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 :)

All right, sometime I didn't end the review with a quite clear judgement, but my posts are only retelling of the blurb? since I was really convinced than that wasn't the case. Elisa

No, it's of course not retelling the blurb. There are more details and I enjoy all your reviews. But sometimes I miss a personal touch. Did the book move you? Touched you? Etc. That's helpful, because I trust your opinion.

Ahah, you find my hidden secret... If you can't understand from my post if a book moved me, then maybe it's probably since it didn't, but don't tell it to no one ;-) Elisa

LOL :) Then it would be nice if you let us know. Don't read that book, don't waste your time ;)

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 :(

LOL so you are officially an Elisa's exerpt ;-) And you can translate my hidden thoughts even if I didn't clear state them. But then, you are not Amazon or one of their so good people on call center that, instead of saying "thank you" to post reviews on books that usually have no one, told me to avoid to post if I haven't anything of interest to say... Elisa

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

Maybe "quality" it's too much to define me, but I still replied back to ask for an apologize from them. Elisa

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.

In ebooks they have some, but in print books it's very hard to find someone else with the same wide back catalogue. But this authomatic replies some people on call centers post sometime makes me wonder where did they learn the job. Elisa

I don't think they ever did learn the job. Poor Mark has been trying to get them to put the new releases of Ransom and Winds into "GAY" and "Gay Romance" for about a month now. You'd think, since the original books are still up there, that they'd go, "Oh, same book, same categories." But no.. Throws the ratings off something fierce, since the originals aren't for sale any more.

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.

I try to give all the info necessary for someone to build their own decision if or not buy the book. I can say that something is not my cup of tea, or highlight something I like very much, but mine opinion like "WOW I really liked it! Go buy the book!" I think it's of less importance. Elisa

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.

And I will continue to do so, but still I didn't like that reply. Elisa

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 think you should take it into consideration.

Thank for your suggestion, but I think that I will not doing that. I have my style, I don't like when I read a review that is really a retelling of the blurb and then ends with a "I like this book" or "I really like this book"... That's not giving people info to decide if they want to buy or not a book. Who am I that, if I like a book, other people will do? Instead, explaining why a character or a story work for me and why not, that is good for me. And anyway, again, I don't think that "the majority of your reviews are just the descriptions of the plots of the books". And beside, can be politely expressed, but I was asking them (and they are a customer care), why some reviews were not posted, and that wasn't the reason, so I don't see why they have to "politely" express that.

Elisa

I agree with people who want you to add some sort of value judgment of the book. Your reviews are in depth and detailed, but I don't get an idea of whether it was well-written or if you actually liked the characters.

Many of us trust your opinion and if you say you do or don't like a book, it would have some value for us.

Also, I can understand why Amazon questioned your reviews since you give 5 stars to everything. It would help everyone more if you did say how much you liked it. 5 stars to every book is not very helpful.

Some people also find that a general discussion of a book and characters and the reviewer's opinion overall (and why), is preferable to so much detail about the plot that sometimes it's not necessary to read the book after. A better balance would make your reviews a little more valuable to more people.

> but I don't get an idea of whether it was well-written

That is probably since I have no skill to judge a writing style, no background in literature to do that. But I always says when a book impressed me for a particular style, or, maybe, if I find it difficult to read.

> or if you actually liked the characters.

That sorry, I don't agree. It's my only firm point, to give an opinion on both characters. I do that always, when maybe, sometime I don't do that on the plot. If I had not enough info to judge a character, I also say so.

> Many of us trust your opinion and if you say you do or don't like a book, it would have some value for us.

Thank you for that.

> Also, I can understand why Amazon questioned your reviews since you give 5 stars to everything. It would help everyone more if you did say how much you liked it.

If you read this LiveJournal, you know that I don't give rate, never. I will gladly post my review on Amazon without rating if they would allow that, but they don't. So I give 5 for default, and you read the review to know what I think of a book. And anyway, maybe it's not a 5, but it's probably a 4... hardly I finish a book if it didn't catch my interest for some reason or the other. I have more than 750 unread books, so, you see, probably the 3 and lower are among them.

> Some people also find that a general discussion of a book and characters and the reviewer's opinion overall (and why), is preferable to so much detail about the plot that sometimes it's not necessary to read the book after.

