Let me preface this by saying that as an author, ALL reviews are appreciated (and read)—even the much-dreaded 1-star review—because it means A) someone has read my book and B) taken the time to post a review on Amazon, Goodreads, B&N or Kobo. That doesn’t mean that 1-star reviews don’t sting. They do. It’s akin to telling someone their child is too ugly to appear in public. It might even be like saying they shouldn’t have had a child. In short, it’s harsh.
I still remember my first 1-star review as if it were yesterday. I’d been riding a wave of 5-star reviews (and Amazon Top 10 placement)  for Skeletons in the Attic, book 1 in my Marketville Mystery series. And then one day, I popped onto Goodreads and there it was: “I guess I get to be the party-pooper here but I have to honestly say that this book just didn’t cut it in any way for me and I’m having a hard time trying to understand all the high ratings while believing, at the same time, these people read the same book I did.”Â
I went sobbing to my fellow Sisters in Crime, expecting sympathetic reassurances. Instead I got High-Fives. Apparently, you aren’t considered “legit” if all your reviews are 5-star. In fact, the odd 1-star review is actually a good thing because the “sweet spot overall rating” is apparently 3.8 to 4.3. Armed with that knowledge, I started checking the reviews for books I loved, many international bestsellers. Sure enough, every one of them had 1-star reviews. Okay then, I was in good company, especially since Skeletons in the Attic had an average of 4.25.
Fast forward to last week. I was checking my Amazon Author stats (a lovely time waster if Facebook isn’t enough to do it for me) and popped over to see if there were any new reviews. There were two posted on the same day for The Hanged Man’s Noose, book 1 in my Marketville Mystery series. The first warmed my heart, with 4 stars and a lengthy review that started like this: “The Hanged Man’s Noose is the author’s debut book in A Glass Dolphin Mystery series. This is a classical cozy, in that it takes place in a colorful small town, and has lots compelling characters and no gore to gum it up.” The next one wasn’t quite as heartwarming. In fact, since the book was first published in July 2015, this was my first 1-star review, and the reader didn’t pull any punches: “A waste of time, frankly. The book was complicated by too many characters with too much background information to keep straight in such a short book. It could be charming, and I adore Canada, but it’s too boring.”Â
On .99 promo until March 10th in all e-book formats (Kindle, Nook, Kobo, Apple, GooglePlay)
I can console myself with the fact that my overall rating for The Hanged Man’s Noose is 4.3, which, I’ll remind you, is the “sweet spot.” But too boring? That. Really. Hurt. Thankfully, most other readers don’t agree. If you haven’t read it and would  like to give it a shot, it’s currently on promo in all e-book formats for .99 (reg. $4.99) until Sunday, March 10th.
PS: The Hanged Man’s Noose also available in trade paperback and Large Print at all the usual suspects, and audiobook (Audible, Amazon, Apple), where it has a 4.4 average rating on Performance, Story, and Overall.
PPS: Reviews really do matter. Love it, hate it, or anything in between, authors appreciate your reviews. After all, we’re writing for you.
The bad reviews I mind are ones from readers who’ve got the book for free or cheaply and not looked to see if it’s actually a book they want to read. If they’d been buying it, they’d have read a few pages and seen it wasn’t for them. Fave 1-star comment: ‘The author is a cat-lover.’
“The author is a cat-lover” — too funny, Marsali. We have to laugh at those ones.
Ha. Last time I got a 1-star review I clicked on the reviewer to see their average rating. They gave one book 4 stars, everything else they reviewed was 1-star. Such things can be ignored. That was on a film rather than a book but it comes out the same.
I guess we’re all the same, Jaq, because I also check the reviewer out!
It hurt getting a 2 star with no comment attached to it. I felt, why bother being cruel if you are not going to say why? It’s great to read how we’re all, basically, in this boat together. 🙂
Absolutely, if it’s a 1 or 2 star review, at least give a reason! Good point, and yes, we’re all in the same leaky boat 🙂
Eek! Reviews – we want everyone to love everything we create; however, that can’t be true as we are all different with many viewpoints, hobbies, education, etc. You are right, it does sting for a bit. I have one where the reviewer wanted to throw the book at the wall. When I said something to a friend, she said she wondered what book that reviewer read. LOL.
Hi Vicki, throw it against the wall? Wow…that’s something!
Interesting post, Judy. An honest opinion is one thing, but there are a lot of trolls out there in Readersville. I received a 1-star “rating” on Goodreads for one of my books (can’t remember which book). Out of curiosity I visited the “reader’s” personal page. I found that he/she had rated DOZENS of books as 1-star on the same day I received mine. I checked further and found out this person had rated hundreds of books over time with 1-star on various occasions. Moreover, the person merely rated books; never wrote a single review. I contacted Goodreads about it and was told there was nothing they could do about the matter. As I said before, an honest opinion is one thing, but deliberately panning a book so its rating suffers is something else entirely. 🙂
That is true, Michael. This guy does leave reviews — as mentioned to Mary in an earlier comment, he continues to buy (and not like my books). Go figure. But he makes me laugh as his reviews are quite forthright.
If it makes you feel better, I just ordered Greg Iles’s new book, Cemetery Road, and he has a two-star rating on Amazon. You never know how people are going to react.
Hi Susan, I think the bigger the name, the more people think it’s okay to trash the book — or maybe the expectation is so high that the author can’t possibly meet it.
I had to admire another author when she made it big (a movie deal or something), she said her son made up a mug with her one star reviews. She said it kept her humble. You have to have laugh. It’s just one person’s opinion.
Mary
So right, Mary. What is funny (to me) is the person who left a 1-star review has since purchased and reviewed my other 3 novels. He gave one of them 1-star (again) and two of them 3-star. So, he’s still buying my books! I’ve come to look for his reviews.
Having taught English for decades, I’m quite aware that book-reading is VERY subjective. So I rarely worry about the 1s. You have a good attitude about it.
Thanks Susan, you’re right about reading being subjective.
Great blog, Judy. Reviews do matter. Of course, they must be legitimate reviews, with subjective comments, and not nefarious or inappropriate content, e.g. I haven’t read the book yet so I can’t review it. Interesting how Amazon bots will remove a five star review but not one of these.
Legitimate one-star reviews (written by a subjective reader who just didn’t like or get an author’s work) can do something else. Give an Author a tougher outlook—not everyone is going to love your baby.
Hi Donnell, so true, not everyone can love our books, and that’s totally fair. Also an interesting insight on Amazon bots. Thanks for weighing in.