I don't understand either. At least if there were some ARCs out, and people were rating those, it would somewhat make sense. But not before.

Patrick Rothfuss posted about this topic once, too, if I'm not mistaken. Something about some readers' ability to read and rate a book even before its author wrote it. Amazing, aren't they?

Yzabel wrote: "I don't understand either. At least if there were some ARCs out, and people were rating those, it would somewhat make sense. But not before.

Patrick Rothfuss posted about this topic once, too, if ..."

Yeah, there won't even BE ARCs of this book!

At this point, literally the only people who've read the book are my editor, her assistant, my brother, and my wife. And I'm pretty sure they haven't rated it here! :)

I understand your frustration. This has been a pet peeve of mine for some time. I don't understand the point of letting people rate before a book is published/even written. It doesn't seem fair to the author or those that look at ratings.

Maybe if more authors complained about this to the Goodreads staff it would get changed.

Olivia wrote: "I understand your frustration. This has been a pet peeve of mine for some time. I don't understand the point of letting people rate before a book is published/even written. It doesn't seem fair to ..."

I hope so. I'm sure Goodreads doesn't mean any harm by the current system, but it's both absurd and, quite frankly, upsetting.

Preventing rankings before the official publishing date, though, could be a problem for authors/publishing houses who put ARCs out. I suppose we could say that ARCs shouldn't be rated, since they're not 100% final versions, but...

To me, it's much more weird behaviour on the readers' part, rather than a real fault in the GR system. Like warnings, such as "your coffee cup is served warm": well, duh, of course it is, do I really need a reminder? Do I really need some piece of software and/or website to tell me that rating a book I haven't read (and that isn't even out yet) is just dumb and illogical?

(And frankly, I don't care if this comes as "insulting" to some: if someone rates a book s/he hasn't read, then yes, s/he's being illogical. Period.)

Yzabel wrote: "Preventing rankings before the official publishing date, though, could be a problem for authors/publishing houses who put ARCs out. I suppose we could say that ARCs shouldn't be rated, since they'r..."

To be honest, Yzabel, I'm not overmuch concerned with whether or not the tiny sliver of people who get ARCs can rate a book 8 months before it's published. If ARC-readers are a concern, then the system could be adapted to allow ratings, say, six weeks before pub date. That would allow for some buzz/word-of-mouth in advance of publication and still preserve some sense of sanity in the system.

As to whether you need a piece of software to tell you if the rating is illogical...probably not for you because you seem like a smart, dedicated, interested reader, which is great! But what about someone just skimming Goodreads who sees a rating average for a book, an average that is very low, and thinks, "Oh, I was planning on reading that, but no one likes it." without bothering to investigate further and realize that the book isn't even out yet? Not everyone deep-dives. Many people are very shallow users of a system. A five-star rating encourages shallow use, actually -- it's a quick visual shortcut. "How many stars? OK, noted; on to the next one."

At the very, very least, there should be a bit of text on not-yet-pubbed books that says, "THIS BOOK IS NOT YET PUBLISHED. BE SKEPTICAL OF ANY REVIEWS/RATINGS."

Goodreads has -- obviously -- enormous potential and power and utility. It also has this absolutely baffling flaw, and I can tell you that when authors speak of GR in private, it is this flaw -- more than anything else -- that keeps them from fully investing in and participating in GR. I don't think you understand how frustrating and upsetting it is to see judgement passed (however spuriously) on something that isn't even finished yet.

True, I haven't been in this situation personnally, at least not yet (and I suppose I shouldn't wish to be, hah). I can only imagine the frustration, though not fully understand it.

I do agree that such visual shortcuts as 5 stars, 1 star, etc. encourage skimming and quick choices without potential readers really paying attention. (I'm a skimmer, too, to be honest, and I don't spend ten minutes on reading each and every review on every book I might be interested in. Well, sometimes I do, sometimes I don't, and just lump the book on my "wishlist" shelf to check it again later.)

Really, it just comes down to me being annoyed at how the majority of people, whether on GR or not, just seem to lose more and more of their ability to use their brains. I tend to blame more things on people than on the tools they use. Whether I'm right or not is, of course, another matter. (As a French person, I invoke my birth right of behaving like a pompous elitist. ;))

Yzabel wrote: "True, I haven't been in this situation personnally, at least not yet (and I suppose I shouldn't wish to be, hah). I can only imagine the frustration, though not fully understand it.

I do agree tha..."

Oh, I definitely blame the person, not the tool. It's just that - sadly - there's no way to fix the person! :)

Barry wrote: "Oh, I definitely blame the person, not the tool. It's just that - sadly - there's no way to fix the person! :) "

When I work with computer scientists and engineers, we often joke that the blame lies with "the chair-to-keyboard interface". A.k.a. the user. ;)

I know what you mean. Judging a book by it's cover or lack thereof. Is completely unfair. I understand your agitation Mr. Lyga and I do hope that the people who are judging or expressing opinions on a book that isn't even on the shelves yet will soon learn to think before they speak.
~Sincerely, M

I've been thinking this for a while. You're right, it shouldn't be hard to disable ratings until the book is out. On IMDb.com, you can't rate a movie or TV show before the thing exists, so why can you review a book that hasn't hit shelves yet? Craziness.

Indeed that is true. Some people just don't seem to understand that the reviews or opinions toward a book is power. Whether that power is for or against a book is whether or not anyone will read it. Speculation on a book before it has even been read or seen in stores will quickly diminish sale ratings once the book is on shelves. People should only judge by what they see, experience, and read. Not by what the majority thinks. Its all about complicity. Everyone likes to complicate matters by stating things that they don't know for sure. It's like going to a store and just buying something without seeing if it'll fit or if it will even look right on said person. I don't know why people are one track minded. Must have something to do with peer pressure. Its sad to think that high school drama follows people outside of high school but there you have it.