is it okay for an author to ask you to delete your book review from amazon and goodreads?

Liosse de Velishaf · Jul 29, 2013

Larry M said:
Interesting discussion.

It reminds me of a situation from several years ago.

I was writing and editing for a web site that specialized in covering auto racing: NASCAR, Champ Car, Formula One, and Indy Car. After a while we began receiving book review requests from publishers and authors. The first 5 or 6 books that we received were very good and we wrote positive reviews because they deserved it.

Then one author sent us his book and it was terrible - a hack job, poorly researched, poorly written, disjointed, etc. The odd thing is that this book was published by what was then a fairly well established publishing house that specialized in sports books, yet the editors obviously hadn't paid much attention to this one, allowing it to be published when it should have gone straight to the trash.

Our editor that wrote the review tried to be kind and diplomatic, but he told the truth about the book.

The author was FURIOUS. "How dare you take my book for free and give it such a horrible review," he wrote back to us.

He obviously thought that just because we had agreed to review it, that it would be positive.

I see that entitlement a lot. I feel like part of it comes from how many authors are starting out as readers or unpublished in the online writing/reading community, and there's a lot of social pressure to be positive and supportive. And authors expect that to carry over into reviews. But it shouldn't.

I don't live on Amazon, and I've actually been dropping over at Goodreads more and Amazon less. I don't write reviews, but when I do give my opinion on a book, even one I loved, there's always something to say about what I think was wrong with it. I basically ignore any review that's all how wonderful the book was, because it's so very often not reliable.

Honestly, if I see no one-star or two-star reviews I start to get suspicious the author is running a scheme like the one described above.

Buffysquirrel · Jul 30, 2013

Liosse de Velishaf said:
I don't live on Amazon, and I've actually been dropping over at Goodreads more and Amazon less.

No, you've just been moving from one branch of Amazon to another.

Amadan · Jul 30, 2013

Buffysquirrel said:
No, you've just been moving from one branch of Amazon to another.

They're very different environments, regardless of the owner.

Liosse de Velishaf · Jul 30, 2013

Buffysquirrel said:
No, you've just been moving from one branch of Amazon to another.

Well, technically that's true now. But they had different origins, and it shows in some ways.

paulcosca · Jul 30, 2013

MDSchafer said:
It's not something you see in other art forms. You don't see painters offering reviews of other works. You don't find working screen writers giving reviews of current releases. Actors don't review each others work. Chefs aren't also restaurant reviewers until after they stop cooking full time.

You also don't see the top names in any genre offering reviews either.

Roger Ebert wrote three films for Russ Meyer in the 70s including the cult hit Beyond the Valley of the Dolls.

Personally, I would rather see a review from someone who has done the work themselves. As an actor, I have reviewed plays and movies. As a writer, I review books. I don't review art because I'm terrible with a paintbrush and don't have a deep knowledge on the subject.

Buffysquirrel · Jul 30, 2013

Amadan said:
They're very different environments, regardless of the owner.

For now.

RedWombat · Jul 30, 2013

MDSchafer said:
It's not something you see in other art forms. You don't see painters offering reviews of other works.

Uh...my parents are both fine artists (one painter, one sculptor) and they did a review column for an art magazine on the West Coast for quite awhile. (Including my personal favorite, in which the gallery was closed and they reviewed the show based on what my mother could see through darkened windows while she sat on my stepfather's shoulders. It was generally hailed as their best column ever and apparently the artist thought it was hilarious.)

I grant you, fine art reviews are a very teensy little genre and there's no money in it at all, but still, they exist and artists do them.

Filigree · Jul 30, 2013

Seconded for RedWombat. I'd trust a review from an industry insider far more than from a person-on-the-street. Sure, at some level, artists are always each others' adversaries. But we are also the best equipped to recognize brilliant successes and fumbling failures.

Anyone who has ever sweated through an art class or business group-critique knows this. Being told 'This is crap' should logically be answered by 'Okay, that's your view. Now tell me *why* it's crap.'

ZetablueMarketing · Jul 30, 2013

One review doesn't matter on Amazon

Brigid Barry said:
I don't think a single review has much of an impact. I practically live on Amazon.com and I compare the number of 5 star reviews to the number of one stars. And I honestly almost ignore all other ratings.

You can sort a search by the number of stars something has received, and the stars are averaged. Maybe your single star review could drop the book from the four star range into the three, and therefore miss the snobby people like me who search using the "**** +" filter.

Brigid,

I agree that one review doesn't matter on Amazon. What does matter is the quantity of reviews and in that case, the more the better, assuming that they are mostly 4 and 5 star reviews. My clients sales always improve when they spend time requesting (and getting) reviews. And it seems that 15 or 20 is when the needle starts to move.

[link removed by mod]

shaldna · Jul 31, 2013

paulcosca said:
Personally, I would rather see a review from someone who has done the work themselves. As an actor, I have reviewed plays and movies. As a writer, I review books. I don't review art because I'm terrible with a paintbrush and don't have a deep knowledge on the subject.

Oh god I wouldn't. It's READERS that I want to hear from, not writers. I'm not trying to impress other writers, I'm trying to impress readers.

Of course, readers who are also writers are a bonus.

Liosse de Velishaf · Jul 31, 2013

shaldna said:
Oh god I wouldn't. It's READERS that I want to hear from, not writers. I'm not trying to impress other writers, I'm trying to impress readers.

Of course, readers who are also writers are a bonus.

On the one hand, yes. On the other hand, I pay more attention to reviews written by someone who clearly knows a lot about books and particularly the genre to which the book belongs. Some readers have these qualities, but a much higher percentage of readers who are also writers have those qualities. To be fair, there are plenty of writers who leave crap reviews, and plenty of strictly readers who leave good ones.

Larry M · Jul 31, 2013

I have noticed that reviewers that are writers/authors are often more technically critical. They tend to notice and comment on grammar and punctuation errors.

Reviewers that are NOT writers may be less likely to notice those things and concentrate more on the story and the characters.

Just my opinion, and my observations.

MDSchafer · Aug 2, 2013

ZetablueMarketing said:
Brigid,

I agree that one review doesn't matter on Amazon. What does matter is the quantity of reviews and in that case, the more the better, assuming that they are mostly 4 and 5 star reviews. My clients sales always improve when they spend time requesting (and getting) reviews. And it seems that 15 or 20 is when the needle starts to move.

Rachel Simeone
Book Marketing Coach
Zetablue.com

Soliciting book reviews from users is unethical. This is why all Amazon and Good Read reviews are unreliable in all circumstances. User reviews are meant to be for a place for readers to post their feedback, not as a marketing tool.

If you want to solicit reviews it's perfectly acceptable to offer free review copies to any of the magazines and blogs that are out there for reviews, because that's part of professional courtesy. It's not okay to be like, "Can you post a good review of my book so that I can get higher sales on Amazon."

veinglory · Aug 2, 2013

Books that include pleas for reviews, and other forms of blatant review begging really bug me. Especially ones that specify how many stars that want and/or some kind of guilt trip. As a customer I feel that the deal is $ for book, and that's it.

is it okay for an author to ask you to delete your book review from amazon and goodreads?

Liosse de Velishaf

Buffysquirrel

Amadan

Liosse de Velishaf

paulcosca

The Paulest of all Coscas

Buffysquirrel

RedWombat

Runs With Scissors

Filigree

Mildly Disturbing

ZetablueMarketing

shaldna

The cake is a lie. But still cake.

Liosse de Velishaf

Larry M

MDSchafer

veinglory

volitare nequeo