tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31024695.post6246707037303765052..comments2023-09-16T03:22:27.089-05:00Comments on POD Book Reviews & More: The Five Star Review: What's It Good For?Floyd M. Orrhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07328513361518450633noreply@blogger.comBlogger5125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31024695.post-16894910846082218142008-08-16T13:02:00.000-05:002008-08-16T13:02:00.000-05:00As a POD, self-published author and a reader, I do...As a POD, self-published author and a reader, I do read the reviews posted at places like Amazon.com. The detailed reviews more so than shorter ones with little to no detail. I've noticed at Amazon.com that the longer, better written reviews tend to get more readers that find them helpful. I've voted yes for some of those too. Another point to take into consideration are reviews from sites like ‘Midwest Book Review’ that clearly state they only review books they like, or other sites like ‘Litarena’in London, England where the author has to submit a summary of the novel first to see if the reviewer is even interested. Although there is room for abuse on the Internet for reviews, there are also legitimate sites that do not guarantee a positive review. Since traditional media reviewers have hundreds if not thousands of complementary books sent to them each month, it is expected that Internet and/or alternative reviewers should be given the same courtesy, and in return authors should expect honesty even if it is negative. Sincerely, Lloyd LofthouseLloydhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15677022376547645746noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31024695.post-55259653485098474092008-08-16T11:48:00.000-05:002008-08-16T11:48:00.000-05:00It does make one wonder, if all of the ratings are...It does make one wonder, if all of the ratings are 5-star, if it is simply "padded" by the author's friends. Personally, I grin when I see a review that has less than stellar rankings, because it (usually) means that at least the reviewer actually read the book. If you look at the "big name" authors reviews, you will see that they get some negative ones too. I treasure my 5-star reviews, especially if they are given by somebody I never heard of or met. <BR/>Janet Elaine SmithJanetElaineSmithhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11405626988439244369noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31024695.post-70297414772217923352008-08-15T22:36:00.000-05:002008-08-15T22:36:00.000-05:00Personally, I have a hard time forcing myself to s...Personally, I have a hard time forcing myself to spend time writing about a book I didn't like. But these "investigative readers" seem to feel that if you write only good reviews, you're not being sincere. I just think there has been so much "review scamming" on Amazon that the readers are wary and apt to think the worst ... when in fact, most reviewers are only moved to write something for a book they really enjoyed!DSalernihttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03095402670690268816noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31024695.post-25958122281447591712008-08-15T19:10:00.000-05:002008-08-15T19:10:00.000-05:00Having avoided cross posting our reviews at LLBR (...Having avoided cross posting our reviews at LLBR (www.lulubookreview.wordpress.com) to Amazon for this very reason, I recently posted that anything under three stars probably wouldn't be reviewed on our site anyway. The same goes for books I read for pleasure and consider posting reviews of on Amazon. Less than 3 stars? I think it over before posting.<BR/><BR/>-ShannonGabriel Garçonnièrehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09517777128614600473noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31024695.post-27084694900379114962008-08-15T11:19:00.000-05:002008-08-15T11:19:00.000-05:00As a reader with a limited book budget, I tend to ...As a reader with a limited book budget, I tend to buy books that I already suspect I'm going to like a great deal. This tends to lead toward a high number of 4- and 5-star reviews. Unlike professional book reviewers, I don't have a stead stream of the good, the bad and the ugly to consider. If I did, logic would dictate that my reviews might fit more neatly into an appropriate bell curve of scores. But I'm aware of the problem of appearing to like everything!<BR/><BR/>MalcolmMalcolm R. Campbellhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07840134761199335243noreply@blogger.com