Saturday, February 22, 2014

The strangeness of some internet reviews


Now that my third SF novel has been published, I've taken the time to go back and read through the couple of hundred comments my books have attracted over time.  I don't even mind the low-star reviews, provided that the reviewer makes his case and supports his points with evidence.  I really benefit from such reviews, as I read and re-read them and take them into account when writing the next book.  I did that with reviews of the first two volumes of the Maxwell Saga, and with beta reader feedback, when I delayed the publication of 'Adapt and Overcome' for two months to allow me to improve my character development and tighten up the plot and storyline.  I hope and trust you, dear readers, have found it an improvement;  and rest assured, I'll try to make Book Four better than Book Three in its turn.

Some reviews, however, are downright strange.  There's the reader who claimed he bought a copy of my first book 'at a discount but it was worth far less'.  If he didn't like it, fair enough - but my book had never been on sale at a discount when he made that comment!  Another reviewer of my first book was outraged at my description of a fork penetrating the hand of one character.  He found it completely unbelievable.  Unfortunately, that's one of the many incidents in all my books that's actually based on fact!  There are multiple eye-witnesses to its reality.  Another comment on my latest book caught my eye this evening.  The reader (?) complained that 'Some editing is still needed in places as there are obvious typos and grammar issues'.  Fair enough, if true:  but I've had a number of reviewers comment that one reason they like my books is that there are so few 'typos and grammar issues'.  In the latest book, to which this reviewer is referring, I've had no complaints whatsoever about its copy-editing - until today, at any rate.

Such problems aren't limited to my books, of course.  Most authors who've been published for a while have similar stories of reviews that appear to miss the point, or beg the question, or leave something else to be desired.  There are even some actively destructive reviewers out there.  Miss D. informs me that on Kindle Boards, where many independent authors hang out in the Writers' Cafe sub-forum, there's a well-known phenomenon.  There are 'lurkers' who watch for authors posting details of their sales figures.  As soon as someone posts a sales success story, within a day or so one or more one-star reviews will appear on their books' Amazon pages.  Someone on Kindle Boards was interested enough to do some research on this, and the pattern is inescapable.  One can only conclude that some lurkers out there are jealous of success, and determined to undermine it in any way possible.  Why, I have no idea . . .

Oh, well.  I can't account for such issues.  All I can say is, if you've read my book(s), I'll be very grateful if you'll please leave reviews on their Amazon pages.  It helps other prospective readers to assess whether or not they'll find them interesting;  and whether you liked it/them or not, your comments will help me to write better in future.  Everybody wins!

Peter

11 comments:

Bob said...

Zero-sum prestige.

MrGarabaldi said...

Hey Peter,

Keep doing what you are doing..I have enjoyed the hell out of all your books. There are "haters" out there that don't like anybody making a success out of it. Kinda like communism...It ain't fair unless every is miserable.

Home on the Range said...

There are always those jealous sea hags envious of others skill or success, because they're not confident enough of their own skills. Don't let that get you down. Your books have been a rollicking good ride.

Gaffer said...

Working in the court system I've learned to my deep dismay, and disgust, that there are people out there who can only be described as "mean, nasty personalities". They delight on inflicting pain on others and are nonplussed when called to account for their actions.
Hard as it might be...ignore them but if they have an economic impact foll over them!

Old NFO said...

Peter, interesting that you posted this, as I had a conversation with an author yesterday on this very subject. He has NEVER read a single review after his first book. His comment which mirrors the negative ones you pointed out decided him that there were 'haters' as he called them, and he just was not going to let them drag him down.

Rev. Paul said...

If Book 3 is as much improved compared to 2, as 2 was to 1, then it will be a fantastic read! I have it, but am waiting impatiently for vacation in March ... and I may not make it that long.

The Raving Prophet said...

Peter, any chances on you offering your books through the Barnes & Noble site for the nook family of devices?

I know I could get them from Amazon and then convert them in Calibre, but to be honest, from the reader's perspective it's enough of an obstacle to have me hold off (still waiting...). I have no idea if it's just that much easier to publish through Amazon (over anything through B&N), so maybe I ought to just suck it up and do the conversion. I was just wondering if you'd considered making them available for nook users too.

On a Wing and a Whim said...

Ah, fork through the hand.

Witnesses include an ER doctor who took a very long time to stitch up the wound, because after every stitch, he'd say something along the lines of "Bet you won't do that again, boy!" or "Learned your lesson good!" and then would have to stop while his hands shook with the whoops of laughter.

Raving Prophet - the way we published through Amazon tied us to rolling 90-day exclusivity contracts. I've got the roll-over turned off, so in 90 days, I can start putting 'em out on B&N, Itunes, Kobo & Google Play.

tl;dr - coming in May!

The Raving Prophet said...

Sweet. Let us know when they are available... I'll buy 'em all.

Rolf said...

Yes, reviews are strange, indeed. Right now mine are almost all 4 and 5 star, then there are the 1 and two star reviews that say "I wanted a book, got a screenplay." Um, that's in the description, guys, most other reviews mention it, and there are about 30 free pages to look at and see if you like it, so WTH?
But it's funny - after the first dozen came in good, including some from people that hadn't been in any part of the proof-reading or pre- release parts, seeing a couple like that really didn't matter. It's a good story, people like it and buy it. The confused don't matter.
And Gaffer- yes, there are people that feed on the misery of others. Reavers, a Firefly fan might call them.

Paul said...

I've read and enjoyed all three. I do wonder sometimes about the effectiveness of nuclear weapons in space, but I am not totally up on the math so they could work.

Good reads and I intend to do some kind of comment via Amazon soon.