Pull Up A Chair With Mon Blog Series. Let's Talk About: Asking/Paying For Reviews #Authors #Writers #Blog

Asking/Paying For Reviews

A while back, this was a big discussion amongst many author groups. While many authors vary in their opinion and level of sheer gumption of how far they’re willing to travel down the road of dishonesty to sell their books, I think many are missing one simple fact.

I don’t see the point of having my “friends” say something nice about my books just because I smile, say pretty please and they like me enough not to want to hurt my feelings. I’ve had one or two requests for reviews on books I really couldn’t bring myself to give. I consider myself an honest person and one who has a code of honour. I can’t in all honesty say wonderful things about a book when I just deleted it off my Kindle because it was a waste of valuable megabyte space.

It’s all well and good to snag yourself a bucket load of 5* (star) reviews, but have you thought beyond the initial—My-book-has-a-trillion-5*-reviews?

What happens once all the 5* reviews do the job you hoped they would, and increase book sales? What happens when real readers read your amazing can’t-dare-put-it-down-and-go-to-sleep book?  

Personally, I think every author is entitled to conduct his/her business as she sees fit. However, I would never go that route to obtain reviews because there’s one thing most authors forget—and this is the fact I mentioned above—you can fool SOME of the people SOME of the time, but you can't fool ALL of the people ALL of the time.

What do I mean by this?

It’s all well and good to get favoured-reviews by friends or by payment, or nice-nice exchange. You know the ones I mean: you scratch my back and I’ll scratch yours—wink-wink ;)

But the public will then purchase, and read, your fantastic book on the strength of those reviews. Impartial, she reads your book and decides for herself if the reviews are true. If the book doesn't stand up to her preconceived expectations, she will do one of three things.

1. Give you an awful review, in which she warns other readers that the reviews aren’t true reflections of the book. (I've seen this several times).

And/or...

2. Never purchase another book by the author. She feels betrayed and let down by the reviewers, the author, and the book.

And/or...

3. Do both of the above, but make waves (troll) until she feels satisfied.

Like I said, you can only fool someone once. Imagine if tons of 5* reviews came from friends, or readers who were cajoled in some way and feel obligated to say something nice about the book. Or from paid reviews, plus one or two 3* or 4* independent reviews. Other readers will go ahead and buy the book. If they hate it, they will never purchase another book you write. Eventually, in order to sell again, you’d have to change your name. :)

This is only my opinion and a worst case scenario. I guess ultimately, the author needs to decide if her book is indeed fab enough to withstand the weight and expectations of all the 5* reviews.