Since my book went on sale, I’ve received some really awesome reviews.
As a matter of fact, all the reviews on Amazon right now are five star reviews. Which is super sweet and cool and a million other adjectives I should be able to rattle off being that I just wrote an entire novel.
And yet…
I can’t help but wonder if people are afraid of writing a review that’s less than five stars.
Dudley having all the feelings.
Don’t get me wrong. The five stars give me ALL THE FEELINGS. I don’t print them out and cuddle with them at night or anything, but I do have a special love for them.
But at the same time, I know me. I know I’m not the type to give five stars to just anything. And I figure that there are at least a handful of people out there like me who can really enjoy a story and the characters but not feel like it is five star worthy.
Not everyone views the value of a star the same way.
Goodreads, for example, labels their stars this way: five stars is “amazing”, four is “really liked it”, and three is “liked it”. Even two is “it was ok”.
Amazon, on the other hand is: love it, like it, it was ok, didn’t like, and hate.
Essentially, a three at Goodreads is like a four at Amazon.
And that’s if the reader is actually going by the site’s definition. If you go to different reader’s forums, you’ll find that most readers have their own standard for each star. Some give out five stars easily, others never give them. Same goes for single star reviews.
Not everyone has the same standard. And that’s okay.
It’s like going to a Thai restaurant. They ask how spicy you want your meal and you say, “two stars” only to find out their two stars is the equivalent of your usual Thai spot’s “four stars”, and then you spend the rest of the night with fiery bowels.
Maybe that isn’t exactly the right comparison here. My book shouldn’t be giving anyone the flaming BMs.
I have a point here.
The point is, readers shouldn’t be afraid to leave reviews that aren’t FIVE stars. I’m speaking for myself, but I think there are other authors who would agree that honest reviews are welcome.
If you enjoyed the book, but you reserve your five stars for Shakespeare-level prose, I’ll still be happy to hear that you liked the story. So, don’t hold back. Leave a review.
Now, I know what some of you are thinking. I said “if you enjoyed the book”. That means I don’t want you writing reviews if you didn’t like it, right?
Well, let’s be real here for a second. I’d be a big fat liar if I said I wanted to see one and two star reviews. Putting your work out there to be judged is not easy – particularly if you are slightly neurotic about it.
Every time I know someone is reading my book, I get a little queasy. I go back and read a few pages and think, “wow, this is terrible – I need to go tell them not to read it!”
You so want to be me right now, don’t you?
I tend to be of the “if you can’t say something nice” school, so personally, I have to really hate something to leave a poor review. Like, if your book somehow gave me the ebola virus, I’d probably leave you a star. Maybe two if the story at least amused me while I heaved my guts out.
But that’s not everyone’s M.O.
So, go for it. Do what you have to do. I might cry in a corner, but here is what I won’t do:
• I won’t send my minions to attack your review. I don’t even think I have minions, but if I did, I wouldn’t send them.
• I won’t reply to it defending my book.
• I won’t see if you are an author too, and return a star for a star.
What I might do:
• Blog about it.
• Consider myself a member of the big leagues. After all, talent does bring out the haters. Or at least that is what I’ll tell myself as I wipe away my tears with the crumpled print out of your review.
To sum up:
If you are an author, learn to embrace all the stars. If you are a reader, don’t be afraid to tell us you like our books. You don’t always have to love them.
[And here is the self-promo bit: To find out how many stars you'd give The Ruth Valley Missing, order your copy! Ahhh...I be the smoothest. On SALE today!]
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Amber: I gave your book 4 stars. That being said, you know I’m an English teacher and my favorite book is Lord of the Flies. And then To Kill a Mockingbird! I love the classics!
As one of your beta readers, I thought your book was fantastic! It is truly a thriller. As a person who has helped many authors, I wouldn’t have let you put out anything into the world unless it was ready to be born. Your book truly is outstanding. I don’t think you should question people when they’re giving you four and five star reviews. I think you should just get to writing the sequel. Shall we work together again? This time, I put my own skin in the game.
Haha – I am working on it, Renee!
And yes, I would love to work with you again. 2013 is going to be good times.
This is very, very timely. I just told all my advance review readers to please give me an honest review. I really don’t care if it’s a three or four star review. I cannot stand to think that a 5-star review is expected just because I’m friends with the reader . . . and the same is true in reverse. When I read your book (and it’s in my queue) I will surely WANT to give it the most stars possible, you know? And I’d never be uncharitable to another writer. But as someone with a product I believe in, I’d rather roll the dice with my readers and get their honest feedback. Here’s to awesome reviews, and mediocre ones, and all things in between. And many more books to come!
