I hate dirty, dishonest reviewers!

[rhadin]

My policy is to not rate/review any book on Amazon. I will rate/review a book on Smashwords only if I find it to be outstanding.

On my blog, I occasionally review books. Generally, the books I review are either very poor or outstanding, nothing between the extremes. I always buy the books I review (with "buy" including "free") and I never review a book that has been sent to me by an author that I didn't solicit.

My experience is that of 100 books, possibly 1 will be outstanding and 2 to 3 will will be very poor. Most books are so mediocre that they don't warrant the effort to write a review.

[Krystian Galaj]

I wonder it the situation would improve if reviewers on such sites had their own reputations and could be reviewed/rated by others. If a reviewer was negatively rated by most people, their opinions would contribute less and less to summary rating, and their reviews wouldn't be high on the list.

[Steven Lake]

Krystain, that's probably one of the best solutions I can think of. For one, it'd solve the whole "vote war" thing in a hurry. If someone has low rep and/or low ratings, their reviews wouldn't matter as much as someone with high rep and/or ratings. And that'd be a hard system to game, especially if you're in a war against someone else.

[Bookworm_Girl]

Amazon gives you the ability to vote whether an individual review was helpful or not. However some people abuse it and vote not helpful on valid reviews just because they don't agree. That's why I intentionally never review controversial or passionate items (sad to say). Now Amazon has recently added a feature that validates that the reviewer actually purchases the item on Amazon, similar to jswolf's suggestion.

[sunnysmiles]

Originally Posted by Lexi Revellian

Camille, eHow sounds terribly like Harper Collins' site Authonomy, where the rankings got so corrupt they've just changed the entire system. (People are now openly conjecturing how to game the new star ratings.)

Re Amazon reviews, surely it's quite easy to tell the genuinely enthusiastic reviews written by strangers? They sound different. On my novel, Remix, I've got thirteen reviews, all but one five star. Four are written by people who know me from writers's sites, the rest by strangers, and I think anyone can guess which are which.

I find it a bit depressing when the suggestion is made that you shouldn't trust reviews if they are too full of praise. Maybe, just maybe, it's a good book?

I bought your book a couple of weeks ago . I downloaded a sample and liked it . its not the type of book I would normally buy . I like to download a sample before I buy and see whether I like it or not esp if I do not know the author. Just sometimes reading a couple of pages will determine whether I like the book or not .

I have written a couple of reveiws on Books I have loved Like the Salt Road .

Noora

[phenomshel]

And this is why I don't do reviews on Amazon. Or anyplace public except for Shelfari. And those reviews are a star system and maybe one line. I don't read them, either, so that's fair, I suppose.

[Lexi Revellian]

Originally Posted by sunnysmiles

I bought your book a couple of weeks ago . I downloaded a sample and liked it . its not the type of book I would normally buy . I like to download a sample before I buy and see whether I like it or not esp if I do not know the author. Just sometimes reading a couple of pages will determine whether I like the book or not .

I have written a couple of reveiws on Books I have loved Like the Salt Road .

Noora

Thanks, I hope you like it. As a Londoner, you may enjoy recognizing the London settings.

[queentess]

Originally Posted by Krystian Galaj

I wonder it the situation would improve if reviewers on such sites had their own reputations and could be reviewed/rated by others. If a reviewer was negatively rated by most people, their opinions would contribute less and less to summary rating, and their reviews wouldn't be high on the list.

Amazon tells you the % of helpful votes that person gets, but only after you click on their user name. It'd be nice to see this beside their user name.

Originally Posted by Bookworm_Girl

Amazon gives you the ability to vote whether an individual review was helpful or not. However some people abuse it and vote not helpful on valid reviews just because they don't agree. That's why I intentionally never review controversial or passionate items (sad to say). Now Amazon has recently added a feature that validates that the reviewer actually purchases the item on Amazon, similar to jswolf's suggestion.

Amazon does tell you if it's an "Amazon verified purchase" (meaning purchased through Amazon), but the beauty of the rating system is that I can purchase it anywhere and still review it. I value the reviews of people who didn't purchase through Amazon, and I really doubt Amazon will ever take out that functionality. Where's the first place you go to read reviews on a product? For my friends and me, it's Amazon. You can't buy that kind of marketing.

[dlmartin6]

As a reader, I do look at all the reviews [to a point] especially the 1 and 2 star reviews to see if there is a valid complaint about the book. Usually it's just a one sentence review along the lines "this book sucks." I ignore all these because obviously it's just a vicious attack.

I review books and post my reviews on both my blog and Amazon. I spend a good amount of time composing my review highlighting good points in the book, but also pointing out problems that I find as well. I've had authors thank me for a 3-star review because I had pointed out a problem that the author hadn't seen before.

Reviews though are ultimately for the reader to help them decide whether or not they will buy this book. That's what I keep in my mind when I write a review.

Deb

[GraceKrispy]

Originally Posted by Bookworm_Girl

Amazon gives you the ability to vote whether an individual review was helpful or not. However some people abuse it and vote not helpful on valid reviews just because they don't agree. That's why I intentionally never review controversial or passionate items (sad to say). Now Amazon has recently added a feature that validates that the reviewer actually purchases the item on Amazon, similar to jswolf's suggestion.

Yes, I think the "helpful/not helpful" button has the potential to be just as abused as the star rating system. Some of my reviews on Amazon have garnered one or two "not helpful" ratings, which is frustrating, as I put a lot of work into the reviews to be specific. Even if you don't agree, surely the specific comments were helpful!

