Get Honest Book Reviews without Review Swaps discussion

Has anyone else had reviews left and you know definitely the person didn't read your book?
I have had two so far, that I know of since I started checking through KU from which country the readers were from.
I find this disappointing if instead of reading the book they are giving a review based on the books blurb and previous reviews by other readers.

R. wrote: "Has anyone else had reviews left and you know definitely the person didn't read your book?
I have had two so far, that I know of since I started checking through KU from which country the readers w..."

Hi R.,
Thank you for your questions - this is an issue that other platforms are also struggling with. To address it, we’ve added the possibility to blacklist “bad” reviewers. In the future, users who are blacklisted too often will be suspended and blocked.

Also note that Amazon doesn’t always count read pages properly. We’ve seen cases where users read each other’s books via KU and still don’t see any pages recorded on their KDP dashboards. This could be an Amazon glitch or something else on their end.

Maggie wrote: "R. wrote: "Has anyone else had reviews left and you know definitely the person didn't read your book?
I have had two so far, that I know of since I started checking through KU from which country th..."I have had this happen 3 or times. Like you I am now counting ku pages" I take on board what Maggie says"
I am not phased by the odd decrepency

It happened to me three times, and I have no idea why there was no change in my KENP when someone read my book.

I have actually reached out to Amazon about the missing KNEP count, and they insist they see the page counts on their end, that they are accurate, but I’m not sure how much I trust that response. I have had one instance where I truly doubt the book was read, but I’ve hesitated to blacklist the reviewer.

Jessica: At this point, we can't say anything about who's being sneaky; the readers or Amazon itself, so we could just hope for Amazon to do something about it or simply fix the KENP counts.

I know for a fact their system is messed up at times.

Maggie wrote: "R. wrote: "Has anyone else had reviews left and you know definitely the person didn't read your book?
I have had two so far, that I know of since I started checking through KU from which country th..." Yes I have and it really irritates me. Would love to blacklist that person but that option isn't available on the Avid Reader plan and it should be. :(

Vikstar wrote: "Maggie wrote: "R. wrote: "Has anyone else had reviews left and you know definitely the person didn't read your book?
I have had two so far, that I know of since I started checking through KU from w..."

Hi everyone :)

This does happen, yes, but thankfully most of writers do read your books properly.. there seems to be another problem, both with Pubby and Revvue, which is noone picks up your book to review for weeks! despite you reading other books regularly. I know its Xmas and we are very busy right now, but it started before Xmas.. anyone else has the same concern?

Jasmine

Yes - I have a brand new book out, 'Halfway Hearts' and so far no one has grabbed it yet. I have mentioned to Adriana that perhaps the team needs to feature brand new books for the first week by highlighting them in some way, or at least put them at the top to get the ball rolling.

Same here. One of the reviews of Ospreys was definitively made up based on the blurb. Dissapointing for us who actually read and review - but maybe it has some value anyway🤷🏼‍♂️ I really hope for honest reviews in the future, though…

Vikstar wrote: "Yes - I have a brand new book out, 'Halfway Hearts' and so far no one has grabbed it yet. I have mentioned to Adriana that perhaps the team needs to feature brand new books for the first week by hi..."

Hi Vikki, we released the Boost Review Request feature today. For each review request, you can use it to lift your request to the top of the review pool and offer more coins. This should help your new book get more visibility!

Dr. wrote: "Vikstar wrote: "Maggie wrote: "R. wrote: "Has anyone else had reviews left and you know definitely the person didn't read your book?
I have had two so far, that I know of since I started checking t..."

Hi Jasmine,
we’ve heard for some time that people have stopped receiving reviews on Pubby. We believe this is because their subscription is expensive - $20/month on the annual plan, and even more if they pay month to month. Many users don’t want to spend additional money buying books after paying so much for the subscription, so they tend to wait for free books, while paid ones are often not picked up.

Several users have told us they only received reviews on Pubby after running free promotions. It’s interesting to see what the situation is like on other similar platforms.

Maggie, I think a great future functionality feature would be the ability to specify WHY a reviewer is being blacklisted (no page reads? Review not matching the theme of the book? Etc). That would allow the Revvue team to see if there is a trend from a particular user and take action based on author feedback.

For example: I just blacklisted a reviewer because the review submitted didn’t really say anything about the book and identified it as a psychological thriller… it’s a vampire paranormal romance. Tracking the reasons why someone is blacklisted could only improve the platform for those of us using it correctly.

Jessica wrote: "Maggie, I think a great future functionality feature would be the ability to specify WHY a reviewer is being blacklisted (no page reads? Review not matching the theme of the book? Etc). That would ..."

Hi Jessica,
Yes, that’s a great idea! We already have it on our to-do list, as other users have requested it too.

Jessica wrote: "Maggie, I think a great future functionality feature would be the ability to specify WHY a reviewer is being blacklisted (no page reads? Review not matching the theme of the book? Etc). That would ..."

That's a great idea. I just blacklisted someone for beta reviewing, but I kow 100% if they even read it, they didn't read past the first chapter.

Hi Maggie,

I want to add a specific case here. My book was provided through a $0 KDP promotion (verified purchase), yet the reviewer left a 3-star negative review that shows no evidence of having read the book. The feedback is generic and AI-generated.

Why should authors pay for Revvue subscriptions just to receive false, misleading reviews?

Hi Prateek,

I had the same experience. The reviewer had obviously only read the blurb and maybe a couple of pages. The guy was just looking to score points to qualify for a review. Very annoying and worse that useless.

You guys can report any review you don’t feel is genuine and get your coins back. There’s also a block button so they can’t review you anymore.

On the flip side… once a book is purchased, even at free price tag, you won’t see any KDP page counts because they are no longer reading under KU, they own the book.

Tim wrote: "Hi Prateek,

I had the same experience. The reviewer had obviously only read the blurb and maybe a couple of pages. The guy was just looking to score points to qualify for a review. Very annoying a..."

I know how it feels, Tim. It’s disappointing when a review seems more about ticking boxes than engaging with the content.

Angela wrote: "You guys can report any review you don’t feel is genuine and get your coins back. There’s also a block button so they can’t review you anymore.

On the flip side… once a book is purchased, even at ..."

For those on the free plan, reporting/blacklisting isn’t available on Revvue. You need a paid subscription to use that feature.

Unless I’m mistaken, you can still message them and report the review. I’ve had to do it twice, both times were the same reviewer until I upgraded and blacklisted him. He’s the only one I’ve had an issue with.

Angela wrote: "Unless I’m mistaken, you can still message them and report the review. I’ve had to do it twice, both times were the same reviewer until I upgraded and blacklisted him. He’s the only one I’ve had an..."

Noted, Angela. Sent them an email.

Hi Angela, I did email them and report it.

I'm just curious, which reviewer are you talking about? Because I would like to know for future reference just in case the same happens to me.

Will the blacklist reviewer option be extended to other subscription tiers?

Michael wrote: "I'm just curious, which reviewer are you talking about? Because I would like to know for future reference just in case the same happens to me."

Hi, Michael. I cam't remember now. I've just never used Revvue again. Sorry, mate.