Have you been misled by reviews before?

[wyndslash]

Originally Posted by spellbanisher

That's okay, wynd. I think you are a child.

And would a girl have a big scary monster as an avatar? I think not.

oh man, i'd love to be a kid again i can only be a child on the interwebz :P real life is not so kind

pft, hardly scary :P

[spellbanisher]

Originally Posted by wyndslash

oh man, i'd love to be a kid again i can only be a child on the interwebz real life is not so kind

Did I say child? I meant childish.

Originally Posted by wyndslash

pft, hardly scary

A kitten is terrifying! because they grow into mean cats. Its like the calm before the storm. The worst part is the anxiety and anticipation.

[wyndslash]

bully :P

*pokes kitty*

[Giggleton]

Originally Posted by Yolina

But the way I was bookstore shopping was to always ignore what's at the front of the shop and then spend ages pulling books out until I found something that looked interesting. I've somehow managed to find a technique that works for book buying on the net too and I don't download samples either... as I've said, I know I do things in a weird way but it works for me

The bookstore itself is a review, the owners will take a look at all books they are capable of looking at and review some for you that they think you might buy.

We are most interested in independent books, books that have yet to find their audience, and the problem of giving indie books worthy of an audience their audience. That is the only review problem that I can see, to which solutions are available. I'm not sure if they will work of course,

[wyndslash]

all i want is some sort of honest reviewer who will tell me whether the book is full of errors or not

i can't enjoy a book if it's full of errors, and pisses me off as well. guess i'll just have to rely on samples. i usually get so excited about a book that i forego the sample period

[Giggleton]

Originally Posted by wyndslash

all i want is some sort of honest reviewer who will tell me whether the book is full of errors or not

i can't enjoy a book if it's full of errors, and pisses me off as well. guess i'll just have to rely on samples. i usually get so excited about a book that i forego the sample period

What kind of errors are you talking about? Grammatical? Typographical? Formattical?

[spellbanisher]

Originally Posted by Giggleton

What kind of errors are you talking about? Grammatical? Typographical? Formattical?

Ontological? Metaphysical? Anatomical?

[wyndslash]

:P

usually grammars and typos. i get annoyed. the last book i read kept missing the helping verbs

[Giggleton]

Originally Posted by wyndslash

:P

usually grammars and typos. i get annoyed. the last book i read kept missing the helping verbs

I can't recall if I've sent an email to kindle-feedback@amazon.com about a system for taking readers grammatical and typographical corrections and then automatically applying them to the book which would then automatically update for new readers, after the authors approval of course, or if enough people have sent the same corrections. Anyway, I'm going to send that feedback email now, and I suggest you do the same.

There is of course still the problem of being the first to come upon an error, which no one really likes to do, but as mentioned before incentives can be drawn up to entice typo hunters as they may one day be called. Who will be given priority access to the prerelease section on Amazon in order to hunt.

[jezebel]

I usually read most of the bad reviews for a better idea of if I might like a book or not, because I have been fooled by good reviews before.

Originally Posted by Yolina

Indeed and they'll keep turning down absolutely beautiful works such as Joolz Denby's "Wild Thing" because apparently it's "not in genre and cannot be marketed easily" and "too harsh for the modern reader"

I would totally read that, but I can't seem to find it anywhere. Has she self-published maybe?

[Anthem]

You are not alone. Reviews are a critical tool that can be difficult to get mileage out of.

[GeoffC]

I have yet to understand how a video plug for a book provides any more information than the blurb.

The last one I watch just had words scrolling up the screen to match what was written in the short introduction.

[Yolina]

Originally Posted by jezebel

I would totally read that, but I can't seem to find it anywhere. Has she self-published maybe?

No she hasn't - anyone who wants it can send her an email (see http://www.joolz-denby.co.uk for the address, she's on Facebook too if anyone prefers) and she'll email the rtf file back. I know she's a tad busy right now (with shows in the next few days and she also manages a band who's going on tour shortly), if you want to PM me your email, I can forward it to you as she's quite happy for people to do that.

Before anyone requests the file, I'm going to do a copy/paste of the warning though:
Please be aware that this is an adult novel, containing swearing, sensitive issues, and dark themes. It is not suitable for children, or very young people.

Edit: and she doesn't "do" ebooks (well not yet anyway, we're trying to convince her )

[Sweetpea]

I never read reviews. I might read a book because somebody said it was good, in a conversation, but never from reviews.