Irate kindlers 1star carpet bomb Michael Connelly's new book

[Catlady]

This discussion is reminding me of a situation with one-star reviews on Amazon a couple of years back; the item in question was the DVD release of the second season of the 1960s-era TV show The Fugitive.

Fans of the show went ballistic because the musical scoring of the episodes was substantially replaced, and posted one-star reviews at Amazon (and other online outlets). This served as a great way to draw attention to the problem, and to get people to complain directly to the studio. The result was that the studio restored most of the original music and offered free replacement discs to anyone who sent in proof of purchase of the original set.

So pressure can work, and we consumers should use whatever legitimate avenues are open to us. One-star reviews--why not?

[bhartman36]

Originally Posted by Catlady

So what? Let the author take it up with the publisher then. Typos and bad formatting might not be the author's fault either, and might be corrected after a review is posted, but reviews complain about those, too.

You do realize that being an author is (at least partially) a profession, right? Bad reviews are a reflection on the writer, who will not only take a hit on this book, but might not be able to get a second book going because of them. That's why it's important to put the blame where it belongs. And even if you don't care how it affects individual authors, consider how it affects the industry in general. Who's going to want to write an e-book, if their work is going to be maligned for things they can't even control? Who's really that much of a masochist?

Yes, self-publishing is an option, but that will inevitably lead to a loss of quality. People who self-publish can't usually afford good editing/proofreading. (I'm not painting all self-published authors with the same brush. I'm just saying that on average, quality will suffer.)

Originally Posted by Catlady

Again, so what? I could argue that this is a good thing, as if people don't buy, that's more pressure on the publisher to adjust pricing.

Except, it's really not. They could just say "To hell with it" with the e-book version altogether, and save themselves some trouble.

Originally Posted by Catlady

I really am not concerned that a bunch of one-star reviews are going to hurt the author's tender feelings. In any case, the reviews state why they are one-star--price, not content.

The problem is that the main page at Amazon doesn't break things down that way. If you've got a list of books to choose from, you see the average star rating, not the individual reviews. It's not only the author's tender feelings at stake. (I assume most authors are fairly thick-skinned.) It's the livelihoood of good authors, and the health of the e-book industry in general that's my concern.

It's appropriate for price to be a factor in a review, but if it's an overall review (which the Amazon reviews are) then it should be an overall assessment, not just one based on price.

Personally, I would be in favor of preventing people who haven't bought an item on Amazon from even posting a review of it. I think it really hurts the site's usefulness when you get a bunch of reviews (positive, negative, or neutral) from people who haven't even bought the product in question. That goes for anything from e-books to toasters.

[yankgirl]

I worked at a publishing company for 15 years. While I agree the pricing for the eBook versions have gotten a bit out of hand, it's up to the seller (amazon, B&N) to set the price of the hardcover book. If the "list price" of a book is $25.99, the publishers will sell it to bookstores at a discount (if my memory serves me right - Amazon got a 60-70% discount of list price) The bookstore then sets the price of the HC or PB. Amazon is just as guilty as the publishers when it comes to pricing.

[queentess]

Originally Posted by DiapDealer

By carpet-bombing the publisher with emails from angry readers, for one. Where it might actually do some good... where the rage actually belongs. You don't think publishers are actually reading Amazon book reviews do you? The one-star campaign accomplishes nothing except annoying potential readers who are trying to get an idea about the quality and the content of a book.

You don't think the publishers actually read form emails submitted from their sites, do you?

[Hellmark]

I do not believe that they are just as guilty as the publishers. On eBooks, they set the prices lower, consistantly, than what the publishers are now. On hard covers, when ever I went for some, Amazon was always lower than the list price. I just finished Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest, and list is $27.95. Amazon is selling the hard cover for $11.89, and the agency set price of the ebook is $11.99. That's been my experience with most books.

[DiapDealer]

You don't think the publishers actually read form emails submitted from their sites, do you?

Not really, no. That's why I said send them where they might to do good. But that has no bearing on where I think the anger and outrage should be directed. One is the right place, the other is the wrong place... regardless of either's effectiveness or easiness or visibility. I don't punch somebody in the mouth because his brother pissed me off... I punch his brother in the mouth.

[Penforhire]

I don't take the "star rating" as the end-all of whether to read something or not. I sample the review content as well. As long as these protesters state clearly they are downrating it because of price then I have no objection to this form of protest. Aside from an effective boycott it is the best way to get a publisher's attention, hit their wallet. Power to the reader!

[CallOfCth'reader]

Originally Posted by yankgirl

I worked at a publishing company for 15 years. While I agree the pricing for the eBook versions have gotten a bit out of hand, it's up to the seller (amazon, B&N) to set the price of the hardcover book. If the "list price" of a book is $25.99, the publishers will sell it to bookstores at a discount (if my memory serves me right - Amazon got a 60-70% discount of list price) The bookstore then sets the price of the HC or PB. Amazon is just as guilty as the publishers when it comes to pricing.

I'm not sure I understand your point. Are you saying that Amazon are partly responsible for making ebook pricing look bad, because they discount the pbook pricing?

