Kindle users give 1 star rating to book with delayed ebook release

[RobbieClarken]

Originally Posted by astra

Have you ever checked on how many other reviwes were posted by many of 5 star review posters? I always do. Would you believe it that probably 1/3 of them have only 1 review? Do you know what it means? The same applies to 1 star reviews. On amazon you can never ever reply solely on a nicely posted review with 5 or 1 star rating. Many of them are dummies. I know it is disappointing but it is the reality whether you like it or not.

You are right which is why I only eliminate a low rated book if it has plenty of reviews. There is still a small chance the reviews will have been hijacked by people with an agenda but, at least for the books I read, this is rarely an issue.

[astra]

Originally Posted by RobbieClarken

You are right which is why I only eliminate a low rated book if it has plenty of reviews. There is still a small chance the reviews will have been hijacked by people with an agenda but, at least for the books I read, this is rarely an issue.

Well. Maybe you are just very lucky.
I am not.
So, I don't care about amazon's rating. I come to amazon after I decide that I would like to investigate a certain book. I never browse amazon for 5 star books. It is.....unreliable. Cannot believe that you can do it.

The only thing that can attract me with amazon rating is a number of the reviews. If a book was published more than 1 year ago and it has less than 15-20 ratings, it makes me wonder. Maybe it is stupid as well

[kennyc]

Originally Posted by astra

Well. Maybe you are just very lucky.
I am not.
...

Sorry.

[Rob G.]

Originally Posted by JSWolf

email the publishers and tell them why you won't be buying their book. That will have more effect then a 1 star at Amazon.

That's just not true. It wasn't emails to EA that got them to change some of their DRM policies on their PC games. It was Spore getting a landslide of one star reviews on Amazon. People had been emailing and snail mailing them for years to no avail. But when a high profile game was getting slammed on the Amazon reviews, EA sat up and listened.

[ficbot]

I have emailed authors before and it has not been very effective. Some of the lesser-known ones did email me back and were very concerned when I said I wanted an ebook and couldn't find one and this had cost them a sale. But others ignored me outright or wrote back to say that it wasn't up to them and they had no idea what to do. I am sure many of these authors write off emails like mine as a one-time thing and don't realize how many people read ebooks. A sudden tank in their amazon ratings will surely get their attention and is one of the few ways customers have of taking action that people will actually notice and act upon.

I have heard stories about the iTunes app store where people wrote a bad review about a technical aspect, the problem got fixed with an update, and the programmer emailed those people and asked them to modify the review to reflect this. It seems people take reviews more seriously than emails because it affects their status in a more public way than one disgruntled customer contacting them privately.

[vaughnmr]

I emailed the publishers and some of the authors involved when this first started, didn't get a single reply. I think a little "civil disobedience" may be helpful in the long run, although some will feel short time pain. At least the issue is being noticed.

[kindlekitten]

Originally Posted by vaughnmr

I emailed the publishers and some of the authors involved when this first started, didn't get a single reply. I think a little "civil disobedience" may be helpful in the long run, although some will feel short time pain. At least the issue is being noticed.

simply, and eloquently put. a very good way for all of us to start this by working together and not fighting amongst ourselves.

and welcome and karma to you vaughnmr!

[Daithi]

I also have been emailing publishers. I even set up a thread here on Mobileread to allow others to email publishers asking that they make certain books available in the Kindle format. It is rare that I am ever emailed back. Emailing publishers is NOT effective.

I've just added my own 1-star-review to Game Change. What I need now is a means to identify other Kindle Delayed books, so I can make my displeasure more effectively known.

A book like Game Change is going to get polarizing reviews. It is also a best seller and negative Amazon reviews will have limited impact. However, this won't always be the case for other Kindle delayed books. Negative reviews will hurt the bottom line and publishers will start waking up.

[Sydney's Mom]

Well, I just left my own 1-star review.

I always thought it was lame when people reviewed something they hadn't read, but the concentrated effort here should get noticed. Amazon isn't going to remove the negative ratings, because it is in their interest to have the ebook for sale. As a matter of fact, I read that holding back the ebook was not aimed at ereaders as much as it was aimed at Amazon's concentration of power in the bookseller areana.

Changing your mind in the presence of new information. I bet that is discussed in the book!

[Daithi]

Here are a couple of other books that have been delayed for the Kindle --

The Swan Thieves by Elizabeth Kostova (she wrote the Historian which I liked)
Impact by Douglas Preston

Edit: I've also tagged these books with "Kindle Delayed"

[Skydog]

This recently released title has been withheld for Kindle users yet was made available at some Overdrive libraries on the same day of release:

The Unbearable Lightness of Scones by Alexander McCall Smith

[Blue Tyson]

Originally Posted by vaughnmr

I emailed the publishers and some of the authors involved when this first started, didn't get a single reply. I think a little "civil disobedience" may be helpful in the long run, although some will feel short time pain. At least the issue is being noticed.

Never one had a reply from a major publisher, either. So not worth the time. They suck at publishing and customer service, those that delay and georestrict.

[Blue Tyson]

Originally Posted by Daithi

Here are a couple of other books that have been delayed for the Kindle --

The Swan Thieves by Elizabeth Kostova (she wrote the Historian which I liked)
Impact by Douglas Preston

Edit: I've also tagged these books with "Kindle Delayed"

Yes, good idea to spread it around to different books. I think 'Game Change' has probably got the idea.

[Blue Tyson]

Originally Posted by Skydog

This recently released title has been withheld for Kindle users yet was made available at some Overdrive libraries on the same day of release:

The Unbearable Lightness of Scones by Alexander McCall Smith

It is there now it looks like? It is available in your country?

How long ago did it come out?

http://www.amazon.com/Unbearable-Lig...condition=used

[Blue Tyson]

Originally Posted by Daithi

Here are a couple of other books that have been delayed for the Kindle --

The Swan Thieves by Elizabeth Kostova (she wrote the Historian which I liked)
Impact by Douglas Preston

Edit: I've also tagged these books with "Kindle Delayed"

Also perhaps a good idea to put 'helpful' on all these you see when you are browsing.