Comments on: Dealing with Negative Amazon Book Reviews

By: Steve DiGioia

Steve DiGioia — Mon, 27 May 2013 10:09:19 +0000

I have been fortunate that I’ve received only very good reviews on my book so far (now I just went and jinxed it), but what can you do if you get a bad one? I can’t do anything about it. Just as you can’t please every customer that walks into your door, you can’t please every reviewer.

“Earn More Tips On Your Very Next Shift…Even If You’re a Bad Waiter”
…available at Amazon

By: MSg Dale Day

MSg Dale Day — Tue, 30 Apr 2013 13:43:03 +0000

I angered some posters on a discussion forum who, in retaliation, went to my Kindle books and slammed them with bad reviews. THEY NEVER EVEN READ THEM!

So, I’ve reported them to Amazon. I’ve been told it’ll take a few weeks, but they WILL take a look to see if they’re legit.

By: Teepu

Teepu — Tue, 30 Apr 2013 11:29:34 +0000

Honestly, from a customers point of view, I think a bad review would affect my perception of the book but if the review is bad then I don’t really pay much attention to it. I personally prefer books referred by friends but if I do buy a book which a friend of mine hasn’t read, I track down online the author and check out their other articles before I decide to buy one of their books. Authors need not to worry about bad reviews, they add credibility to the book but too much bad reviews, then you’ve got a problem in hand? Thanks for sharing in Bizsugar!

By: Laura

Laura — Sun, 28 Apr 2013 17:03:31 +0000

The first Amazon review I got on my free affiliate marketing FAQ book was mostly negative, and it really bothered me. The reviewer was disappointed that it wasn’t a step-by-step how-to of affiliate marketing, even though the description very clearly states that it consists of answers to questions like “what is affiliate marketing?” “How much does it cost to get started?” and “How much money can I make?” etc.

I SO wanted to fire off a snarky reply such as “Um, I’m not sure why you thought a free 19-page ebook would provide comprehensive affiliate marketing training…” but I resisted the impulse. However, I couldn’t resist the pull to answer in some way. So I did reply, and I tried very hard to make it nice and professional. I’d heard that it wasn’t a good idea to reply to bad reviewers, but in this case I just couldn’t make myself ignore it.

But I do appreciate the points your experts made, Nicole!

By: Shawn Hessinger

Shawn Hessinger — Sun, 28 Apr 2013 06:48:46 +0000

Hi Nicole,
Bad reviews and criticisms are a part of life. There’s just no getting around it. And, I would add that some criticism can be very helpful. Like it or not, it’s true! In fact, being ignored is probably worse. So thank your lucky stars for your critics and look for what they can teach you.

By: Fran

Fran — Sat, 27 Apr 2013 01:04:01 +0000

Fascinating article.

I’ve heard it said in different variations, but essentially, a product/service experience will have your customers telling like 13 people on average, but a negative experience excites them to tell 30 or so.

That would make me concerned with the negative comments. In my amazon experience, I for some reason “assume” the reviews should be generally positive…so the negative ones really can influence me.

~Fran

By: Nicole

Nicole — Sat, 27 Apr 2013 00:03:06 +0000

In reply to Leslie Truex.

I think it’s like with anything. You can get 100 warm and fuzzies in a day, but that one cold prickly can put them all out of your mind.

Thank you for being part of my community and sharing your wisdom with us.

By: Nicole

Nicole — Sat, 27 Apr 2013 00:01:03 +0000

In reply to Deb Gallardo.

Love your response, Deb. Thank you. My gut says the same.

Perhaps I misunderstood?

I’ll ask around some more… 🙂

Appreciate you!
N

By: Deb Gallardo

Deb Gallardo — Fri, 26 Apr 2013 22:48:20 +0000

Nicole,
I wanted to comment about the etiquette of not interacting with your reviewers. Two thoughts:

1 – Given that there was a huge hoo-hah about John Locke having paid for reviews of his fiction, (and which he neglected to include in his how-I-made-a-million-dollars-on-Kindle how-to book) it’s possible the writer’s groups fear cronyism? Although we all ask our friends and relatives to leave reviews, so I’m not sure that’s their beef.

2 – I posted a lengthy Amazon review of an On-Demand film I watched (and adored!) and the writer/director actually commented, saying it was her ‘all-time fave review’ that she’d gotten on ANY of her films. She said it was like I was inside her head, because I got all the subtle things she layered into the film to make it have real depth. And she said my review was doubly special to her because I’m a writer.

I’ve got to tell you, I would (almost) walk through fire for this woman now. So I think we need to gauge it case by case. If we’re in business, how can we NOT engage with our readers, if we engage with our biz audience? I’m wondering if these were fiction writers, non-fiction or a mix?
~Deb

By: Susan Wowe

Susan Wowe — Fri, 26 Apr 2013 12:06:32 +0000

I haven’t published any book on amazon yet, I agree with you that from time to time you can choose some reviews to reply to. But I think only choose good reviews to reply to is a better strategy. If there are some people who can’t appreciate your writing and want to vent out, let them be, answering bad reviews may make things worse in my opinion.
This is a great reading. Thanks.