What’s Up With Amazon Reviews? 4

I’ve been amazed at the really vicious reviews on Amazon. Maybe it’s a phenomenon that’s been coming for awhile, but it seems – in the last year – that the flavor of reviews has changed.

I’m not the only one to have felt it. The bigger a bestseller you are, the more likely you’re going to get excoriated.

Rachelle Gardner had a great post about this called: A Target on Your Back. In it, she says:

Once you’re a published author, you’re going to have a target on your back. You will offer up your words to strangers. Not everyone will like what you write. You’ll be naked and vulnerable in front of the world. You’ll make mistakes, you may offend people. And you will not be safe.

They will write things publicly about you, on their blogs, on your blog, on book review sites, or on Amazon. One of my clients recently received this review online: “I couldn’t even finish this book… Confusing and in my humble opinion, pointless.” Ouch.

Yep, true, very true.

Don’t take my word for it. Check out the New York Times Hardcover Bestsellers. Even Nora Roberts has been panned. Sales are great for all those books – the customer reviews aren’t.

I don’t understand the rage – but it might have something to do with the economy, the general frustration of people, or the perception that bestselling authors are somehow exempt from feelings.

Asinine About Amazon? 2

I buy stuff from Amazon. If I really like – or hate – a product, I’ll leave a review. I leave 5 star reviews for books, but I don’t think I’ve ever left a 1 star review – about a book.

But today, I noticed that people rated my reviews 127 times.  Out of the 127 times, they liked the review 102 times. Now, this is just funny, because it’s something ELSE to obsess about. Good grief.

I try to be helpful, such as comments like: don’t turn this thing over when you’re installing it. Or: there are no written instructions for this puppy. Get out your magnifying lens for the pictures.

But in the long run, does it really matter if I think a certain detergent smells like a bordello (not that I’ve been in one, but I can imagine) or that a knife is dull right out of the box?

It’s an opinion, like a review, like a you-know-what. Everyone has one.