[CallOfCth'reader]

As an aside, and something which has probably been said many times in these forums, I'd happily buy two ebooks at £4 each, but I'd very rarely be willing to pay £8 for one ebook. So, I get the £8 ebook from a library, and the sellers don't gain my cash.

[Catlady]

Originally Posted by bhartman36

You do realize that being an author is (at least partially) a profession, right? Bad reviews are a reflection on the writer, who will not only take a hit on this book, but might not be able to get a second book going because of them. That's why it's important to put the blame where it belongs. And even if you don't care how it affects individual authors, consider how it affects the industry in general. Who's going to want to write an e-book, if their work is going to be maligned for things they can't even control? Who's really that much of a masochist?

Oh puh-leeze. An author's not going to write because he or she might get a lousy review?

Yes, self-publishing is an option, but that will inevitably lead to a loss of quality. People who self-publish can't usually afford good editing/proofreading. (I'm not painting all self-published authors with the same brush. I'm just saying that on average, quality will suffer.)

Self-publishing is not relevant here. We're really talking about a way to protest Agency pricing.

Some people have said in various threads that they refuse to buy DRM-ed books, that they refuse to buy Agency books, that they refuse to buy books over a certain price. Aren't they all hurting the poor author who apparently has no control over such things? A one-star review is simply another form of protest--and it's a clearer one, because people get to express exactly WHY they are taking the action.

The problem is that the main page at Amazon doesn't break things down that way. If you've got a list of books to choose from, you see the average star rating, not the individual reviews. It's not only the author's tender feelings at stake. (I assume most authors are fairly thick-skinned.) It's the livelihoood of good authors, and the health of the e-book industry in general that's my concern.

I don't pick my reading based on how many stars other people gave it. I might narrow my choices of electronics or appliances that way, but books?

One-star reviews may be based on what you think are spurious grounds, but so can five-star reviews. I've seen raves for how quickly Amazon shipped a book; I've seen raves for books that haven't been published yet because the reviewer liked the author's previous books.

It's appropriate for price to be a factor in a review, but if it's an overall review (which the Amazon reviews are) then it should be an overall assessment, not just one based on price.

The best thing about Amazon's reviews is that people can write whatever they want, uncensored. I've submitted reviews at other places that have been rejected for some unknown reason (don't meet some mysterious guidelines). Amazon lets you say what you want and give the rating you want.

Personally, I would be in favor of preventing people who haven't bought an item on Amazon from even posting a review of it. I think it really hurts the site's usefulness when you get a bunch of reviews (positive, negative, or neutral) from people who haven't even bought the product in question. That goes for anything from e-books to toasters.

Amazon does indicate "verified buyer" if you're reviewing something you've purchased from them. But I have no problem with anyone posting a review--you might have gotten the item as a gift, you may have bought it elsewhere, so what? Do you want Amazon reviewers to prove they've READ the book they're reviewing?

All you need to do is skim the reviews, or a handful of them, and you can quickly see what the issues are, content, price, whatever. It's not a major effort to do so.

[OtterBooks]

Amazon, you clever devils. Playing customers like violins to force publishers to drop wholesale prices. I love how people accept Amazon's 50% discount as "the price." I think $14.99 for the ebook is too much, though. You pay more at initial release, that's just a fact of buying books, but $12.99 at first and then lowering it when the paperback came out would have been better imo.

[Fbone]

This is Mr Connelly's response on his Facebook page regarding Amazon's reviews and pricing:

Michael Connelly Books: The publisher won't be changing the price. But the price automatically goes down when the book becomes a Kindle bestseller. So, there will probably be a price change next week once the bestsellers lists comes out. That should make the complainers happier.
44 minutes ago

[tubemonkey]

So, there will probably be a price change next week once the bestsellers lists comes out. That should make the complainers happier.

Until then, keep on giving it 1 star.

[Joykins]

Originally Posted by Barty

The hard cover version of the new M Connelly is priced 71c lower than the kindle version. yikes. People are unhappy and are letting the publisher know

http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_no...itness&x=0&y=0

Methinks amazon is passive aggressively messing with the publisher here.

I don't know. I mean, if people want to pay 71 cents less, let them order the hardback and pay the shipping or the Amazon Prime fee as a premium.

Rating the book as one star in protest of the price seems to me to be an abuse of the intent and likely use of the rating system and unfair to the book and author as well. It could be a great book, but how would I know that looking at the rating pattern? This Kindle pricing rating crap is one reason why I started going to goodreads in addition to Amazon for reviews.

[OtterBooks]

$14.28 is a pretty good price for an initial release hardcover. Maybe I'll pick one up. I've never read Connelly, any good? I read an excerpt and it seemed worth a shot. I always dismissed him as fluff.

What will the Kindlebook price drop to when it hit's bestseller? If it's really only a week away, all the crying seems a bit hasty. When has initial release price ever not been higher? You want it immediately, you pay. It's DAY 2 of release. I recall waiting months for a paperback version when the hardcovers were not available at near the discounts they are now.

Also $28 cover price is absurd imo. That's not the realistic street price, but still.