8 comments
Interesting article. However there is a big issue here – Amazon’s policy to arbitrarily remove reviews written by authors is insulting. Yes there are some who game the system (and speak about their use of ‘sock puppets’ openly) but I personally do not know of an author who doesn’t read. Why does being an author invalidate our opinions as book readers?
Now that Amazon bought Goodreads, is this a policy we will start to see implemented there too?
Best wishes,
Eric
Jeez, Eric, I certainly hope so. Even if Amazon takes down a review–and it has happened to me–I can still post it on GR or my own site. To me, the act of thinking critically about a book you’re read and writing publicly is a useful activity.
I completely agree. Unfortunately the few (well-known) authors who openly use ‘sock puppets’ to promote their own work give the rest of us a bad name and, as usual, Amazon over-reacts. I wonder if they dared remove reviews for the offending big-name writers though? I once had 14 reviews for one of my books disappear overnight – no explanation, even when sought, and the curious thing was they were mostly from readers (several wrote to me via my web recriminating Amazon, but, as I pointed out to them, there is absolutely nothing I can do about it). Fustrating doesn’t cover it.
Eric
I spend quite a bit of time on GR and I see this from time to time. It makes me upset because I want to see what honest readers have to say. I try to make my reviews honest, but I have a hard time giving a book less than 3 stars because of the hard work that it takes to write a book. Maybe I’m too soft.
I’m not a big fan of the star rating system. I actually think it has created a big problem in that people perceive anything less than 4-5 stars a “bad” rating. From personal experience I can say that some of my best reviews (from a well-thought out critical standpoint) have been 3 stars.
Like you, I worried I was getting “soft” on my ratings by feeling empathy for the writer and his level of work. Consider this analogy: I’m teaching my son how to drive and realize for the last 15.5 years he has been oblivious to not only the mechanics of driving, but how to get anywhere. Now that he is starting to learn this skill, he (starting to) pay attention to HOW we get somewhere. When you become a writer, you enjoy the destination and the scenery, but you also pay a lot more attention to how you get there.
I don’t review books often, but I still do it. I was a reader for a full decade before I ever started writing seriously, and I didn’t stop being a reader because I became a writer.
That said, I do seek to be polite and considerate, and to give a view of the work that accounts for factors that are based in personal taste. I can’t promise I always succeed, and I’m sure I’ve annoyed some authors, but that’s a risk I’m going to take—because I AM a reader.
And that’s the hat I wear when I review.
Hi Misti – I agree. It really bothers me when someone makes a review personal. Why? If you didn’t like a book, then just say that and give some specific examples and move on.
[…] strong parallels with your book marketing efforts. Do a book review for another indie, offer to host a launch announcement on your blog, join a critique group, or go to readings of local […]