One Single Bad Review

For an author who rarely gets reviews, one bad one can skew the entire ranking. I'm not bothered (well, I am a little) by the two-star review I received for my latest, but I fail to see the point of it. 

What brings this to mind is that my final promo ran yesterday. This one was the very last straggler, and it was delayed because the site's calendar was full. As an aside, this place is a tiny operation, so I wonder if they block out dates to make themselves appear more popular than they are. Regardless, I dutifully pulled up the site to view my listing and found that my Amazon review ranking was also included. 

Lies and Love (last I checked) has three reviews; two four-star and that pesky two-star. Thus, my aggregate is a whopping 3.4. All the other books listed on the site's page have at least a 4.6, and even a 5.0 (we'll get to that in a minute). Gosh, I wonder which books will pick up buyers and which one won't. My promo was completely useless.

The two-star rating came from the UK site, and was the product of another free listing on some page I can't even remember. Here's my deal: Why bother posting that? There was no narrative included; the reader simply clicked on two stars and was done. No one is required to rate a book. It's needlessly mean, especially to a no-name author like me. Were they really that upset by their outlay of ninety-nine cents? 

If a book sells thousands of copies, one two-star review doesn't matter. If a book sells nine and only manages to garner three reviews, a bad rating completely discourages readers who were tempted to take a chance on it. 

Out of curiosity, I took a look at the book with the 5.0 rating. Turns out it has three five-star, two fours, and one two. Apparently that averages out to a five? Call me kooky, but I wonder which three of the author's relatives posted the five-star reviews. Because no honest reader ever leaves a five-star. The book is perfect in every way? (I read the preview. It's not.)

This is but one more reason I will never again plead for reviews. Some jerk decided my well-written story rubbed them the wrong way, and couldn't just let it go.

All my (thankfully, free) promo signups were a complete bust. I wasted a bunch of time on them. 

Never, ever again.