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Defending yourself/responding to reviews - how often?
Mod
I'm not saying you can't have a positive interaction with someone who has read your book. Just to be careful with your interactions, and avoid confrontations with people who have read your work.
Mod
See, P.D. will tell you. It is detrimental to your image as an author.
You'll only dig the grave deeper if you get into arguments with a reviewer, at most I'd say thank you for the review, and move on.
Riley - Why is it detrimental to your image to respond? I don't want to seem like an author that is too good to chat with people who spent money on my work and then took the time to rate and review it, or who are genuinely curious. I can see being cautious about crossing people, which is why I posted and asked, but maybe I'm otherwise missing something.
I reach out to readers. Rules are for people that don't know what to do. Technique is nothing more than failed style.But I just tell them that I'm sorry it wasn't to their liking, but thank them for taking the time to read it anyway.
Whether they liked it or not, I appreciate that they read it and left a review.
Mod
Your instincts are correct. You shouldn't. Goodreads, in their author guidelines, strongly suggests not contacting reviewers, especially those that leave negative reviews.
There are people who will feel one, very brief, sex scene is "too much". They're right... for them and their taste. Your book just wasn't for them, let it go. Let them find the right book for their taste and keep writing your books to your taste. Good for you for not responding.
Pricing. Some people will feel free books are equivalent of you saying your book is "worthless". Some people will feel $5 for a book is too much (even for a four hundred page book). That's their right to feel that way and not for you to try to change their mind. Why worry about what they think is reasonable. Set your prices to what you think is reasonable. No matter where you set your prices, someone is bound to think it's too much or too little, so don't worry about it. Let them have their opinion and move on.
Bottom line, contacting readers is seen by many as unprofessional and could lead to loss of sales if you're being public about it. Some authors have even upset readers and potential readers by complaining about their reviews here on Goodreads, so I would discourage doing that.
Bottom line, reviews are nice. They can be helpful, even the negative ones. (Sometimes especially the negative ones). However, they are not crucial and generally have little to do with your book selling or not selling. Focus on your writing and don't give reviews a second thought. If you get a nice one, smile, hug yourself and go back to writing. If you get a negative one, nod, sigh and go back to writing. All reviews really are are communications from one consumer to others. The less involved you are with them, the better.
I see nothing wrong with a "thank you" for a good or thoughtful review. I don't see how that would be detrimental to your image and it might lead to a deeper connection with a positive reader.But I agree, never respond in any way to a bad review, and never get into arguments with a reviewer.
Yeah, if you're not going to thank them and be gracious, just walk away.
The OP didn't ask about making positive responses, she said she does already. She asked about pushing back against negative reviews.
I have always, always, always been told never to interact with readers on a review site. Even if they praise your book to the moon and back it just isn't done. Too many chances things could go irretrievably wrong and it marks one as a newbie.It is better to leave a general message telling readers you would love to hear from them and to please interact with you on your author site, blog, goodreads 'ask the author a question' feature or on social media. That is quite a different animal and quite acceptable. Reviews must remain untainted or no one will give them credit. They really have nothing to do with us after we hit the publish button. We can read them and learn from them but that is 100% reader territory.
Holly wrote: "I don't want to be defensive, but I was wondering if anyone here has pushed back on comments made by readers..."As others have stated before, it's best not to. I have seen ugly threads and authors getting bashed for responding to something they thought was wrong. And I mean bashed. Sock puppets and all. So really, it's not worth it. Let it go. People who don't agree might engage with them or only shrugged and wonder what they smoked, but you as an author, should let it go and move on.
In all honesty, I've read many negative reviews (thankfully not on my own books), and more often than not, they reflect poorly on the reviewer, not the book or the author. You can tell when someone is just missing the point, or being outright intentionally combative and hurtful.
My suggestion is that you not respond to negative reviews. Often we feel hurt at the time, and even some time later as we think about it. Responding from a state of emotional hurt might cause us to say the wrong thing. Just chalk up the negative review as an unfortunate experience in your journey as a writer.