Hear, hear!
Let me start by saying I’m behind on my reviews, but I intend to give The Ruth Valley Missing five stars when I do review it. I’m slowly going to start backing off doing reviews (it’s a time thing), but for some of my friends (like you), I still want to do reviews. It’s really, really hard for me to give even four stars to a friend, but I’ve finally learned to do that. I want to give all five stars to people I like, but that wouldn’t really be honest. If a book REALLY entertains me all the way through and there are no boring parts or glaring problems, I think it deserves five stars. Not everyone feels that way, but I’m easy to please if I’m entertained. If I have to give three stars or fewer, I usually won’t review a book. I can’t do a bad review, especially for a friend. I know in the past I’ve probably given four stars when three were deserved. But here’s another thing about stars. If a reader sees all five stars, then they think the author has gotten all their friends to review and that there are no unbiased reviews. I have stars all the way from one to five on my books, so I just don’t worry about them anymore. Some people are going to hate your work and some are going to love it. And everything in between. What I really think is sad is when there are reviews that you know are just plain nasty to be nasty, and it brings your average down. You can tell by the tone of the review that the reviewer is getting off on being ugly. But some readers will just look at the star average instead of the actual reviews. When a reviewer says a book sounds like it’s written by a twelve year old, why can’t they say WHY? It’s sad to think jealous authors are slamming other authors’ books, but it’s been proven that it happens. So I don’t care about stars when I’m choosing a book. I read a sample.
*steps off soapbox*
You mention so many good points that I thought about adding to the blog – but then this would have been the longest post ever!
I agree – a variety of stars can be more compelling to a reader unfaimliar with the work. After all, people have different tastes, so it would makes sense that even an awesome book would have some variance in the reviews.
And when it comes to the nasty reviews, I seriously am of the mind that if someone has that much vitriol to spew in your direction (and they are in the minority) you may have actually done something right.
Samples are awesome. I am glad they are available now.
I wish there were consensus between those two sites, as it does confuse people. For some a 3 star is a good review but put that on Amazon and it’s counted as a critical review. *sigh*.
I think that getting any reviews is going to be harder since the crackdown on Amazon, and I know it’s made me hesitate to actually post any.. Once the dust settles, we’ll see.I’ll just hope it stops some gaming the system, with either paid for or fake reviews (both 1 and 5 star ones).
Excellent post, by the way. Thank you.
Viv – that is one of the reasons I put the exact differences here.
Paid and fake reviews are awful. I have no problem with authors giving their books to someone in exchange for the hope that they will write a review, but that’s it. None of this “free book for a five star” or worse yet, $20 for one.
Glad you enjoyed the post!
Thank you for posting this, Amber.
Thank you for thanking me.
Amber, I moved this post to my Nifty News folder so I’d have it available for reference when I get my new laptop operating properly with Kindle for PC.
I want to purchase and read your book.
I agree with you on the “stars.” When (that’s the Power of Expectation speaking) I’m published, I’ll pray for the 4 and 5 stars. When (same parenthetical comment) they show up on ratings, my first thought will be “wow!” My second will be, “Yeah, but…”
As an author, I want honest critiques so I can improve my craft and bring readers back for the next book. As a reader, it’s difficult (for me) to give a writer anything less than a four star — especially if I know them. But, I know what I’d want as an author. The truth. What did the reader like? Where did the plot fall short?
That’s why I leave specific, constructive comments on what might have moved a 4 to a 5.
Celebrate your success and trust the rating process. You’re a five star PLUS person.
I think there are two sides to being a creative type and “judging” (I hate to even use that word) another’s work. Either you are sensitive to the amount of work that goes into it and want to be supportive, or you can be critical of the output because, again, you know what work should go into it.
I prefer to be the supportive type when I can be. But I also think that a 4 or even a 3 in some cases should still be considered support. Unfortunately, the trend lately seems to tell everyone anything less than a five is failure.
And it’s not. Someone read your book and thought enough of it to respond. They didn’t just read it and toss it on a shelf. That’s worth something.
I love that you mentioned that you give “specific, constructive” comments. I think no matter the stars, the best reviews are the ones that tell an author what the reader really loved (and even what they didn’t).
(And thanks! No matter what my book rating is, I’m glad you think I’m worth 5+ stars
)
Amber, I loved your blog voice–so much fun
I also liked your thoughts on reviews. I try to mine honest, with a focus on what worked for me when I found a particular story disappointing (and I’d promised someone I’d post my thoughts when I was done). And if I can’t finish a poorly-written book, I keep all thoughts to myself (or email the author privately). It’s so important to be kind, above all else. Nice post. Oh, and nicely photoshopped pic. (My knowledge runs out after I open the application.)
