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Post by Suzy on Apr 7, 2014 14:07:09 GMT -5
As I'm in the final stages of draft # 1 of My WIP, I looked at reviews of the Hot books, something I haven't done for over a month.
Very interesting reading. I think you have to pay attention to readers' comments, especially if the same thing is repeated many times. It's a great insight into what readers are actually looking for and what it is in your books that attract them.
So.. I found, on Hot Property, 53 five star reviews and 60+ four star ( few bad ones but I don't really pay much attention to them).
And the recurring comments are: 1) the Irish setting and 2) the idea of a woman escaping her life and stepping into a new one.
Which was a bit of an eyeopener for me. But it shows what my strengths are too
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Post by Daniel on Apr 7, 2014 14:24:55 GMT -5
I check reviews every once in a while too. They've given me some useful feedback.
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Post by Suzy on Apr 7, 2014 14:32:55 GMT -5
I check reviews every once in a while too. They've given me some useful feedback. It's good to check through them once in a while. Especially if you have a lot. Then you see the recurring theme. |
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Post by Becca Mills on Apr 7, 2014 14:51:09 GMT -5
Interesting thoughts ... I should look for recurring themes in mine.
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Post by Suzy on Apr 7, 2014 14:53:43 GMT -5
Interesting thoughts ... I should look for recurring themes in mine. It's quite interesting. |
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Post by scdaffron on Apr 8, 2014 10:54:22 GMT -5
I did that for a while and when I found similar phrases/thoughts used repeatedly I put them into Scrivener. Here are mine:
When the book ended, I wanted more.
sweet story obviously written by an animal lover.
It made me laugh, feel good, and keep me interested.
A fun read
quirky characters
For lovers of light reads, chick lit, light romance, animal stories
I recommend this book for those who love reading about pets in a story
I couldn't wait each day to get back to the story until I finally finished it.
my friends who enjoy romance, and my friends who love animals.
I just need to know what is going to happen next
funny cute contemporary romantic read
Unexpected and funny
delightful and humorous story
fun and engaging novel.
sweet, easy summer read
The big themes were that it's funny and included pets. And that people wanted more, which is good news for a series ;-)
The bad news is that it's a good thing I set them aside, since Amazon has deleted a few of my reviews for no apparent reason. I don't have paid reviews or whatever. Most of the reviews were from free copies people got through Story Cartel, so they have a disclaimer on them. Anyway, I have copied all my reviews off and if Amazon insists on nuking them, I'll put them on my web site.
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Post by Becca Mills on Apr 8, 2014 11:37:31 GMT -5
The bad news is that it's a good thing I set them aside, since Amazon has deleted a few of my reviews for no apparent reason. I don't have paid reviews or whatever. Most of the reviews were from free copies people got through Story Cartel, so they have a disclaimer on them. Anyway, I have copied all my reviews off and if Amazon insists on nuking them, I'll put them on my web site. That's a good idea. Who knows? The disappearing reviews may reappear ... I've heard people on KB saying that happens. |
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Post by Suzy on Apr 8, 2014 11:50:41 GMT -5
I haven't lost more than one or two reviews through the years. Don't know why Amazon deletes some of them.
Like Susan, one other recurring comment is 'I didn't want it to end'. So I realised that the end has to be long and slow with an epilogue where all the characters get together, just to keep that feel-good factor. So I usually do a wedding or a party or something in the epilogue. This one ends at Christmas time, which was strange to write at this time of year.
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Post by Deleted on Apr 8, 2014 12:18:05 GMT -5
As I'm in the final stages of draft # 1 of My WIP, I looked at reviews of the Hot books, something I haven't done for over a month. Very interesting reading. I think you have to pay attention to readers' comments, especially if the same thing is repeated many times. It's a great insight into what readers are actually looking for and what it is in your books that attract them. So.. I found, on Hot Property, 53 five star reviews and 60+ four star ( few bad ones but I don't really pay much attention to them). And the recurring comments are: 1) the Irish setting and 2) the idea of a woman escaping her life and stepping into a new one. Which was a bit of an eyeopener for me. But it shows what my strengths are too I find I can learn as much from the bad ones as from the good. Just like dames. There were plenty of each in my post-pubescent wonderland. I often check a reviewers other reviews (of course, these 2-liners aren't truly "reviews"), just to see--do they give 5* to every review? 2*? I add up the 4 &5 reviews and hope to have a 3 or 4 to 1 preponderance over 1+2's. Nearly all the lower reviews are from folks who simply don't read or like the genre, which makes me wonder why they tried reading mine? I try to add a comment to each review, even if it's only a thank you. I don't argue with them, and have lately been posting a comment with Mike's FB page for them to "see" the characters I've pinned up there. My eyes haven't been opened since 1969. Yeah, I'm hardboiled. |
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Post by vrabinec on Apr 8, 2014 12:29:35 GMT -5
I'm still debating on whether or not to leave comments on reviews. The only reason I would do it is to suck up to the reviewers and come across as "nice", which I'm not, and that feels like a lame reason anyway. Of course, if there's a real issue that needs to be addressed, I feel like I might, and at that point, it might be advantageous to have responded to every review, but I dunno.