Ignore the haters, thank the ones that loved your book if you feel like it. A lot of people have a very high opinion of their own opinions (we all know what opinions are like) and it really isn't worth the time to write responses to people like that. The internet just gives them an outlet to voice them.
I like your pricing structure, very clever, draw them in with the first book and then if they like it they will continue to buy.
Don't worry about people that complain about prices LOL they don't realise or care that on 99c you only receive 35% and then pay tax on that 35%.
Keep writing and do it the way you feel, ultimately the way in which you
Handle your own business is your business! Good luck!
As stated: Responding to negative reviews is not advised and Goodreads will even give you a pop-up telling you that they advise against it. Several infamous meltdowns not only led to the one star attacks, but to accounts being suspended and deleted by Goodreads.As for positive reviews, I'm going to advocate for the "never ever" side with one exception: a "like" or thank you is likely fine if you have at least a passing acquaintance with the reviewer. For a review from a total stranger, a like is as far as you should go and I'll even caution against that for the following reason:
Readers don't see the same Goodreads we do. They don't necessarily know that we have an author dashboard and can see all of our reviews. I've seen several reader discussions on the topic where they've mentioned authors liking their reviews as 'stalkerish' or 'creepy.'
Additionally, because these topics tend to heat up and we have to close them, this is a general reminder to everyone that group discussions on Goodreads are not private. On the contrary, as an author, anyone visiting your author page may see your comments, not just friends.
My book (304 pages) is at 4.99 ....your prices aren't too high at all. I know it's hard, but just move on x
Don't ever respond to negative reviews. I did back in the day with my first book and I regret it to this day. When your an amateur you think nothing of it, it isn't until you have experience and see comments and threads like this one that you get to realize that yeah..commenting on negative reviews is a no no. Its also a magnet for trolls...boy do they love to come out and bounce on an author's defensive comments.
Yeah, many many authors all over GR will tell you never respond to any reviews.I know as an author it's really nice to connect with your readers.
But unless the reader connects with you first it just freaks them out, and they feel like they're being watched (which may actually put them off leaving future reviews).
I appreciate the good intention, but just don't do it.
Sorry.
In my experience it just isn't worth it. I didn't realise this was a public group a while ago and made a few misguided comments, causing the situation to spiral completely out of control. Weep quietly over a bad review, take any valid criticisms on board, but never comment on them, whether directly or indirectly. You've got too much to lose.
Responding to reviews is an invitation for trolls. Just don't.I do always reply to direct emails.
I thanked the guy who gave me a 1star review and sincerely praised his honesty. I liked the review he cared to write. I think he was so shocked that he bought another book of mine-:)
I think of the review section as the reader's domain. I've been tempted to like or to reply to different reviews for various reasons, but I think if reviewers actually wanted to hear from me they would contact me directly via my contact page, my blog, twitter or facebook. As for negative reviews - specifically regarding pricing - other readers will see that review and realize it has nothing to do with the writing or the work itself. In fact, as Joe said above, the tone and content of a review sometime says more about the reviewer than it does about the book or the author. My advice is to read them, bask in the praise of the good ones, see if you can use something from the negative ones, but otherwise move on.
Always be cautious & remember reviewers aren't writing reviews for the author but generally for either their own personal record or to let other readers know what they thought of the book. I sometimes will like a review. If a reader contacts me directly or asks a question in the review - ie will there be a sequel or another book in the series then I would reply briefly. Everyone is different but my personal feeling is it is always best to play it safe and never ever react openly to negative criticism. If you really really have to vent do it in private with friends.
I agree with what has been said. There are many ways to connect with and speak to your readers, but reviews are not one of them. Customers write reviews to tell the general public what they thought of your book, they aren't actually speaking to you directly. I have pulled quotes from reviews to use in my marketing. I have had conversations with folks who read my books and liked them, but those people approached me here, on facebook, or twitter. In my opinion, reviews are not an invitation for author commentary, they are an invitation of customer commentary on author products.