So, I didn’t scare you away with my talk of poop? You’ll fit in just fine here.
Interesting what you mentioned about emailing an author privately. I think if I really loved a story or characters, but there was a major flaw (perhaps in the writing, or inconsistency) I could see where that could be a kindness. With as much work as I put into my novel, I know I found the odd error here and there, and I’ve been grateful to have them pointed out (thanks, mom). The digital age makes these things easier to fix.
Glad you like the photoshoppin’.
This is awesome, Amber. I recently gave a book on Goodreads five stars, even though it didn’t rock my world like Dostoyevsky’s Crime and Punishment or whatever. But I stared at the options and was frustrated that I didn’t get half-stars! The novel was better than some I’d labeled “really liked it,” but no, it wasn’t an instant classic. It’s tough to know what to give a book because the range is much wider to me than the five-star system.
I haven’t read your book yet, but it’s on my TBR list!
Ahh, Julie! This is the sort of thing that makes me think about the whole star system. The hubs and I had a conversation about who I’d give five stars (background: we aren’t exactly effusive types on my side of the family).
I love Shakespeare and Stoppard and the like – I’d probably give them five stars. But there are other uber-talented writers that just aren’t my cup of tea. I can get on board with the fact that they are insanely talented, but that doesn’t mean that they engaged me. So, they may get 3/4 stars if I were to rate them.
But then it seems unfair to rate a new author I really enjoyed at a 2 or 3 just because they aren’t Shakespeare (and the fact of the matter is, some people I know wouldn’t be so generous to good ole Will).
I think every person has to decide for themselves what their system is – but it does make it tough for prospective readers to decide what’s worth reading.
And that’s why we have samples
You can have my minions. (That’s what I call my siblings. LOL) I’m sure they’d be willing to attack anything you told them to.
I love it! They’d be the cutest, best-smelling minions on the planet.
Great analysis of the review and star system, Amber!
I was surprised to find out that I hadn’t finished confirming following your blog. Duh! But I’ve now signed up for email notifications so I hope to not miss your posts again.
I also just bought your book! I’m back-logged about a year on reading my blogging buddies’ books though. *embarrassed grin*
I think a lot of us are wading through a book backlog, so no worries! I’m totally pleased to be part of your pile.
“My book shouldn’t be giving anyone the flaming BMs.” That line made me giggle out loud.
I’ve left a few two-star reviews and one one-star review (which, if I’d had the choice, would have been a no-star review) over at Goodreads, but I tend to be a higher-stars kind of girl.
It’s awkward to give a poor review when you sort-of know someone, though. That happened to me once. I purchased a book another blogger had written. I was excited to read it, but as I waded through it, I realized that not only was I not enjoying it, I kind of thought it was horrible. A few months later, she asked me what I thought of it (I had tweeted her to let her know I bought it). I’m a little embarrassed to say that I ignored the tweet (and am now slightly paranoid that she will find this comment and be insulted. Sorry! So sorry! The book just wasn’t my taste!).
Anyways, if Renee gave your book four stars, I’m sure I’m going to like it! And if I don’t say anything about it, it’s probably because I’m busy. Really!
A friend recently gave me her Kindle and I will add your book to my pile! Once I get around to fiddling with the Kindle, that is.
First off, if flaming BMs makes you giggle, let me officially welcome you here.
1/2 star reviews are there for a reason. They don’t feel good for an author, but everyone has different tastes, so honest reviews are key in guiding readers to the right book. For me to give that rating, the book would have to be awful, mind you, but if it was awful enough that I felt misled by other reviews, I’d want to put it out there, with DETAIL, for the benefit of other readers who may have my same tastes.
But the sort-of-know factor is tough. I do the occasional book review for BlogHer and I am much more free with my opinion because I generally don’t know the author. Authors I know via social media, well, it’s hard to tell someone you don’t like something you know they invested themselves in.
Your comment is a good warning for authors: don’t ask someone what they thought of your book unless you HONESTLY want to know. It could put you both in an awkward spot.
I do hope you enjoy the book! I’m totally thrilled just to be part of your pile.
Amber,
I’m so far behind in my commenting! I read this on my iPad when it first came out and thought, ‘That is one of the most honest, brave posts I have ever read’. I still feel that way.
Good on you for being so upfront about reviews. I know some authors get panicky if they have anything less than a five star. I only hope when my books come out, I have the same grace as you.
Aw, thanks! I figured if I put it out there, it would help me when that inevitable bad review comes in.