Tags
Amazon, book marketing, book reviews, classification, dropdown menus, reviews, Self Publishing Review
I found this on the Self Publishing Review and had to share. Apparently, Amazon has been toying with the idea of using drop-down menus for reviews. I guess they’re trying to encourage readers to leave reviews, by simplifying the review process.
I also suspect that Amazon is trying to improve their search engine and optimize their suggestions. Having a standardized means of classification is a much more efficient way of searching, and using the public to do so is probably the only way of achieving this without hiring half the Earth’s population.
The new review form is as follows:
These are the submenu contents:
Now, will this be helpful? Amazon is obviously not convinced, hence the beta-testing. A lot of authors will be upset to find their books reduced to half a dozen simple questions. And readers will probably want to say something more than that an author’s writing was “okay.”
Still, this has obvious merits for Amazon, so don’t be surprised if it takes off and becomes the new way of reviewing your book!
Lorraine Pestell said:
How disappointing! I think they must have poached an SEO expert from LinkedIn. Remember when we actually had to write an actual sentence to recommend someone for their skills?
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Nicholas C. Rossis said:
Oh yeah, I have a vague recollection of that… 😀
I tried leaving a review the other day, and got stuck in all the drop-down menus. I ended up ignoring them – thankfully, you can still do that.
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Sue Vincent said:
I’m afraid my initial respone was, both as reader and writer, something unrpintable. It may be good for their algorhythms, but how can you talk about any work of art,craft or research in such limited… and dictated… terms? We might as well just use the WP April Fools day programme to write pre-generated mush and let our brains atrophy…
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Nicholas C. Rossis said:
Lol – now there is a thought! 😀
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Sue Vincent said:
Not one I want to contemplate, thank you 🙂
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Catherine Mackay said:
Hi Nicholas, I’m afraid Amazon seem to be trialing it now. The last few reviews I’ve written have also included the drop down boxes – I don’t like them myself because it is just too limiting. As a reader I want to be able to read an actual review so I at least have some idea whether the book is good or not before I spend my money. Hopefully it wont be the only form of review readers can gauge an author’s work, but I’m not counting on it. If Amazon can get away with a drop down review rather than a longer one, I’m sure they’ll put it into practice – they would see it as stream-lining the process.
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Nicholas C. Rossis said:
I hope that common sense will prevail, and they’ll keep both options open. There are a lot of people who’re not keen on writing a review. Perhaps a drop-down menu will encourage them to do so. At the same time, it would be a real shame if that were the only means of doing so.
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soireadthisbooktoday said:
I am not an author – I am a reviewer, and even I find the whole idea frustrating! That drop-down doesn’t give any REAL information – hence, less than useless. I love writing, and reading, GOOD reviews. Good or bad, they give information on the book – information that helps me make decisions on whether or not to buy the book. Real decisions, real reviews. What an innovative concept!
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Nicholas C. Rossis said:
I think it makes more sense if you like at it from a reader’s point of view. In the near future, readers might go, “I’m in the mood of a clean romance that has such and such qualities.” Based on the menus, Amazon will be able to make better suggestions to queries like that.
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soireadthisbooktoday said:
I suppose so. But I hope they don’t cut out the ability to write real reviews….
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Nicholas C. Rossis said:
Me too!
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Juliet Aharoni said:
What next will Amazon come up with? I don’t like the idea at all – there’s no place for the reviewers’ expression and acutal thoughts on the reading material.
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Nicholas C. Rossis said:
I hope that common sense will prevail, and they’ll keep both options open. There are a lot of people who’re not keen on writing a review. Perhaps a drop-down menu will encourage them to do so. At the same time, it would be a real shame if that were the only means of doing so.
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J.L McFadden said:
Hello Nicholas, I must say that I am not a fan of this and do not believe it will get any more reviews; most people buy books to read them and not be critics. I also believe that this will make those who do enjoy righting reviews not want to bother with books associated with the drop down menus.
Farther more, the last thing our society needs is more simplification for those that do not have drive to do more. It is only hurting us more.
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Nicholas C. Rossis said:
I know what you mean. I’m curious as to how they plan to display the results.
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J.L McFadden said:
Seems that in every area of our lives is being dumbed down. It is like everyone is encouraging us to go deeper into this Digital – Dark age of people being willingly ignorant instead of embracing our digital connection of information and launching into a Neo – Renaissance Period that we could be in.
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Nicholas C. Rossis said:
I try not to be so pessimistic, looking at it instead as people developing different sets of skills.
