Comments on: Crowdsourcing The Fiction E-book Market http://www.advancedfictionwriting.com/blog/2011/02/25/crowdsourcing-the-fiction-e-book-market/ America's Mad Professor of Fiction Writing Mon, 21 May 2012 04:15:23 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.1.3 By: Martha Miller http://www.advancedfictionwriting.com/blog/2011/02/25/crowdsourcing-the-fiction-e-book-market/#comment-17170 Martha Miller Sat, 26 Feb 2011 14:49:30 +0000 http://www.advancedfictionwriting.com/blog/2011/02/25/crowdsourcing-the-fiction-e-book-market/#comment-17170 Fabulous post, Randy! This whole issue is one that many of us are still deciphering and trying to understand, so thanks for helping! Fabulous post, Randy! This whole issue is one that many of us are still deciphering and trying to understand, so thanks for helping!

]]> By: ML Eqatin http://www.advancedfictionwriting.com/blog/2011/02/25/crowdsourcing-the-fiction-e-book-market/#comment-17194 ML Eqatin Sun, 27 Feb 2011 06:10:10 +0000 http://www.advancedfictionwriting.com/blog/2011/02/25/crowdsourcing-the-fiction-e-book-market/#comment-17194 Amazon has lost a lot of credibility because of authors who get friends and family to write biased reviews. Non-commercial forums like Goodreads and LibraryThing are more reliable, since there is no financial incentive for interested parties who are not the target readers to 'stuff the ballot box'. Reviewers like Harriet Klausner, who writes hundreds of reviews a week (most of them five stars and sounding a lot like the blurb on the back cover) are typical of the problem on Amazon. Ive been burned too many times buying a book that has a gazillion glowing Amazon reviews. Now I look at other sources, and I have a small list of reviewers whose taste agrees with mine. I track what they like. <strong>Randy sez</strong>: Yes, it's possible to stuff the ballot box with a few good reviews, so you always have to exercise discretion in reading the reviews. I always read the positive reviews AND the negative reviews. I try to read as many 5-star and 1-star reviews as seem practical. It's not hard to read between the lines and spot the family and friends, and it's not hard to spot the hate reviews that have ulterior motives. But I believe that the situation is far better WITH reader reviews than without them. Amazon has lost a lot of credibility because of authors who get friends and family to write biased reviews. Non-commercial forums like Goodreads and LibraryThing are more reliable, since there is no financial incentive for interested parties who are not the target readers to ’stuff the ballot box’. Reviewers like Harriet Klausner, who writes hundreds of reviews a week (most of them five stars and sounding a lot like the blurb on the back cover) are typical of the problem on Amazon.

Ive been burned too many times buying a book that has a gazillion glowing Amazon reviews. Now I look at other sources, and I have a small list of reviewers whose taste agrees with mine. I track what they like.

Randy sez: Yes, it’s possible to stuff the ballot box with a few good reviews, so you always have to exercise discretion in reading the reviews. I always read the positive reviews AND the negative reviews. I try to read as many 5-star and 1-star reviews as seem practical. It’s not hard to read between the lines and spot the family and friends, and it’s not hard to spot the hate reviews that have ulterior motives. But I believe that the situation is far better WITH reader reviews than without them.

]]> By: J R Lankford http://www.advancedfictionwriting.com/blog/2011/02/25/crowdsourcing-the-fiction-e-book-market/#comment-17204 J R Lankford Sun, 27 Feb 2011 13:38:01 +0000 http://www.advancedfictionwriting.com/blog/2011/02/25/crowdsourcing-the-fiction-e-book-market/#comment-17204 A good article. M L Eqatin, I'm an author who greatly values Amazon reader reviews. I specifically ask friends and family not to post reviews of my books. I ask other writers I know to post reviews only if they've actually read the book. One way to tell if customer reviews are reliable is to check to see if they are supported by professional reviews. Authors have no influence over what Booklist, Kirkus, Publishers Weekly, The Midwest Book Review and newspapers have to say. As for Harriet, I asked her to review my novel, The Jesus Thief, when it came out and she said it would take a while to get to it on her reading list so I can say fir sure that your criticism of her isn't correct. She's just an avid reader. Also, she doesn't give everyone 5-star reviews. That said, I agree it's a shame some authors and publishers misuse Amazon's reviews. Just be aware that not all do. A good article. M L Eqatin, I’m an author who greatly values Amazon reader reviews. I specifically ask friends and family not to post reviews of my books. I ask other writers I know to post reviews only if they’ve actually read the book. One way to tell if customer reviews are reliable is to check to see if they are supported by professional reviews. Authors have no influence over what Booklist, Kirkus, Publishers Weekly, The Midwest Book Review and newspapers have to say. As for Harriet, I asked her to review my novel, The Jesus Thief, when it came out and she said it would take a while to get to it on her reading list so I can say fir sure that your criticism of her isn’t correct. She’s just an avid reader. Also, she doesn’t give everyone 5-star reviews. That said, I agree it’s a shame some authors and publishers misuse Amazon’s reviews. Just be aware that not all do.

]]> By: Geoff Breitling http://www.advancedfictionwriting.com/blog/2011/02/25/crowdsourcing-the-fiction-e-book-market/#comment-17231 Geoff Breitling Mon, 28 Feb 2011 18:35:30 +0000 http://www.advancedfictionwriting.com/blog/2011/02/25/crowdsourcing-the-fiction-e-book-market/#comment-17231 Do any of you have a sense of whether Amazon or other review sites will integrate "like" or "share" options with facebook and twitter? These are obviously powerful media to drive traffic, interest, and sales. Along those lines, do any of you use FB or twitter to promote your novels? Best, Geoff Do any of you have a sense of whether Amazon or other review sites will integrate “like” or “share” options with facebook and twitter? These are obviously powerful media to drive traffic, interest, and sales.

Along those lines, do any of you use FB or twitter to promote your novels?

Best,

Geoff

]]> By: David A. Todd http://www.advancedfictionwriting.com/blog/2011/02/25/crowdsourcing-the-fiction-e-book-market/#comment-17698 David A. Todd Tue, 15 Mar 2011 17:26:35 +0000 http://www.advancedfictionwriting.com/blog/2011/02/25/crowdsourcing-the-fiction-e-book-market/#comment-17698 "How do you take advantage of this? By writing your best possible book and by getting it out there on the open market in the online stores that do reader reviews and show similar products best." Working on it, Randy. Just finished a historical/political non-fiction book, which will go up on Amazon as soon as it's edited. For practice, I listed my short story on Amazon, "Mom's Letter". Here's a shamelss plug, which you can of course delete: <strong>Randy sez</strong>: Thanks for the permission to delete. For various reasons, I'd rather not allow comments to include links to product pages. “How do you take advantage of this? By writing your best possible book and by getting it out there on the open market in the online stores that do reader reviews and show similar products best.”

Working on it, Randy. Just finished a historical/political non-fiction book, which will go up on Amazon as soon as it’s edited. For practice, I listed my short story on Amazon, “Mom’s Letter”. Here’s a shamelss plug, which you can of course delete:

Randy sez: Thanks for the permission to delete. For various reasons, I’d rather not allow comments to include links to product pages.

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