What a funny old place the publishing world has become.
I remember reading a classic novel Miss Buncle’s Book. In this story a middle-aged spinster, Miss Buncle, found that her annuity from her investment wasn’t making ends meet. She decided to write a book to make money. She didn’t have much of an imagination, so decided to tell the story of the people in her village. Carefully, she changed their names, and altered a few details to protect the innocent.
The publisher loved it (on first read), and bought it from her for a princely sum. It was published and bound as a hardback, sitting in every shop window as a ‘must read’. The story received wide critical applause and was lauded an hilarious tale of village life. All was going well, UNTIL one of the villagers read it. The reader began to recognise the thinly veiled characters from their own town. Uproar ensued and there was a town meeting calling for this ‘John Smith’ (Miss Buncle’s pseudonym) to be tarred and feathered. Miss Buncle attended the meeting, but didn’t say a word. The money was rolling in, and nobody suspected it was her who had written the story.
If you’ve never read Miss Buncle’s Book by DE Stevenson, I believe it has recently been re-released. It was hilarious and good fun reading.
What struck me was the ease with which Miss Buncle sold the book, and all she had to do was collect the royalty cheques. No public appearances (she would have been tarred and feathered), no mailing lists, no social media accounts or paid advertising, and no begging for reviews. Her reviews came because the more outraged certain members of the village became (a certain Mrs Featherstone-Hogg who was scandalised that she’d been made out to have formerly been a dance hall girl – which was true) the more people bought the book and talked about it.
So here we are. Careful not to defame anyone for fear of litigation (possibly worse that tarring and feathering), and wondering how on earth we can get someone – anyone – to review.
One of the funny things I notice in the reviewing world is that there are some fastidious reviewers who seem to take great delight in denouncing a book for whatever reason, and giving their two-star opinion.
Personally, if I think a book is two star or less, I usually don’t review it. Especially if I’m one of the early reviewers. An early two star drags down the average and affects the sales. I’ve seen it happen twice in my own titles. I might have four and five star reviews, but if a one or two star crusader pops by early, my average will be 3.5, and this immediately brings suspicion to prospective buyers, and they scroll on by.
So how do you operate if you feel the book is not worth more than two stars? Are you careful about how it might affect the overall impression by looking at what the numbers are already?
Another question: How do you feel about authors asking nicely for reviews?
Unlike Miss Buncle, where her 1940s publisher sold to all bookshops across the land no matter what, we live in the digital marketing world where things like reviews and ratings trigger algorithms.
Getting a dormant or sluggish algorithm to make a move and zoom your title to the top ten in the search bar is an almost impossible task. Having fifty plus reviews helps.
Authors and publishers offer Advance Review Copies or ARCs to enthusiastic readers, and this is a solid plan. But not all recipients of these free books follow through. I’m not sure whether they read the books and just can’t be bothered reviewing, or whether they take too many ARCs and simply don’t ever get to read it. Whatever, it is a trespass on the good graces of the publisher or indie author who give away many books, and get back a fraction in reviews.
As a reader, I admit I get so caught up in the busyness of life that I finish a book I’ve enjoyed and think I will review later, but never get back to it. But if I promise to review (or more often I get asked to endorse) I follow through as I’ve made a commitment to that author.
As an author, perhaps this blog is my encouragement to you as a reader. Think about the person behind the story. You will possibly read stories that don’t suit your taste and genre, and that is fine. But take a moment to consider at what stage the reviews are at before adding a low star review.
I remember one thoughtful reviewer sent me her review first. It was a three star (she didn’t like my hero. Thought he was a bit too grumpy for a romantic hero) and she asked if I’d prefer she not post the review. I told her to post as it was an honest review. But I should have thought about it more as it came early in the reviewing process, and the average sat at 3.5 for a long while, which I think discouraged other readers from buying. Which was a shame, because, over the years, many people have told me how much they love this book and series.