Then I turn on the TV… 😦
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Effrosyni Moschoudi said:
PANTS!!! This is awful!! Have they lost their mind? That’ll put off book lovers even more than authors. It’ll probably result in less reviews, as they’ll be put off by the clinical process. YUK.
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Nicholas C. Rossis said:
Lol – I hope that common sense will prevail, and they’ll keep both options open. There are a lot of people who’re not keen on writing a review. Perhaps a drop-down menu will encourage them to do so. At the same time, it would be a real shame if that were the only means of doing so.
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Courtney M. Wendleton said:
Reblogged this on Books and More.
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Dylan Hearn said:
I’ve seen this the last couple of times I’ve left reviews. At the moment you don’t have to use the drop-down menus, you can ignore them and write a review instead.
I don’t have a problem with Amazon looking to simplify the reviewing process to encourage reviews but I find the categories a little odd. The focus on sex and violence, particularly, comes across as a means to censor as opposed to providing valuable information to inform a reader’s choice.
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Nicholas C. Rossis said:
Very true. I suspect it has much more to do with their search engine than actual feedback.
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soireadthisbooktoday said:
Like Sue, I really think the idea is ridiculous. I saw the drop downs on the last couple of reviews I wrote – I ignored them and just posted my actual review. I know Amazon needs a better process – too many “I hated this book.” reviews. Or, conversely, “I loved this book.” Thing is, those sorts of reviews are a useless waste of space and helps, or hurts, author reviews with no indications of WHY the person liked or didn’t like the book. I get so frustrated at those sorts of ‘non-reviews’ – but that drop down thing did not work for me – At All….
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Nicholas C. Rossis said:
I know what you mean! I tried using it, honest, but gave up in frustration.
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Richard Ankers said:
Hmmmm!
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Nicholas C. Rossis said:
Well said 🙂
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Richard Ankers said:
I chose that from your drop down menu 😉
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Nicholas C. Rossis said:
Lol – of course you did 😀
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Richard Ankers said:
😄
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thegreekurn said:
I guess it may have its merits for those readers who don’t really ‘know’ how to write a review. Personally I prefer the old way and don’t like being told how to write.
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Nicholas C. Rossis said:
You and me both! 🙂
Thanks and welcome!
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The Story Reading Ape said:
Reblogged this on Chris The Story Reading Ape's Blog and commented:
FYI 😀
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Graeme Cumming said:
Reblogged this on graemecummingdotnet and commented:
What would we do without Nicholas – always an ear to the ground and ready to share the news.
Without having seen this process in operation, I can’t really make a judgement about the merits or otherwise. However, it occurs to me that there is a potential advantage in that it may lead to feedback (if not a full review) being provided. I know I find it easier to leave feedback on things if I’m presented with options rather than facing a blank page. So, whilst the creative side of me baulks at this, the pragmatic side thinks this may lead to more “reviews”, and that might not be a bad thing. What do you think?
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The Opening Sentence said:
Nearly every review system I’ve ever come across has a box at the end for comments. Amazon could have their drop down menus for their algorythms and searching, and a comments box for those halfwits who insist on writing a review containing a massive spoiler.
Chris
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Nicholas C. Rossis said:
That’s probably what they’ll end up with. Thanks and welcome 🙂
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Bill Hayes said:
Unless I already had a recommendation for a fiction book, I certainly wouldn’t read a review on the web site of a glorified warehouse with drone pretensions. There will be a section soon at Amazon called “Hey – books for people who don’t read 🙂 “
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Nicholas C. Rossis said:
Lol – I can think of a few books for that section 😀
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Sue Coletta said:
Sadly, the menus are already in place. The last two reviews I left had the drop down menus above it. But– it does still allow you to write your own. Good thing to because the menu options are very limiting. I barely noticed them at first, so I wonder if they are mandatory, or if a reviewer can skip them. But if they do skip them, will that book get a lesser ranking? Hmm…
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Nicholas C. Rossis said:
I don’t think anything happens if you skip them – yet. No idea what Amazon plans to do in the future, of course. I guess it depends on how successful this trial is.
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Sue Coletta said:
Yet, being the operative word. 🙂
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Nicholas C. Rossis said:
Yes, it was a deliberately loaded one 🙂
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ErikaKind said:
I don’t hope they mean it!!!
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Nicholas C. Rossis said:
I guess it will depend on how successful this trial is 🙂
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ErikaKind said:
We will see…
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Richard said:
As many people can’t even be bothered to leave a review, I believe this will make them even less inclined to do so. All it will do is drive away both those who love to give full and honest reviews in their own words and those lazier ones who are happy just to scrawl down a few token words.
