In between visiting my father in hospital (he's not at all well. we got a call last night to prepare us for the worst) and rushing hither and thither, I spent an hour or so writing and checked my Amazon page for any more reviews. It always staggers me that so very few people ever bother to review a book they've read. I mean, I've sold 21,938 kindle books in the last three years and have received only 258 reviews (178 on Amazon.com and 80 on Amazon.co.uk). That's just over one percent. That means 21680 people couldn't be bothered to leave a review - even an anonymous one. I got curious and had a closer look.
Of the 258 reviews, 198 = 5 Stars; 43 = 4 Stars, 11 = 3 Stars; 5 = 2 Stars; 1 = 1 Star.
Just for your entertainment, here is the 1 Star, exactly as written by the reviewer.
Christopher W. B. Jackson reviewed SKIN
0 of 1 people found the following helpful
terrible 1 November 2012
awful , really disappointing , i have liked pother books but this is boring silly and tiresome , i think she needs to spend more toime on her writing
This on a book that has Thirteen 5 Star Reviews from other readers. At least Mr Jackson could be bothered to express himself. I appreciate that he had a lot to say, so it must have been so very hard for him to spell-check that monumental piece of work.
They say it's impossible to please all the people all the time, but my figures show that the vast majority of people couldn't give a ****. It is very disheartening.
I can't get to the point of asking for reviews, as it doesn't rest easy with me. The fact that people do buy my books is a little encouraging, as the reviews do help others select and buy them.
Anyone else have any observations?
Tanya
Comments
My Apologies
I have purchased all that you have on offer at Amazon.
But, I must admit, I have only reviewed about 6 or 7.
Pure laziness on my part.
I do apologize, and will attempt to correct my lapse.
All the best to you and your loved ones.
Allison
This is not a dig at any one individual,....
..........as I am probably the worst culprit for not getting round to reviewing much. It is more a question of seeking how I can attract more reviews without actually asking for them.
If I have offended anyone by my musings, then I apologise now, as I know how busy people are. It was just a little rant at a time when I'm feeling somewhat stressed and curious to know what one has to do to get some form of feedback. sales alone are okay, but one would like to know if one is going wrong at all, where that might be happening.
Tanya
There's no such thing as bad weather, just the wrong clothes!
I love your sense of humor....
And I always admire a person who expresses themselves as well as you do. I have read a few of your books, and have purchased a few more that I have yet to find the time to read. Alas, I am one of those people who has not reviewed any of your work and for that I apologize.
I have found myself more prone to posting reviews of the work I read as of late, whether that is due to the hormonal changes from my transition, or simply from allowing myself to be the kinder, gentler person that I truly am when I drop the masculine facade - well, does it really matter?
What does matter is that I have thoroughly enjoyed all of your work which I have read to date. Further, I promise to post a review from now on whenever I read something of yours - on my honor.
As to the dimwit who prompted this comment - the scary fact is that yes, it is hereditary, and even worse those people have the right to vote!
Dallas
D. Eden
Dum Vivimus, Vivamus
Review - I have you beat
Finally I top Tanya at something. I have far and above more 1-star reviews than you do.
Since Amazon changed the way they do the site, I can't easily get my real review totals. But I got 2 1-star reviews for the same person just last week and each one said the same thing - My other works are better. Did they bother to review my other works, of course not.
I know I've sold about 12k books. I don't have the exact number because my spreadsheet is on another computer. I do know that Unreachable has 45 reviews and a 4.7 out of 5 rating. Including one by an author that wanted me to sign with his publishing house (the one that turned me down). God Bless the Child and Wrestling Against Myself each have 33 and that's just on the U.S. site.
I have asked and pleaded for reviews and there is a good reason. People are going to lambast me because of what I write. In a way, Tanya, you are lucky. You have a niche in the TG community and any new release gets instant sales. Most of your reviews are from people within the TG community as well. Venturing out of that circle of influence leads you open to attacks and funny enough I get it from both the left and the right.
There is something to say about reviews. Most people don't want to out themselves. But I think that is a poor reason to not leave a review because it is hardly likely that people you know are going to check out what books you review and unless you say something like "As a transsexual myself". But reviews do get figured into Amazon's ranking algorithm. The more reviews, the better the rank, the more people who see you, the better you sell the more people who review you...
I have left a few reviews for other authors because it is against Amazon's TOS and they will get pulled. But there is always Goodreads.
The bad thing is that we are in select company because we are upper echelon. There are some people who are very popular and don't have the reviews. And then there are people who don't have any. It's a two edged sword. I wish more people would review our books because it balances out the quacks (at least in my case) but as long as they buy and read, I'm happy (except with 1-star reviews)
Katie Leone (Katie-Leone.com)
Writing is what you do when you put pen to paper, being an author is what you do when you bring words to life
If you stand in the middle of the road you'll get hit by....
traffic coming from both directions. Which describes my old political blog, no longer active. In my blogging days I got a far right winger by someone Daily Kos*, a moonbat(nutty liberal) by Michelle Malkin*, and described as middle of the road by a Florida political blogger. The last was closest to being right.
As for reviewers, Andrea Lynn D was just told her her writing wasn't erotic. Somebody suggested humorously that Andrea should pose as a writer of neurotic transgender fiction.
*At the time this was written about me, these were arguably the biggest liberal and conservative blogs out there respectively.
Daniel, author of maid, whore, bimbo, and sissy free TG fiction since 2000
What the world needs is more geniuses with humility; there are so few of us left.- Oscar Levant
If you COULD please everyone, would you really want to?
I've long felt that you can tell more about someone's character by their enemies than their friends. Friends are often false or fickle, but enemies tend to be genuine.
