Three-Star Review

Well, I join the ranks of those who have received a customer review of less than five stars. The reviewer's opinion actually fits with the stars; so, I don't quarrel with their well-stated opinions regarding their taste in reading.

However, there were criticisms of the edits - and the criticisms were factually incorrect. Specifically, the cymbium is found in Florida and the Everglades - in regards to the owl, the reader was probably correct - though there is a barrel own that hangs out around farms and it could have wandered into the swamp :-)

However, it brings home to me the helpless role of an author to correct incorrect data from a reviewer. It seems to not matter so much with a five star review; but a three star makes it cut more. The review is at Amazon.com for Ghost Orchid, the only review less than five stars whether from professional reviews or readers.

Well, I am sorry, but I have you beat in the depths of despondency over reviews.
I have a two star review

Not fun!

I can beat that. I got a one-star:

Quote :

A little misleading, December 19, 2009
By xxxx (Irving, TX)
This review is from: A Myth in Action: The Heroic Life of Audie Murphy (Paperback)
I bought this book hoping to learn more about Audie Murphy, but was disappointed. The book just compares Audie and other heroes to mythological heroes. It's not at all a biography, just a scholarly study.

Good for a college mythology class I suppose, but useless for a fan of Audie Murphy.

Quote :

It's not at all a biography, just a scholarly study.

Well, duuhh!

I got curious about this one, and traced the user name. She had been banned (not by me) from the AM website for inciting dissension.

I "wear" it with honor.

You have to just let these things go.

Ann

Diane,

C. P. S. reviewer rank on amazon is 1,500,00. I do not trust any review that is not signed with the reviewer's name.

Also, I have pictures of white owls and their babies who live on Fort Myers Beach on the grounds that my ex and his wife live. Here is an article about Barrel owls.

http://cowenmorning.pbworks.com/w/page/37907024/Demetra's%20Barrel%20Owl%20Report

I have a couple of 3 star reviews. What it boils down to is that the person who is writing the review is mistaken in what they expected the book to be. One such review that I got was for Kung Fu Rabbit. The person had expected the story to be just about rabbits.

C.P.S is probably a 3 star person. (maybe less).

Love,

Betty

I win! I have two one-star reviews:

http://www.amazon.co.uk/product-reviews/B004NIFTHY/ref=cm_cr_dp_hist_one?ie=UTF8&filterBy=addOneStar&showViewpoints=0

I love these reviews!

We are all in good company.
Wouldn't it be awful if everyone liked our books as much as we do?

You are all wonderful...wonderful...wonderful!!!! it is possible to print a response to reviews...what do you recommend?

Silence is the best response.
Ignore the bad review.

Dear Diane,

I thought about it. I was not aware that it could be done. I will think a little more. I will put my whole name if I do it. Alice may be right. But my back gets up.

Love,

Betty

I got a 3-Star Review that was really a puzzle. It was from a good friend in Florida who verbally told me how much she liked the book and then gave a 3-Star rating on Amazon where I had been getting 4-Stars. The interesting thing was that her brother wrote a book and she gave him a 3-Star. In her mind 3-Star review was good not understanding how important those ratings are to authors and the potential readers. If one could examine the history of a reviewer, it would help evaluate the rating. On the other hand, reading their comments says more than the number of Stars given.
If you give someone a low rating, the comments should provide reasons. That also applies for a high rating.

I have also considered writing back to reviewers (both the good and the bad); even though my responses were to thank them, in both instances, I was urged not to respond. I received a two-star review, and just like those above, appreciate every word they had to offer. It stung initially, yes.... All I can do is improve and take their thoughts as constructive criticism [: to respond would be "creepy" most said. Though I don't necessarily agree with this particular view on the circumstance, I do believe not responding is the most professional of routes.

I wrote back to the two-star reviewer on my blog. I didn't mention their name or post a link to their review, I simply wrote my response... If they wish to further pursue any of my novels or personal information about me, they'll find it, but I'll leave it up to them [:

REVIEW: http://www.amazon.com/Incompatible-ebook/product-reviews/B00862KUCC/ref=cm_cr_dp_qt_hist_two?ie=UTF8&filterBy=addTwoStar&showViewpoints=0

BLOG POST: http://chantellefeasel.blogspot.com/2012/07/getting-what-you-expect.html

Hope this helps [:

I would ignore the "creepy" remarks; that's just intimidation. Amazon provide customer discussions on reviews. Anyone can leave a comment, including the author. Often, the author is the only one who can properly address a review, especially if the review is misleading.

A couple professional reviewers asked me to comment on their review on Amazon - it has something positive for the reviewers. So, I did comment on a few positive reviews. I also commented yesterday on the three-star review.

The three-star reviewer at least did explain why they were somewhat disappointed; in fact, they were quite thorough and specific. I had to laugh; they complained "as a parent" about the sexual content though they praised the fact that it was not a "Harlequin" novel. It is not a young adult book; but mature young adults already have more sexual knowledge than they will encounter in Ghost Orchid.

