All things about 'Reader's Favorite Reviews,' with Paul

[Graeme]

One of our members (Paul) is associated with Reader's Favorite Reviews. This is a thread dedicated to that site and Paul may well be able to help guide us through it.

Cheers Graeme

[Guy]

I recently paid for three Reader's Favorite reviews. While I was pleased with the reviews, which were all 5-star, I don't have a sense yet on whether Reader's Favorite reviews impact sales.

I copied the reviews to my website and Facebook page, but unsure if I am allowed to reproduce here and how.

I am curious to the experience of others with regard to paid reviews from Reader's Favorite.

Guy MorrisSWARM: Artificial Intelligence Decodes End Time Prophecies

[Graeme]

Hi Gary. I used them once as well. I reference the review on my product landing page for my first book.

[Paul]

Graeme wrote: "One of our members (Paul) is associated with Reader's Favorite Reviews. This is a thread dedicated to that site and Paul may well be able to help guide us through it.

Cheers Graeme"

I can speak to the experience of Readers' Favorite Reviews as both an author and a reviewer. I have reviewed several dozen novels for RFR and I have had five novels reviewed by RFR reviewers--four of them were five stars and one was a four star. Keep in mind that RFR only posts reviews if they are 4- or 5-stars. No 3-star or under reviews get posted. I generally give 4- or 5-star reviews BECAUSE I look specifically for types of novels that I figure that I will enjoy. I do not look for novels to review that I know ahead of time that I will not like, or that are too long. It would be highly unethical to pick out a book to review just so I can pan it. I don't know of any reviewer who does that, and I am sure that if one did, Readers' Favorite Review management would disallow that reviewer very quickly. Now and then, I do make a mistake, and I end up reviewing a novel that is pure crap--and by that I mean one or both of two things: (1) there is explicit, unnecessary and unexpected graphic sexual content, or (2) more often, the novel is extremely poorly written from a grammatical standpoint, e.g. frequent missellings, lack of punctuation (believe it or not, there are authors who do not know where to put quotation marks or commas), run-on sentences, run-on paragraphs, lack of capitalization or improper capitalization, etc. etc. If a novel is well-written from a grammatical standpoint and the plot is understandable for the typical reader (e.g. no character clutter, no extensive hidden convolutions) I generally give it a 5. RFR distributes 4- and 5-star reviews to libraries and other interested parties. I always reach the RFR website by doing a Google search for "Readers Favorite Reviews" and it takes me to the link to the RFR website. If you want a review done quickly (usually within a couple of weeks), there is a fee charged, which does not affect the content of the review. However, RFR does reviews for free if an author is willing to be patient and wait a little longer. I think Readers' Favorite Reviews is a legitimate service and probably the most legitimate that any author could expect to find out there.

[Paul]

Graeme wrote: "One of our members (Paul) is associated with Reader's Favorite Reviews. This is a thread dedicated to that site and Paul may well be able to help guide us through it.

Cheers Graeme"

Let me know if you need any further information. My novels are: "Against the Wild Green Range" about a 22-year-old young woman who inherits a cattle ranch in 1873 Wyoming Territory; "West of the Sunset" about the Oregon Trail; "The One Who Loves You" about a young man wanting to start a cattle ranch and the two women who want him--one who supports his wish and one who doesn't; and a pair of historical fiction novels--"The Gifts and The Fruits" and "Freedom's Long March". All of these novels got five star reviews except for "Freedom's...", my first novel, which got four stars. The impact of Readers' Favorite Reviews upon sales has been mixed--a lot of sales when the books first come out, then a gradual tapering off. The high reviews do help--I can always reference them when I promote my novels on whatever online platform that may be.

