Unfortunately for the last few months it has become impossible for me to offer reviews of books. This is disappointing to me, as it is something that I enjoy doing – but as always a small number of people do ruin things for the majority.
I have always been clear that I will not post bad reviews – if I don’t like a book, I will tell the author, but not the whole of Amazon. I have always been very keen to stress that my opinions are personal, and do not necessarily reflect on the quality of the writing.
Unfortunately on at least two occasions I contacted authors to say that their books were not really to my taste (too much gratuitous violence for me in one of them), but I gave some very positive feedback too. After a particularly unpleasant email response, I got five one star reviews for my own book within the space of two hours – at a time when the average number of reviews was one per week. The author hadn’t really bothered to disguise his own review, and all of the one stars had given this other author five stars for his book – so it was clear what had happened.
As a result, I am really sorry that I just can’t risk this happening again. My apologies, but I do hope you find plenty of other material on this blog to help with your writing. I am committed to helping indie authors, so please do get in touch if there is anything that I can do to assist you on your writing journey.
Rachel
Dear Rachel,
I was saddened to hear of your bad experience with reviews.
Just wanted to reassure you that my wife and I not only appreciate your first two books, but admire your efforts at helping other authors.
Hi
Thank you for going to the trouble of writing your comment. Some people unfortunately are rather sad. The latest attack on my product page seems to be to identify all the really good reviews and mark them as ‘unhelpful’ so that they never come up as the ‘most helpful’ review. It’s truly pathetic, and I need to rise above it, but I do wonder at the mentality of some people!
Thank you so much for your feedback. I’m really glad that you enjoyed the books, and unlike the type of people who spend their time putting other authors down, it is my pleasure to be able to help as much as I can – and it’s great to hear that it’s appreciated.
Best wishes
Rachel