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Nicholas C. Rossis said:
It will be interesting to watch 🙂
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Sally Ember, Ed.D. said:
As if some “reviewers” aren’t lazy or ignorant enough, now they have an excuse not actually to read the book or understand it: they can just fill out a survey. Ridiculous.
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Nicholas C. Rossis said:
Lol – thankfully, I’ve largely been lucky enough in my reviewers (with one notable exception of the kind that dwells under bridges).
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Kaine Andrews said:
I’m wondering if this is, at least in part, motivated by the hooplah that’s been going around for the last couple of years regarding author-bashing and cyberbullying in reviews; admittedly, it’s not really going to stop that (that last box, where you can rate the author’s writing ability, seems like an easy enough target) but… well.
So far as my own opinion on the subject, I’m bucking the trend and remaining mostly neutral. We’ll see how it washes out. Honestly, given the way most reviews on Amazon are, I’m not thinking it’s the end of the world going to a system like this, though I don’t know if it’s the best execution for it… on the other hand, there is that 10% of reviews that are genuinely helpful (either good or bad) and taking away the option to write something that’s detailed and informative in favor of a batch of multiple-choice questions might be going a step too far.
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Nicholas C. Rossis said:
You know, I hadn’t thought of that. It’s a great point. We have been complaining for years about unfair reviews; perhaps Amazon thought this would make reviews more objective.
I guess they’ll keep a text box at the end so that you can enter your detailed review, thus combining the two systems. It will probably depend on the success of the trial.
Thanks and welcome 🙂
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Charles Yallowitz said:
I can already see so many things wrong with that. Take the violence and sex questions for example. Every reader has different levels of tolerance for those, so you won’t know what they mean. Some people considering kissing or even the mention of sex as ‘explicit’, but you wouldn’t know that from a pull down window. Same goes for violence where a slap could be seen as ‘yes’ or people only think of gore as a sign of it. This thing doesn’t allow for personal preferences to be explained.
Don’t even get me started on the ‘author’s writing’ or the plot. That varies so much that it can’t be boiled down to a simple menu option. There’s nothing about characters either. I really hope this is an extended April Fools joke.
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Nicholas C. Rossis said:
While all are very valid points, I guess things tend to average out in the end. So, hopefully, it won’t be all bad if they choose to adopt the new system. As long as they don’t get rid of the old one altogether, of course! 🙂
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Charles Yallowitz said:
I’m not sure I can agree on the average out in the end part. These reviews won’t be very insightful and seem to be extremely black/white. Talking to average readers, many only look at stars or the simple info. It never crosses their mind that the reviewer might have a different perspective. So a person seeing ‘explicit sex’ might think ‘graphic pornography’ when the reviewer got upset about the mention of nudity. So I think streamlining and simplifying reviews like this will remove the individual human part of it.
I think it would work better if you add some of this to the old version and require at least some written response. Like a supplemental to the current system instead of a replacement.
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Nicholas C. Rossis said:
Maybe that’s what Zon has in mind 🙂
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Charles Yallowitz said:
Hope so.
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helenj0303 said:
Oh, I’m with everyone on here in that I don’t think it’s a good thing at all, especially if it takes the place of regular written reviews. The sexual content part alone is disconcerting, as there are so many levels of content simply not covered by those three options, and it may give people a completely false idea of the content. Not a fan of this at all! PS I’m still reading Rise of The Prince (I’m not normally this slow of a reader but time has been at a premium of late) and am really enjoying it! x
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Nicholas C. Rossis said:
Hating the new system does seem to be the consensus 🙂
Thank you so much; I’m so happy you’re enjoying it 🙂
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helenj0303 said:
I am, and I hope to be able to leave a proper written review once I’m done! 🙂
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Nicholas C. Rossis said:
Lol – I sure do hope you will 😀
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Anna Hub - Writer said:
Reblogged this on Anna Hub Books and commented:
This is an interesting concept. Not sure whether to love or hate it. Hopefully it would encourage more readers to leave feedback. I think the majority of the population avoid reviewing because they’re not sure where to start. Maybe this is what they need to get involved.
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Vera Komnig said:
Crazy!!
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Nicholas C. Rossis said:
That does seem to be the consensus around here 🙂
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D. Wallace Peach said:
I don’t like it either, as a reader or writer. I rely heavily on reviews when I make decisions about books, and of course, as a writer, I love a well-written, thoughtful review of my books. Yuck. This is like reading tags. Every drop of nuance is lost. It’s emotionless.