Maybe, ...just maybe, a negative review by someone who comes across as rather contemptible, could strike others as reason to actually read something that so infuriates the proudly narrow-minded?
Would something that got NO negative feedback imply that it would be so tepid that it wouldn't offend - or engage, anyone? Even the most loathsome troll at least has ...passion.
To get more reviews write badly
Obviously I am not seriously suggesting you should but it's human nature that we'll gladly share our bad experiences but the good ones have to be very good, and the average ones, we probably don't even remember them.
When I was in full-time employment I pulled all-nighters, helped with a few major incidents, only once did someone say "thank you", for all the other occasions it was negative feedback or none at all. I took that appreciation as a bonus and that's how I feel about any unsolicited feedback I receive.
Hugs
Cat
-
You can't choose your relatives but you can choose your family.
Keep it in perspective
Just out of curiosity I looked up 'I Alex Cross' on Amazon and it had a total of 478 reviews for all formats. It was also a bestseller which your stuff is not. I am sure he has sold more than 48000 copies.
Reviews reviewed
My kindle holds a large Tanya Allan collection yet I have never reviewed any of your books - other similarly comprehensive, unreviewed collections include Steph Calvert, Karin Bishop, Susan Brown, Jenny Walker and Nancy Cole. The reason is simple; I am a person whose name is googled and my Amazon account is in my real name. I doubt anonymous reviews are a solution attracting a flood of self-promoters and trolls we have learnt to ignore: also the problem is not limited to books, let alone TG books
Over the last few weeks that omission has been bugging me as the death of Stanman drew my attention to just how much receiving feedback of any sort means to fiction authors. My solution was to open an account with BC in order to let you, and the other TG fiction authors I enjoy, know that I appreciate their work. I've found a quality of writing and characterisation that stands high among thrillers, romances, sci-fi and other special interest genres. Sales may be welcome but they are no guarantee of quality - have any of you with children tried reading a Harry Potter?
Maybe I and others who fail to review are remiss but the Internet has made the world a very small place so sales do not receive corresponding reviews. I can't suggest a solution beyond attracting professional respected reviewers but you now know that at least one reader has enjoyed much of your work.
Rhona McCloud
You make good points
The problem of real names versus screen names is an issue for the TG community. Although social acceptance is improving there remain many valid reasons to remain closeted. On Amazon my reviews are *Real Name* so I am careful about what I say.
Stanman always said something, and that was appreciated.
Be Thankful
Be thankful that you are working in a medium that has a built in mechanism for reviewing. In my career as a theatre lighting designer, I designed and executed 386 productions. I received 1 review, It was positive. I was thrilled! Many designers work their whole life and design thousands of shows without receiving a single review. I consider myself extremely lucky that I worked over thirty years as a recording engineer and received one review. That it was a positive review made me ecstatic!
Are you setting the bar too high? Authors who receive many reviews write for publishing houses who send out thousands of review copies and schedule book tours that most authors hate. Is this what you want?
Most people spend little, if any time thinking about the author of what they read. My talents lie in other less appreciated fields. I would consider 1% a really good response.
Your novels and stories are clearly loved, by myself among others. People on this list clearly respect you highly. Perhaps that should be enough. I wouldn't presume to judge.
Liz
I have to hold my hand up in shame
I've read a lot (probably more than 50%) of your work (bought from amazon.co.uk) and generally I don't leave comments for anything I buy not only books. I really should do so a bit more but I load up my kindle with totles for my sometimes long business trips where leaving comments when I finish a book is not always easy.
you mentioned 'Skin'. I loved the story so much so that I've read it twice. If I had to comment on it then it would simply be
'More please'.
There are very few books that I have read in the past few years that come even colose to making me want to read them again.
As a result, I guess I should sit on the naughty step and write out 1000 times
'I'm sorry Ms Allen, I promise to leave comments in future'
Samantha.
:) :)
Reviews vs Comments
I have to admit I am one of the ones who has purchased books, liked them, but still did not comment.
Another factor is that reviews are read before someone reads a book vs comments are generally read after. I am more hesitant to make a review then a comment because I am often not sure how to say what good about a story while avoiding being spoiler-ish so i put it off an then forget when it is no longer fresh in my mind. I wonder how common that might be. Do others feel this way?
With both reviews and comments though, I often feel silly just leaving something that simply say "great story" when I really do like it yet can't pull anything together that I feel is useful to say.
What do other think about this? Should I more post "Great Story" or "I Like!" more often when I do like something, but aren't sure exactly what to say? On BC? On Amazon? Is such a basic review even acceptable on Amazon?
Mayne I am just being silly feeling that leaving such a simple review or comment is silly.
Stars on Amazon:
Seems you can't rate unless you comment. (Unless I missed something.)
So you don't get any stars either unless someone feel confident enough to comment.
~Something related I observed else where~:
There is a site I frequent that changed software a while back. Purchasers use to be able to leave a star rating with out a review. Most Items use to have a rating(almost all unless it was new item just out). After the site switched to a new market software people could only give a star rating if they left a signed review. Since then only the most loved and worst hated products seem to have a rating, most of the rest have NO Rating at all.
And of course there is always the anonymity question when reviewing.
.
PS. When I read a book offline and like it I always pop back here and kudo it if it is up here too.
PPS. I have recently lost several comments here when the site went down as I tired to post them. And I do try to remember to pop back and kudo them later if necessary. But I often end up not commenting when that happens.
i wish
I could buy some of your books but at last I can't I live on a very small budget. So all the stories that I read are here on BC. Or on other free sites. But I have to say this I do like reading you stories over and over again