Again sorry but I don't agree. I discuss the characters, it's probably the only think I do, since as you noticed, I hardly discuss on the writing style. And sorry again, but I always try to not give up the story giving too much details, so people are not spoiled in reading the book.

I think that probably we have to agree to disagree.

Elisa

So I give 5 for default

In that case, your ratings are very misleading because they increase the overall rating of any book you review (however crappy it is), and in a way discredits the ratings you give to other books (that may be actually good).

Sorry again, but have you read my reply? I said that, if it wasn't 5 it was probably 4 or something more. If statistics is not an opinion, that doesn't change so much, and I don't finish and post about books that are "crappy".

Elisa

Then why not just give them a 4? Why is it so hard to be more precise with how much you liked a book? To be honest, I don't read your reviews much lately since I don't get an idea of how good the book is, just about what happened and only a vague idea of whether you liked what happened, which is not the same as saying you liked the book.

A good book can have terrible events and still be enjoyable, and that's hard to tell sometimes.

Quantity is not the same as quality. I'd rather have fewer reviews with more about how good a book was. And I find the star ratings on Amazon and elsewhere generally a decent way of gauging how much people enjoyed the book, especially when many people vote, like on Goodreads.

> Then why not just give them a 4?

Because I don't want to do that and it's my choice to not doing that and you have to accept that.

Sorry if you don't read my post, but also that, it's your choice and I accept that.

> Why is it so hard to be more precise with how much you liked a book?

I was thinking to this thing of the rate the other night before sleeping (see, I don't take light suggestion). And then again I find something that make me realize that I don't want to give rate. I read a book some months ago; it was different from the usual books I read, a bit "odd" with an ever odder main character. At first I didn't know if I was liking it, but than the character took me. For me it would have been 5+, but instead I wrote all of above. Just yesterday I read a review on the same book: 1... See? rate means nothing if you don't read the review, and the rate changes according to the people who read the book.

Elisa

Edited 2009-09-06 10:35 (UTC)

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.

> There is a phrase—"damning with faint praise"—sometimes I can tell that's what you're doing

LOL, probably yes. I try to be more gentle than harsh, but sometime I have to say things.

> But, as you say, you are commenting based on your own personal preferences and not acting as a critic

Yes, I hate critics and I wouldn't want to be one of them. I probably avoided to be a teacher since I thought impossible for me to give a result on a test ;-)

Elisa

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 prefer reviews that are about giving information rather then ones that simply say "I loved it" or "I hated it".

I hate that reviews, they don't give me nothing to decide.

Elisa

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.

> 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

No you are right ;-)

> when I thought "damn, does Elisa hate anything?"

there is, but what I really hate probably you don't see on this journal ;-)

> 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

See? That it what I'm saying, I love that book, that one would have been a 5 for me. And you could say reading my post I believe. But for you it was not. And I hope you were not disappointed by my post, I didn't tricking you into buying it, didn't I?

Elisa

Edited 2009-09-06 10:42 (UTC)

Yes, it was really obvious that you really loved that book. You don't even have to say it directly, anyone who would take time to read your review should feel how much you liked it. You didn't trick me into buying it, I try to get as many werewolf-books as possible, even if I know that I won't like it. Like I said, reading your review helped me when I got around reading Lone. I hate surprises, especially unpleasant ones, so with books like this it's easier when I know what to wait. Keeps my head clear, so I won't freak out when something I hate in my books shows up. :)

Good, one of my fears is to "force" someone to buy a book they then hate. Elisa

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!

Thank you so much! And no, I don't think I will change to please Amazon. And I will continue to send them people to buy LGBT books, so that they will understand that is better if they are really careful ;-) Elisa

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.

Grazie mille per queste parole. Penso che il commento negativo che sta un po' più sopra sia da parte di qualcuno che già in passato mi ha creato problemi. E Amazon credo stia facendo qualcosa, perchè questa è la prima volta che ricevo tale risposta ad una mia (gentile) domanda. Que serà serà, ma io non penso che cambierò ;-) Elisa

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.

Thank you Clare. I know I shouldn't give importance to that comment, but I'm still pestering Amazon to have a written apologize. Elisa

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.

Yes, I know that is the reason, and I already received another answer from a CRM higher level employee, but still not apologize... but I will have that, and I also suggested to them to be more careful with those authomatic replies. Elisa

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