[DMcCunney]

Originally Posted by EricDP

Seriously, that is not a problem in real life. Some people post fake good reviews. A bunch of people get the book based on those reviews, feel ripped off, and post scathing bad reviews. There's no way a handful of fakers can keep up with the torrent of bad reviews that will come.

If it works for you, splendid. The key is that the reviews average out to matching your expectations, and you are overall satisfied with the books you buy based on those reviews.

In my experience, the average of online reviews for a given product or store have predicted very accurately how satisfied I am with that product or store. I have learned through direct experience to put a lot of trust in those reviews (except where the number of reviews is very small). The only people who are saying online reviews can't be trusted have an separate agenda.

And how does a book get that critical mass of reviews? I prefer reviews by people I already know and trust. I know where they are coming from, and don't have to wonder what their agenda might be, as I already know what it is. A larger quantity of reviews reduces the possibility of rigged results, but you must have that larger quantity.

I think in your case it's clear that your agenda is to keep the big publishers in business.

Because I've had the temerity to suggest it might not be possible for them to produce ebooks at the sort of prices lots of folks would like to see?

Well, sorry about that. But what will you do if I'm right?

Whether the big publishers remain in business is beyond my control. I have no idea whether they will or not, and for the most part, I don't care. I do know an assortment of people trying to make a living, as writers, or as employees of publishers, and I do care about what happens to them.

My agenda, to the extent that I have one, is fairly simple. I know a bit about the process by which books are acquired and published. Based on what I know, I don't think major publishers can make and sell ebooks as cheaply as many people seem to think, and remain in business as going concerns. There's an awful lot of wishful thinking on the part of publishers about how much they can charge, and even more wishful thinking on the part of readers on how little can be charged for them. The truth is somewhere in the middle, and we're all finding out where that middle is.

If the major publishers do go out of business, the dual questions are where you will get books you want to read, and whether the authors can make enough money writing them to make it worth while to continue.

The stuff I like is the end result of a collaborative process. A writer wrote a manuscript. An editor liked it well enough to buy it, and work with the author to improve it. Other people worked on other parts of the process, and the end result was a book I found worth buying, reading, and having on my shelves (or my reading device.) The value for me is an aggregate of all of those parts, and it's value I'm willing to pay for.

Ultimately, you get what you pay for, and if you don't pay, you won't get.

My basic take on "let the big publishers go out of business" is "Be careful what you wish for. You might get it." I strongly suspect you will not be happy if you do.
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Dennis