Authors should never respond to reviews?

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aruna

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I'm a weirdo. I usually only read book reviews for their own intrinsic entertainment value (or to console myself that there are other people in the world who hated a book as much as I did.)

This. Especially if I hated an immensely popular book -- I will read the longer 1-star reviews AFTER reading the book, simply to find the reason for my dislike put into words. I often end up smiling, realising that no, I wasn't crazy to dislike this book, and that my dislike had a solid foundation! :) most recent case in point: The Fault in Our Stars (26+k 5*s vs 300+ 1*s).

Often, in such cases I just have an instinct that something is off but I haven't got the time or inclination to analyse the reasons for my dislike myself -- it's often (as in the above case) purely instinctive -- so reading a good critique helps me to understand my own reaction -- and maybe, even, make me a better writer. I seldom read reviews before buying a book.
 
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Quickbread

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This. Especially if I hated an immensely popular book -- I will read the longer 1-star reviews AFTER reading the book, simply to find the reason for my dislike put into words. I often end up smiling, realising that no, I wasn't crazy to dislike this book, and that my dislike had a solid foundation! :)

Ha! I do that, too. It's quite validating. :)
 

Fuchsia Groan

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I often read Goodreads reviews before deciding which YA book to sample and then possibly buy. Those books don't get reviewed in the NYT or anything (generally), and I like how hilariously frank the reviews are. Usually a few three-star reviews will give me a sense of whether this is up my alley. (They praise nonstop action, but complain about crappy characters? Then nope. They praise characters but complain that it's too slow? Maybe yes.)

For lit fic, I read reviews in the major papers or the New Yorker-- then take them with a grain of salt.

But reading reviews is something I do for fun, not primarily to find new reading matter. I've always loved book and movie reviews.
 

Once!

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Not weird at all. I do the same thing.

Or maybe that should read ... if it's weird, then I'm equally weird! ;-)

I'm fascinated by reviews, and what they say about the reviewers. An outlier bad review can sometimes mean that the reviewer hasn't understood something. Conversely, a good review for what I would consider to be a poor product could indicate that readers are taking something from it that I have missed.

There's a weird little thread I'm in on Goodreads about Girl With a Dragon Tattoo. The question was deceptively simple - "Is this a good book?" But the answers are fascinating. We have one group of people (the majority probably) who say that it's a fabulous book. They loved it to bits, especially Lisbeth.

There is another group who struggle to like the book - eg Lisbeth is 2 dimensional, Blonqvist is boring, there are too many sandwiches.

And sometimes the two groups will try to say something like "you have to be intelligent to like the book". Or conversely that "if you are intelligent you won't like the book".

Fascinating to watch.
 

Flicka

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Never, ever, in my lifetime, have I decided to buy a book on the basis of "stars" in a review. Never. EVER. As in not even one time.

In fact, I've never even looked at reviews before deciding whether or not to buy, or read, a given book. As in Never. EVER. Not even once.

I recommend you try this procedure.

caw

I don't "buy books based on stars", but I do buy books on recommendation. I read reviews before reading a book (not always before buying) because I want to know a) what it is about and if the subject sounds entertaining, and b) if it's well-researched (I read a lot of hist fic and if I'm going to spend £X and invest x hours in it I want to know I'm not getting "men in tights" wallpaper silliness). I don't care if people liked it or not. However, I am interested in what I can learn about the plot and the writing. I also read excerpts if they are available and I'm the weird sort of person who actively goes out looking for spoilers too.

Obviously, I have tried not reading reviews. It was by necessity my modus operandi for the first 30 years of my life when reviews were almost impossible to get hold of for anything but the latest releases. However, having tried both methods, I find I like my spoilers, thank you very much.
 
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OJCade

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I'm actually more likely to read reviews after I've got and read the book. Sort of "Well that was interesting/terrible/whatever. I wonder what other people thought of it?"
 

J.S.F.

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The only time I read reviews for anything is when Roger Ebert gives something 1 star and severely TROUNCES it.
---

Last I heard, Ebert passed away. You know something we don't? :D
 

Viridian

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I read all the book reviews before I buy the book, and I reject based on a lot of things.

