reviews_and_ramblings | Amazon gives me advice how to review

Amazon gives me advice how to review

I sent an enquiry to Amazon wondering why some reviews were not posted. I was replied that there were some forbidden words (as usual, hand job, blow job), and that I was welcomed to post them again without them. But they also give me an advice more... directly from their words:

"Also, please make sure you are providing your opinion on whether the items you are review are good or bad and the reasons why. It appears that the majority of your reviews are just the descriptions of the plots of the books."

Strange, I was very well certain to do exactly the opposite. If I retell part of the story, it's only to point out some side of the characters... but well, they probably know more than me, don't they?

A very pissed off Elisa, who is really wondered why she bothers to post reviews on Amazon (I know why, I do that to promote the books, Amazon is till the main online booksellers, but still...)

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Awww, Elisa, don't be upset. You are doing such wonderful reviews. But to be honest: Maybe you could write your opinion at the end. You do sometimes and I really like it, but often there is no real opinion like "I enjoyed it" etc. You could just make a conclusion from your review at the end. That would be fantastic and helpful :)

Hm... Your feelings on whatever book you're reviewing is always obvious to me. Maybe I'm an expert at reading Elisa!

Amazon is just a barrel of laughs. I don't know whether to feel sorry for them or not. They're terrible at dealing with the public. I hope they pull it together. If they were a smaller vendor, the bad publicity would've already put them out of business :(

It's a shame they don't appreciate a quality reviewer.

Amazon is the big fish in the pond. They treat everyone badly, and there's really no recourse--lots of people bitch about them, but most people still buy there, so most small publishers are forced to deal with them.

I hope Amazon gets some kind of serious competitor in bookselling, and I hope it's someone who has a notion of what the term "courtesy" means.

Oh good grief! Amazon should get over themselves. I read reviews in order to see if I might like the book or not. The fact that the person doing the review liked a book doesn't automatically mean I will. I think you do excellent reviews that give all the information that's needed.

How strange...I would tend to agree with you that you are definitely giving your opinion, not just retelling the story.

That's very frustrating, but I'm glad that you do post your reviews to Amazon. I really think they are a help.

It's a sound advice, and it was very politely expressed. I think you should take it into consideration. Perhaps you could make it more explicit what worked and what didn't work for you in the stories. It isn't always very clear, and that's what most people who browse Amazon are looking for.

I have to say I think your method of reviewing books is legitimate. I had to get used to it at first; it is more common to be judgmental. You try to find the good in everything you read. There is a phrase—"damning with faint praise"—sometimes I can tell that's what you're doing. That is, people who follow your reviews can tell what you like best. But, as you say, you are commenting based on your own personal preferences and not acting as a critic. By doing this, you are creating a community of readers and authors who follow your journal. You are promoting the genre. In the big picture, this is more valuable than assigning something a certain number of stars.

I'm enjoying your vacation photos and I hope you're having a good time.

Amazon can be such a pain, your site is actually the first place I go to when I am looking for a new m/m romance or just trying to get info on one I am thinking of buying. I prefer reviews that are about giving information rather then ones that simply say "I loved it" or "I hated it".

I read your reviews mainly because I can judge by them, will I like the book or not. You give a deeper insight to the book, than a blurb. Basically, deepen the blurb and tell a bit more about the characters and so on. I really like that.
I do think that sometimes you don't give out your opinion, but I have always assumed that the book was really not that impressive when your opinion is not clear. (Please correct me if I am wrong!)

There has been a few times, when I thought "damn, does Elisa hate anything?" But I figured that that is your way. You always find something good in a book, and concentrate on that. That's why it seems that sometimes you don't have an opinion, but when I actually concentrate on the review, and really read it instead of skimming it through, I can see if you liked it or if it wasn't your cup of tea.

The point of my too long ramble: Amazon should learn that reviews are not always about simply stating opinions. People read them to find out more about the book. Hell, they are paying for them, so it's easier if they know something more about the books, than just a blurb and some random person saying "yeah, it was good". Since everyone has a different taste, and what moves one person near to tears, can make someone else fall asleep.

I remember the book Lone by Rowan McBride. You said that it made you cry, where as I didn't like the book so much. If you would have just said "it made me cry" instead of telling a more about the story, I would have been really disappointed when I started reading it. But since your review told me what the book was about, I knew what to wait and that it will have things I personally hate. I take werewolf-stories really seriously, because they are my ultimate love (human topping a wolf is a big no-no for me because of this for some reason.) Your review pointed out what I will not like about this story, and it was easier for me to read it because of that.

Everyone has their own writing style and I don't see why you should change yours to please Amazon. Especially after they tried to exclude gay and m/m books from their best sellers list and even their catalogue.

Just go on being yourself, Elisa! I for one love you for it!

Preferisco di gran lunga le tue recensioni così come le stai facendo.
Detesto i punteggi, nella maggior parte dei casi non significano granchè.
A me non sembra che tu ti soffermi troppo sulla trama, dai il giusto accenno per rendere l'idea e poi tratti quello che hai apprezzato, ti ha colpito sia della storia che dei personaggi.
Onestamente pare chiaro se il libro ti è piaciuto o meno.
E una cosa che mi piace molto - non ricordo se te l'avevo già detto - è che tu non sventri mai un autore. Se non è stata del tutto una buona lettura, indichi comunque i punti di forza.
C'è poco da fare, a un qualche livello siamo tutti impressionabili e le tue recensioni, a mio avviso, forniscono le basi per decidere se prendere o non prendere ma non forzano la valutazione con frasi forti o punteggi.

Good God, what an odd message! You'd think with the problems they've had in the past with people trying to manipulate reviews, they'd prefer the more thoughtful and extensive-type review that you give, rather than some possibly extreme and/or provocative opinion.

And no, that's NOT how your reviews read! (they obviously don't appreciate a proper review) The fact that you intertwine parts of the story and comment on the characters shows how closely and carefully you've read a book, and adds a depth and interest to all your reviews.

Unfortunately, when we first contact Amazon, we get hold of the bottom rung of customer service staff. Undertrained, overworked and misinformed people who have a set response given to them for many inquiries and obviously are clueless about how to answer the rest.

I feel it's not their fault. Amazon has grown well beyond itself. They need to do a customer service overhaul before another embarrassing glitch happens.

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