Graphic sexual content is a particular issue for me in reading novels; I prefer sexual references to leave most to the imagination. I actually reviewed a book and complained about the sexual content feeling contrived and detracting from the story. Maybe this reviewer wrote that book... I was very clear, however, that was a personal issue for me and other readers might find the sexual content added to the enjoyment of the story.

The sexual content of Ghost Orchid is integral to the story's plot. Those of you who read Ghost Orchid probably don't even remember the sexual content because it was so muted and left to the imagination and in the entire book, limited to two actual scenes where the most graphic word was "naked." There was a sexual scene between two middle aged adults that was sweetly intimate but used no graphic language. However, as the media mentioned regarding the movie "Hope Springs," sexual scenes between older adults are very difficult for people to accept. They want to imagine sex as the purview of the young and athletic with beautiful faces and bodies and celibacy the norm for anyone over 50 and not attractive. That's why the covers on erotic novels always have six packs and air brushed bodies. Imagine selling a sex novel with two overweight, half-naked middle aged adults on the covers. They would be put under brown wrappers! People would turn away in disgust...or dissolve in laughter.

However, the U.S. has a particular hang up on bodies and sexual scenes The rest of the world unfortunately followed the U.S. concepts of sex through the movie industry. Previously, Europeans and other nations found sexuality in older, normal looking people and foreign films still have intensely intimate, loving scenes among older, unattractive adults or even between younger adults who look normal.

Personally, when I review a book, I talk to the author before I list a three star review. My review is based on my own bias. Another person might see the story entirely differently. Therefore, I make sure my review illustrates why I like the book - so the potential reader can compare my idea of a good read to theirs. I understand the importance of "points" and don't wish to harm a quality writer by my opinion.

The comments from this reviewer, if they were comments I made about a book, would lead me to provide a minimum four star review. For me, three stars and under means I could not finish the book and I let the author know rather than post three stars. Four stars means I had a couple issues but other readers might give it a five star.

The "editor" errors - well, it was reviewed by experts on Corkscrew Swamp and the barred owl versus barrel owl is an easy typo and also an often interchangeable description - as for the flowers - well they also grow in southwest Florida though the field may have been a different, similar looking flower. Does it change the story? It is, after all, fiction. The alligator could have been called a crocodile, not native to Florida, but there are a few. I don't think those two environmental questionables ruin a story. It's only when I find a novel full of errors that my editor mind goes into gear and ruins the story.

As we all know, no author pleases all the readers and some of the readers really slam the books they don't like - even if it is by a $million author of fame and fortune. There are many famous novels that I could not get past the first few pages.

I was just floating along - reality is always eye-opening.

DK. I think you handled the sex content extremely well. I can say the same for Ann's novel that I'm currently reading.
In any novel where men and women are together as friends, as husband and wife or boyfriend/girlfriend, sex is involved. To leave it out is not realistic. Leaving much to the imagination is better than detailed sex. If one writes an erotic novel, then explicit sex is expected.
I wouldn't worry about anyone who objected to the sex scenes. They obviously live in another world. I had a tough time writing, "Journey into the past" and got help with the sex content. I'm not saying I need help with sex. What I mean is help with the written description for publication.

At least you're getting reviews, I have yet to receive a single review on my book and I've asked numerous book reviewers and none will bite (I don't have the money to buy any reviews). It's pretty frustrating, and none of my friends or family have written any reviews yet either.

But you may want to look at this positively. I've read that some negative reviews can be a good thing. As some will see that not everyone has liked it, and so come to the conclusion that more than just your family or friends have read the book and will take a look themselves. I don't know if this really happens, just something to think about.

Don't pay for reviews. They are always suspect. There are many web sites that will review your book. Try googling reviewers in your genre. The trick is to have books to send, pdf's to send and a ready short and long synopsis. Some of the reviewers come and go - so I recommend you google to get the latest.

Many bloggers review books. Good luck. I have had some bad luck with too many books to review that I just could not get through either from too many errors or because the sexual content was too graphic for my taste - not for their audience or the content of the book - just not to my taste for my precious reading time.

It's best to get reviewers in your genre.

Thanks, I'll try again.

It seems to me that one of the most difficult things for us to grasp, especially as writers is that no two people will perceive our work - our communications - in exactly the same way. What each reader sees will be based on that reader's perceptions, and that reader's perceptions are based on her or his own history and experience.

Once we put our words "out there," through whatever means, they are no longer solely our own. They belong, in some part, to every person who hears or reads them, and in that exchange, they are forever changed from what we had intended them to mean.

That's the tough thing about making the decision to publish. Publishing, making our work available to the public, whether we realize it or not, is letting go of control.

A review of our work, whether it is a print book, an ebook, or even a message board post, is not about us as writers, but is about the reviewer as reader, and we generally have no knowledge of that reader's experiences and perceptions. So, whatever the reviewer writes, however many stars the reviewer gives the work, be it five, three, one or none, has far less to do with the quality of the work than it does to the perspective of the reviewer.

We have to accept that, and usually, let it go. However, since other potential readers may be swayed by that review, we may choose to find some means for challenging that particular perspective, and that's OK too.

Just me.

Ann

Ann, good post.

What Abe said.