I'm picky, and I hate wasting money and time. If I were in a bookstores, I could just pick up the book and flip through it, but when purchasing ebooks... the excerpt just isn't enough.
 

BenPanced

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The only time I read reviews for anything is when Roger Ebert gives something 1 star and severely TROUNCES it.

---

Last I heard, Ebert passed away. You know something we don't? :D
Which is to say I either don't read reviews or just re-read his. Or both.
 

Bolero

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I find the "also bought" line-up on Amazon useful. Not a guarantee, but if I am out of something to read I tend to go look and see if any of my favourite authors have just released a new book, and if not, take a look at some of the "also boughts". Then read a few pages, the blurb, a few of the reviews - couple of good, couple of bad. Mostly works. As others have said, it can be an inverted process as finding out that someone hated a book for a stated reason might mean I'd like that book for the same reason.
I do wish though that the check boxes and stars were slightly more sophisticated - so have a "did you like/dislike this story" separate from "how well written" - just to guide people to being more analytical. Not all would, some might.
 

BenPanced

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I don't pay attention to "also bought" or "based on your purchase history...", either. I bought a book online from Barnes & Noble this summer and all four in the "based on your purchase history, you might like these!" might as well have been my purchase history: I'd bought them over the last year.
 

Fuchsia Groan

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I'm fascinated by reviews, and what they say about the reviewers. An outlier bad review can sometimes mean that the reviewer hasn't understood something. Conversely, a good review for what I would consider to be a poor product could indicate that readers are taking something from it that I have missed.

There's a weird little thread I'm in on Goodreads about Girl With a Dragon Tattoo. The question was deceptively simple - "Is this a good book?" But the answers are fascinating. We have one group of people (the majority probably) who say that it's a fabulous book. They loved it to bits, especially Lisbeth.

There is another group who struggle to like the book - eg Lisbeth is 2 dimensional, Blonqvist is boring, there are too many sandwiches.

And sometimes the two groups will try to say something like "you have to be intelligent to like the book". Or conversely that "if you are intelligent you won't like the book".

Fascinating to watch.

Yes! I find discussion about cultural/art projects really fascinating, as long as both sides are reasonably literate and are not just flaming each other. I have read some ridiculously long comment threads with people arguing about a particular superhero movie, even though I don't like superhero movies. And I've read tons of reviews of books I have no intention of reading, ever, just because the conversation is interesting. It is to me what political talk is to some people, I guess.

What I like about GR is that it brings present-tense immediacy to the book conversation. Everybody rushes to see a movie on opening weekend, but there is no equivalent for books. When I love or hate a book, I want to discuss it, but very rarely is anyone around me also reading it. If I go to GR, I may be able to find a discussion of that very book happening.

But I know that the free-wheeling, candid discussion I enjoy so much as a reader/consumer is one it could only hurt me to see as the writer/creator of the work. Even in the unlikely event that everything said is positive, seeing your baby dissected like a celebrity's award ceremony dress or the latest iPhone would be just ... weird.

And not all that helpful in terms of feedback, because the more arguments you read about YA books or superhero movies, the more you realize that different people can have equal passion for them and yet want them to be entirely different things.
 
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LindaJeanne

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I find the reviews and star ratings much more useful for non-fiction than fiction.

Once, for a popular non-fiction book that touched on areas of cognitive science, the vast majority of the one-star reviews complained that the book had "too much information" (wait, this is a bad thing now?) I bought the book because of those reviews, and wasn't disappointed.

On another occasion, I was looking to buy a condo in an urban, walkable area, where I wouldn't have to own a car. Completely new to home-buying or any sort of large purchase, I was looking for books on the subject. I almost bought one book on buying your first condo because it looked perfect.

But the lone one-star reviewer warned that throughout the book, it made the implicit assumption you were looking to buy a condo in some horrible suburban sprawl area. Like me, the reviewer was looking for a condo in a walkable urban neighborhood, and so found the book useless. None of the positive reviews contradicted his claim that the book dealt exclusively with the assumption that (for some reason) you wanted to live in the middle of a suburban sprawl wasteland. So, I didn't buy the book. (I've lived both in very rural areas and in urban areas, and enjoyed both. But please, please, please -- no sprawl. kthx.)

