Musing on Reviews

[Demesnedenoir]

I always suspected that "organic" reviews are the best way to go, always heard that too, but one must experience lessons for oneself now and again. So, seeing as reviews are such a pain in the ass to get, I sent out some free copies to folks to see if I could get more reviews... And did I.

I won't complain, I'm getting reviews and they're mostly 4's, with a 5 and a 1 thrown in... But what is painfully obvious is that the freebie hunting reviewers are not the target audience I wanted, LOL. Damned near every one of them seems to have a problem with reading a Multi-POV, and several mention that they enjoyed once they get used to it... even highly recommend the book after! Which is cool, maybe I've broadened some horizons, heh heh.

Bottom line, every time I do ANYTHING that involves giving books away to people, it's a mixed bag at best. This one isn't too bad, because Eve of Snows started with a high average, and this should be another one time deal to try to boost reviews, and the organic reviews will carry it back up. With an advance review team being put together, hopefully I won't starve for reviews again... woohoo.

But man, all the weirdest reviews come from freebies, even some of the good ones that make you just say, "huh?"

Eat Organic, Review Organic, heh heh. Although some studies show a lot of pesticides in organic foods, which makes them overpriced lies... so, Organic Reviews are even better... and they're calorie free.

 

[Chessie2]

This is why most of my books have little to no reviews, because I don't go out of my way to get them. If someone likes my work enough to comment then that's awesome. Maybe I'm lazy but it just seems like too much effort for such little return.

Besides, reviews are a mixed bag by nature. Some are great and others are like, well, thanks anyway. *shrugs*

 

[Demesnedenoir]

Reviews are good PR... hopefully! EoS has 24 (28 including international) reviews and only one under 4 on Amazon, which naturally is a "1", LOL. Knocking on wood here, heh heh. Unfortunately, Bookbub and others do pay attention to reviews, but it's at a point now where it's time to not sweat reviews. Social confirmation is a strange and powerful thing, but many readers are review savvy folks anyhow... Still, the key is to pile on as much wooing as possible to get people to read the sample pages, and see if it's their cup of tea.

And it wasn't much work sending out free copies, otherwise it might never have happened. Laaaazy is me.

 

[Chessie2]

True, reviews are good for social proof but who knows what good they really do when readers choose to buy a book. I rarely reads reviews and like to make up my own mind but people are different. Some books that have high reviews I've absolutely hated. A lot of them are manufactured these days too. So...???

 

[Demesnedenoir]

Oh, I’m not saying they mean much of anything, in a way I prefer having a 1 and a 3 in there, it makes it look more real than when EoS had a 4.8 average. But really, it’s all most important in helping get into promotionals like Bookbub, who do pay attention to them... despite it not being a great gauge. I would say a poorly reviewed book probably gets damaged more than a highly reviewed book is helped, LOL.

I won’t read plenty of highly ranked books, but at least they might have a chance. If it’s poorly reviewed... and I mean by lots of folks, and if they point out horrible grammar and editing! I don’t bother.

But they are fascinating, I’d love to have data for analysis across Amazon’s platform.

 

[TWErvin2]

Yes, reviews from readers who got the book free can very well be a mixed bag. I recall one where the reviewer indicated they didn't care much for the premise. They read it anyway and didn't like it.

Another observation: Readers seem to be more likely to post a review of the first novel in a series. Even with sales relatively close, the sales of second and subsequent novels seem to lag. Even proportionally, they lag in number for the second, and third novel+ in a series.

 

[Demesnedenoir]

I got one of my all time favorite puzzlers the other day... it’s listed as the top critical review... 3 stars, and they recmmend the book if you like the blurb... I’ve had 4 & 5 star reviews that felt more critical.

 

[Chessie2]

My favorite is always: "Great book, loved the story but it needs proofreading because typos..."

EVERY book on earth has typos. Deal with it.

 

[Demesnedenoir]

Are reviews useful? Damned hard to tell.

But, in Australia EoS has 1 native review, 5 stars, and it is one helluva review (Title: You have to read this book) from a top 500 reviewer... whatever the hell that means. I decided to run an ad down under for the first time in forever with the book languishing around 180k in overall rankings. EoS did hit #1 or #2 hot new release in Australia months back, but, it's had more cash sales in Australia than ever before and has cranked into the top 2500 overall, #4 in category, with 2 days of ads, about $15 dollars spent, which puts it at profit.

Naturally, this could all be coincidence, if Amazon promoted after I started to promote... but, it has impressed me. That lone review might've given a little extra kick.