The one thing if you haven't noticed by now, I hate paid reviews. They're not only phony, but also shows lack of credibility on your part. When I found my old publisher paying for reviews, I immediately cancelled contract. It was against my moral belief as a writer and there was no way I could work with someone who went against what I believed in.
So, your freebie day generated quite a few clicks. That's great. Now, where are the reviews along with all those free give-a-ways? Let's face it, that's probably why you're doing it. Right?
Lets be honest with ourselves. Readers probably spend more time clicking and getting freebies than they do actual reading. So, yours is probably sitting in their "cyberspace" waiting to be read. Now, you have to sit back and be patient. Yeah, I know. You're sitting there biting your fingers wondering what a true outsider thinks. Who cares? Sure, I want to know. But, in the meantime I'm doing other things. Like finishing up another manuscript.
Maybe some can't leave a review right away. Maybe some forgot to leave a review. Or, oh my gosh! Someone hated your work but didn't want to upset you by leaving a bad review. Lets face it, go to some other works and read the bad reviews. (okay, not bad, but one star) The author is trashing those who didn't like the work. I've seen one, yes only ONE! To where the author thanked the person for giving their work a chance. I'm more inclined to read their material.
Not all our material is going to be 4/5 star worthy. Get over it. I know mine ain't. All I wanted was one, yes ONE person to like my work. I succeeded and I'm happy. (Granted more than one like it) Again, my "fan" base isn't up there and I don't care. If it'll happen it'll happen. Don't force or rush the issue. Everyone wants the fame and money. Not me.
Then why do you write? I write for fun. For pure enjoyment. I also know who my trolls are. I also don't mind friend/family reviews. I don't know about yours, but mine tell the truth. No matter how brutally honest they may be, they will tell the truth. It doesn't bother me. Why? Because I know not everyone is going to like my work, including my friends and family. Why should I treat them any differently?
I hate hearing authors whine about their 1/2 star rating. Leave it alone! It may draw someone in to actually read your work, than otherwise would be overlooked. Leave the 1/2 star ratings alone. You may think you're stirring up a buzz among their friends to get them to buy your work. You're not. You're doing the opposite. No one is going to buy your work because not only do they trust their friend's words, but they don't want to give their hard earned money to someone who's going to be ungrateful. Yes, go whine and complain to your friends and family and support groups. That's what they're there for. Go make fun of them in the privacy to where the reviewer will never know. The reviewer already knows you're doing that. Don't make it public.
In a perfect world would everyone read your work first and rush to leave a comment. But, they don't. I did an experiment with one of my works. 1. Not everyone is going to read it the same way. 2. Not everyone is going to see the same thing as the last or next person sees when reading your work.
Just because they overlooked something you were trying to express, that's on them, not you. Leave them alone. The fact they read it, over how many other works out there, pride yourself on that.
In my own personal opinion, when I research a book I want to read (which I haven't read one in years), but, when I go to check out a book. (We all do it, see what the reviews have to say about a work in our or even out of our genre) I immediately skip past the 4/5 star ratings. I start with the 1 stars. Let's face it, again, the 1/2 stars are the most likely to be 1. not family/friends 2. paid.
I see what they have to say. If they're general like, 'I didn't like it' and not giving a reason. I skip over those. It means it wasn't their cup of tea. Again, leave it alone. Then I work my way up. The reviews that will stir reviews are those from the bad reviews with someone who actually liked your work that wasn't a family/friend/paid. Lets be honest, again, you can see what work they've left reviews on. If they're leaving reviews for the same author, you know it's family/friend/paid. If they've left countless reviews for countless authors, the reviewer is probably legit.
My gripe with the 4/5 star ratings. If I wanted to read the book, I would have bought it. You normally can figure out the beginning, middle and end of the book by reading the 4/5 star reviews. So, why would you buy the book? I don't want to read ten paragraphs on what the book is about. That's what the synopsis is for. (And your potential readers don't either)
How can you tell if it's written by a friend/family/paid?
This book BOOK TITLE by AUTHOR is about...
That's nice, where's what you thought of the book. I'm sorry the last line in the 10+ paragraphs, 'I really enjoyed the book and you will too. It's a great collection to my addition!' Doesn't cut it. Unless your book is out of this world (or made into a movie) like, Harry Potter, Twilight, Hunger Games, you get my point....then your 4/5 star reviews shouldn't be as long as their 1/2 star reviews. Go ahead, if you don't believe me. Their 4/5 star reviews by REAL reviewers are like a paragraph or two. Their 1/2 star reviews are those reworking their own version of the story. Just like your 4/5 reviews.
There are so many review sites out there. Goodreads, LibraryThing, Amazon and so many others. Again, in my opinion, they need one or two and stick with it! They need a popup that pops up when an author is about to respond, 'ARE YOU SURE YOU WANT TO MAKE THIS BRAINDEAD COMMENT - IT COULD POSSIBLY AND WILL BACK FIRE ON YOU!?'
Well, I have work to get back to. I may add to this later.
When you get down to it, reviews are an opinion. They may or may not matter. Readers are becoming more wise by reading the negative first. They don't want to read 3049534572 times over the, 'This book BOOK TITLE by AUTHOR is about...'
If you feel the strong desire urge to respond to a 1/2 star rating, start it off with thanking them. Even if they got it as a freebie and ask for why they didn't like it. (If they didn't already express it) If they didn't like the plot or characters, then they didn't. Remember, not everyone who reads, reads with an open mind. And that's not a disrespect to readers. Everyone reads differently. Not everyone is going to like your work. Not everyone is going to hate your work. I have read the 1/2 star reviews where the author bashed the reviewer and other people wrote, 'Even the story appeals to me, I refuse to support the author on their negativity.'
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