Then you've got the nonsensical ones, like the woman who left a one-star review on a book titled (IIRC) "Arts & Crafts House Plans" complaining that the book turned out to be full of floor plans for houses, and had nothing about decorating in it. *facepalm* Yes, dear, that's why the words "House Plans" were in the title rather than the word "Decorating".

Fiction, it's a lot harder, and it's so subjective, and a review that would really tell me whether I would like the book would have to give too much of it away. Like others above have noted, I enjoy reading reviews of fiction books AFTER I've read the book, rather than before.

.

EDIT: you know what? This is just pointless babbling that doesn't really add to the conversation. I'm tempted to delete it, but deleted posts seem to bother people more than pointless ones, so I'll leave it.

.
 
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StephanieZie

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I'm actually more likely to read reviews after I've got and read the book. Sort of "Well that was interesting/terrible/whatever. I wonder what other people thought of it?"

I do the exact same thing, not just for books but for television shows, movies, products, etc. etc.

It used to drive my ex crazy because we would get done watching a movie or something and I would immediately jump on the internet, saying "Give me an hour, I need to decide how I feel about this."
 

akaria

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Anne Rice is at it again. From Dear Author:

1. Anne Rice is going to write a “booklet” on Amazon reviewers, and it is going to be “substantial”
2. Except that it’s not going to contain any actual proof or evidence or examples, just “the results of [her] years of research” — except without the actual results.
3. Even though, according to her, the “system” is “99.99% good” and she has “not been significantly harmed by bullies.”

I read some of the comments after Rice's rant and it was sad. There was one lone person saying he wanted proof of what Rice was claiming. He got links to STGRB and lots of patronizing remarks. Others wondered what right he had to question Rice's words. She's famous, therefore she's right. She'd never create a tempest in a tea kettle to bring attention to her own book. Of course not. /sarcasm
 

JustSarah

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Depends on what's being constituted as proof. As far as I'm concerned, the reviews themselves constitute as proof enough to me.

I look forward to reading it.
 

JennTX

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Depends on what's being constituted as proof. As far as I'm concerned, the reviews themselves constitute as proof enough to me.

I look forward to reading it.

Considering she cannot reprint the reviews without the reviewer's permission, I doubt this silly pamphlet will contain actual reviews.
 

oceansoul

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I have had authors respond to reviews a few times on my blog. It has always been friendly, like 'thanks for reviewing my book!' Or 'glad to hear you connected with X' which I think is kind of cool. Granted, these responses have all come when I gave the book 4 or 5 stars.
 

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I didn't know goodreads were considered reviews.

Did you notice that you kind of had to leave the noun out of that sentence in order to avoid calling them reviews? Like, "Goodreads" is singular, you used the plural "were"... feels like the word "reviews" is what you're missing after "Goodreads".
 
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jjdebenedictis

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I didn't know goodreads were considered reviews.
I'm honestly not comprehending how you can fail to realize that the reviews of books on Goodreads are considered to be reviews of books.

I mean, I don't consider them to be pretzels or interpretative dance or something. What did you think people thought they were?
 

AnneMarble

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Considering she cannot reprint the reviews without the reviewer's permission, I doubt this silly pamphlet will contain actual reviews.
That doesn't mean she won't quote them. If she's within fair use, fine. If not, that could be a whole new kettle of worms.

I didn't know goodreads were considered reviews.
A review doesn't have to be in PW, Booklist, Kirkus, a newspaper or whatever to be considered a review -- and thus considered published -- and if I understand the copyright law (hah!), thus it would be considered copyrighted, even if copyright has not been applied for. A review on a personal blog would also be considered a review, and thus published. Quoting those without permission would also be a Bad Idea.

I don't know who holds the copyright on Goodreads reviews. Is it the reviewer, or is it Amazon? The same would apply to reviews posted on Amazon itself. If she quotes reviews from Goodreads and Amazon without permission, a drone might fly over her house and drop a lawyer at her door. :)
 
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