Review Session 1 – COMPLETED

[Justin]

That was a real good and succinct review Glen. Your analysis and breakdown of the novel was excellent and easy to read. I look forward to your review for my own!

[Glen]

Thanks. I tried to be fair and balanced.

[Stoney]

Soooo... I'm just going to let you all know that I am WAY behind on my reading. I will get them done but I'm gonna need more time.

Sorry. :(

[Steve]

Stoney wrote: "Soooo... I'm just going to let you all know that I am WAY behind on my reading. I will get them done but I'm gonna need more time.

Sorry. :("

So, I guess that means you won't get your round 1 review done by May 8th?

The other review groups are quite strict on this, with penalties like withdrawal of your reviews if you fail to make a deadline. You can see the reasoning behind this: failure to complete within the time-frame can easily spread and become a habit within the group, and then people aren't getting what they came for and things start deteriorating.

However I think here we can make allowances—you did say from the start that you were behind. But I do hope you'll get both reviews done by the final deadline (June 8th).

[Stoney]

Sorry, I didn’t realize it was a hard deadline. I’ll see what I can do to speed it up.

[Ann]

Hi Steve,
I just finished Briidgett Powers book and i wrote a review on Goodreads and Amazon US. From what i understand, the US will automatically go on the UK? Also, as far as Goodreads, i wrote the review in my profile of my list of books. Is that proper, or is there another place im supposed to put it?

And btw, that was the read my soul was looking for! A big thank you to Bridgett for writing that book!

[Bridgett]

Thank you, Ann! That truly blesses me. And thanks also for the wonderful review.

[Steve]

Ann wrote: "Hi Steve, i wrote a review on Goodreads and Amazon US. From what i understand, the US will automatically go on the UK? Also, as far as Goodreads, i wrote the review in my profile of my list of books. Is that proper, or is there another place im supposed to put it?"

Great, thanks Ann. I think that automatic copy of a .com review to .co.uk was a one-off fluke: I haven't heard of it happening again. So what you've done is fine—we can only do what Amazon permits us to!

The one other thing that needs to be done is to post links to your reviews in this thread. I'll just copy here what I wrote earlier:

For Goodreads reviews, find the book on your "My Books" tab, and click on the small View link (to the far right). That takes you to your review. Copy the address at the top of the page, and paste it into your post in this thread.

For Amazon reviews (on either the US or UK site), after adding the review wait till you receive an email thanking you for your review. Towards the bottom of the email you'll see a link See your full review. Click on this, and you'll come to a page showing just this one review (this is better than the book page where it's hidden among many other things). Again, copy the address at the top and paste it into your post in this thread.

Oh, and it helps if you mention the name of the book as well.

Thanks!

[Steve]

Stoney wrote: "Sorry, I didn’t realize it was a hard deadline. I’ll see what I can do to speed it up."

Thanks Stoney. If you can't make the round 1 deadline, that's OK.

[Ann]

Bridgett wrote: "Thank you, Ann! That truly blesses me. And thanks also for the wonderful review."

My pleasure! Your story blessed me!

[Ann]

Steve wrote: "Ann wrote: "Hi Steve, i wrote a review on Goodreads and Amazon US. From what i understand, the US will automatically go on the UK? Also, as far as Goodreads, i wrote the review in my profile of my ..."

Thanks Steve for the tip, I actually wasn't able to do it on my phone, but on my tablet I was able to figure it out.

Here is the Goodreads link for Keeper of Shadows, by Bridgett Powers:

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

I might have to do another post for the next one. I'm a bit techy-delayed, but I try real hard!

[Ann]

I promise I'll get better at this! Here is my amazon review link for Keeper of Shadows by Bridgett Powers:

https://www.amazon.com/review/R30PWFU...

Thanks for your patience, everyone!

[M.H.]

Hi Steve,
Where would you like us to post our book reviews? I put mine in Goodreads and on my blog. Do you want us to post a link here?
Thanks,
Marie

[Steve]

Ann wrote: "I promise I'll get better at this! Here is my amazon review link for Keeper of Shadows by Bridgett Powers:…"

You've got it Ann, no need for improvement! Thanks for your reviews.

