Beware the FIVE stars and ONE stars.

3/7/2013

There is something rotten in the state of Denmark! And, apparently in the state of Amazon!! I am talking about book reviews. Not the well thought out and lengthy contributions by genuine readers, but contrived sales aids written by the author himself (under another name), his friends or paid scribblers.

My shelves are filled with books of wonderful advice on self promotion as a newbie author. They all tell you that you need lots of reviews, preferably five star reviews, on Amazon and other sites to make your book a success. I am sure that they help a lot, but surely readers are beginning to question the value of them. If you type ‘fake 5 star book reviews’ into Google you will get a mountain of comment on this growing trend.

Ok, five star reviews look very impressive – but I think we are in danger of devaluing the currency. You only have to look at some of the brief reviews, short on substance but fanatical in their praise, that now adorn many books to realise that a growing percentage of book reviews may not be what they seem.

Tempting as it may be, and pleasing though it must be to see countless five star reviews praising our work, we must sit back and be honest with ourselves and with book buyers if reviews are to continue to be valued as part of the decision making process by serious readers.

Amazon are taking some action. They are trying to weed out anomalous reviews, but I cannot see how they can effectively tackle all aspects of the problem. In my research for this piece I read about one health book that, after a few really bad one and two star reviews, received more than one hundred five star reviews – in one day! And also about the sci-fi publisher who offered a $25 gift voucher to anyone leaving a five star review of their book (this offer was quickly withdrawn following negative publicity).

I have the same distaste for one star ‘spoiler’ reviews. I, personally, would not write a negative review – I just could not – I would prefer that the reader drew their own conclusion from the lack of reviews on a book. I have always believed that if you cannot say anything nice, do not say anything at all! I hear that Amazon are now addressing this also, and have caught authors writing such reviews just to spoil the sales of another author. I hope they were banned from the site.

It is early days yet for my book (yes, here’s the plug – amzn.to/T0Hthk) but so far it boasts two, four star reviews – and I am proud of having earned them, not paid for them or begged granny to write them!

Ok, that’s enough of the heavy stuff for this week. I hope the cute pics below will amuse you – I love the squirrel that thinks he’s a puppy – thank you Su Williams!

Happy writing until next week, Arthur

'ole blue eyes is back !

14 Comments

Meet the author

Arthur Crandon is a lawyer, the boring office kind, not the exciting (and much better paid) courtroom type. He worked as a solicitor for a while before embarking on an interesting life overseas. He has spent most of his time in recent years in South East Asia, more recently in Hong Kong. Before that, Arthur lived and worked in the Philippine Islands.
He loves to fish, and play the piano – but spends most of his time writing, eating, drinking and sleeping
– usually, but not always, in that order.
His first book, Deadly Election, draws on his strange imagination and his
experiences, together with those of others, in a land that, beneath a veneer of civilisation, operates like the Wild West and is very
dangerous to innocent and gullible foreigners.

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Liza

3/8/2013 07:17:13 am

very helful blogs,and cute picture Arthur....Good luck for the writing.:-)

arthur crandon

3/9/2013 07:26:18 am

Thank you Liza, I am sure people only visit my blog for the cute pics. hehe. But there we go...... whatever it takes :-)

Shane KP ONeill link

3/8/2013 09:32:41 am

I have to agree with you, Arthur, on both sides of the spectrum. It isn't too difficult to tell when either is the case when looking carefully through reviews. But are Amazon really trying to address this? I've only ever heard of them removing 5* reviews from people, never the false 1* reviews that some people use to deliberately hurt another writer. I'm currently the victim of another writer's disdain, a person who is using multiple accounts and getting people within his close circle to attack me with ridiculous 1* reviews. Yet Amazon do nothing about this...