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Nicholas C. Rossis said:
I hope that reviewers will keep using the text field to add their own comments, thus personalizing the review.
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macjam47 said:
As a consumer, I would think this would be detrimental to sales. Who wants to trust a few clicks of the mouse to determine if a book is something they want to purchase.
As a reader, I enjoy reading what other people thought of a book. I read reviews on blogs and on Amazon, B & N, etc. I read book jackets. I open a book and peruse the first chapter (Amazon has a great feature with their ‘look-inside’). I don’t want to read something that is automated; I want someone’s personal assessment of the book.
As a blogger, I hope they don’t replace the reviews I enjoy writing with a drop-down list.
As to Sally’s comment about the reviews some people leave, I’m sorry she feels these people are lazy or ignorant. Not all of the comments that are left on Amazon are left by those of us who regularly review books, but often by a casual reader who merely wants to state that the book was enjoyable, or that they didn’t really enjoy it. They are responding as consumers to a product, rather than as reviewers to a book. Amazon asks for a review of your purchase whether you buy a book or a shoe horn.
Yes, there are some reviewers and consumers who leave vicious remarks about books, I don’t know why they do, Perhaps it’s a reflection of where they are in their personal lives. I really don’t have an answer. I agree with Kaine, these drop downs are not going to stop the bashing.
Charles is absolutely correct in his assessment of what is objectionable to one, may not be to another.
The drop down option might be perfect for those who are reviewing their purchase, but if they leave the option for a written review, then they are serving the needs of a larger population.
More than ’nuff said. Have a great day.
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Nicholas C. Rossis said:
I, too, follow a number of reviewers, so I agree. As long as Zon also leaves us a nice text field for a proper review, it might end up being a good thing 🙂
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Allie P. said:
I appreciate the convenience of the idea, but really hope it doesn’t work out. I had just finished reading Catching Fire (Hunger Games Book 2) and glanced at the reviews for Mocking Jay (I was going to read the book regardless, but I liked to see what others were saying about it). One in particular caught my eye. It praised the book comparing Katniss’s struggle to real world PTSD and life of a returning soldier. Up until that point, I had thought I was reading popular YA. Suddenly it became clear that the books had more depth than I might have realized on my own. I loved that book and I loved that review for opening my eyes to its greater potential. I would never have gotten that experience based on the checkbox review method.
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Nicholas C. Rossis said:
A good review (and I don’t mean positive, necessarily) will change the way you saw a book. I hope they leave both systems, so that people who want to leave a “proper” review can do so 🙂
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sknicholls said:
It let me do both on a book I read recently. It’s like they are collecting objective data as well as subjective.
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Nicholas C. Rossis said:
An interesting point. I don’t necessarily see the drop-down menu as more objective (as Charles pointed out), but it’s definitely more structured.
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hinsmanj said:
I noticed that with the last several reviews I’ve done. Some are easy to pick, others maybe need more options.
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Nicholas C. Rossis said:
Did you feel the drop-down menus made it easier for you to review?
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hinsmanj said:
It did make me think about things that I didn’t put in my written review, so that was good. Most of the questions/drop-downs are things that would be important to any reader. I usually write my review first, but I may try the opposite next time, do drop downs and shape the review a little better.
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Nicholas C. Rossis said:
An interesting idea. You’re one of the few who don’t mind the new system 🙂
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Michael Phelps (@MichaelPhelps3) said:
It may discourage some Reviewers.
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Nicholas C. Rossis said:
I guess they hope it will encourage others
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coldhandboyack said:
I’m skeptical. It takes a certain amount of moxie to trash someone on a public format. The folks referred to as trolls still have to type their venom out and put their fake name to it. In a checkbox system, it becomes much easier for them. Those who aren’t inclined to write out their thoughts can still choose a number of stars to rate with. I also like to assess the reviews based upon the written material. Generally speaking, if someone is a bit off it can come through in the writing. I can weigh the statements accordingly. It isn’t like we’ll get any power over what they do, but that’s my 2¢.
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Nicholas C. Rossis said:
I get it. Haters gonna hate and all that 🙂
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writerbeelove said:
I noticed this on my last few reviews. It doesn’t really work for poetry books or short story collections, and I find the options limited – but as a database supervisor I understand the importance of keeping it simple. One should still leave a detailed opinion!