Now, if you already have a conversation going, then that is another matter. I've reached out to bloggers, spoken with them, and ask them to review my book. When the review came out they send me a message letting me know it was live, and so I responded with a grateful, polite message thanking them for giving it a chance even if they didn't like it in order to maintain the professional relationship. I would not try to change their mind, or defend my position though. They wrote their true, authentic feelings. No matter how much you might disagree (or how outright wrong they might be), there is no good in fighting the point.
Must admit I responded to one on Amazon, but only because he gave me an opening to discuss the main character. I admitted the opinion he expressed was correct and apologized that the book wasn't his cup of tea so to speak, but he did bring up the main character and I couldn't resist the opportunity for an in depth analysis.
If someone posts a bad review, I just read it and move on. Everyone is entitled to their own opinion, and they don't like what I have written then that's fine. I'll thank them for their honest review and go about my business. I would never become despondent over it, and think 'why am I doing this?'. I just carry on doing what I'm doing and say more about it.
I'm pretty sensitive about reviews, but I never engage with readers. I think readers and authors need to maintain a certain distance. For sanity and for professionalism on the author's part.
Never respond to a reader's review - no matter how unfair you think it is. Just don't do it. Suck it up and move on. Shake your head. Laugh uproariously if you have to. But never respond to a review on GR or Amazon. If you respond, it does you no good; it only makes you look defensive. Just walk away. I know how hard that is to do, but you need to do it.$4.99 is a little on the high side for an indie e-book. Length of a book doesn't matter when pricing. Pricing should be based solely on how large and loyal a following you have.
I price all my e-books at $2.99 (the "sweet spot"). Length is irrelevant, though my first book is 440 pages and my second one is 358 pages. Maybe some day I'll increase my price to $3.99 for subsequent books, but right now, getting my books in the hands of readers is my objective, and a lower selling price will accomplish that better. For example: selling 5,000 books @ $2.99 is far better than selling 1,000 books at $3.99.
Just my 2-cents worth...
I don't see any disaster in contacting anyone you want. I don't think you should defend yourself and it's probably futile. If I produce vodka and somebody likes beer, what's the point in convincing him how good my stuff is? I can only hope that there are enough vodka lovers -:). I think it might be useful to contact a reviewer who expressed a negative opinion on your work in order to clarify some details that you might've overlooked. Sometimes the review is self-explanatory, but not always. If done respectfully, it shouldn't be a big deal and result in helpful additional info
As tempting as it sometimes is, I don't respond to reviews (unless it's a "Thank you," which I usually send over email, if I have that outlet). Mostly, I don't see the benefit of it, especially if it's a negative review. At best, I would look petty for taking on a reviewer's issues, point by point, and if the review was a troll review... well, then I'm really wasting my time, aren't I? In the end, I think, the potential negatives far outweigh any positives.
P.D. wrote: "No. Never. Don't respond to reviews."Riley wrote: "Do not do it!..."
Riley wrote: "It is detrimental to your image as an author."
Leo wrote: "You'll only dig the grave deeper..."
Dwayne wrote: "Your instincts are correct. You shouldn't..."
Etc, and ditto.
Book reviews are for people to express their own opinions, not to debate with the author. No matter how ill-conceived or flat out wrong the review is, the author is entitled to their opinion and trying to "defend yourself" from a negative review simply makes you look vindictive, needy, insecure, and self-absorbed. You won't be able to change the reviewer's mind and you won't make yourself look any better in the eyes of others who read the debate.
Professionalism is being able to accept that not everyone will like your work, and that some of those people will be jerks about it. So, step away and leave the debate up to your fans.
I agree in not contacting a reviewer. It's their opinion and let it be. That being said, I have contacted a reviewer one time. A comment was made, and it was necessary that I shared some context with the party. They appreciated my input and amended their review not the star rating, which was fine.
