Book Reviews - Part 2

Part 2:
NAKED REVIEW: HOW TO GET BOOK REVIEWS
What to do now that Amazon closed all loopholes (2017)

EVERYTHING YOU ALWAYS WANTED TO KNOW ABOUT REVIEWS

VERIFIED REVIEW

If a reader reviews a book he purchased on Amazon, this review will be marked as verified review. Amazon wants to indicate that they know for a fact that the reviewer purchased the book. Amazon’s only limitation is that customers have to spend at least $50 at Amazon before they are allowed to post reviews.

Buyers can only post reviews on the Amazon country website where they purchased goods for at least $50 (books and/or products).

Since the United States’ population is five times larger than the United Kingdom’s and fourteen times larger than Australia’s, this could be considered a disadvantage for British and Australian authors who write for all English-speaking readers. Though, most likely, they have more personal contacts in their home country, their British or Australian acquaintances cannot post reviews on Amazon’s U.S. website.

British and Australian authors who want to break into the huge U.S. or Indian book market are well advised to seek online followers in those countries before they launch their book.

NON VERIFIED REVIEW

Amazon allows all of its customers to post reviews, including people who may have borrowed a book from a library or received a book as a gift.

Obviously, in these cases, Amazon cannot verify that the reviewer actually owns the book or borrowed it from a library. Therefore these reviews are not marked as verified reviews, which makes them non verified reviews. 

Starting in 2015, Amazon required that reviewers who received a

free review copy need to state this fact in their review.  Which in return led to thousands of reviewers reviewing huge numbers of items with the byline, “I was provided with a free review copy in exchange for an objective review.”

The rampant abuse was obvious. Anybody who scanned book reviews noticed books with 90% non verified reviews all of which stated, “I was provided with a free review copy.” Eventually, Amazon tightened its guidelines.

Since Spring 2017, Amazon customers cannot post more than five non verified reviews per calendar week. This guideline is the direct result of the cheating activities from various reviewer clubs.

Additionally, Amazon began hiding non verified reviews by default. Since February 2017, customers have to change the default setting from “see all verified purchases” to “see all reviews” to also see non verified reviews.

Exploring the specifics of this new rule, I found that as long as verified and non verified reviews fit on the book’s first book page, all reviews (verified and non verified) will be shown. Only once reviews need more space than what is provided on the (first) book page, the non verified reviews disappear.

For example, the book page of a book that received three reviews, two verified reviews, and one non verified review of medium length (about six lines) shows all three reviews. After this book received an additional five non verified reviews, only the two verified reviews will be visible by default because combined all eight reviews take up more space than is available on first book page. To also see the six non verified reviews, customers have to change the settings.

Why is this important?

Many review clubs on Facebook, Goodreads and elsewhere offer to

facilitate getting reviews. Even though there are reviews clubs that encourage buying books, typically, authors are expected to give out free review copies in form of .epub or .mobi files. Since February 2017, these reviews are no longer visible by default.

On the plus side, the customer review chart below the book’s title and above the first review will indicate the number of all reviews, verified and non verified. Hence, customers who check out the previously mentioned book will see that the book was reviewed eight times, even though only the two verified reviews are shown by default.

Still, unless posted by an Amazon top reviewer, non verified reviews will always look a tiny bit suspicious simply because Amazon does not volunteer to show them. Keep in mind, most people have heard about the various reviews scandals of the last few years.

Additionally, this business about verified and non verified reviews has another important side effect which I will explain in a later chapter.  

What did not change is that reviews of author provided review copies still need to include the byline, “I was provided with a free review copy in exchange for an objective review,” even though the review won’t be visible by default.

STARTER REVIEW

Starter reviews lay the foundation for your book to become successful. Most often they are gained from online and offline friends, fans, followers, acquaintances, and book club friends. The importance of collecting the best possible reviews which don’t necessarily have to be 5-star reviews cannot be overstated since first reviews set the bar. Here is why:

Humans are pattern recognition “machines.” They follow the behavioral patterns of others in their surroundings. For instance, if in a cafeteria new patrons see others discard their paper dishes in a trashcan, they will follow the procedure. On the other hand, if people see patrons leave their dishes on the tables, they’ll assume that a busboy is going to clean up.

Equally, if readers find emotional, heartwarming, interesting reviews, they’ll be more inclined to also write emotional, heartwarming, interesting reviews. Of course, once a book features more than three-dozen reviews, some people will leave shorter reviews because they’ll assume that most everything noteworthy has already been said.

Therefore, if for whatever reasons an author receives a majority of negative starter reviews, I recommend to unpublish the ebook, address the problems, and republish under a different title.

If the author simply republishes the revised book, all negative reviews will stay attached to the book because the ASIN (Amazon Standard Identification Number) stays the same. Changing the title leads to the corrected/edited book receiving a new ASIN and the original negative reviews disappear with the old ASIN.

Please note: Print books can never be completely unpublished from Amazon.

Even if Amazon’s computer “registered” that they don’t have a single paperback copy in stock and that they can’t reprint because the author unpublished the book, Amazon will keep the print book listed just like out-of-print books from the days of yore. The original negative reviews will always be visible on the book page of the print edition.

FREE BOOK REVIEW

Amazon gives authors and publishers the opportunity to enroll their books in Amazon KDP Select. Participation entitles authors to promote their books free for 5 days within a 90-day period. Also, customers who are enrolled in Amazon’s Kindle Unlimited program can read the book for free during the 90-day period.

The positive aspect is that the reviews of all readers (not only Kindle Unlimited readers) who pull your book for free during the 5-day promo will be listed as verified reviews.

