When are people going to start reviewing?

[Harper Kingsley]

I've gotten a couple of reviews, but considering how many copies of my various books I've sold... I'm wondering if and when people are going to start reviewing.

Do people mostly just buy books then wait until they get around to reading them weeks later or something? Personally, when I buy a book I'm usually so hot to read it that I barely make it home from the store before I'm done.

[crich70]

I think it depends on the individual reader. Some people do read things right away, while others buy a book and set it aside for reading later. Maybe when they bought a given book it was on sale or at a reduced price due to being a pre-release copy whose price would go up later. Or they already were reading another book and want to finish that one before they start the next. Some people probably buy books in advance of a vacation trip or to have something to read on that next business trip as well and don't want to read it before then so they will have something new to read at that time. And there are those who are lazy about writing reviews.

[ficbot]

I review (almost) weekly on my blog, and people send me a ton of unsolicited stuff. Some of it, I reject outright as not my thing (and of course, if the sample or blurb has any obvious issues, I decline to review) and some, I accept for review. Of those I accept for review, a small percentage get bailed on partway through (in which case, I generally write it up as a mini review, explaining why I bailed on the book). The rest will (eventually) get fully reviewed.

So, with that said, I currently have about 100 books in the queue, with an average of 3-5 a week getting added When I am ready to write a review, I pick something at random based on my mood and what genre/book looks interesting at the moment. With that many books coming into the pipeline, there is no way I can keep track of who sent what, when. I tell authors I am happy to write a review, but they may have to wait awhile

As for general readers who don't blog about this, I don't think many of them feel any sort of obligation to review or not. I am thinking of people like my parents. I doubt my mother has ever written a review in her life, and I don't think it's ever crossed her mind that people at Amazon or wherever will care what she thought of the book. If an author is selling to her expecting that she'll do something back for them, they'll be waiting a long time

[rhadin]

I buy books when the impulse strikes me or the opportunity to get a book in which I am interested at a decent discount arises. The book then joins my ever-growing to-be-read pile. I rarely buy a book and start reading it immediately.

As for reviews, I only review two types of books: those that are excellent (5 stars) and those that are so poor (1-2 stars) that everyone should be warned to avoid wasting money, time, and effort on the book. I do not review the mediocre books that fall between the two extremes. It just isn't worth my time and the effort required to review books that have nothing outstanding about them other than being mediocre like most books.

[HarryT]

Originally Posted by Harper Kingsley

I've gotten a couple of reviews, but considering how many copies of my various books I've sold... I'm wondering if and when people are going to start reviewing.

Do people mostly just buy books then wait until they get around to reading them weeks later or something? Personally, when I buy a book I'm usually so hot to read it that I barely make it home from the store before I'm done.

I've never "reviewed" a book in my life. Why should you, as an author, expect me to?

[EileenG]

I tend to only review a book if it's particularly good or particularly bad, or if I'm specifically asked to. I suspect that the vast majority of book buyers never even think of reviewing, it's too much like homework.

[mr ploppy]

Free and very cheap ebooks don't tend to get read. People get them on impulse and forget about them when they see something else to get.

[bhartman36]

Originally Posted by EileenG

I tend to only review a book if it's particularly good or particularly bad, or if I'm specifically asked to. I suspect that the vast majority of book buyers never even think of reviewing, it's too much like homework.

That's my sense of things, too. I do review books I don't have a strong opinion about occasionally, but that's because I like writing. For someone who's much more of a reader than a writer, the effort may not come as easily.

[Harper Kingsley]

Originally Posted by HarryT

I've never "reviewed" a book in my life. Why should you, as an author, expect me to?

I don't expect people to "review" in that context, I was just wondering when people really start to give some kind of feedback, you know?

If someone was like "I totally hate this," it would probably hurt my feelings and I'd spend the day in a teen-style depressive funk ... But if someone was like "This part here didn't seem so well put together" or "This would have been better if..."

I don't know. I guess I just enjoy some kind of feedback with the people reading the stuff I write. I like knowing what people enjoy and even if I don't go out of my way to cater to other people at the cost of the story, it would be helpful to know what totally turns people off altogether.

Example: David Feintuch's "The King." I really enjoyed "The Still," so of course I was hot to read "The King" the minute it came out. Not even halfway through, I was wishing someone had given me a heads up about some of what was going to happen. Once I started reading, it was like this chore I had to finish. Given the choice and a bit of warning, I wouldn't have even started it at all, because by the time I finished the last page I just kind of threw the book from me and went to wash my hands.

So if I was the one that wrote "The King" and I had gotten that response from someone in the early stages, I might have rewritten some of the more distasteful scenes or even gone in a totally different direction. That, or I would have been like, "This is the way the story goes. Sorry, but this is how the character growth goes."

[HarryT]

I understand what you're saying, but in my experience "normal readers" just don't do that. If I don't like a book, I won't buy another book by the same author, but neither would I contact the author about it. There are too many books around for it to be worthwhile doing do.

[Namekuseijin]

Originally Posted by HarryT

I've never "reviewed" a book in my life. Why should you, as an author, expect me to?

I much prefer your proofreading.

[Elfwreck]

Originally Posted by Harper Kingsley

I don't expect people to "review" in that context, I was just wondering when people really start to give some kind of feedback, you know?

In general: they don't. They won't. Ebooks are not blog posts; there's no sense of "I need to say something to convince the author to keep writing." After all, if I *paid* for it, that's supposed to be persuasive enough.

If someone was like "I totally hate this," it would probably hurt my feelings and I'd spend the day in a teen-style depressive funk ... But if someone was like "This part here didn't seem so well put together" or "This would have been better if..."

And that's one of the reasons people don't review--because authors only want *some kinds* of reviews. A basic "I loved this" or "I hated this" isn't enough; they want to know why, and which parts, and other bits of literary analysis rather than (or in addition to) personal reactions. (Which is understandable, but can still be intimidating.)

The idea that readers, especially of low-cost ebooks, can be participants in the writer's development, is a new one, and sites don't encourage it with the current setup--there's no easy back-and-forth for comments, and calling the feedback "reviews" implies that a formal approach is wanted, rather than random thoughts.

It's also unclear whether the "reviews" on ebook sites are intended for the authors or for other readers/potential buyers; the target audience changes what gets written.

[DrLaurenceBrown]

I personally tend to pick up quite a few books at a time and then don't get to half of them until a month or two later (assuming nothing better that I'm itching to read comes out before then).

As for reviewing books, I don't review often. It's not necessarily that I didn't enjoy the book, it's usually just a time thing or I'm already off reading the next in my TBR pile.

[Fbone]

I didn't realize purchasing an author's book obligated me to spend more time composing a thoughtful review.

[EileenG]

Originally Posted by Harper Kingsley

I don't expect people to "review" in that context, I was just wondering when people really start to give some kind of feedback, you know?

If someone was like "I totally hate this," it would probably hurt my feelings and I'd spend the day in a teen-style depressive funk ... But if someone was like "This part here didn't seem so well put together" or "This would have been better if..."

That kind of review is difficult to do, and takes a very educated reader, who is probably also a writer. It also takes a different style of reading, one where you are reading for function rather than for enjoyment.

For instance, I was asked to review a book recently (by a famous author, I couldn't get over it) and I found that it ruined my enjoyment of the book, since I was reading it looking for lines to quote or pivotal plot points and trying to make sure I hadn't overlooked or forgotten anything important.

The average reader will just say "It was okay, I liked the baby fairy best" or "Some bits were kind of boring" but can't say which.