[Paul]

Let me add that the best advice I can give to aspiring authors is: know how to write before you start writing. I have reviewed more than one novel by an "author" who could not even write at a fifth grade level. I mean, can an "author" of a sentence like e.g. "I tuke the boll bye the hornes and ressled it's to, the graund" expect anything remotely like a positive review? YES, I have seen whole novels of sentences that were that bad!!! Novels written that poorly have to be worked and chiseled through, rather than read. Paul F. Murray

[Adrian]

Readers Favourite, IMHO is a total scam.

Against my better judgment, when I was younger and more desperate, I paid for a RF review and while initially happy with the 5 star review, I couldn't believe how completely wrong the reviewer was about my book. I even queried some things the reviewer had said and got the most ridiculously ill-considered response. It was obvious to me that these people are paid to piss in your pocket.

Never again.

[Paul]

I'm curious--what was the title of your book?

[Guy]

Adrian wrote: "Readers Favourite, IMHO is a total scam.

Against my better judgment, when I was younger and more desperate, I paid for a RF review and while initially happy with the 5 star review, I couldn't beli..."

Out of curiosity, which review services do you find credible and valuable?

[Paul]

I have only used Readers' Favorite Reviews and I have been very happy with their service. I have been contacted by other review services which would be only too happy to review my novels in exchange for a hefty fee paid. I do not trust these "pay for review" services because readers are savvy to them. Experienced readers know which reviews are legit and which reviews are bought and paid for, and therefore, suspect. RFR does offer paid reviews if an author wants a review done within a couple of weeks, e.g. if the author has a promo coming up, but most of the reviews on RFR are done for free if an author is willing to wait a couple of months. Thus the reviews on RFR represent the reviewers' true feelings., good, bad, or indifferent. I also feel that the reviews on RFR are legit because they are done by experienced readers who know what they consider well-crafted entertainment. RFR reviews are not done by professional-type "literati" who seem to enjoy novels with ho-hum beginnings that don't pick up steam until the later chapters and that are supposed to contain some monumental philosophical lesson rather than pure entertainment. I know that RFR reviewers generally try hard to provide reviews that don't contain "spoilers". But without knowing the title of the novel referenced further on above and reading the review, I can't say what might have happened, and I am loathe to speculate.

[Adrian]

The book I had reviewed was: Straight Jacket

That was the only time I paid for a review and felt pretty unclean afterwards - especially when reading the review which clearly didn't get the book at all. In fact, I suspected the reviewer had only read every tenth page or so to get a vague idea. They said nothing truly insightful about the book, which I would expect from a professional reviewer who gave five stars. I certainly did not use the review on my website and I thoroughly dislike being constantly bombarded by RF for repeat business.

I can't really comment about other review services. All of my reviews on GR, amazon and other places are unsolicited.

[Guy]

Adrian wrote: "Readers Favourite, IMHO is a total scam.

Against my better judgment, when I was younger and more desperate, I paid for a RF review and while initially happy with the 5 star review, I couldn't beli..."

Adrian - if you dislike RF, then which professional review services do you feel are credible?

[Guy]

Paul wrote: "Graeme wrote: "One of our members (Paul) is associated with Reader's Favorite Reviews. This is a thread dedicated to that site and Paul may well be able to help guide us through it.

Cheers Graeme"..."

Thank you Paul for your insider explanation. As a debut author, it can be daunting to know who to trust. I used RF for my first novel and purchased 3 reviews looking to see how each would approach. I received all 5 stars, but some were clearly better written and provided me with usable quotes. That said, they sounded genuine, sincere and authentic opinions. I am pleased to hear your confirmation that these are honest. I am not sure how the industry or readers look at RF, but it seemed to offer me, as a debut author, some credibility for others, which was my hope.

[Nik]

Guy wrote: "Out of curiosity, which review services do you find credible and valuable? ..."

Maybe Kirkus ?

[Adrian]

Having been contacted by Readers' Favourite regarding my comments earlier, I am willing to believe that their service is not a scam and that I simply had a bad experience.

I still personally have little time for paid reviews as I think there is something unethical about a writer paying for such services. Reviews ought to be independent in order to give readers of those reviews confidence.