Paid Reviews and ChickLitGirls

PulpDogg said:

But see, this is the problem. Too often I only see nothing but blurbs on the cover, back cover and the first few pages. There is no synopsis, not a single word about what the book is about.

I don't mind a sales pitch or a few choice slogans. But don't just put "great read" and similar senseless blurbs all over the book.

I never got how these books even sell a single copy if nobody knows what they are about - but then a friend told me he didn't want to know what a book is about, he is ok with someone recommending it to him.

Maybe I am the weird one ...

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No, I agree. Coincidentally enough, my editor today forwarded me the copy for the back of my novel. I was pleased to see, amid the blurbs, a nice plot summary because I also think readers expect/like to see them there.

Back in the dark ages of the early 1990s when Voyager was first publishing/designing/producing ebooks and cd-roms and wanted to sell them in bookstores, one of my tasks was to observe how customers bought/selected print books.

A lot of customers came in with a book in mind—a title or author—that they wanted to buy. Sometimes it was something along the lines of "I think the author was names Smith or maybe Jones, but the cover was yellow and had a woman with a hat on it." (Believe it or not, a good bookseller will in fact be able to deduce the book in question; try THAT with Amazon).

Sometime they browsed the shelves, picking up books, looking at the cover, turning them over, reading the back cover, looking at the front for a pullquote, then paging through the book a bit.

A surprisingly large number of people—I can't remember the stats, but I think for fiction is was something like 20% or so—read the ending.

The printed commercial book is designed to sell itself, but that, with a good hand-seller is one reason why some indie bookstores are actually beginning to make a comeback in some areas.

I just have to say this whole thing is just unbelievable. I mean don't get me wrong I thought it happened before, mostly because I heard about on here, but to actually see it was just a bit for me.

Bubastes said:

YES! Sarah from Smart Bitches said as much. In fact, I'm often drawn to books that received a D, F, or DNF review on SBTB because I want to read the train wreck for myself. Yep, I've purchased books because they received a bad (but entertaining) review.

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I read Twilight and some of Master of Universe (i.e. Fifty Shades series) because of bad reviews.

IdiotsRUs said:

For me, personally, then if a reviewer has got a free review copy/has a relationship with author/got paid , then that should be upfront. Because while it may not make a difference it probably does. And full disclosure upfront is ten times bbetter than having to back pedal later It also gives a clue to the reader - this may not be unbiased. win win?

Baxiclly, if you have any vested interest (even so little as a free book) it needs to be said. Somewhere people can see it easily, like in the review. Most bloggers do this (I recieved this book free from Netgalley etc). Not doing so is ...problematic for reason many others have said. So why be problematic?

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I think it is generally considered normal to be given a free copy, it has been since the dawn of time and I suspect will be for the near future at least. In fact, my friend who reviews for a professional magazine (and recently reviewed an AW member, much to my amusement when I saw it on his 'facebook published list of the bloody great pile of books I have to read for work') does not get paid by the magazine he writes for at all. He gets 'paid' in the free stuff he is sent to review (plus a CVable writing credit). Oh, and in his case, he doesn't get sent the stuff directly by the publisher/author. They send it to his publisher who send it to him... so there is less incentive to please the original writer (because he has never spoken to them or been sent the free gift by them) but rather an incentive to please the magazine by producing a fair and honest review...

So, if the assumption is that everyone gets a free copy, I don't see it as being as much of an issue. You are right there is a case for conflict of interests there which could be argued but it is not a strong one. Without the free copy most reviews would not happen, full stop. As a reviewer, I might read and review books I would normally read and buy them with my own money but many of the ones I have been sent for free I probably would not have bothered with (including the rather excellent one I got sent by our own Mr McDonald...). Sending them to me free ensures that I add it to the list of 'things needing to be read'. It may even actually get read and reviewed, depending on how big that list is at the time. It does not guarantee a good review.

Plus, with the rise of the ebook, most of the 'freebies' you get sent in the book world now are ebooks (yes, even in trade - this is a comment my friend has also made - he hasn't got an ebook reader so has to do his review reading on his phone now). They are cheaper to produce and most publishers will just hammer out a number of copies to e-mail to as many reviewers as they have on their database who they think will be interested - no print costs, no postage cost. Now, if you are talking about electronics and computer reviews... that's a different matter. Several hundred pounds of gear is a lot more of an incentive

If you get a free copy of a book to review, disclose it.