I haven't seen this feature of validating that the reviewer has purchased, is it also effective on ebooks? That would be frustrating. When I review, I put the reviews on several sites (Amazon, Smashwords if applicable, and Goodreads), and I already can't review on Smashwords unless I "bought" it on their site.

Originally Posted by dlmartin6

As a reader, I do look at all the reviews [to a point] especially the 1 and 2 star reviews to see if there is a valid complaint about the book. Usually it's just a one sentence review along the lines "this book sucks." I ignore all these because obviously it's just a vicious attack.

I review books and post my reviews on both my blog and Amazon. I spend a good amount of time composing my review highlighting good points in the book, but also pointing out problems that I find as well. I've had authors thank me for a 3-star review because I had pointed out a problem that the author hadn't seen before.

Reviews though are ultimately for the reader to help them decide whether or not they will buy this book. That's what I keep in my mind when I write a review.

Deb

I also read reviews and pay particular attention to the specifics mentioned. The stars don't mean a lot to me as a consumer (I only give them as a reviewer because the world seems to work in stars ), but the specific comments made are important to me. When I see several reviews blasting grammar, I know that's a book I won't touch. If reviews are complaining about the genre or the ending or the price, then I can ignore them. I really don't get the reviews that say "I couldn't even read past page 7 because I don't like sci fi" and then give it 1 star. Really? You don't like the genre, you never even read the book, and you're rating it? I also hate the reviews that just say "what an amazing book! This is the best author ever, I love every one of her books!" That tells me nothing except you drool when you hear this author's name. As long as I'm sharing, the reviews that are really just protracted summaries are equally annoying. They are like trailers that give away the entire movie.

I write reviews for indie books for two reasons. One reason is to inform potential readers what I thought of the book- maybe others have different ideas about what makes a good book, but hopefully I've included enough specifics to let the reader make her/his own informed decision. The second reason is that I want quality authors to rise to the top and gain an audience and continue writing so I can (selfishly) continue reading quality books. I don't write reviews *for* authors, per se, meaning that I'm not going to give glowing reviews to every author just because, but I do want to encourage the success of good authors by (hopefully) increasing their readership. I also want to give authors feedback on things that worked or didn't work for me.

I'm only one person with my own opinions. I know some of my reviews have probably not made me new author friends. But I promise an honest review, and that's what I'll give. Authors can take or leave what I write, but, for the most part, they have been appreciative of my efforts. Readers can take or leave what I write as well. Even my mediocre or not-so-great reviews can attract an audience to the book. There was one book I reviewed that wasn't high on the stars and the author wasn't pleased, but I actually received two comments from others who were interested in the book based on my review. Reviews don't have to be stellar to garner interest, if there are specifics in the review that pique a reader's interest. I'm not a PR firm, and reviews do take a lot of time because I think a lot about what I want to convey to others. I just really like books!

[Bookworm_Girl]

Originally Posted by GraceKrispy

Yes, I think the "helpful/not helpful" button has the potential to be just as abused as the star rating system. Some of my reviews on Amazon have garnered one or two "not helpful" ratings, which is frustrating, as I put a lot of work into the reviews to be specific. Even if you don't agree, surely the specific comments were helpful!

GraceKrispy, you are not alone! Sometimes I wonder the same thing. How was my review not helpful? I really did try!

Originally Posted by GraceKrispy

I haven't seen this feature of validating that the reviewer has purchased, is it also effective on ebooks? That would be frustrating. When I review, I put the reviews on several sites (Amazon, Smashwords if applicable, and Goodreads), and I already can't review on Smashwords unless I "bought" it on their site.

I review products that I bought elsewhere too. Amazon hasn't made the verification program a requirement. I agree with queentess that there is value that they let anyone provide a review since Amazon is the first source that many people go to. The more feedback the better! The verification program is just an option that you can ask for a special label to be added. I think it is supposed to give your review more credibility so that people know you at least own the product. I have not seen many people use it. I think it is usually quite obvious when somebody has written a review on a product they haven't owned or book they haven't read.

You can pick just about any product you want on Amazon. Go to the review page for that product. Underneath the reviewer names, you will see a label that says "Amazon Verified Purchase(What's this?)". The "What's this?" is a link that explains all about the verified purchase program. Or, you can just click below. Hope that helps!
http://www.amazon.com/gp/community-h...ified-purchase

[bthrowsnaill]

Originally Posted by GraceKrispy

I'm only one person with my own opinions. I know some of my reviews have probably not made me new author friends. But I promise an honest review, and that's what I'll give. Authors can take or leave what I write, but, for the most part, they have been appreciative of my efforts.

GraceKrispy's review definitely improved my book. I am very grateful for that!

[kcmay]

As an author, I seek out reviewers who are honest -- even brutally so. When readers can trust that this reviewer gives his/her honest opinion of a book, then they are in a better position to judge whether the book is for them. It's scary when I see that such a reviewer has posted a review of my book because there's always a chance the reviewer hated it! (The heart starts racing, the palms get sweaty, and I slowly... slowly read down the page (usually reviewers start off saying what they like), waiting for the "But..." to come!) If there are flaws and someone points them out, I can take that information away with me and use it either on a revision or for the next book.

[Worldwalker]

Unfortunately, the "helpful/unhelpful" system is abused in the same way, and by the same people, as the star system. You have to take the whole thing with a shaker of salt (it's far beyond grains).

[MaggieScratch]

Yes, the helpful/unhelpful button system is abused. There are reviewers who have followings of their own, and are trying to attain Top 100 ranking because then the publishers will send them free books. They encourage their own followers to click "helpful" buttons on their reviews--whether or not they intend to purchase the book in question. In that way, useless reviews by people who cannot understand the book get highly ranked.

I rarely review at Amazon anymore. The system is very much broken.