[Steve]

Ann wrote: "And btw, that was the read my soul was looking for! A big thank you to Bridgett for writing that book! ..."

Now you've got me wanting to read Bridgett's book, too! That's great, that's what we're all about here.

[Steve]

M.H. wrote: "Hi Steve,
Where would you like us to post our book reviews? I put mine in Goodreads and on my blog. Do you want us to post a link here?

Hi M.H.,
It would be good if you could also post your review on one of the Amazon sites; and then give us links to all 3 reviews here in this thread, mentioning the name of the book. If you're not sure how to do that, see my post a bit higher up—message 108.
Thanks!

[M.H.]

Here is my review: https://mhelrich.wordpress.com/2018/0...

[Justin]

Don't forget to also post the review to goodreads and Amazon and rate them there too

[Glen]

Here are my reviews for Kingdom Come by Justin Coogle:

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

https://glenchen.com/2018/04/27/revie...

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

[Justin]

Glen wrote: "Here are my reviews for Kingdom Come by Justin Coogle:

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

https://glenchen.com/2018/04/27/revie...

https://www.amazon.c..."

Thanks for the review Glen. Appreciate it

[Steve]

So, Glen, that's you for this session! Thanks so much for taking part, and for your excellent, thoughtful reviews.

[Glen]

My pleasure. I'm enjoying the chance to read other people's reviews and get acquainted with books I otherwise might not have known about. Thanks for the opportunity.

[Brannon]

Here are my reviews for Kingdom Come by Justin Coogle:

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

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

I cannot seem to get my review to post on Amazon UK - anyone have any ideas?

[Steve]

Thanks, Brannon. No, you won't be able to post a review on other Amazon sites unless you have spent something like $50 on that site within the last year. Amazon have tightened up their requirements, and people throughout the GR reviewing community have been discovering this.

So we go with the flow, and it's fine to post your review on whichever Amazon site works for you.

[Brannon]

Roger that - thanks, Steve. I'm in the US, and it's posted there, so we should be good. :)

Thanks!

[Steve]

A hundred percent, as we say in South Africa!

[Justin]

Thanks for the review Brannon, appreciate the earnest critique

[Brannon]

My pleasure, Justin. If you'd like, I can type up my findings and send them over to you. It might help to hand them to the editor if you decide to make another editorial pass at the doc. :D

[Justin]

Yeah i'd really appreciate that Brannon. Actually your review finally convinced me to hire ANOTHER editor just to have another good professional comb-through. It's like the 1 key negative everyone keeps noting on my novel - the proofreading. So its about time I just address it with a professional.

[Brannon]

Sounds good. I'll try and get the file to you, but it might be the weekend before I'll have the bandwidth. Regarding the professional edit, you'll never, ever regret it, so long as you hire a decent one. :) I know a couple - let me know if you need some recommendations.

[Guy]

Here is my review of Gryphendale by Laura Lee:

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

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

[Lara]

Guy wrote: "Here is my review of Gryphendale by Laura Lee:

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

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

Thank you so much for your review!

[Steve]

I'm happy to add my reviews of Glen Robinson's gripping thriller The Key of Solomon on Goodreads and Amazon UK (sadly I couldn’t post it on amazon.com, thanks to their recent change in policy):

https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
https://www.amazon.co.uk/review/R3LOJ...

I've given different ratings in the two reviews, reflecting the different values of the stars on GR and Amazon.

[Steve]

It seems that M.H. doesn't get instant notifications of posts in this thread; and I've messaged her without getting a reply. I'm therefore posting here on her behalf the links to her Goodreads and Amazon reviews (with ratings) of C.S. Wachter's The Sorcerer's Bane:

https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
https://www.amazon.com/gp/review/R1SC...

[Steve]

Well, folks, we're approaching the end of Round 1 of this session, and we have quite a few great reviews to show for it already. Thank you to all who've contributed so far!

Just a reminder: there are 5 days left to the end of this round, and we still have 8 of our 18 participants to hear from. So out with your reading glasses and pens (or typing fingers!), and let's hear what you think!

Blessings,

—Steve.