Added to this encouragement to consider the stage, can I encourage you to think about taking at least the first step of popping in a rating even if you don’t have time to write a review. Or, have some simple one-line reviews that match the star rating.
Outstanding. Thoroughly enjoyed this book. Five Star
A solid read. I recommend this book. Four Star
A nice read. A bit slow in places. Three Star
Not for me. Two Star (post only if there are many reviews)
Thank you to those who take the time and effort to support our work. Your efforts help the story to reach more readers. I appreciate you.
This is an ongoing difficulty getting reviews. My new series (probably better than my first series) is languishing in this regard. And yes, they have lower average star ratings because not enough reviews. I try to review almost everything I read (but also struggle with what to do if it is 1-2 stars and even harder if it is in genres I write) and if the book is not Amazon exclusive, copy and paste anywhere I can.
Yes, it’s a problem that I haven’t found a way to resolve. I guess I hope to encourage all readers to think about how they can help an author by placing a review. Thanks for commenting. 🙂
I have found it easier when I’m reading an eBook on Amazon that it pops up a ‘review’ thing just as I reach the end of the book. Because my Goodreads account is connected, it publishes to both. However, that’s only useful when it decided to work. Sometimes, the review gets ‘stuck’ and I lose everything I’d typed out. Sometimes, I’ll go back and review again. Other times, it was too depressing to try again.
But that prompt and easy to publish to two platforms helped. Plus, when Koorong used to give points for reviews, I made sure I reviewed at least the minimum to receive the monthly reward. I miss that.
But thank you for explaining how an early low star can pull down the rating. Good to know. Personally, I like to check out the low stars because they normally give me more information about what the book is really like than the glowing ones. But that’s me as a reader. I’m sure it won’t feel so nice to see those when you’re the author, but I’ll try to keep it in mind!
Thanks for being a dedicated reviewer. I get how sometimes I want to do a quick review and get on with other jobs, and something will go wrong, and I get frustrated and it ends up not happening. Yes, the low stars can help give an idea about the book, but sometimes I read low stars that just seem like a reviewer on a power trip. Sometimes it is helpful though. I try to think about the author as well. Thanks for commenting
Hi Meredith, The whole reviewing process is tricky and complicated for authors. Amazon reviewing rules, designed to maintain the integrity of their customer reviews, add an additional complication for reviewers to navigate.
There are effectively 4 groups of potential reviewers:
Group 1 — Readers who bought/downloaded/borrowed the book and don’t know the author.
— As Dienece has mentioned, the Amazon ratings system in the Kindle app is not always easy to navigate. It’s only for verified purchases/KU borrows and the prompt will fail to appear if the reader is offline (no wifi) or if they don’t read far enough to the end. These are the ratings and reviews we all want, and they will range from high to low stars because not every book is for every reader. The more ratings and reviews that are posted, the easier it is for a potential reader to determine the overall reviewing trends and level of reader engagement.
Group 2 — Readers who have a personal or business connection with the publisher/author. This group can rate verified purchases at Amazon and rate/review at Goodreads, but they may be prohibited from reviewing at Amazon depending on the nature of their relationship with the author.
Group 3 – Readers who received an ARC. Most readers who request ARC’s know the drill and will contact the author/publisher or provide feedback to NetGalley if they can’t post a review. I’ve found my most reliable group of ARC readers are from my newsletter list. We already have an existing relationship and they’ll contact me if they can’t review etc.
Which brings us to Group 4: Authors. Authors are typically not allowed to post written reviews on Amazon (same as Group 2) but they can endorse books and post reviews at Goodreads etc.
Going back 10-15 years when I was unpublished and attending Omega events, I learned from more experienced authors, including Mary Hawkins, Anne Hamilton and others, why it was so important to read and review and recommend books by other authors. It’s one of the easiest ways to bless an author.
Tomorrow on the blog I’m posting a recommendation for a book I discovered via a request made by the author for ARC readers in our Australasian Christian Facebook Group.
