A Wooffer story reviewed as "laborious"

11/24/2013

                         Betty..

                                  Ignore it ! We know your a great writer and story teller,
                           I loved all your stories..

                                                              Love Joe..

It's unfortunate that one review that is horrid can influence other readers.  You can complain to Amazon sometimes and get them removed.  I have one 3.5 review for Ghost Orchid and it does detract.

Get some people you know to read the story and put in some good reviews.  They will overshadow the ugly one.

Been there, Betty.  A reveiwer of a free copy of Vision Quest, labeled it as being "not [her] cup of tea."  Another gave a one-star review of A Myth in Action bacause it wasn't really a biography, but just a comparison of Murphy's life to a lot of myths (or words to that effect.)  I did find some solace from that one.  Out of curiousity, I googled her sign-in name and traced her back to a woman who had posted some entries on the AM website that I, as a moderator, had been compelled to delete after giving her warnings thather posts were inappropriate according to the site's rules.

Of course, our work is not going to appeal to every reader, and the readers have a right to say so, but when the intent of the review is so clearly meant to not only disparage the work but also to discourage other readers, it is not that easy to deal with.

It is hard for me to come to terms with a description of your work as "laborious," because it so much the opposite of the way I see it.  Not that you don't do the work of making it professional as well as unique and original, but because the spirit of the stories are so natural and meaningful.  

And how can a story be "silly" and "laborious" at the same time?

I am floored, to, at the actions of people who are so intent on harm.

I can say this again:  You have a genuine gift for creating delightful and meaningful fables that entertainus at the same time they show us a positive way to live our own lives, and it doesn;t matter whether we are children or adults.  The feeling is the same.  Believe that, not the "silly" responses of those who don't get it - or maybe who do and are envious.

Annie

Barbara Wood posted 62 one line reviews on November 17th. This happened to me on Amazon.co.uk. I reported it, but Amazon refused to remove it. You can see the one line reviews (including mine here):

http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/cdp/member-reviews/A389IUZBZS8ZRB

Click on "Barbara Wood" in Betty's post to see similar one-line reviews.

Thank you all for your kind words.  I know a writer is supposed to be able to brush these thing off.  I will put the story up for free.   If anyone who reads it would like to refute this woman's opinion of it, my ego would be happy.  

  Old Agnes is a reflection of me.  I saw her in the mirror one day and wrote her story.  She has been through some terrible times but she has always maintained a positive outlook of hope....She has been scared out of her wits, lost and bewildered but peered through the fog...or hoped she did, and knew that somewhere there was a new day that would carry her and the thousands through any flood.  

Love, 
Betty

Shelagh hit the thing on the head and Amazon should take her posts off.  It's worth a try Betty with the extra ammo from Shelagh.

SLB writes "real reviews."  He describes the plot, the characters and things he likes and dislikes about the story and then gives it a rating.  While I find his rating scale a bit harsh at times, he is thorough in his discussion of the work and one can see the reason for his rating. 

Unfortunately, the reader reviews reflect the reader as much as the work, and many are as unsophisticated as their remarks.

Personally, when I have less than a 4 in a 5 point review scale for a book I reviewed I send the review to the author and let them decide whether they want it posted.  That' seems fair to me.  I don't want my opinion to be negative when others may enjoy the story coming from a different perspective.

Dear Shelagh, 
What is wrong with people who do this kind of thing.  I imagine they are the kind of people who would send virus to you computer.  I am so sorry that she posted such trash about your lovely book.  It is hard to fathom.  You are a wonderful story teller, intelligent and kind.  Does Barbara Woods have any books published...
Love,
Betty

Barbara Wood posted this review on sixteen different books: "Another exciting read that keeps you on the edge of your seat. Keeps you interested to the end. Easy to read and well written. Guaranteed a good read from this author"

This on thirteen books: "A good read, well written, a good storyline and holds my interest. Will look for more titles by this author"

This on eight reviews: "Laborious - not a good read. Hard to get into and stay focussed. Not recommending this author. Not a good buy"

Wow!  Shelagh you are the bomb!

Love, Betty

Man, I can't wait to get a one star review! No really, if someone hated my book so much to write a review about it, that's determination. You gotta respect that.

One star reviews are part of the game. Accept it as a badge of honor and move on.

