Authors are Readers Too

I’m not sure if you’ve been paying any attention to the kerfuffle with Amazon reviews that’s been going on lately. If not, a quick summary is perhaps in order. In September, a host of paid-for reviews and reviews made under dummy accounts were revealed causing a bit of an uproar. This was especially concerning as one of those involved was an author making fake accounts to both publish positive reviews of his own work and negative reviews of other, similar works. Clearly, this isn’t something that should be happening – I think we can all agree on that. However, what it seems Amazon has chosen to do is implement a new rule that says, effectively, authors can’t write reviews. Period.

This bothers me on so many levels, primary of which is that, despite being an author, I’m an avid reader. As it stands right now, I’ve read 106 books this year and I suspect I’ll hit at least 110 before the year is out. Now, I don’t review every book I read. Often I simply think “Yep, good book.” and then move on to the next. (Or I think, “Hm, I could probably have found a better use of my time than that.” and move on.) But neither of those thoughts is really something that’s going to help someone else decide to read the book, so I don’t waste my time writing something. But sometimes I absolutely want to post a review because it’s a book that I hope more people will find and decide to read. I don’t see where having a book of my own about to join the published lexicon makes my opinion as a reader invalid.

The other major thing that bothers me is that I do like to read and review books by people I know. I have a few friends who are authors and I certainly hope that group will grow. But just because the book was written by a friend doesn’t necessarily mean I have nothing of value to offer as a reader. (And in fact, I have one author friend who I read but very rarely review because the world view in those books is so contrary to my own that I don’t see the point. It’s like people who leave negative reviews on books that are clearly marked “Christian Fiction” with the sole content of their review blasting the book for being too full of God. Well, hello? It’s Christian fiction. If you don’t want to read about God, maybe find a different genre.)

If Amazon is really going to police their reviews, I’d much rather see them focus on weeding out those that are truly unhelpful (like the above bashers of Christian content in Christian fiction). Or maybe figure out a way to keep people from marking a review unhelpful simply because you had the temerity to say something negative or give a low star rating even if the points you made were valid.

Though I guess maybe the real question is: How much do the reviews on Amazon really influence your decision making when it comes to trying out a book?