Is there anything more controversial than reviews in the world of publishing? I mean beyond the recent phenomenon of cancel culture. See all those five-star ratings — they have to be fake. And all those one-star ratings — the book must be total garbage. Or never mind the ratings — this looks excellent/crappy/intriguing. Oh, hey, a few of those scathing reviews look like jealous authors trying to pollute a successful book. What a mess!
Just as price signals quality, so do product ratings and reviews, whether we like it or not. Yet those ratings and reviews are about the most subjective things an author and publisher faces. One reader will love, love, love, while another reader hates, and often it has nothing to do with the quality of the book. Perhaps the story somehow invalidated the reader’s cherished world views or mocked deeply held convictions. I’ve had a book one-starred by a reader who objected to female military characters. Then there’s the dreaded one-star that has nothing to do with the book at all, but with the retailer having somehow failed the reader’s expectations. Sometimes, a publisher can’t win for trying.
But reviews and ratings are social validation on retailer and reader platforms, and there’s no getting around that fact. And my, do some authors ever engage in drama over reviews. You’d think they were operatic prima donnas! For this discussion, I will assume well written, well-edited and properly formatted books, or as I call them, viable products. Badly written, badly edited, or badly formatted books deserve every bit of opprobrium they receive. So here’s my take on reviews.
Reviews are opinions, which inevitably brings up the famous Dirty Harry Callahan quip about opinions (mentioned in my very first rant) being like a certain part of the human anatomy. Opinions are subjective, even if the reviewer has a Ph.D. in literature. Writing is an art not a science. If reviewers call your work crap, is it? In their minds, sure. Otherwise, probably not. Of course, the same can go for a reviewer who gushes five stars with every sentence.
Reviews are for other readers, not authors. If authors wish to have books critiqued, they can easily find groups whose sole purpose is helping each other improve. And that means authors and publishers should avoid reading reviews on their books because nothing good ever comes of obsessing about a one-star. Yes, it’s hard to do. I regularly fail, though I’ve become somewhat inured to criticism since I know my work is good — otherwise, I wouldn’t be one of the most successful Canadian science fiction authors no one’s ever heard of.
The review system on Amazon, the biggest retailer of all, is broken. There’s no doubt about it. It’s worse in areas other than books, but books aren’t immune. Authors and publishers are gaming reviews. Even Amazon games reviews of its imprints. Guess what? Readers are smart. They can tell when a book’s reviews smell gamey. A book that’s been out for only a day and already has a hundred five-star reviews is no longer trusted by the average readers. Savvy readers might not even consider a book unless it has a more balanced distribution of reviews — unless they’re already fans of the author or someone they trust recommended the author.
What’s a publisher to do, or not do? I already mentioned not reading reviews of your books. But if you read them, do not, under any circumstances, engage with the reviewer. Just don’t. Go back to my point about reviews being for readers. Engaging with reviewers on your book’s Amazon page is a tad creepy.
Don’t obsess about getting reviews. If your book is a viable product, and it sells, reviews and ratings will eventually come. It might take a few weeks and a lot of sales, but they’ll come. You need to sell a lot of books for every review, hundreds, or even thousands. Readers aren’t inclined to leave reviews unless they feel strongly about your book. Ratings without an actual review, yes, you’ll see more of those and as of early 2020, Amazon seems to be catching up with the other retailers by allowing a star rating and no text. I’m aware some marketing services won’t take books without a minimum of reviews, but this is something you can’t rush.
What about paid reviews? I see it all the time on various author forums — newbies so desperate about reviews to the point where they’ll hire sketchy review services and pay big bucks for that desperately sought after five-star social validation. Not only is it against Amazon terms of service to pay for reviews, but most of these review services won’t even read your book and write a vague, boilerplate paragraph signifying nothing. Is it worth losing your Amazon account for a lousy five-star review most savvy readers will recognize as bunkum? No. Never, ever pay for a review.
And those nasty drive-by smears left by nasty little people, a few of whom are unsuccessful authors? You can always ask Amazon to take them down, but even when they’re against the terms of service, Amazon won’t do a thing. Refer to my earlier advice. Ignore them. Any book that attracts attention by spending weeks in a category’s top 100 will attract drive-by smears. I’ve had my share. Yes, it’s infuriating, but the internet is filled with infuriating individuals whose sad lives make them want to harm others. And by all that’s holy, do not engage with that sort of person, especially on websites devoted to readers, where carpet-bombing an author’s entire catalog with one-star reviews occurs more often than you would think. In fact, the best way to be victimized by what an author for whom I have a lot of respect calls Common Internet S*** Gibbons (CISG) is responding to their malice. Ignore them and walk away, no matter what. CISGs eventually tire of being ignored and look for other potential victims on whom they can spew their venom.
Bottom line, reviews are not for authors or publishers, but for readers, by readers. Let them show up organically. Don’t force the process. If you’re the sort who sends out advance review copies to a list of trusted readers, more power to you. I’ve never done so and never felt the need to do so. But make sure you don’t violate Amazon’s terms of service. And if your book never gets reviews, then perhaps it doesn’t evoke strong feelings in your readership. Folks forget books that are blah moments after reading the last page. If it doesn’t get reviews because you’re only selling a handful of copies a month, you have a bigger challenge than merely zero reviews.
For the record, all reviews on my books are organic. I never went looking for them, nor do I send out advance copies. I also never engage with readers other than on my blogs and on social media, where it’s appropriate, and never ask for or discuss reviews (see my earlier rant on branding) with one exception. All my books have a polite request at the end which states:
“If you enjoyed this book, please consider leaving a review with your favorite online retailer to help others discover it.”
Musings on the Business of Writing 