Word of mouth is still one of the best ways to build up and support our writing community. If authors did their bit and recommended books they’ve liked to their readers, making it obvious that they genuinely read the book rather than it just being another newsletter swap, and without expecting anything in return, our whole community of writers and readers would benefit from hearing about more new-to-them books and authors.
It sure is complicated. I think it’s great when an ARC recipient communicates with you and lets you know if something has prevented them from reviewing. That is what building good relationships with your readers is about, I suppose. I don’t have a reliable ARC group yet.
I personally wont do below 3 stars for a book because a book of this rating would not have been finished. I have asked an author about posting a 3 star review at one stage. It was Darlene Franklin and it was written by her writing group a series of short stories on a subject and some were worthy of 5 stars and some way less. I did send my review to her and she said post it. I did mention the ones that were worthy of 5 stars. But normally I will do 4 or 5.
I have been one not to post a review for an ARC at netgalley as I got behind a few I did say I wouldn’t be reviewing and why others It was when I started the headpain and just couldn’t read them. For authors there have been a couple in the last year I haven’t reviewed again due to illness but I do contact the author to let them know. (both from last year I did also buy the book). I have heard there is a % of people who wont review. I have also been in a place where the organisers said if you can’t give a 5 star don’t review. I don’t ask for ARC from these places. Same with an author who says if its not 5 stars I don’t want you to review.
As a reader all 5 star reviews makes me question the book especially when none are verified purchases. Like a lot of my reader friends we often don’t even read reviews till after we read a book. The current books I am reading I bought during a blitz on cozy mystery and have only been looking at reviews after reading. I do find 1, 2 and 3 stars witn no review annoying and tend to dismiss them.
Ironically when buying a purchase like recently on prime day I did read reviews and it was a few well written 1 and 2 star reviews that probably saved me some money (expeically with photos of the issues) Another product the same and I paid a few dollars extra for a better quality of the same product which is working really well. So I do see a place for those 3 star reviews. They have actually sold several books to me.
On the ARC I know there are some who only every get ARC and never buy a book. but I think an author would be able to see who does or doesn’t review. I know I have had a couple rejected from Amazon USA but they are ok on Amazon au. (Also Amazon Au can take up to a week to publish a review for a new book).
Hi Jenny. I’m sorry about the recurring head pain. I hope it is getting better. Thank you for keeping communication with the authors to let them know. I’m sure they appreciate that. Yes, a whole stack of 5 star reviews is a bit suspicious. My release earlier in the year was getting only five star reviews for the first few weeks, and while that was nice, I knew that I had to get a 3 or a couple of 4s to make it look credible. Silly isn’t it? Finally I got a three star rating and I breathed a sigh of relief. I don’t want it to look stacked.
The head pain is more contained now. its over 11 years since it first started as 24/7 but botox makes me way more managable. I still tire easy and at times struggle to read. (ironically reading more while the olympics are on as we have lots of downtime waiting for events. I have learnt not to over commit. I went through a period this time last year when I moved, Henry disappearing and then getting sick where I was over committed and got to the point I just couldnt read. Now I will only commit when I know I have plenty of time. (have 2 right now reading one and the other isn’t til mid Sept but I have plenty of time).
I am learning not to give all 5 stars cos that should be the best of the best and not all reads can be the best of the best. The ones just finished were all solid 4 stars and while I read fast there were errors (like the mums name changing between a couple of books)
If I like a book I’ll post a review and give it a good rating, but if I don’t like it I won’t give it a rating. I guess it’s the old, ‘If you can’t say something nice, don’t say anything at all.’
Hi Julia, I am the same. Only time I would is if their is questionable contact for the genre or as in onc case what was acceptable in USA would upset readers here.
Ah. Mother Rabbit’s advice to Thumper. Yeah, I’m a bit like that, though sometimes I’m called to critique a manuscript, and for the sake of the author, I carefully outline things that need attention. But the MS is still in development stage, so I hope the author can understand the value of critical feedback. But that’s different to reviewing a book. Thanks for dropping in.