I finally have a first complaint about Amazon

I'm sorry... I don't know what to say here.... Complaining about a 5-star review Now I think I've heard it all. Please don't take my comment as a snide/rude remark or anything, but a positive review is what (I thought) authors liked and continuously strove for, so why complain about it? Okay, so they give away spoilers, but readers who have never read the book before would not know how big/small they are to the book until they read it...

There are tons and tons and tons of readers out there, myself included, who don't give a pinch about spoilers. I knew before I even read the second Harry Potter novel. It didn't stop me from reading and enjoying them all. A spoiler will never stop me from reading a book if it sounds like a good one. A glowing five-star review about a book that can change lives will influence me to buy it. The fact that it contains a spoiler will not prevent me from reading it.

Be glad and humbled that your book touched somebody. Many authors would do just about anything to be able to write a book that makes readers praise it so highly.

With due respect to your sensitivities (I remember I was exceptionally sensitive at first), I find reviews really hard to get, even for books that are liked: 10 of my 17+ titles have not a single review. I would gladly accept a 5-star review or even a 4-star review with a spoiler.

Once you get a couple reviews, at any star rating, there are going to be spoilers.

People who really care about spoilers won't read customer reviews, so don't sweat it.

Also, studies have shown people enjoy books MORE when they know about the twists ahead of time. (People do not know this, though. Or cannot see it in themselves.)

Let readers decide if the spoilers ruined it for them.

Spoiler

I knew Snape killed Dumbledore

before I even read the second Harry Potter novel.

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What?? Why you got to ruin it for me?

Whether she was joshing me or not, I am astounded that there may still be readers in the world who haven't heard that one! It's the universal codeword for a spoiler and everything.

Let's see if this works:

ElHawk said:

Whether she was joshing me or not, I am astounded that there may still be readers in the world who haven't heard that one! It's the universal codeword for a spoiler and everything.

Let's see if this works:

Spoiler

Jean Valjean dies in the end.

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And see, before I saw Les Miserables (the movie) two days ago, that would have been a major spoiler for me....never make assumptions....

Betsy

Betsy the Quilter said:

Lia, not sure if you are teasing ElHawk or not, but the point is well taken. Not everyone in the universe has read all the Harry Potter books yet. In a thread complaining about spoilers, let's not spoil books for others. You can hide spoilers by using spoiler tags--tap on the

above and type your spoiler between them. To see spoiler blocked text, move your cursor over or tap if on a touchscreen device.

Betsy

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I don't know how it works on Android devices, but on my iPhone, spoilers are not, in fact, hidden. I see a message that tells me the next line should be hidden, but it isn't.

Also, in fandom, after something has been out for as long as HP & TH-BP has been (since 2005), spoiler warnings are no longer required. If it's different here on KB, what would be considered a reasonable time frame before spoilers are no longer required?

I was teasing, honest.

It is good to know how to make that tag, though. I've seen the black blocks in other posts but didn't know how to make them.

ShayneHellerman said:

I don't know how it works on Android devices, but on my iPhone, spoilers are not, in fact, hidden. I see a message that tells me the next line should be hidden, but it isn't.

Also, in fandom, after something has been out for as long as HP & TH-BP has been (since 2005), spoiler warnings are no longer required. If it's different here on KB, what would be considered a reasonable time frame before spoilers are no longer required?

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Interesting; the spoiler block works on my iPad using the Safari browser, which is what I'm using. Are you viewing the forum using Tapatalk?

As for spoilers, if I went to a Harry Potter forum or a thread about Harry Potter on this forum, I would have a reasonable expectation that there would be spoilers. Entering a thread with a subject indicating that it's about a complaint against Amazon would not warn me that there might be Harry Potter (or Les Mis) spoilers. So, for a major plot point, I don't think it's unreasonable to ask for spoiler block

Despite what some say here, some of us readers do care about spoilers.

Betsy

Lia Sebastian said:

I was teasing, honest.

It is good to know how to make that tag, though. I've seen the black blocks in other posts but didn't know how to make them.

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And I didn't mean to derail the thread; except that the issue of spoilers isn't really derailing it, is it? As a reader, I don't like reading spoilers in the reviews. In most cases, fortunately, the time between I read the reviews and buy the book and then actually read it is long enough that I don't remember the spoilers.

I do think Amazon should require a warning in the first line or subject of the review that the review contains spoilers.

Betsy

RM Prioleau said:

I'm sorry... I don't know what to say here.... Complaining about a 5-star review Now I think I've heard it all. Please don't take my comment as a snide/rude remark or anything, but a positive review is what (I thought) authors liked and continuously strove for, so why complain about it? Okay, so they give away spoilers, but readers who have never read the book before would not know how big/small they are to the book until they read it...

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Authors complain about spoilers and with good reason.

No, mostly Amazon reviewers don't include spoilers. Of the nearly 150 reviews of my historical novels, only one that I know of includes a spoiler and yes, I came here and whined about it.

Unannounced spoilers are a BAD thing--it doesn't matter how long the book has been out.

Betsy the Quilter said:

Interesting; the spoiler block works on my iPad using the Safari browser, which is what I'm using. Are you viewing the forum using Tapatalk?

As for spoilers, if I went to a Harry Potter forum or a thread about Harry Potter on this forum, I would have a reasonable expectation that there would be spoilers. Entering a thread with a subject indicating that it's about a complaint against Amazon would not warn me that there might be Harry Potter (or Les Mis) spoilers. So, for a major plot point, I don't think it's unreasonable to ask for spoiler block

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You make a good point about the context/location of the spoiler.

And yes, viewing in Tapatalk on my iPhone 4.

Somebody complained about a spoiler in a review of one of my books.  I went and looked at the review, and the only plot point that was "spoiled" was something which was mentioned in the product description/blurb.   

I honestly think spoilers helped stem the tide of poor reviews for my book. Once enough people complained that the ending wasn't what they wanted, it stopped. Fine by me, as people now say they loved the ending. I can't win.

If I cared about spoilers, I would not read reviews. And I don't think it's fair to tell reviewers on Amazon, who aren't professionals but simply volunteer consumers, that they can't explain why they do or don't like a book. It's hard enough to get ordinary customers to review, period. Making them more insecure about their writing won't help.

Fredster said:

I found a 5-star review for one of my books published under a pseudonym today, a really glowing one that talks about how much the book affected her...and gives away two of the biggest plot points there are. I contacted Amazon about having it redacted or removed because of the spoilers, and just got the cookie cutter "we don't see anything that violates our policies, so we're not doing anything" email.

One would think a company whose primary business is books would have a vested interest in making sure people can't just read the plot right there on the book's page. Very frustrating, this.

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Same thing with one of my novelettes. A reader accidentally included a major spoiler in her review, but luckily she had already liked my facebook page so I was able to contact her there and ask her nicely to put a spoiler warning (we had already exchanged several emails before then, so I didn't feel like I was stalking or overstepping my boundaries).

ShortySmalls said:

Same thing with one of my novelettes. A reader accidentally included a major spoiler in her review, but luckily she had already liked my facebook page so I was able to contact her there and ask her nicely to put a spoiler warning (we had already exchanged several emails before then, so I didn't feel like I was stalking or overstepping my boundaries).

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PREPARE THE VOLCANO!

I'm sorry, Wilette, we're going to have to throw you in before you ruin the reputation of all indie authors.