Do people really do this? Since becoming an author, one thing I've noticed in forums,
on comments, in the news and even on reviews is that there is 'hype' that some
authors— indie or traditional—buy reviews.
Even worse, there are also rumors that some authors will PAY to have bad reviews put on OTHER author's books or purposely write bad
reviews on another's book to bring that book's ratings down!
I sincerely hope that is not true, but had to comment.
My question is this- WHY?!!
As an indie author, I can say either you'll like my books or you
won't. There's no need to buy reviews
and I certainly wouldn't stoop to buy reviews that badmouth another
author. That is simply awful!
In the wide world of books while, yes, there are
competitors, I don't know anyone who will ONLY read books from ONE author. If you
like thrillers, wouldn't you read any author's thriller as long as it looked
appealing? Is the general public just
going to sit around and wait for their one favorite author to write another
book without checking out other authors?
As an avid reader, I can tell you that there is no way I would just sit
and wait. I'll read books by other writers without a problem, as long as I like
their style. There's no need to crush a
fellow author.
So, that being said, I find it important enough to
repeat. There's no need to smash the
competition. Since I've been writing,
I've met other authors who write of the same genre I do and their work is
amazing. You can bet that I've given
them a great review if I enjoyed their books. I would never badmouth them just
to direct readers my way.
And buy reviews? I don't know any author who does this and
if this truly happens, then that is just too bad. Either someone is going to like your work or
they won't. I'll be honest- I love
getting a good review, (and sometimes sulk a little over the bad), but I read
them, try to learn from them and move on.
It's just bad sportsmanship, for lack of a better term, to sabotage
another author or falsely build yourself up.
Do friends and relatives write reviews? Of course, some might and why shouldn't they
if they are honest? And most that I know
are pretty candid. They can also be
pretty straightforward when a book has mistakes. I've had other authors send me painful (but
necessary) lists of edits that needed to be made to my books. It's just the way it is—especially in the
beginning. Without an editor, errors can
easily happen.
So one promise I can make is that I'll never buy reviews-
good or bad. If you're another author
and I love your book, I'm giving a review!
And if you're receptive to constructive criticism, I'm happy to forward
you any errors I've come across.
Thanks for listening!
Copyright 2012 ©
Elizabeth Parker
