How to screw up publishing a book

[phenomshel]

http://thelipstickchronicles.typepad...ng-a-book.html

Quite the refreshing viewpoint. Plus, it explains a LOT.

[rmm200]

Read all the blog comments too.

Robert

[JSWolf]

Amazon is a whore. There's proof now.

[DawnFalcon]

Some of the whining because Amazon uses all sales, not just new sales, for popularity is great.

[LCF]

Very interesting blog entry. Thanks for the link!

[Kali Yuga]

What are you people, new?

• Amazon is just as "human" as a small bookstore. Sure there are automated recommendation engines, but also plenty of human beings selecting books to push. The idea that larger companies are somehow evil primarily by virtue of their size is juvenile.
• Shock horror, if you want to sell your books, you can't pretend that one of the largest retailer doesn't exist. (And if you think Amazon can be brutal in this respect, try working with Walmart.)
• Shock horror, publishers use their leverage to promote books. Pretty much every industry does things like this, in some form or another.
• I don't see why "Vines" reviewers have an obligation to do anything other than give their opinion on a book. They are not professional reviewers, they are not paid by a periodical.
• Is there any author alive who actually likes negative reviews? (Unless, of course, it's of a book by a particular nemesis.)

[khalleron]

There was a great deal of whining because Amazon reviewers did not love the blogger's friend's book.

Big fat deal.

[banjobama]

This woman sounds like a crybaby. Is it really news to anyone that the reviews voted most helpful show up on the main page? Or that big companies try and push their products? Maybe I don't get what she's trying to say.

[Pardoz]

Originally Posted by khalleron

There was a great deal of whining because Amazon reviewers did not love the blogger's friend's book.

Well, in fairness there was also a great deal of whining as the mosquito of "I'm a published author" fantasy met the windscreen of modern publishing reality.

[fugazied]

Originally Posted by banjobama

This woman sounds like a crybaby. Is it really news to anyone that the reviews voted most helpful show up on the main page? Or that big companies try and push their products? Maybe I don't get what she's trying to say.

That's basically what she was saying. The book she liked didn't get reviewed in the way she wanted so she complained about it. Any book review needs to be taken with a grain of salt, especially on the shops website. I mean seriously what does she expect, the companies publishing/selling the books to not take an interest in the marketing and reviews on their books. Of course publishers would have people adding comments. Of course. I wouldn't lay it directly at Amazon's feet because they simply provide the framework - publishers, authors, insane fans are probably the ones adding most comments.

Instead of complaining about the system like a child, if she wants all of those positive reviews like the big players, hire people to do them. That's the bottom line and that is Internet marketing in 2010.

[abookreader]

um, if Nancy Martin, her friends, and her Publisher want me to groove on the new book - they should offer it in eBook because I won't be buying it until then.

I read all the Blackbird Sisters books by Nancy Martin and felt that series was up and down at best. I'm not all that shocked to see mixed reviews on the new one. Amazon customer reviews are just that ... opinions of customers. I personally have 3 or 4 names from the Vine program that I recognize as being readers whose tastes commonly match mine.

[MrBlueSky]

Oh, she's just complaining because readers now have a forum to talk directly to readers. Her 'role' as gatekeeper to 'the masses' has become irrelevant.