RichardGarfinkle said:

There's a big difference between a free reviewer's copy, which I believe has been SOP for a long time and being paid for a review.

A reviewer's copy is only valuable in so far as the book is worth reading. It's not really a fungible commodity.

Cash under the table on the other hand...

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Yeah, there's a difference between an ARC or galley and paying for a review(or getting paid for one). At least in my opinion anyway. If I get an ARC, I'm not "forced" to positively review the book. Technically, I don't even have to review it.

I used to do podcast interviews (obviously not the same as reviews) with authors for promotional material for their websites. The publisher would generally send me the book, or occasionally, the author would. The company I worked with did not charge for the interviews, subsequently, I was not paid either. We did it for the love of the business and, also, because it was interesting.

Only one writer got very snotty with me when he contacted us for an interview and I requested a copy of the book. (I never did an interview on a book I hadn't read. You can tell if the interviewer hasn't read what he's asking about.) He said, in response to my request, "You'll be happy to know it's only $23.99 on Amazon." I explained that we didn't charge for the interviews and that I didn't receive any payment for doing them. Amazingly, he said, "Untrue. You seem to want to be paid in free books."

I never bothered to respond.

areteus said:

I think it is generally considered normal to be given a free copy, it has been since the dawn of time and I suspect will be for the near future at least.

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For professional reviewers, or those who say have their review printed in a magazine/newpaper/large pro review site etc, then yes I suspect it's a given. I was thinking more book bloggers etc, who can receive free copies, but don't necessarily.

On other words, anyone doing a review for the Guardian probably doesn't need to say it. Anyone doing a review for their blog/amazon etc, should probably mention it.

MarkEsq said:

No, I agree. Coincidentally enough, my editor today forwarded me the copy for the back of my novel. I was pleased to see, amid the blurbs, a nice plot summary because I also think readers expect/like to see them there.

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I certainly expect it. In fact, if a book doesn't have some sort of plot-summary somewhere on the cover or just inside, I won't buy it. After all, it's hard to tell much about a book just by it's cover, except maybe the genre, and even then it's not an exact science. I could really care less about blurbs, especially since half the time they're for other books by the same author, instead of the one actually in my hands!

I also don't usually read reviews before I read a book (unless there's some drama to rubber-neck at). I tend to only read them after, just to see what other people got from the book. To me, reading a paid-review is a waste of time. It's not going to be as honest, and I've already bought/borrowed the book and read it, so I no longer need convincing. I want honest reactions, not paid advertising at that point.

Triple review

Ten Ruby Trick by Julia Knight is a great book, easily six stars on a scale of one to five.

The Pirate's Lady by Julia Knight is a great book, easily six stars on a scale of one to five.

Viking's Sacrifice by Julia Knight is a great book, easily six stars on a scale of one to five.

IdiotsRUs, please remit $285 to Chase, US dollars, please. Tank you, girl.

I've seen a few of those, and I tend not to buy them. It's irritating when you can't tell what a book is about.

However, in some cases, it works. Like Jenny Lawson's memoir. But then, I already knew who she was, so....

When I was reviewing for this site http://www.infinityplus.co.uk/
I used to get sent a copy of the book - supplied by the publisher to the review site. I never mentioned in the reviews that I got to keep the copy I read. But then not all the reviews were positive.

Chase said:

Ten Ruby Trick by Julia Knight is a great book, easily six stars on a scale of one to five.

The Pirate's Lady by Julia Knight is a great book, easily six stars on a scale of one to five.

Viking's Sacrifice by Julia Knight is a great book, easily six stars on a scale of one to five.

IdiotsRUs, please remit $285 to Chase, US dollars, please. Tank you, girl.

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Thank you kindly.

Er...do you take chocolate brownies? They have sprinkles.

When I was reviewing for this site http://www.infinityplus.co.uk/
I used to get sent a copy of the book - supplied by the publisher to the review site. I never mentioned in the reviews that I got to keep the copy I read. But then not all the reviews were positive.

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Hmm maybe I should revise/clarify what I said earlier - if the book is sent to an institution for review (Guardian, Locus, X magazine, Y blog) then it's probably unnecessary, because books are usually shared out among critics. But if the book is sent to you/you order it from netgalley/whatever for your own review.....