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I have heard that authors shouldn't respond to reviews except for the occasional thank you. Will be interested to see what others say about this.
I have heard similar opinions and understand exactly why. It's just not knowing what was wrong that is getting to me, especially as it is my first feedback. I would not consider responding to a review that had more explanation than simply a number but here... I just don't know.
I said it on your other post and I'll repeat it here - readers are not obliged to justify to the author how they rate, review or shelf a book.Ratings & reviews are for readers not authors. You shouldn't be reading/looking at your reviews anyway. If you want feedback, seek it prior to hitting publish. Once the book is out, let it go. Not every reader will love every book and every reader is entitled to their opinion.
Never mess with reviews--EVER. Could be the person accidently hit 1 when they meant something else. Maybe they give 1 ratings to everything. Maybe they thought 1 meant tops. Or maybe they hated your book. You don't know. If you want feedback, join a critique group. Or ask an English lit teacher. Or if you really want to get random, ask the person at the next table at the coffee shop. Or a clerk in a bookstore.
Tom - "No". Just accept it and take it for what it is.
Okay, well there is a very clear consensus here. I will not be responding at all; I shall simply have to live with not knowing. Thank you all for your replies. I appreciate the help.
Hi Tom,This is my first post about a book review, for my first book on amazon.com.
The review was totally 'harsh' and very explicit. I read it through twice, and then wrote back and thanked the reviewer for stressing the faults. Truly,I learnt so much from her review. It was like a full blown lesson that a friend would never give you. I realised she had read every word before making an analysis. This, in itself, is a compliment.
Why not stun your reviewer by thanking him/her?
I hope you're feeling better.
Cheers!
Lilian
Thank you for your kind words, Lilian, and I understand your point completely. I appreciate anyone reading my work, but I have to say that I would prefer to have my faults displayed rather than being left in limbo. Alas, there is little that can be done about it. I shall have to move on and look to the future.
I believe Goodreads gives guidelines on this and that is not to respond. But, yes, it is hard not to sometimes, particularly if the criticism they have given in a review is wrong!
As Anna said, we discourage authors from contacting users who've left them negative reviews or ratings. Even the friendliest response can come across as spam or harassment, so we generally don't approve of this type of interaction.
Aaron, I have a question for you. What if a reader contacts you? Is that considered spam or harassment? Is there anything to protect an author from a stalking reader? Just curious here. Thank you!
Hannah wrote: "Aaron, I have a question for you. What if a reader contacts you? Is that considered spam or harassment? Is there anything to protect an author from a stalking reader? Just curious here. Thank you!"Hannah, good question! I've experienced harassment; fortunately not here, but at Amazon.
Hannah wrote: "What if a reader contacts you? Is that considered spam or harassment? Is there anything to protect an author from a stalking reader?"Hi Hannah, yes, if you receive any unwanted messages from readers, feel free to contact us at support [at] goodreads [dot] com. We take these messages very seriously and will handle any interactions like this on our end.
Okay, great! That's very good to know.
Tom wrote: "Hi guys. I am a new author and I am hoping for some advice.If you got a one star rating without any kind of explanation (which may or may not have happened to me*), would you consider commenting ..."
If reader gave you a one-star because didn't like the book, they might also be the type of reader who feels their valuable-to-them reading hours were wasted and by golly they refuse to waste any more time on the book to even say why.
If reader who left one-star without a review had posted status updates, participated in book discussions, made comments, etc. about the book indicating they enjoyed it — I'd think the 1-star rating was a typo or from someone who misunderstood the suggested goodreads star ratings were on a scale of 1=worst to 5=best instead of their apparent use of the 1-star (based on other non-review activity) to mean #1, A1, 1st place type of thing.
If typo or bug is suspected, I'd point it out to goodreads support (not comment on the rating) in case you were either a victim of a known bug randomly rating books or if staff might consider based on reader's other activity to discreetly remind the reader that the goodreads scale isn't intended to be 1=best. Staff, not yourself contacting or commenting.
It's also possible book got starred to stop it showing up repeatedly in book recommendations, accidentally started again, that stars in that particular reader's book catalog aren't even being used to rate a book...millions of readers all cataloging books however makes sense to them.
Interfering, even with a seemingly to you innocuous comment on a star rating, can be seen by many reviewers as telling readers that they cannot rate, review and catalog however they like within goodreads site terms of agreement and review guidelines. Staff have repeatedly enforced and posted that readers can star rate without reviewing and that they can use star ratings however they want.
Staff are unlikely to step in unless something suspected like being caused by the known bug, possible typo, or violating consumer fraud laws by not adding required disclosures (for example, not stating book was received free for review, in a review exchange, was from a relative or someone with a material connection to success/failure of book...)—even if staff interfere to require a needed disclosure they are not going to require reader to explain nor review or alter the star rating.
Frustrating or not, authors asking for explanations or reviews with star ratings on goodreads often create a consumer boycott no matter what some author groups tout about drama marketing and any activity better than no activity. Which is why almost everyone will tell you to avoid commenting. Not everyone writes reviews or explains their use of star rating system; most don't but some readers will explain their star use on their profiles.
Hannah wrote: "Aaron, I have a question for you. What if a reader contacts you? Is that considered spam or harassment? Is there anything to protect an author from a stalking reader? Just curious here. Thank you!"@Aaron, well said and of course authors should report/flag any such thing.
Can authors also block goodreads members just like the rest of us (click thumbnail to go to profile page, scroll all the way to bottom of page and click the block menu option)?
