The Writers' Network! discussion

Hi everyone, I am curious to get some feedback on reviews and want to know what everyone thinks.

I hear a lot of people say that good reviews can lead to sales and bad reviews can hinder sales. I've gotten a few reviews (slowly over time) and have not seen evidence that reviews actually effect sales at all for me. What is everyone else's experience with this? Do reviews seem to lead to more sales for anyone else?

Also, if reviews do lead to more sales, is anyone interested in having an ongoing review swap?

I have been wondering recently, does everyone just give an automatic good review? A lot of books that have only few reviews the average is 5 and reading the sample the work really does not seem to deserve that... I got an ebook from someone handing out free copies for review, and everyone in the chain is saying "honest review", yet that book too has average reviews of at least 4. I haven't reviewed it as I only started, but so far the book does NOT deserve a 4 or 5.
Definitely would not buy a book solely for the amount of stars it got, BTW. Probably most important is that people find it first of all.

Did they deserve it? Would you have rated them as high if you had paid full price for them?

When I review a book I don't take the price that I got it in consideration. I go merely on the enjoyment I get while reading. I even look over spelling and grammatical errors unless it is just riddled with them. When that happens I just put the book down.

I am also the type of person who just refuses to give lower than three stars. If I think the book deserves two or one I don't review at all.

If I am emailed a book to review and it falls under the two or one star category. I will email the author a brief polite review with suggestions on how to improve, etc.

I usually don't review based off the price. Whether I get a book for free or pay $12.99 for it, I base my review off of the actual book and not the price. I have reviewed books that were less than three stars. I gave a book one star before because I didn't like it at all. And, I've gotten two or one star before too on my books. I don't get how someone can have all five stars because not everyone is going to like every book, even if it's grammatically correct. I'm always a little leery of books that have all good reviews.

If a book was total crap, and I had paid for it a good price, I think my ire might colour my perception of it, but consciously I would not let price effect my opinion. Also I have read some free books that were not worth the money I paid for them, and I would not spare them for being free: I have invested my time in reading them, at least, if they s... inhale, then why should I defend them?

Now, a question: is it possible to find what are the lowest rated books in GR? I was curious because I would like to know what the general level is. Are there no books with lower than 4 average?

Susan wrote: "I'm always a little leery of books that have all good reviews. "

Likewise. It seems way too good to be true. How can anyone write anything that has such amazing appeal? When I got my first two- and three-star reviews for things, I was very happy, because it meant I'd reached a little more diverse crowd. Tell me what's wrong! Tell me what you don't like! How do I get better if everyone just lathers on the praise?

Martin wrote: "How do I get better if everyone just lathers on the praise? "

Yes, exactly! I was in a writer's group, and that was a little bit of a problem there too. A lot of people seem to give, and expect, only pats on the head, not all though fortunately. I'm not a performing dog, I don't need to be told Good Girl! Who's a Good Girl! just because I have done something, I would rather have some constructive criticism.