When you’re wrong, you are wrong… but it still hurts. When I make a mistake, I own up to it, and if you have been reading my blog for awhile, then you know I also will post about it. Not to rant, or whine, but to share how easy it is to make a mistake, and how unforgiving some people can be.
The Star Rating
As a self-publishing author, we live for reviews of our work — good or bad. Reviews are meant to be an overall evaluation of the entire book: the formatting, content, offers, delivery. At times, we get reviews based on initial first reactions, and it is these reviews, especially the scathing, hurtful ones, that the author needs to learn to deal with.
NOTE: this is not a rant. Just to show that everyone is human, that mistakes happen and that comments are forever. People need to realize that it is better to ask rather than write scathing comments — they may find they get more honey than vinegar.
Reviewers versus customers
The biggest problem is most “people” do not know how to review. Not really. And they tend to leave comments based on their initial gut reaction. Many leave comments without even reading the book — which is strange since the comment is supposed be on the “book”, right?
Several years ago I received a 1-star review from a customer who “didn’t receive the book” “and that there must have been an issue with shipping.” Granted, it would be upsetting to not receive a product you paid for, but punishing the author with a bad review is like TP-ing the author’s house because Costco lost their order. Additionally, the product was an ebook and therefore not “shipped.” But no matter what the issue, the author suffers the customer’s wrath daily, as star ratings are rarely changed or even removed.
Mistake = Bad Review
I make mistakes, everyone does. Though I try to be thorough, typos inevitably show up in my work. Even after editing and proofreading by myself and professionals.
Recently, I received a 2-star and 1-star rating (respectively) on my Ebook Formatting Guide. The two-star rating concerned typos. Now that is something no author wants in their book — ever. And the thought that I may have typos in my tutorial on HTML coding was shocking and made my stomach lurch.
So I immediately went to work, going through every page, using internal spell checker, then going through it again. And there were indeed typos — about 10 to be exact, but none in the coding or HTML tutorial (thank goodness). All in all, 10 errors in 230 pages, I felt, was too many.
Today, I received a 1-star review due to the mistake of putting a “time stamp” on a free offer, and not removing it immediately (republishing). Big BIG mistake.
Sadly, the 1 star review was based solely on the “free gift” option and not the content, as he states: “The author deserves the 1 star and I haven’t even started to read the first chapter.”
Really? I suppose emailing me wasn’t an option. (Sounding a little defensive, aren’t I?)
The funny part was the offered free code was still valid, despite the written “time limitation.” So, I commented back informing the 1-star reviewer of this fact, and, if he preferred, I would personally email the product to him.
NOTE: I DO NOT encourage authors to reply to every comment (good or bad) unless absolutely necessary. It can make the situation a lot worse. It is our nature to defend our children (books) but in many cases, it simply isn’t worth your time.
Lessons Learned
Reviews can either put you on the highest cloud, or deflate you to the lowest depths. The open commenting system gives a lot of power to the “people” — and to an author it can feel like “open season” at times.
The best thing any author can do is evaluate comments, learn and correct what you can, and “Keep Moving Forward.”
LESSON ONE: Make your book as typo-free as you can– at least shooting for 1% or less and never in important elements such programming. So in a 230 page book there should only be 2.3 mistakes.
LESSON TWO: Never time stamp ANY offers in your book. In fact, just link to a “free offer page” on your site. That way you can change the offer anytime you want, without having to update your ebook/book.
LESSON THREE: Take comments in stride. All we can do is the best we can. Mistakes happen and will continue to happen.
FINAL LESSON: in 1 year I won’t remember the reviewer or his comment (unless I keep going back and reliving it) and in 50 years everyone I thought I had to impress will either be a senior citizen or dead, including me.
UPDATE: The 2-star was improved to three stars — though the comment was not changed. I guess that is a small victory, eh? And even with the 1-star still hanging in there, my sales have not diminished.
I completely agree with not replying to bad reviews, no matter how wooden-headed they are. However, that wouldn’t stop me asking a friend to comment on a mean or silly review, if that would help.
However, I disagree with not commenting on especially good reviews. I think readers appreciate a ‘thank you, glad you enjoyed it’ comment on their review and – you never know – your name might just stick in their mind…
The post was mainly on being careful when commenting on reviews — good or bad. You don’t want to appear as if you paid for the review, or if you are overly familiar with the reviewer, which can cause red flags to pop up in the minds of some potential readers and, more importantly, Amazon (which they will then could pull the review). I have witnessed dialogues that have had negative results, even when the comments were “good”. In the age where anyone and everyone can influence your ratings and “helpful” Yes or No on comments, I prefer to leave personal thank yous to those who seek me out on my site. (But then, that is just me)