Tom, don't even think of going in that direction! Take the one-star review, forget about it, hope to get other reviews that will balance it and write another book. If you think you've written the best book you could, then you just move on. Asking someone why they did such and such only opens a can of worms and can result in some very mean things. Again, just write another book and move on. Constance
Tom wrote: "Hi guys. I am a new author and I am hoping for some advice.If you got a one star rating without any kind of explanation (which may or may not have happened to me*), would you consider commenting ..."
As a reader if I rated a book 1 star with no review and the author contacted me to ask why I'd not be happy.
The rating would be left for my information, and for that of my friends.
In the early days of GR I probably wouldn't have taken offense if it was done NICELY and sincerely.
I still might not be offended if it were done nicely and sincerely, but I wouldn't like it and I wouldn't respond. There have just been too many incidents of authors trying to use consumers as beta readers or even worse trying to intimidate those who leave less than positive ratings and reviews for it to be a comfortable thing.
If I rated a book 1 star without any additional comment it means I didn't like it. If I had felt like I had more to share about why I didn't like it I probably would have done so in a review. It's really uncomfortable for many to be asked after the fact to tell an author we don't know negative things. It puts readers in a weird spot.
Not to pick on you Tom, you seem like a nice guy who just doesn't realize how something like that can come across to a reader, even if done politely, and may not be aware of the many incidents that have occurred with some authors giving readers a very hard time. Many readers who review on GR and elsewhere are very uncomfortable about that sort of thing because we've either been attacked by authors ourselves, or have seen it happen to others.
For feedback about what might be "wrong" with it (one one star rating may simply mean it wasn't to that reader's taste), look for fellow authors who would give you honest feedback, and perhaps find a GR group where authors are allowed to ask readers to read their book and let them know you want honest feedback. There are groups here that do that. Take some time and interact here on GR some, it's fun and getting to know some people in groups or over discussing other books you might find people who'd be willing to read your book in order to give you honest feedback, if you ask.
ETA: Just looked at your book and see it's recently out and that a few others have shown interest in reading it. So hopefully you'll have some others review it in the future. It's not in one of my preferred genres so I can't offer more help. But good luck!
I'd like to thank you all for taking the time and making the effort to help me out. I understand what you are all saying and I understand why I shouldn't contact a reader, so I will not even consider doing so in the future. Besides I have had a better review since then, so I am no longer in turmoil.Thanks again,
Tom.
Tom wrote: "I'd like to thank you all for taking the time and making the effort to help me out. I understand what you are all saying and I understand why I shouldn't contact a reader, so I will not even consid..."Congrats on the better review!
Auntie J wrote: "Tom wrote: "Hi guys. I am a new author and I am hoping for some advice.If you got a one star rating without any kind of explanation (which may or may not have happened to me*), would you consider..."
I wish there was a 'like' button for your comment, Auntie J.
I suppose another way to look at it is, if you got a 5 star rating with no review would you want to contact the reader to ask why they liked it? I often rate books but rarely write reviews because I never know what to say, or how much to reveal of the story.
As a reader, when I read books, I don't take into consideration whether the author is well known, traditionally published etc. I assume that it is unlikely that Neil Gaiman is scrutinising the ratings he recieves on GR, and in my mind the same applies for every other author I read.
It's like breaking the 4th wall, if I thought authors might see my ratings I would probably stop rating at all.
That doesn't stop me checking for reviews of my own work, of course. Or feeling frustrated by an unexplained rating. But it is what it is.
In the centuries we've had the written word, society has not, until this century, relied so heavily on the opinion of another person to read a book. Is it because we have so little time to browse? Obviously word-of-mouth and written reviews in magazines and newspapers helped the reader make a decision in times past, but I do think we're obsessed by the ratings game.
Some authors think of their book as their baby and believe they have a right to involve themselves in every relationship their child has with anyone. The metaphor of a book as an author's baby/child needs to include the realization that if the book has matured enough to be thrust out in the world of the general public then the parent's interest will not be appreciated if not invited.A reader giving one or two stars to a book is like an employer deciding not to hire someone or a person deflecting a pass. No one expects a parent to show up to ask why.
Having an author inquire about a five star rating is like having a parent pop into the bedroom the morning after to ask how the sex was. Too weird!
If your book is still a baby, then don't publish it.
But using that analogy, authors are like parents, which means that they know how to raise their children and you have no right to question or judge that. Also, they quite often say, "Because I said so."
Are you really saying - that all parents know how to raise their children?
- that all parents raise their children in a healthy way?
- that no one can judge how children have been raised?
I'm being sarcastic. I'm saying that if you are saying that authors are parents, parents always tell other people [and the government] that they know how to raise their children and that no one has the right to judge them.Are you really saying
-that parents don't know how to raise their children?
-that parents are entirely to blame for how their children turn out?
-that I can't judge you for being belittling?
Because I think everyone thinks for themselves and what you think doesn't concern me. I think for myself and I really don't care what others think of that. And I'm sorry for people who cannot recognize sarcasm for what it is.
D.A. wrote: "Can authors also block goodreads members just like the rest of us (click thumbnail to go to profile page, scroll all the way to bottom of page and click the block menu option)?"They can! Doing so will block the user from contacting the author or interacting with them directly. The user will still be able to review books and view the author profile on a strictly informational level, though, as these areas are public.
Aaron wrote: "They can! Doing so will block the user from contacting the author or interacting with them directly. The user will still be able to review books and view the author profile on a strictly informational level, though, as these areas are public. ..."Good! (and thanks for answering.)
If you got a one star rating without any kind of explanation (which may or may not have happened to me*), would you consider commenting on the rating and asking why? Obviously, this would be done in a friendly manner when looking for what is exactly was wrong with it and how to improve, but I do not know whether this would be something that other people might do.
Many thanks.
*It definitely did but it definitely wasn't my first ever rating.**
**It totally was.