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Post by Suzy on Apr 8, 2014 12:57:42 GMT -5
I'm still debating on whether or not to leave comments on reviews. The only reason I would do it is to suck up to the reviewers and come across as "nice", which I'm not, and that feels like a lame reason anyway. Of course, if there's a real issue that needs to be addressed, I feel like I might, and at that point, it might be advantageous to have responded to every review, but I dunno. I think you look a lot cooler as an author if you leave no comments. But it all depends on the image you want to project. Cool- or- not-so-cool... If my readers want to interact with me they either e-mail me or go to my author page and post comments. That way, I know they want to connect with me. |
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Post by Daniel on Apr 8, 2014 13:08:37 GMT -5
If my readers want to interact with me they either e-mail me or go to my author page and post comments. That way, I know they want to connect with me. That's my theory as well. I don't think readers leave reviews with the intention of connecting with the author, so I don't turn their review into an excuse to connect with them. If a reviewer left a non-rhetorical question for me in a review, I might respond to that, but I'd have to convince myself that the reviewer genuinely wanted me to do so. Some reviewers seem aware that authors sometimes read their reviews. Here's an example that cracked me up: I didn't respond to it because I didn't get the impression he was looking for a response. However, he was clearly writing to me, so I would have felt comfortable responding in this situation. Sadly, the third book will be another year in the making.  |
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Post by Suzy on Apr 8, 2014 13:17:41 GMT -5
If my readers want to interact with me they either e-mail me or go to my author page and post comments. That way, I know they want to connect with me. That's my theory as well. I don't think readers leave reviews with the intention of connecting with the author, so I don't turn their review into an excuse to connect with them. If a reviewer left a non-rhetorical question for me in a review, I might respond to that, but I'd have to convince myself that the reviewer genuinely wanted me to do so. Some reviewers seem aware that authors sometimes read their reviews. Here's an example that cracked me up: I didn't respond to it because I didn't get the impression he was looking for a response. However, he was clearly writing to me, so I would have felt comfortable responding in this situation. Sadly, the third book will be another year in the making. Sometimes you really have to sit on your hands not to respond. But if you have an e-mail address at the end of your book, readers will often contact you and ask the same question. |
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Post by Daniel on Apr 8, 2014 14:54:18 GMT -5
Sometimes you really have to sit on your hands not to respond. But if you have an e-mail address at the end of your book, readers will often contact you and ask the same question. Exactly. I offer several ways for readers to connect with me. My web site offers access via email, Twitter, Facebook, and G+. I have an author account on Goodreads too. However, after 13,000 downloads (~7,400 paid), I can count the number of readers who have contacted me (through any venue) on one hand. |
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Post by Becca Mills on Apr 8, 2014 16:24:50 GMT -5
Sadly, the third book will be another year in the making. P'shaw! Just send him my way. I'll *really* make him suffer!  |
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Post by Becca Mills on Apr 8, 2014 16:36:58 GMT -5
I'm still debating on whether or not to leave comments on reviews. The only reason I would do it is to suck up to the reviewers and come across as "nice", which I'm not, and that feels like a lame reason anyway. Of course, if there's a real issue that needs to be addressed, I feel like I might, and at that point, it might be advantageous to have responded to every review, but I dunno. I think it's okay to play it by ear and consider unusual situations individually. But it takes the right touch to be able to respond to all of them and not ruffle feathers. Even Elle, the postergirl for responding to reviews, gets into it with reviewers in the comments from time to time. I'm just not up for that. I've only responded to one review. I think it was a productive choice, in this case: www.amazon.com/review/RAPECHX0IVN43/ref=cm_cr_pr_cmt?ie=UTF8&ASIN=B007R6PPZA#wasThisHelpful |
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Post by scdaffron on Apr 8, 2014 17:17:35 GMT -5
>>Even Elle, the postergirl for responding to reviews, gets into it with reviewers in the comments from time to time. I'm just not up for that.<<
No kidding. I have comments disabled on my blog for a reason. Would I really want to get into it with a reviewer? I think not. Tis better for me to crawl back to my little cave and write my next book ;-)
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