"Professionalism is being able to accept that not everyone will like your work, and that some of those people will be jerks about it. So, step away and leave the debate up to your fans. "
Great point, and I can think of a perfect example to illustrate it - one famous author's book got a negative review stating the realism was ruined because she described Easter taking place "in Autumn." Thing is...that author's books are set in Australia, where the seasons are reversed - a fact which several other readers were more than happy to point out (with much ridicule heaped upon the unfortunate reviewer o.O )
To quote Admiral Ackbar - "It's a trap!"As has already been mentioned in this thread, it ends badly for the author.
There have been many an example of authors defending their work only for it to end really, really badly for them. As in they destroyed their brand and may never recover as an author. Sometimes it's the true opinion of the reviewer, sometimes it's baiting or catfishing to see how you respond. What matters is public opinion and if it looks like you're attacking someone over their opinion, you are automatically the bad guy.
I've heard many authors say "The reviews are not for the author.", and I'd agree. I'll still read mine anyway to see if I can pick out anything that I can do better next time, but that's as far as it goes.
I am going to disagree with practically everyone on this thread, I submitted my book for review to a blog and got a review that was...not the best, with the reviewer particularly criticising the lack of historical accuracy of the book. I responed respectfully, and ended up having a very enlightening conversation with several of the commenters. I didn't lose my rag, I offered them the chance to tell me to go away (they didn't) and I ended up understanding where they were coming from a lot better than I had after reading the review itself. Just keep your temper in check.
Well, as usual, I'm coming from a different planet.When I first started publishing, there was no amazon or pod. The internet wasn't too popular, either. People didn't use e-mail.
And the advice was--never, never respond to a review. At most, if you see a simple mistake, such as the wrong date or an incorrectly attributed quote, you can get your publisher to write a very polite letter to the newspaper or magazine that published the review.
As for these reviews on GR or anywhere on the internet, I wouldn't even consider them "real" reviews. To me, they're more like the opinions of a reader. And readers are entitled to their opinions. If the book didn't convince them to like the book, no response of the author is going to convince them.
The way I feel about it is, if you didn't like my book, that's okay, because a lot of other people did like it--me, first of all and I'm my most important reader.
RosaBeatrice wrote: "The way I feel about it is, if you didn't like my book, that's okay, because a lot of other people did like it--me, first of all and I'm my most important reader. "A really good point.
I guess I liken it to other products because at the end of the day that is what we are doing, offering a product to a consumer. So if I have a cookie store and someone comes up and says "I don't like cookies at all ever, I thought I would like the cookie but it turned out I didn't, I liked some things about the cookie but not other things, I hate the cookies." Statements like that don't warrant a response because face it, I am not going to change their mind.
Now, if someone said there were nuts in the cookies and in fact there were not nuts in the cookies that might warrant a public statement because their factual information is incorrect and their incorrect commentary might prevent me from selling my cookies to people with nut allergies.
Does that make any sense at all?
Also, I'm hungry and want a cookie.
I look at my reviews for feedback and thats about it, I had one review where the reader totally missed the point I was making but everyone will interpret things in their own way.as for negative reviews, if they don't leave valid feedback then fuck them. You'd be surprised at how many critics have never gone out and made something, therefore in my eyes their opinion just isn't as valid.
Negatives always scream louder than positives, do not let them keep you down.
Nik wrote: "I thanked the guy who gave me a 1star review and sincerely praised his honesty. I liked the review he cared to write. I think he was so shocked that he bought another book of mine-:)"I had a similar experience. I had a negative review, but it was very in-depth with specific examples of what the reviewer didn't like or thought was unnecessary in my novel. Not only did I thank her and appreciate her honesty, I asked if she would be interested in becoming a beta reader for my next book. She said she'd be glad to, and I think it could turn out to be a great working relationship. Besides that, I won't respond to negative reviews unless I can do it tactfully.
I was given advice to never respond to reviews, good or bad.
The one time I responded to a bad review her whole cult decided to slander my book as well It was a horrible experience. It was my first novel and just joined goodreads. I At the time I didn't know there was a such thing as " Writer-reviewer etiquette".
It all started when the reviewer added my book to " to-read"
I wrote "Thanks for expressing interest"
A week later she shelved the book
then I ask "thanks for the consideration,sorry my book didnt intrigue you"
unfortunately she took that as "abuse' and quickly read my book then lashed out on it.