Evidently Ms Wood is a prolific reader to post that many reviews in one day.  Here is her review of A Tale of Two Citiies....

 A Tale of Two Cities, November 17, 2013
Amazon Verified Purchase(What's this?)
This review is from: A Tale of Two Cities (Kindle Edition)
Boring. Thought I would try a classic and remembered why I didn't like it at school. Couldn't get into it


It is opinion that Ms Wood is an idiot.


Love,
Betty

"Couldn't get into it" is pretty telling, isn't it.

Maybe the "laborious" part was about her reading ability.

I think these posts are computer generated. The reviewers had one or two reviews posted months or even years ago (Lyndsey on amazon.co.uk) then suddenly a flood of reviews in one day. I sent an email message to that effect, but Amazon support did nothing. I suspected that it might have been their own software.

Dear Shelagh, 
I will contact support myself.  I feel better knowing that she "could not get into" A Tale of Two Cities. I doubt anyone who reads her reviews of our work would ever know that she posted that dimwitted review of a classic that has stood the test of much time.  
Love,
Betty

Lyndsey gave Oliver Twist 5 stars, liked the book but didn't read it!

5.0 out of 5 stars book, 11 Mar 2013
Amazon Verified Purchase(What is this?)
This review is from: Oliver Twist (Kindle Edition)
i got this book for free but did not read it in the end i do like oliver twist. sorry

Shelagh, I am so sorry you have been a victim of such a mindless brat.  I imagine there is no way to tell the mentality, or agenda of any one who reviews books that they have not read or did read and did not understand.  I think I will put this woman on my facebook page as a troll to watch out for.  I see no reason not to. If someone does, please tell me before tomorrow morning.  I will think this over this night.  I do not ever just lie down and take it.  not ever again.  
Love, 
Betty

Betty Fasig wrote:

Shelagh, I am so sorry you have been a victim of such a mindless brat.  I imagine there is no way to tell the mentality, or agenda of any one who reviews books that they have not read or did read and did not understand.  I think I will put this woman on my facebook page as a troll to watch out for.  I see no reason not to. If someone does, please tell me before tomorrow morning.  I will think this over this night.  I do not ever just lie down and take it.  not ever again.  
Love, 
Betty

Thst's our Betty!  

I think neither of these two women posted the reviews, Betty. Two defunct accounts were used. A hacker used the accounts or Amazon did. Either way, Amazon are not concerned about this.

Shelagh, you are the voice of reason on this.  Barbara Wood has a blog and a dot.com.  I will politely ask her if she indeed posted the review.  
Love, Betty

I have had reviewer attacks and the really make me question the way reviews a posted. i think Amazon is so swamped that unless a review has profanity in it they don't do much of anything. I had a review attack on Rooftop Diva after I published a Kindle version of it and ran a free promo. The attackers didn't like that I wrote a book about someone that survived Hurricane Katrina, but was not from New Orleans and they drove the review rating down from about 4.5 to 3 stars with their slew of 1 star reviews. Other reviewers I find only post negative reviews after I look at their other reviews. On the other hand I'm convinced that some authors have review teams that post tons of 5 star reviews to get their books on the best reviewed lists to boost sales and visibility. I've read excerpts of books with no plots and errors everywhere with thirty of forty 5 star reviews, but the number of true negative reviews give them away.

I believe some of these people may also target authors they see as threats and put some of their review teams out there to knock them down. I'm finding out that with the series books in the top 10 of some genres, these authors are making tens of thousands of dollars per month off their $.99 to mostly $2.99 books.

Thanks DT for shedding some further light on the review anomalies.

There are a couple of other things we can do in addition to writing new ones. We can write comments on the negative ones, and we can click the "no" button that asks whether or not the review was helpful. Little things, but they add up.

I could not get past the security on Barbarawood.com.  I may not understand the directions or what code was needed to enter and post.  Ms Wood has a list of books published that begins around 1982.  It seems unlikely to me that she would take the time to degrade my efforts as a writer or the efforts of Charles Dickens.  Her genre is Historical Romance.  None of her work is more famous than mine.  I see no reason for her to deride my work that would benefit her own.  I think that She has been used.  How to tell her so is the problem.  Any suggestions?
Love,
Betty

Did you go to the "Contact" page?   Bottom of the list on upper left home page?  She has an email setup there that looks like it might be easier than logging in or making a guestbook entry.