What’s new with me? I Yahoo’d myself!
There’s a couple of things I want to talk about today and I’d love to hear your views!
I’ve Googled myself before…Come on, admit it. You’ve Googled yourself too! LOL! But I don’t think I’ve ever Yahoo’d.
What did I find out? Well, for one, I am all over the place.
But there was one very interesting thing that I did find. One of my books has been uploaded to a website to download for free. I don’t know if I should be furious or flattered. Flattered that one of my books would be pirated right along with Stephen King and James Patterson, but furious that I am losing money that I worked hard to earn.
What’s your thoughts on this? And what would you do if you found out that your book has been pirated?
Now on to the next subject.
Should authors reply to reviewers?
That’s the question and if you click on it, it will take you to a discussion on Amazon.
Do you reply to your reviewers? I’ve heard some say they don’t and I really haven’t heard anything positive from the ones that do. So I am curious as to what the norm is.
I feel, and this is just my personal opinion, that it is common courtesy to thank the reviewer for the review whether it be a 1-star or a 5-star. If they take the time to read my book and review it, I feel they deserve a “thank you” That’s it. That’s not hard. You don’t have to jump down their throat because you don’t like their review. And if you do go off on them, other reviewers are going to be hesitant to leave a review.
I don’t stay up-to date on everything that goes on, but evidently there is a big thing about a Self Published Author who threatened to sue a reviewer.
HELLO! You put your book out there. You wanted people to read it. And you wanted reviews. YOU! Not anyone else, but YOU! Or Me. Or the next guy. Or girl.
Here’s the thing, not everyone is going to like what you write. We can’t please all the people all the time.
And of course I have to add, “If you can’t say anything nice, don’t say anything at all.”
And I’m not just picking on authors, this should apply to reviewers as well.
I read one review left for another author and the person giving the review claimed to be an editor. Okay, but the problem with her review was she not only trashed the author and the book, but 90% of her review, was just her personal opinion. Personally, after reading her review, I would NOT want her to be my editor.
I commented on the discussion about authors and reviewers and basically what I said was that most of the time reviewers give constructive criticism and we should be thankful for their feedback.
One of the replies to my comment was from a reviewer who disagreed with me. She was nice about it and she did admit she was venting, but she said that she used to work for a publisher and if she is going to give feedback she expects to be paid for it.
So I am going to give you a few examples of reviews vs. feedback vs. personal opinions and then let you go out and enjoy your day! 🙂
Positive Review with a personal opinion (I don’t think you can have a review without a personal opinion)
This was a story of boy meets girl and they fall in love. I really enjoyed this story. I give it 5 stars.
Negative Review with a personal opinion
This was a story of boy meets girl and they fall in love. I really didn’t like this story, it was too cliche, so I am giving it a 2 star.
Review with constructive criticism and feedback (Can be good or bad, it just depends on how you look at it)
This story was so slow. The premise was good. The characters were funny. Too many typographical errors. Too much white space. I wouldn’t read it again.
I actually received a similar review for one of my novels and yes, I did thank her.
Why? Because I read some of her other reviews.
Ones that said;
- This book has so many errors just in the first chapter that I couldn’t finish it.
- I want my money back!
- This book was free and I still want my money back. In fact the author should have paid me to read it.
- If this were a paperback instead of an ebook, I would have thrown it against the wall
So I thanked her. She liked the story. She gave me some constructive criticism and feedback and she didn’t throw it against the wall. 🙂
And the last one…
Bad Review with a lot of personal opinion and very little constructive criticism
I hated this book. It started out great and then fell apart. The author kept talking about his stupid brown dog and there were too many typographical errors and the hero was bald. Who likes a bald hero? No one, that’s who. Don’t know why this author thinks they can write. This was just a stupid book. Don’t waste your money. And in my opinion, blah, blah, blah…
Now this is a reviewer whom you should thank. Nothing fancy, just; “I’m sorry you didn’t enjoy my book, but I thank you for taking the time to leave a review.” Or don’t thank them. Just whatever you do, don’t go berserk on them. Why? Because it makes you look bad.
Moral of the story: Learn to read between the lines and analyze your reviews. And even if you don’t thank your reviewers, be thankful for them.
I love to hear your thoughts and opinions. I may not always agree, but I always respect them. 🙂
I have a couple more posts for you this week, so…
Till then: HUGS!
- Posted in: Reviews ♦ Uncategorized ♦ What's New With You
- Tagged: authors, bad, good, karens different corners, reviewers, reviews, SPA's, writers
karensdifferentcorners 
Karen, I used to read all my reviews. However, I was too emotionally upset when I got a bad review or someone really stuck a knife in my belly and twisted it by Harsh, Derogatory and Severe comments. So, for my mental health and the good of my writing, I don’t read… unless it’s a Beta Reader with suggestions, corrections, comments, things like that. I was writing to suit the reviewers and not my story… when you write a series, you have to keep your vision clear. Don’t get me wrong, constructive criticism I will take in a heartbeat! It was the nasty, hateful and downright uncalled for mean reviews, which I have had by the way. . . that made me quit reading. Also, I NEVER RESPOND TO ANY REVIEWER!!! It’s a cardinal law in my playbook!!!! Under no circumstances!!! If it is Libelous, then I let my Publisher handle it! Lots of love, Emily
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Hi Emily!
Yeah, I haven’t even checked in quite awhile to see if I have any new reviews. Which brings up a good point. If you can’t handle 1, 2, or 3 star reviews, don’t even bother to check to see if you have reviews because there will always be that one person that is just downright mean and for no reason at all.
