Every once in a while certain topics by authors and readers peak and furiously travel the social media networks. The activity slowly ebbs when anything that possibly can be said and commented on, liked or disagreed with, has run its course. Recently the topic of paid reader reviews came up.
A paid review is when an author contracts with a service to provide stellar reviews of their work. The idea is that when a potential reader sees the positive review they will purchase this book because of it. So, what are paid reviews good for? Does this strategy work? I don't really know. I am not sure this is wise for any author to do. It seems to me that the money could be spent more wisely elsewhere when trying to promote your book.
How many reviews does an author pay for? When actual readers rate the book, doesn't the average rating change? How much weight do readers give reviews as a factor in their purchasing the book? These are questions I haven't seen anyone bring up.
Let me add my two cents.
Selecting a book from the ratings:
1. I select a book to read based on recommendations by other readers who share a similar taste in books that I have. I trust their ratings, although sometimes I disagree with them.
2. Generally, a book that has made it's way to the best sellers list has done so because they have sold a lot of copies. I don't think an author can pay for enough reviews to propel a book to the best seller list.
3. I only read short reviews. I don't have time to read reviews longer than, say, about 5 lines. They bore me.
My Ratings:
1. I do rate the books I read, mostly on Goodreads under the pseudo name Julie. (My daughter created the account and figured anonymity was best)I try to also add the same review on Amazon, and Barnes and Nobles sites. When I feel like it. When I really like the book.
2. Very rarely have I not completed a book. I love most books. Two times I put a book down because it was too intense for me. It wasn't because the book was bad by any means. I didn't rate those books. One book I stopped reading because it changed in the middle to a very different kind of book and I thought the author lost their way. If I really didn't like a book, I ask myself if it was because I don't normally like the genre. I don't think it is fair to other readers if I rate it based on what I like. I remember reading the review of a paranormal romance book. The reader didn't like it because of what made it, you guessed, a paranormal romance. Duh. Why did they even read the book?
3. Confession, I did rate a book with a 1 out of 5. I admire the author for having a best seller. But I just couldn't like 50 Shades of Grey. I still read it to the end to see what it was all about. It was like fingernails on a chalkboard. But I don't berate other authors who loved it. It wasn't the genre, I have read other erotic books that I loved. Just. not. me.
Should authors sweat ratings?
1. No
2. Don't answer negative ratings. I have seen authors or their representative skewed for doing so.
3. Have you ever gotten good advice from someones ratings? No. Instead, get good beta readers.
4. Don't sweat bad reviews. As a reader, I have seen plenty where I feel like they have just copied and pasted, no real info in their posts. I have seen reviews on books that haven't even had ARC's published. Like, really? Are you just trying to pump up your numbers to be on some list yourselves? Readers like me just brush them away like a buzzing fly. Ignore them!
So, if you are an author, I hope this gives you a different perspective. TTYL