[Glen]

Steve wrote: "I'm happy to add my reviews of Glen Robinson's gripping thriller The Key of Solomon on Goodreads and Amazon UK (sadly I couldn’t post it on amazon.com, thanks to their recent change in policy):

ht..."

Thanks for the great review, Steve. I'm not above learning where I need to improve in my writing, so all the observations--positive and negative--were sincerely appreciated!

[Steve]

Glad you find them helpful, Glen. I usually make notes in my Kindle reader as I go along, to jog my memory when I write the review; but I have a lot more detail there. If you like, I can export the notes on your book as an HTML file and send it to you.

[Glen]

When you have time, Steve. Thanks.

[M.H.]

Hello everyone!
Here are my review for The Key of Solomon:
https://mhelrich.wordpress.com/2018/0...
Amazon should be up soon!
-Marie

[Glen]

Thanks, Marie! I appreciate the kind words.

[Kenyon]

I've noticed a couple people giving different star values on different sites. As both sites use 5 stars, I'm not sure I understanding the difference in ratings.

[Steve]

Kenyon wrote: "I've noticed a couple people giving different star values on different sites. As both sites use 5 stars, I'm not sure I understanding the difference in ratings."

This is an important question—thanks for asking, Kenyon.

The thing is, the stars you assign to rate a book have different meanings on Goodreads and on Amazon. This is most clearly seen with 3 stars. If you hover your mouse over a 3-star rating on GR, you'll see that it says "liked it". So on GR, 3 stars is a positive rating. But on Amazon, 3 stars is an average: i.e., you neither liked nor disliked the book. Which translates into a negative. If you couldn’t decide whether or not you liked the book, why should a reader buy it?

So you have to be very sure before you assign a 3-star rating on Amazon. And it goes without saying that lower ratings are even more damaging.

As for 4 and 5 stars, on GR they mean "really liked it" and "it was amazing"; whereas on Amazon 4 stars means "I like it" and 5 means "I love it". As you can see, the GR ratings have values one star higher than the Amazon ones. That's why when I'm doing both a GR and an Amazon review of the same book, I sometimes go one star higher on Amazon so as not to penalise the author unnecessarily.

There's a good summary of the 2 sets of star values here: https://rosepointpublishing.com/2017/....

There's another excellent post here: https://teylarachelbranton.com/review..., that shows graphically how lower ratings on Amazon can adversely affect an author. Good reading for reviewers!

The moral of the story is: Be honest, but be very sure before giving an author less than 4 stars on Amazon.

[Glen]

Good information to know, Steve. Thanks for the explanation.

[Kenyon]

Steve wrote: "Kenyon wrote: "I've noticed a couple people giving different star values on different sites. As both sites use 5 stars, I'm not sure I understanding the difference in ratings."

This is an importan..."

Thank you! I don't think I had ever considered the differences.

[C.S.]

I've given different ratings because of what you've explained. Thanks for making this clear.

[Steve]

Glen wrote: "Good information to know, Steve. Thanks for the explanation."

Yes, it came as quite an eye-opener to me when I first read it. The stars we wield as reviewers can have powerful, unintended effects if we're not careful!

[Steve]

C.S. wrote: "I've given different ratings because of what you've explained. Thanks for making this clear."

Glad I got in there in time, C.S.!

[Kenyon]

Below are the links to my reviews. I had to use my wife's Amazon account because I (apparently) don't purchase enough on mine. It also wouldn't allow me to post on Amazon UK on either ID. Sorry.

https://www.amazon.com/review/create-...

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

[Steve]

Thanks, Kenyon—also to your wife for making the Amazon US review possible! We know how things are these days with Amazon, so no problem that you couldn’t post to Amazon UK.

Just a couple of small requests: could you edit your post above to add the name of the author and book you were reviewing? It just helps those of us wanting to follow the reviews. Also, the Amazon US link you've given must somehow be to the 'Write a review' page, because as a UK customer I can't access it. But I did find the review by looking up the book, etc. Would you mind looking back in this thread to message 108, where I describe how to find a link that goes direct to the review itself? It would be great if you could replace the current link with that one.

Thanks!

[Sean]

Here are my reviews for Steve Pillinger's THE MINDRULER.

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

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