The negative aspect is that when customers who are enrolled in Amazon’s Kindle Unlimited program read your book for free during the other 85 days, these reviews will be registered as non-verified reviews.

In short, while you can use Amazon’s Kindle KDP Select program to boost your book reviews, there might also be a backlash. During 85 of 90 days per enrollment period, your book might collect too many non verified reviews.

“EXCLAMATION-WITHOUT-EXPLANATION” REVIEWS

These are short, one-sentence reviews which clearly indicate whether the reader liked or didn’t like the book but do not offer much beyond that.

Review readers do not really appreciate them because they seem to be votes rather than reviews.

Once a book has accumulated 30-50 reviews, the presence of “exclamation-without-explanation”-reviews is beneficial because from experience consumers know that customers post such short reviews, hence a book that does not have any “exclamation-without-explanation”-reviews looks suspicious.

5-STAR REVIEW

Though 5-star reviews are considered to be the ultimate praise, not all of them are good and not all of them will help sell your book.

To use a practical example:

Generally speaking, erotic novels very often receive 5-star reviews that state

• Loved this book!!! Really!
• I really enjoyed this book!
• This book was well written, I couldn’t put it down.

Make no mistake; these are honest and heartfelt reviews, not “fakies.”

The obvious reason for the abundance of unspecific 5-star reviews of books of this genre is that many reviewers do NOT want to explain which part of the erotic story they liked best. While that is perfectly understandable, potential buyers do not like this type of “exclamation-without-explanation” review.

Firstly, fake review scandals have been in the news for so long that many readers believe that most “exclamation-without-explanation” reviews are fake reviews from the author’s friends who may not have read the book but left a few kind words.

Secondly, in a way all of us are voyeurs. We want to know what others really think and feel but this type of review does not satisfy our needs. Consequently, many customers might feel disappointed if they find too many “exclamation-without-explanation” reviews.

Therefore, if you get a chance always ask readers to explain in their review

a)      what they liked best about your book  (or)

b)      what surprised them about your book (or)

c)      how your book relates to their lives.

If reviewers answer only one of these three questions the 5-star review will be much better perceived.

1-STAR REVIEW

Especially a book’s first reviews should radiate “feelings” like my example from the beginning of this book.

Potential buyers want to know, “How will I feel when I read this book?” Because of that, even negative reviews sell books. By nature, people like to make choices and take sides.

A dedicated Republican’s passionate 5-star book review of Ivanka Trump’s latest book, which mentions her father’s campaign slogan at least once, is not going to convince a staunch Democrat that it is a great book. 

Equally, a mean-spirited 1-star review of a beloved author’s latest book is likely to attract some readers who will buy, read, and review the book to

• help their favorite author,
• “set-the-record straight”, and also
• “pay back” the reviewer who posted the negative review.

Again, it’s all about the words. Customer have learned to disregard negative reviews that state,

• dumb book,
• didn’t like it,
• wasn’t what I expected,

just like they don’t put too much significance in 5-star reviews that state,

• Great book!
• Loved it!
• Couldn’t put it down!

Writing reviews has become part of our popular culture. Examples of extremely emotionally charged reviews of books from politicians and people on the sidelines of politics like Hillary Clinton, Megyn Kelly, and Ivanka Trump have been featured in the news.

Consequently, people have become accustomed to reading others’ reviews, sharing reviews, and of course writing reviews. They have also learned that not every 1-star review is really a bad review. Society has learned that “enemies and trolls” of authors use book reviews to annoy, aggravate, or even financially hurt authors.

Consequently, a 1-star review does not hurt a book per se; it’s more about what the reviewers write than how many stars they awarded.

Lastly, always keep in mind that no one author can make everybody happy. Readers have different tastes. People are entitled to dislike books. Everybody understands that.

At Amazon, even books from Nobel laureates in Literature receive 1-star reviews. Hemingway’s The Old Man and the Sea received one hundred fourteen 1-star reviews (6%) and John Steinbeck’s The Grapes of Wrath received one hundred nine 1-star reviews (4%) as of June 2017. Things happen.

PURCHASED REVIEWS

As a general rule, if you purchase a review from a reputable book review service like Kirkus, BlueInk Review, or Clarion Review this review cannot be featured in Amazon’s review section; instead you may add an excerpt to the “Editorial Reviews”-section on your book’s page. Typically these professional reviews are rather expensive; however, if you intend to sell your books to public libraries, acquiring such a review may pay off.

Since you can purchase these reviews anytime, even long after your book was published, there is no time constraint as in when asking a publication to feature your book. Therefore, it might pay off to wait a bit and see if you may be able to do without.

HUGEOrange, NetGalley, and Story Cartel are some of the better known services that will connect you with reviewers. They charge for this type of service.

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Gisela Hausmann dares to write what others' won't say or don't know. Her work has been featured in regional, national, and international publications including Success magazine and Entrepreneur, and on Bloomberg's podcast "Decrypted."

Gisela tweets @Naked_Determina.
Her books are available at Amazon and other fine book stores.

• Naked News for Indie Authors How NOT to Invest Your Marketing $$$

• BOOK MARKETING: The Funnel Factor: Including 100 Media Pitches (paperback only)

• The Little Blue Book for Authors: 53 Dos & Don’ts Nobody Is Telling You
• The Little Blue Book for Authors: 101 Clues to Get More Out of Facebook
• The Little Blue Book for Authors: Essential Manners for the Modern Author

• NAKED TRUTHS About Getting Book Reviews 2018
• BAT SHIT CRAZY Review Requests: Email Humor (paperback only)

© 2017 by Gisela Hausmann

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