Tuesday Talk: Rotten Reviewers and other bad eggs...

We've  all had them, those rude, abusive or downright nasty 'reviews' left on Amazon or Goodreads or similar sites. Amazon is usually the worst, though. What is it that attracts downright rudeness when it comes to the nasty power of trashing a good author and a good book for no apparent reason beyond outright spite?

An author's view of the rude reviews?

Amazon is particularly annoying as there is very little you can do about these thoroughly nasty tirades. Don't get me wrong, if a reader doesn't like a book (be it mine or someone else's) that's fine - it would be a boring world if we all liked the same things, and everyone is entitled to an opinion, BUT, there is a big difference between leaving a comment like 'Sorry, not my cup of tea,' or even 'I didn't think much of the writing style. In my opinion there were too many point of view changes and the narrative didn't quite flow.' OK a bit disappointing, but if that's this reader's thoughts, then fair enough. They didn't like the book and gave a personal reason why.

Those 1 star 'this book was a load of rubbish' with no reason for the opinion given, or '1 star because the cover was torn when the book arrived' are just plain irritating and stupid. Trashing a book for spiteful reasons are just straightforward trolling. Deliberate nastiness. Best way to handle them?Completely ignore. To answer back is what they want, they want to know they've got you riled.

One rule here:

And what about the plain silly? 'This book was too full of battles, I don't like battles' when even the title suggests that's what it is about. What part of 1066 The Battle of Hastings does this reader not grasp? 

What bit of 'The BATTLE of Hastings
do you not understand?

Unfortunately, crass comments are something authors have to live with - we soon learn to develop a thick skin and learn about anger management.

However, what about the deliberately misleading? The deliberate setting out to falsely trash a book and author for means of personal gain by the  'reviewer'?

I came across a recent spate of unpleasant reviews on Amazon aimed specifically at indie authors.

Said 'reviewer' let's call him Typo Tutor, gets hold of the e-edition of a novel, or even an Advanced Review Copy (ARC) which is an uncorrected pre-publication edition. He runs it through his proof reading software and comes up with a few missed typos. He then sends an email to the author and publishing company (if one was used) along the lines of  'I noticed several errors and typos in your book. I would be delighted to offer you my services to correct these.'

Now doesn't that sound like touting for business to you? (It does to me too, but apparently not to Amazon.) Naturally anyone on-the-ball receiving this sort of email will hit the delete button. Its SPAM. So no reply is sent, the email is deleted, sender probably blocked or sent to junk mail (if it didn't end up there in the first place.)

Then a Facebook and Twitter friend request pops up. 'I'm Typo Tutor: let me help you with those typos in your book!'  Again, the delete and block buttons are used. 

A few days later up comes a comment on Amazon: 'This book is littered with typos. Poor quality, not recommended.'

In fact, said book is well written, very good quality and has only the occasional typo. But the damage is done - unless you know what to look for.

Hmm, this 'review' sounds fishy. Let's check Typo Tutor's profile - oh what a surprise, this is an editing service business! And looking further at the reviews posted by this 'reviewer'  we find that post after post reads exactly, or very nearly the same! Yes, Typo Tutor is blatantly touting for business, and, miffed with authors who block him leaves snide comments. 

But wait! There's more! Typo Tutor has left some five star reviews! 'Excellent book, perfectly presented' blah blah...  Three guesses who did the editing for these titles!

Moral: if you come across 1 star comments by someone with variations on a theme of Typo Tutor, Easy Editor, Proofing Passion, or whatever, do not respond, do not leave an indignant comment 

but DO  leave a positive review for the author and DO complain to Amazon via the 'report' button. Trashing someone's book in order to promote a business venture is not  acceptable!

Note from 2018: I have deleted a couple of anonymous comments left below because they were somewhat obscure and not of much value overall to this article. Censorship? No, just tidying up with a bit of spring cleaning.