No ebook, no stars

So basically, she doesn't think this book can compete with the other books on the bestseller list who do release e-books alongside their hardback books? Sounds like she doesn't have a lot of confidence in this book if she has to resort to stunts that have already been proven by the industry to alienate and annoy readers. Why not compete on a level playing field and keep the reader base happy at the same time?

Ironically, she said she wants to preserve her husband's legacy by trying to ensure another #1 bestseller. But withholding an ebook is not the way to do that - creating a quality product and making your fanbase and the general readership happy is the way. By pissing off a large portion of her audience, she likely has tarnished his legacy far more than not reaching #1 ever would. She should just stand behind the book and not worry so much about some ranking that the rest of the world could care less about.

I don't believe in using the review system to protest, but on the other hand, I understand that people don't feel their voice will be heard any other way. Reviews are supposed to be for other readers. But authors have manipulated them them to their own purposes by coaxing friends to review their books and buy buying reviews and doing review exchanges with other authors. Readers use reviews to communicate their frustration to publishers and authors in the only forum that anyone ever pays attention to. The reviews are no longer about helping other readers find the right book, they are tools of commerce on both ends, and thus, are rapidly becoming meaningless except to the players in the game.

Kathelm said:

I have mixed feelings on the protest reviews. I'm not convinced that they're an abuse of a system. Why can't a review complain about the format? If "The Avengers" was released in VHS first and Blu Ray three months later, would people be wrong to write negative reviews? Should there be a separate category for non-content related reviews?

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While I often agree with the things people protest (as I do in this case), my main problem is that the reviews are supposed to help inform other readers about the book (product) so they can make a more educated purchasing decision. They are not supposed to be a tool that readers use to punish authors/publishers for their marketing decisions (or that authors use to make their book look deceptively better received than it may actually be). In addition, price and format availability change with time, making such reviews irrelevant as conditions change.

A separate category would never work because the people who post these reviews want to create the very effect that such a category would try to eliminate. They want to skewer the star ratings low so that the author/publisher will sit up and notice. Plus, we don't really need a review to tell us that the price is too high or that the ebook is not available. That information will be obvious to any purchaser. These reviews are meant to complain to the publisher/author, not to inform the consumer. If anything, they try to trick the consumer into thinking that the book is not as good as it might be by giving it a 1 star rating so as to affect sales of the book. That is why I think it is an abuse of the system.

I think the problem is that big publishers have made a habit out of ignoring the customer and making them feel that their voices are unimportant and ignored - if they ever are even heard at all. In this case, customers who prefer to read in electronic format feel like the editor is sending a direct message that they are somehow less important than customers who prefer hardcover. In such a climate, it is no wonder that readers want to strike out in a way that will actually get noticed - hitting where it hurts - in overall star reviews. And I can understand that. It is unfortunate that it corrupts the usefulness of the review system in the process.