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Sunday, March 10, 2013

The Disparity of Reviewing Sites

The disparity between reviews on different book reviewing sites is a frustration that many self-published writer faces, even more so than traditionally published writers because self-published writers don't have the big publishing houses to promote their work, and are often working at a loss, which can be considerable if you take into account editor's costs, payments to promotional sites, home office supplies, etc. And I must admit, I'm also feeling this frustration, especially when my books are getting numerous good or incredible reviews on one place, but where it counts the most (on Amazon) those reviews are simply not there. For example: I have 67 ratings with 23 reviews for Behind the Tears on Goodreads at an average of 4.31 stars, but on Amazon I only have 5 reviews at an average of 3.4 stars. But Behind the Hood has a lower rating of 4.09 on Goodreads but a much higher rating on Amazon with 11 reviews and 4.9 stars, yet many people who have read both books on Goodreads say that they loved Behind the Tears more. The sales of Behind the Tears is also a lot more than Behind the Hood, but where are the reviews on Amazon? I must say, when writing my follow up books these aspects do affect my frame of mind, making me think: Is it all really worth it? And if I want to actually make a success of my writing, which means not losing money, what do I write next? I originally wanted to write Graffiti Heaven's sequel next, Crying Out Silent, but because of what I've mentioned above, not enough people reviewing the book on Amazon, I had to put it aside for Behind the Tear's sequel (Behind the Lens). However, if things don't pick up I may have to put them all aside and start writing more conventional books, like the planned Dirty Dancer series. So, what I'm saying is, if you actually like a book and want the writer to continue writing sequels of your favourite series, and this is not just for me, this is for all self-published and published writers, please pop your reviews up on Amazon, otherwise other readers won't learn about these books and will take the very few who have managed to write a review, which may not be an adequate reflection on what the majority think.

Sorry for the gripe of the day, but again, if you really want sequels, encouragement goes a long way for authors who write into the early hours of the morning, then get up to go to their day jobs along with juggling family commitments.

Thanks!

4 comments:

  1. I cannot but agree with you, Marita. We self-published authors treasure ratings and reviews. They DO help us get more sales.

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    1. Yes, and in helping us gain more sales, it encourages us to keep on writing, because after a while we do need monetary gains and not losses, because our love for writing only gets us so far, especially when there are family commitments that require our time to be spent more wisely.

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  2. I wonder if your Goodreads reviewers could, individually, be persuaded to post onto Amazon. They seem a good lot of folk, and some do take the trouble to cross over to Amazon.

    Harry

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    1. They are a good lot of folk, but it's still a tricky one, because authors on Goodreads have gotten themselves into trouble doing just that, and I wouldn't want to annoy anyone.

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