Hope you are having a great day!
Hugs to you!
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This is a great post Karen!
First the piracy – the first time I saw one of my books up for a free download on some snaky site, I was hurt and then furious. I did my research to find out what I could do and sent off a takedown notice. Did so every week until the page was shut down. Sometimes, it stays, but if you can find out who is the website host, you can send them a notice. It infuriates me when I find my books up on places like that. The time I spend searching, and sending out the takedown notices, is time taken away from writing. The misconception that authors make a lot of money on their writing, such as Stephen King, is so untrue. The money they’re stealing from me could pay for a tank of gas in my car. A bag of kitty food for the animal shelter. I have no tolerance for digital thieves.
Now the reviewers – I’ve never commented on any of my reviews on Amazon. If the review is on a blog or site that is specifically for book reviews, I always say thank you. No matter how good or bad the review is. Like you mentioned, the person did take the time to read your book, they deserve a thank you at the very least.
But there are good reviewers and bad reviewers. The bad “reviewers” are usually out there only to promote their own point of view, their own agenda. They aren’t concerned with the fact that they conduct themselves unprofessionally or how that unprofessional conduct effects others. That being said, if I submit my book for review to someone, or a review site, and I don’t like the review they gave, well, tough toenails. I asked for the review. It’s my responsibility to act professionally and say thank you. That’s just common courtesy.
Again, great post!
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Hi Casey! And thank you. I did contact the site telling them I wanted it removed but so far, it’s still there.
As for replying to reviewers; I kind of figured that the consensus would be in favor of not replying.
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I’ve had one of my books pirated too. My take on the freebies pirate sites is that people who choose to steal work by downloading media on those sites will never purchase our stuff anyway, because they feel that if it’s available on the Internet it should be free. So, with that in mind, I don’t even waste my time trying to go through hoops trying to get it shut down. I’m really not losing any money because I’ll never be able to convince someone who prefers to download stuff illegally to instead actually buy books, music, movies, etc.
Regarding responding to reviewers, I have done so a couple of times, but normally advise not to. The only time I responded was when I received some very constructive and helpful feedback (both 3-star reviews). I felt they deserved a bit of gratitude for pointing out flaws in my writing that need to be fixed. Then there are those really negative and just plain rude reviewers. Absolutely never respond to those. Nothing good can come of it. I’ve known a couple of authors who responded to negative reviewers and ended up getting trolled. I’m getting to the point where I don’t even read the 1 and 2-star reviews anymore, because they are usually either very nit-picky, grammar snobs, or just plain jerks with nothing better to do than insult the author.
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I haven’t read any of my reviews in quite some time. Like Casey pointed out in her comment, there are good and bad reviewers and it’s sad that being courteous doesn’t go both ways. Hi Rob! I was just going to send you an email!
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Pirates should be hanged from the yardarms! I do try to read and answer reviews. Some have crushed me with their lack of reason and it’s obvious they never actually read the book. I have successfully had a review taken down– from Amazon– because the reviewer used the exact wording for two different books– one was mine. If an author questions a review all one must do is check other reviews by that person.
If you notice, there are those that get great satisfaction from being a Top Reviewer. I think they get prizes and free subscription to Prime. The problem is a few rarely read what they review and try–at the writer’s expense– to be oh so funny. Yardarms would do them well also!
But an honest review that doesn’t favor my work may hurt but I enjoy the honesty and try to learn from them
Beautiful Casey has the right idea.
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Great post! Very interesting take on replying to reviews, because I’ve always heard that it’s a big NO NO to respond to reviewers. That being said, I do really like the idea of reaching out and thanking someone for taking the time to review. But then, you’d be expected to respond to everyone, and I think I’d have a really hard time being polite to someone who left a terrible review. Hmm … I think I’ll stick to not responding for now, with the caveat that if I happen to know the reviewer (via WordPress or whatever), I’d definitely thank them via private message for their kindness 🙂
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Thanks, Michelle. It’s funny, I have responded and didn’t realize how many authors think you shouldn’t. What’s interesting is that some of the reviewers don’t like the authors responding.
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Well, I think that’s just because of the whole “we’re anonymous on the internet” mentality. If you post a review about something, you’re doing it with the expectation that it’s you just throwing your opinion out into the wind — if someone reads it, cool, but no one’s ever actually going to call you on what you wrote. So when an author (or, in the case of a product review, a company) responds to you, you’re like “oh crap, what did I say in that review? was I really rude?” etc. But I imagine people who leave good reviews would like to get a thank you from the author, so … yup 🙂
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I used to thank all my reviewers, and was warned off by another author. They said I was playing with fire, because I’m opening a door to the troll. And once a troll takes hold there is no letting go.
To avoid being picked on, I’ve decided to be thankful instead. Great Post!
Anna from Shout with Emaginette
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Thanks, Anna! I know one author that has gone beserk on a reviewer just because the reviewer gave her a 2-star and I explained to her that it was actually a good review. I guess we have to have thick skins, but I also feel that both writers and reviewers need to be civil and curteous. I know, I live in a fantasy world. 🙂
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Karen. It’s me again. To be honest I have never heard the, Author’s shouldn’t comment to reviewers. I’m of the opinion that if someone takes the time to review my works I should at least thank them– even if the review is not so good, but honest. I’ll admit that I don’t get hundreds of reviews and have never been ‘trolled’. So far as I can tell it has hurt the sell of my books. I’ve only ‘slightly snapped’ at one reviewer and it was only because the reviewer obviously didn’t read the book. I did thank them for buying my book and suggested they try my Thriller, lol. Again, great post.
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