Amazon Antics

Michy · Post by **Michy** » Sun May 8th, 2011, 1:44 am

[quote=""Misfit""]

The place is just a big soap opera. But it is entertaining

[/quote] Yes indeed. Funny that I re-started this thread due to some questions I had prompted by a "fan" who gushed about my reviews. Well, just today I had comments from other people slamming two other reviews I posted. Naturally, they were both books that I disliked and only gave 1 star (positive reviews don't seem to generate the same kind of ire). One person simply called my review "garbage" and told me I should stick to accounting

, and the other person said it wasn't the book that was superficial and silly (as I claimed) but rather my review.

Oh, and they said next time I write a review about a book I don't like I should keep it shorter. Those kinds of remarks absolutely crack me up. I recently had someone comment on my review by simply writing "TLDR." So I had to ask them what that meant-- "too long, didn't read." How pointless is that? Some people have waaaaaay too much free time, if they've got time to waste posting dumb stuff like that on every review that's too long for them to read!

Both comments were from "anonymous", so I wonder if they're BFFs with the authors?

Misfit · Post by **Misfit** » Sun May 8th, 2011, 2:38 am

Both comments were from "anonymous", so I wonder if they're BFFs with the authors?

Nah, that would never ever happen

I have noticed that CF has more *defenders* against critical reviews than you'd normally find in a genre like HF. I've only strayed that way by accident, but the one I did hate as overly preachy got a smack or two at Goodreads.

One of my pals recently reviewed a book on parenting that appently has some seriously rapid critics (the book, not just that review). Oy veh, the comments on many of the reviews

Michy · Post by **Michy** » Mon May 9th, 2011, 3:00 pm

Does Amazon have any type of safeguard that allows you to only vote once for a review? I've wondered this -- it seems like they would, otherwise what would stop people from voting over and over for a review they liked? (or voting negatively for a review they didn't like?)

Misfit · Post by **Misfit** » Mon May 9th, 2011, 11:35 pm

[quote=""Michy""]Does Amazon have any type of safeguard that allows you to only vote once for a review? I've wondered this -- it seems like they would, otherwise what would stop people from voting over and over for a review they liked? (or voting negatively for a review they didn't like?)[/quote]

Somehow they know and don't let you keep voting. Just try and see if any of them stick.

Michy · Post by **Michy** » Mon May 9th, 2011, 11:46 pm

Well, it's good to know that there's some integrity in their voting system. They don't allow people to stuff the ballot box, at least.

Brenna · Post by **Brenna** » Tue May 10th, 2011, 5:28 pm

I don't think I've ever paid enough attention to see if the reviews I like come from the same person. Weird what people choose to care about. Thank goodness for this forum, because you all are the reviewers I really listen to!

Misfit · Post by **Misfit** » Tue May 10th, 2011, 6:28 pm

[quote=""Brenna""]I don't think I've ever paid enough attention to see if the reviews I like come from the same person. Weird what people choose to care about. Thank goodness for this forum, because you all are the reviewers I really listen to!

[/quote]

Whatever works to find the right reads for you

On a different note of Amazon antics, I just stumbled upon this kindle pricing cop. Geez.

Brenna · Post by **Brenna** » Tue May 10th, 2011, 7:45 pm

Sorry! I just realized how that much have sounded. I meant that people who post horrible responses to someone's review blows my mind. How can you judge someone's opinion? I didn't mean to imply that I find it weird people care enough about a book to post a review. So sorry if my comments came across that way! It seems to me that the proper way to respond to a review you don't like is to write your own.

Michy · Post by **Michy** » Tue May 10th, 2011, 7:55 pm

[quote=""Brenna""]Sorry! I just realized how that much have sounded. I meant that people who post horrible responses to someone's review blows my mind. How can you judge someone's opinion? It seems to me that the proper way to respond to a review you don't like is to write your own.[/quote] I don't think there's anything wrong with not liking someone's review and commenting accordingly -- as long as the comments are civil and raise valid points, rather than just calling the reviewer stupid or their review garbage. Unfortunately, that is what happens all too often on Amazon; people acting like juveniles.

[quote=""Misfit""]I have noticed that CF has more *defenders* against critical reviews than you'd normally find in a genre like HF. [/quote] I'm not sure why that is, unless because it's a smaller pond than the general book market, and so every review is much more noticeable. That's not to excuse them, though -- there is no excuse for posting nasty or snarky comments just because someone disses a book that you like (or that was written by your mother or your BFF).

But the flip side of that "small pond" is that it can sometimes results in positive and constructive back-and-forth dialogue between the reviewer and the author. This has happened to me twice, most recently just yesterday. The author stumbled across a review I posted of her book about a month ago. She was thrilled with my review, and felt that even my criticisms were valid. So we pretty much made each other's day.

Misfit · Post by **Misfit** » Tue May 10th, 2011, 8:45 pm

[quote=""Brenna""]Sorry! I just realized how that much have sounded. I meant that people who post horrible responses to someone's review blows my mind. How can you judge someone's opinion? I didn't mean to imply that I find it weird people care enough about a book to post a review. So sorry if my comments came across that way! It seems to me that the proper way to respond to a review you don't like is to write your own.[/quote]

I didn't take your comment that way at all, I think I understood what you meant. I hope

I love some good give and take and agreeing to disagree in the comments, it's just the outright attacks I can't fathom. I love a good critical review, even for books I've loved to bits - I like seeing another person's take on it. I found on scorcher of Outlander on Goodreads I thought was so well done I shared it on FB.

One of my friends took a real hit on some parenting book she just reviewed. It appears there's a couple of avid haters of the book/author/child rearing ideas from the book and they just go for any thing resembling a positive review. OK, I can understand you don't agree with the author's ideas on parenting, but why attack someone for reviewing the damn book?