3/9/2013 07:28:59 am

Hi Shane, Your story is not unique, and I am not sure what, if anything, Amazon do .... Have you contacted them? I do hope you can get it sorted. On the plus side, Amazon do say that there is evidence that 1* reviews do not damage sales. They may be right, but they are not nice.... Take care and good luck

Jeanne E. Rogers link

3/8/2013 01:11:13 pm

Hi Arthur. I really enjoy your blogs. You always have something thoughtful and interesting to offer, and look forward to hearing from you. This discussion about 5* v. 1* reviews has piqued my interest as I am one of those people who continually reviews books, posts them to Amazon, FB, Goodreads, and my blog, etc. I wonder how you would feel about my thought process, so here goes. I don't like reviewing books that I don't like! Pretty simple philosophy. As a result my reviews are given to only those books that I feel deserve a 4*, or 5*. I have read some really awful self-published books, but being self published, I am reluctant to be judge and jury in those that I BELIEVE, (that's is in my opinion), are just dull, or generally bad as a result of many factors. My reviews are very honest in that I will not post a review for a book that I did not enjoy, or I believe others would not enjoy. I wonder how you might feel about that? My very best to you Arthur, and keep the interesting blogs coming, my friend.
Jeanne

3/9/2013 07:34:14 am

Thank you for your kind comments, Jeanne. I have reviewed several books now and I do enjoy it. My attitude is exactly the same as yours. Reviewing is subjective, I would not post a bad review - but it is sad that the ease with which we can now publish means that many books are finding their way onto the emarket well before they are ready (if they ever would be), but I am sure negative reviews are NOT the way to tackle the problem. nearly all writers allow readers to sample their books now - readers can make up their own minds.

David Prosser link

3/8/2013 01:21:58 pm

There are some people who absolutely love the discomfort a bad review can cause especially for new authors. One tore into me for plot line and characters to such an extent it was obvious she/he hadn't actually read the book, just the blurb.I don't understand the power trip they must be on.
The problem with Amazon trying to correct things by removing 5* reviews is they remove genuine ones I'm told and won't reinstate them. They take a very high-handed attitude. As I don't have too many reviews it doesn't worry me since they've left mine alone so far but they should be able to tell if someone always gives good or always gives bad and corrects accordingly AFTER speaking to the reviewer concerned,

3/9/2013 07:40:17 am

Hi David,
Yes there are people like that, it is very sad. I guess now we would have to say they have a personality defect (I prefer it when we could just call them mean bastards!).
Amazon works in mysterious ways its wonders to perform.... I guess they do not have the resource to 'police' reviews properly, but are just sending 'warning shots' across our bows. I hope your 5 stars well out weigh your 1 stars - good luck with your writing.

Kerry Letheby link

3/13/2013 11:07:21 am

Yes, I'm a bit concerned about this trend. I have only 5 reviews but they are genuine 5* reviews, but it's taken me five months just to get them, because most readers don't leave reviews. I'm worried I'll check one day and they'll be gone.

3/18/2013 07:11:44 am

I think that Amazon, though seemingly draconian in its approach, usually get it right. I hope they will not disappear :-)

Jan link

3/14/2013 02:06:09 am

Totally agree with you about the Amazon ratings. Thanks for speaking out....

3/18/2013 07:12:48 am

Thanks Jan. I find it difficult to keep things to myself if I think something is wrong.

AmazonWriter10876

3/14/2013 07:17:48 pm

The thing with the fake 5-star reviews is real, but in my experience, given any readership at all, eventually the numbers even out. There have only been a few instances of fake reviews numbering in the dozens, and fewer still in the hundreds. Usually it is limited to a a handful of friends and family members. It's unethical, yes, but I do think the problem has been blown out of proportion.

OTOH, as another reader mentioned, there is virtually no care about the fake one and two star reviews which (and I don't care what Amazon says) do in fact hurt sales. More than that, they can also draw a flurry of trolls who feel the need to comment on reviews. These reviews and comments are often less about the book than they are an attack on the author. And no, Amazon won't generally remove them, even when they violate the spirit of their own TOS.

The biggest issue though isn't either the legitimacy of 5 or 1 star reviews -- it is the number of fake or duplicate accounts that allow for these kinds of shenanigans. On my book alone, there are three negative reviews I believe are written by the same person.

The second biggest issue is the Amazon reader forum and how trolls are allowed to grow there without any moderation. The Romance forum is the worst. There's a contingent of about a dozen people there who stake out certain authors they believe have offended in some way, and gleefully go after them with bad reviews and comments which they upvote with their multiple accounts.

3/18/2013 07:15:46 am

Thank you for your insights. It's a difficult question, and a complicated world - You have given me food for thought............... thank you so much

Beware the FIVE stars and ONE stars.

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