One-star reviews are the most helpful (sort of)

907 Views 13 Replies 11 Participants Last post by AgnesWebb, Jan 18, 2013

mestrin

Discussion Starter · Jan 17, 2013

I'm having a free day today and I've noticed that the number of people who find the 1-star reviews most helpful is increasing.

Most of my 1-stars are of the "not for me" variety. Free means a wider audience so you're going to have a lot more downloads that are likely to agree with that statement. Fine by me, not my audience and it's good that both of us know that.

But what's odd is that people who like the book don't seem to cite the review that sold them. I get that there's a lag since if they like it, they'll still be reading when someone else is saying not my cup of tea inside of a minute. But for whatever reason they don't come back with the same frequency (this is my sixth free day).

So now, the top review you see is a one-star that says: "I think this book was meant for the 18 to 21 year old. It takes place in Los Angeles. The characters have names like Inside Girl and Lesser Me. I just didn't get it."

The title of that review is "Ugh," which is how I felt when I first saw it. But honestly, it's probably a good thing. It is, after all, the number one reason why people don't buy the book. And while I totally disagree with the first sentence, the sentiment is right on the money.

I think of it this way: it saves me from seeing bad reviews from paying customers.

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1 - 14 of 14 Posts

ElHawk

· #2 · Jan 17, 2013

HEY. If I saw a one-star review citing unusual character names like "Inside Girl" and "Lesser Me", and the reviewer "just didn't get" a book that had character names like that, I'd find it really helpful, too. I'd probably buy that book, because I love books that take risks, try something unusual, and can be confusing or alienating to the kind of reader who's just looking for a straightforward, unchallenging story.

You never know HOW those voters are finding any given review helpful. It may actually be steering them toward buying.

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JRTomlin

· #3 · Jan 17, 2013

Sometimes negative reviews are helpful in keeping the wrong audience from buying your books. When someone gives mine a low rating for being violent (which has happened) although I scratch my head since given my covers and descriptions, violence would seem a given, I know that is at least a few people who are looking for nice sweet novels who won't buy mine.

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Wingpeople

· #4 · Jan 17, 2013

I agree with JRTomlin! We have a review on our mountaineering photography book that says something like "it was good if you like climbing mountains, but..." Given that our description goes on and on about mountain climbing, glaciers, and climbing, the review gave us a chuckle. And the good thing is that it emphasizes that the photos relate to mountains, in case a potential buyer didn't read the book description at all. LOL

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NicWilson

· #5 · Jan 17, 2013

JRTomlin said:
Sometimes negative reviews are helpful in keeping the wrong audience from buying your books. When someone gives mine a low rating for being violent (which has happened) although I scratch my head since given my covers and descriptions, violence would seem a given, I know that is at least a few people who are looking for nice sweet novels who won't buy mine.

This is how I see(or am trying to see) it. I think you have to see if this way if you write work with fairly strong political or philosophical themes, since there's such diversity of thought that it's possible readers who see a lot of positive in your book will absolutely hate it because they disagree with the message. I'll be happy to have other readers see a "not for me because I espouse this view instead" review, and pass, rather than picking up a book that they ultimately won't enjoy, and may actively be upset by.

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JLH3

· #6 · Jan 17, 2013

As long as the review qualifies itself in some way, as in 'it was not for me, but other's might like it' or 'the book is a mess of spelling errors, plot holes, etc., a one star review is helpful. But if it just says 'it sucks' - basically worthless.

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Pnjw

· #7 · Jan 17, 2013

Wingpeople said:
I agree with JRTomlin! We have a review on our mountaineering photography book that says something like "it was good if you like climbing mountains, but..." Given that our description goes on and on about mountain climbing, glaciers, and climbing, the review gave us a chuckle. And the good thing is that it emphasizes that the photos relate to mountains, in case a potential buyer didn't read the book description at all. LOL

I can top that. Review for Witches of Bourbon Street: "I don't like books about witches or the occult at all. I wish the author hadn't taken the book that direction."

Hmmm.

BTW, I just bought a book off a 1 star review yesterday. What that person didn't like, I found intriguing.

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mestrin

Discussion Starter · #8 · Jan 17, 2013

Deanna Chase said:
I can top that. Review for Witches of Bourbon Street: "I don't like books about witches or the occult at all. I wish the author hadn't taken the book that direction."

Wow, that's priceless.

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Selina Fenech

· #9 · Jan 17, 2013

I like 3 star reviews best. They are the ones I always check out when looking for books to read. From the way I see it, 1 star reviews are often people who really didn't like the book, didn't understand the book or like the genre anyway, or were just being mean for some other random reason (e.g. pricing, grudge, whatever). 2 star reviews are just 1 star reviews who didn't want to be seen as being totally cruel.
5 Star reviews are normally just gushy but without much critical feedback, and 4 star reviews are just the slightly less enthusiastic version

But the 3 star reviews, that's where the good stuff is! It's often people who liked the book, it was their genre, but they have a critical opinion about it and voice it well. They discuss the good points and the bad points. It's the perfect mix to get a good idea about a book, I think.

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· #10 · Jan 17, 2013

These are the most useful type:

This book had two pages and was not very interesting it was a great idea but I like well developed story lines where the author actually takes the time to write. I gave it a star for the effort but it was super cheesy. I'll have to write some ebooks of my own so that I can show these authors what readers really want.

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JRTomlin

· #11 · Jan 17, 2013

Deanna Chase said:
I can top that. Review for Witches of Bourbon Street: "I don't like books about witches or the occult at all. I wish the author hadn't taken the book that direction."

Hmmm.

BTW, I just bought a book off a 1 star review yesterday. What that person didn't like, I found intriguing.

Oh, that's a good one.

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Kathleen Valentine

· #12 · Jan 17, 2013

Wingpeople said:
We have a review on our mountaineering photography book that says something like "it was good if you like climbing mountains, but..." Given that our description goes on and on about mountain climbing, glaciers, and climbing, the review gave us a chuckle.

That made me laugh. I got a 1-star review on one of my knitting books because "it only has 2 patterns in it." The Product descriptions says "gives the history of this design and includes 2 patterns."

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JonDavis1

· #13 · Jan 18, 2013

I can't top this. My only one-star review actually brought me good information and I had a professional editing done since then.
What's funny about it is that a comment war has begun a bit with someone who declaims the destruction of the asteroid. (Too big, too much power...obviously impossible).
It's become...entertaining.
I won't get involved. I've decided my policy a while back. Don't talk to reviewers or readers except to thank the compliments through my author's site.

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AgnesWebb

· #14 · Jan 18, 2013

That review just made me want to get your book. Seriously! It sounds different and interesting.

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