I think the problem is 3-fold.
1- It looks unprofessional. It looks tacky to review your own stuff because you have too much attached to it and you add that attachment to your review. It is hard to be objective about your work. If you are a hard-core review I think you can do a better job than if you refuse to create an objective scale and metrics but in that case you might slide too far to the negative side of the scale.
2- Lots of people can’t review to save their butt. Can I say butt?
Rarely will an Indy work rank a 4 (but it could happen in some cases) much less a 5 and, sadly, you see that all the time. How many posts do you see in Book Bazaar where someone exclaims that they have a 5-star average? Ridiculous, you’re telling me that an author, who probably can’t get the interest of a publisher for one reason or another, doesn’t have access to professional editing or a slew of Beta Readers has single-handedly written the Great American Novel? It is possible but more likely the author has friends or the literacy rate just dropped staggeringly.
3- No one wants to give a 3-star rating because they think it is an insult but it isn’t, 3 stars is average for a published work. It is good, it is a recommendation, it says this book can stand on its own against published work. Buy it.
When you evaluate the color of a diamond you compare it against ‘test stones.’ This is necessary in a system that is more than just – buy it or don’t buy it flags. I am an author but I am also a pretty tough reviewer and I can conservatively say that my book is a 3, which is okay. If you like the genre you will probably enjoy it but I’m not going to knock your socks off. You won’t name your children after me. No one is going to “teach” this book in a college course.
The problem comes when you compare this review with authors that have 5 stars (because they have friends or they gave themselves a 5) but really should only have gotten a much lower score. Then where does my objective 3-star work sit by comparison, I just screwed myself by rating my own work. You never win if you rate your own work.
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I suffered for my art and now it's your turn, but at $0.99 can you afford not to suffer?
Blood Bank