I Shouldn’t Even Be Doing This

by Alethea Williams

Thanks to my friend Abbie Johnson Taylor and comedian Bob Newhart for the title of this blog post.  It comes from his book I Shouldn’t Even Be Doing This: And Other Things that Strike Me as Funny, which Abbie reviewed for her blog, Abbie’s Corner of the World.

Abbie is a writer.  She reviews books.  I am a writer, and I review books.  Call me crazy.  I’m probably wasting my time, as reviews by writers are being deleted by Amazon, so I shouldn’t even be doing reviews. But I have had my new Kindle for about a week and there are already 98 book selections in my library!  How could this happen?

by adamr at freedigitalphotos.net

First of all, I am an admitted book junkie.  I will read any genre, literary, and nonfiction. So when I run across the marketing promotions authors run on Facebook for free downloads of their books, I usually can’t resist.  What they’re looking for is a review in exchange for the free book – in addition to a bump in their book’s ranking which is supposed to develop buzz and help sales when the book is no longer free.

Amazon is in the process of deleting reviews of books by authors, claiming that writers somehow have a financial interest any book since it has been discovered that one author has pseudonymously written bad reviews for others’ books and good reviews for his own.

I only download free books I really think I would be interested in.  I haven’t read one yet that I think deserved only one or two stars, but if I can’t leave at least three stars I don’t rate the book.  I do leave reviews of books that I really like, stars for books that I merely like, and nothing at all for books that I don’t like.  Is this system dishonest?  Does my awareness of how bad reviews hurt writers’ feelings – if not actual sales figures – make my opinion biased?

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For my own part, I don’t pay much attention to reviews.  I notice if a book has a bunch of five-star reviews and one or two outliers of one-stars.  I also notice if a book has no reviews or a lot of bad reviews.  It’s my experience that most one-star reviews result from people indiscriminately downloading books they wouldn’t ordinarily read, just because they’re free, and then being disappointed with their own mistake.  I don’t read every single review, and so I’m not sure if the hubbub over sock puppet and paid reviews is merited or whether Amazon’s decision to take down all reviews of books by writers isn’t hurting them as much as us.

What do you think?  Do you write books as well as review them?  Do you feel you’re doing your best to be honest when you review?  Have you had any of your reviews deleted?

The author of historical novel Willow Vale, available at Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and Jargon Media. Alethea Williams blogs on Actually Alethea about writing, writers, and Wyoming history.  Follow on Twitter @actuallyalethea, or visit Alethea Williams, author on Facebook.  Comments and honest feedback always welcome!