are the same, in principle...but there are subtle changes to the spelling of certain words. You need to remove the need to question spelling in certain books. I can't think of anything more annoying than someone telling me I have spelt something incorrectly, when I clearly haven't. Thank you for your cooperation in this matter.

[Steve]

You can also try looking up a doubtful word in an online dictionary of the other version of English! There are plenty of such dictionaries. If one or two words turn out to be correct in the 'other' English, forget about making any spelling comments.

[L.N.]

Steve wrote: "You can also try looking up a doubtful word in an online dictionary of the other version of English! There are plenty of such dictionaries. If one or two words turn out to be correct in the 'other'..."

This is also good.

[H.]

Alistair wrote: "H. wrote: "Here is the review for Perax Frontier

Hi H, thanks for the great review. Much appreciated! :-)

However (and I'll hang my head in shame and admit to a very recent additional look at my ..."

I am going to rewrite part of it. I'm married into a family of Welsh immigrants and my father in law has published over a dozen books now. I'm used to reading British English. I'll rephrase. Sorry for the drama on my first go here. If it was going to be a screw up it would, of course, come from me.