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Nicholas C. Rossis said:
Exactly! 🙂
By the way, thanks for the follow. You are my 2,000th follower! To celebrate, I’d love to give you a free copy of my books. Anything you’d be interested in in particular?
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writerbeelove said:
Let me take a look.
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Kindle Ninja (@kindleninja) said:
Hi Nicholas, I’ve noticed that you can skip the drop down menu if you click on “Write a Review”. But if you go to your “Review Purchases”, the star rating and review box will only appear AFTER you do the drop down survey.
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Nicholas C. Rossis said:
Interesting, I had not noticed that! Thanks 🙂
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Let's CUT the Crap! said:
I don’t think it’s fair to standardize reviews. On the other hand, maybe more people will go for the easy five questions. Still, I don’t like it. There are too many variables that will never see the light of day. 😦
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Nicholas C. Rossis said:
I guess that’s what the text box is for. I so hope they’ll let that be…
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D.T. Nova said:
Reviews that are just that form would be a completely terrible idea.
Combining something like this with also requiring something written in the reviewer’s own words might not be bad, though I still don’t like the specifics of this version.
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Nicholas C. Rossis said:
I guess that’s why they’re running the trial – to fine-tune the final version.
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Widdershins said:
Sadly, I suspect this isn’t a April Fool’s joke.
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Nicholas C. Rossis said:
Lol – I avoided posting on April 1st, as I knew people would wonder if I was joking 😀
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chrismcmullen said:
The dropdown menu seems to be a lot of trouble… I proceeded to post a review right now, but of course I didn’t get the dropdown option. 🙂 Will have to keep an eye on this.
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Nicholas C. Rossis said:
You might have missed it. You only get the first prompt, right above the usual text field. If you don’t click on it, the other options don’t appear.
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chrismcmullen said:
I usually notice such details. If it’s in beta, perhaps not everyone is seeing it…
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Nicholas C. Rossis said:
True. If you’re looking for a quick read to review, I can suggest Runaway Smile. It’s free and a mere 15′ read. You know, just so you can try the reviews again 😉
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mgill0627 said:
Hmmm. I guess if it makes reviewing easier for most people it could be a good thing. Non-writers can be intimidated by trying to come up with something to say. I think if you can choose to freeform the review or use the drop downs it might be good.
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Nicholas C. Rossis said:
I’m always in favor of more choices 🙂
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Jack Eason said:
Who will actually benefit from the introduction of this type of review system on Amazon – the writers? Definitely not! The way the existing system is biased towards Amazon’s favourites – the trolls, is bad enough as it is Nicholas.
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Nicholas C. Rossis said:
Someone suggested this might discourage trolling, as they won’t have their soap box.
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Jack Eason said:
Reblogged this on Have We Had Help? and commented:
An example of how Amazon thinks, or rather doesn’t
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M T McGuire said:
They seem to be doing both at the moment, so I wrote a review the other day and the drop down menu was in place but I was still able to post an actual review as well. I think it will be useful for those reviews where someone puts, ‘great fun, recommended’ or conversely ‘not my humour at all, couldn’t get beyond page three’.
Cheers
MTM
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Nicholas C. Rossis said:
Lol – yes, we definitely need more options 😀
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TermiteWriter said:
Well, I guess it’s better than no comment at all, but personally I’m in favor of well-thought-out, fair-minded, literate reviews, whether they are favorable or unfavorable. I always try to write a bit of an essay like I would have written in college.
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Nicholas C. Rossis said:
That’s very kind of you! I suspect that, if more people did that, there’d be no need for the drop-down kind of review 🙂
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Suzanne Joshi said:
That’s really interesting, Nicholas. Thanks for the information. 🙂
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Nicholas C. Rossis said:
Glad you found it useful 🙂
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kathyrollinson said:
Reblogged this on MARSocial Author Business Enhancement Blogs.
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Patrick Jones said:
All I can say is…what next?? Thanks Nicholas!
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Nicholas C. Rossis said:
Thanks for reading 🙂
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D.G.Kaye said:
I think this is awful, for readers and writers. As writers, we all know how hard it is to get reviews at all. By dropping down boxes, it becomes like survey, which many people don’t have either the time or inclination to fill out. The personal touch is lost here, very cold and robotic if you ask me. I’m not impressed!
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Nicholas C. Rossis said:
Let’s hope some people who might not leave a review otherwise, will now be more inclined to do so 🙂
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D.G.Kaye said:
Perhaps, but it still sounds oh so generic. 🙂
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