It all started when the reviewer added my book to " to-read"
I wrote "Thanks for expressing interest"
A week later she shelved the book
then I ask "thanks for the consideration,sorry my book didnt intrigue you"
unfortunately she took that as "abuse' and quickly read my book then lashed out on it.
I don't bother. My best seller Signet #1 has its share of negative reviews but I don't let it bother me. They bought it so meh. I crank out books not to please the public. I know my works aren't for everyone. But the few who do get it , I appreciate.
A reviewer recently commented on my book as having "extremely graphic adult content, violence, or expletive language &/or uncensored sexually explicit material which is only suitable for mature readers."So untrue! Laughed it off and decided that might actually entice a certain audience.
I still have two of my books under to read folders with inappropriate names due to my lashing out back when I didn't know it was frowned upon.
The best you can do that on every book review whether good or bad press like. There are always readers who like and who dislike your book.
Wow, this has really been an interesting thread for me, and there are lots of great comments and perspectives, (and some funny observations), like this one from Nik:If I produce vodka and somebody likes beer, what's the point in convincing him how good my stuff is? I can only hope that there are enough vodka lovers -:).
I've had some good luck in engaging with reviews, (esp on Amazon), and I was able to clarify a point one reader was wondering about, (for example), and they really appreciated it. I didn't realise how different our dashboard was from that of our readers, so I can understand how on GR if suddenly an author comments or references your review, it might seem weird because they don't know what we see; that's a good data point.
I think for now I will probably still respond to reviewers on Amazon who show genuine curiosity or seem to have questions, but refrain from engaging negative reviewers. It just seems like the downside, (getting effectively 'blacklisted'), is too great.
I am curious about something related though... what is everyone's experience with what percentage of readers review books? I've sold, (and given away), what I consider a not too shabby number of books the past three years, and yet I had no reviews for the longest time, (even though I had continued sales), that when I started receiving reviews I was grateful and started to respond periodically.
It can be difficult to read negative reviews, (esp. if they are non specific); I know not everyone will be excited by what I write, that's reasonable, so I have the hardest time when someone slags my book rudely or - more specifically - says something I don't think is right.
For example... someone recently posted there was 'too much sex' on the first book in one of my series, and gave me one star. The thing is, the couple doesn't have sex for the first time until half way through the book! That made me shake my head, and I didn't respond.
The one that really bothered me is a reader who said they were angry because of what I charge and will never read me again. My first book is free, the second one is 1.99, the third and fourth are 3.99 and the fifth, 4.99.
The books get longer as the series goes on, and the more expensive are also the most recent, with the fifth book also being over 400 pages! I don't understand how 4.99 is a lot for that - my first book is my shortest at 282 pages yet it is free. I really want to know what this person thinks is reasonable, considering anything below 2.99 only gets 35% royalties. I mean, what in their mind should a 400 page book cost? I've seen smaller books for 9.99!
I don't want to be defensive, but I was wondering if anyone here has pushed back on comments made by readers. I initially started responding to reviews because I thought 'hey, it's cool when you get acknowledgement from an author', (one actually did message me back - he is a history writer, a somewhat noteworthy one, and I was over the bloody moon!), but now I worry maybe I shouldn't, although several readers/reviewers have made contact and said they appreciated my reaching out. I think it's actually pretty amazing you can connect with people through your writing, and I have made friends because I have engaged with readers. I don't just want to acknowledge people who give me props, but I worry I have fallen into a trap of some sort by interacting in the first place, and wonder should I continue, should I engage somewhat hostile reviewers like the woman who hated my pricing?
I probably shouldn't be so sensitive, but I have actually been part of discussion here and in GR mail about book pricing, with someone trying to convince me that because I have a free book, I am in essence conveying my writing is worthless, (I disagreed). I also try to price my books 'reasonably' - so I have some revenue, but the reader gets a lot of reading for what they spend. I guess it just hit someplace where I feel I have tried to be fair.
Thoughts?
Holly