Wrod, wrod with sprinkles on it. Cause I read stuff all different places and can't really afford to shop Amazon anymore.

Wow. That's some seriously flawed sampling

Aint it just? Now slip into my Pradas for a second, and consider that unless the sales are completely over to the top out of the gate on a given book, those reviews might sway my editor against buying the next one.

Scary, no?

Very. Especially when they look like THIS!! so often.

They look at all sorts of information sources, mind you - not only Amazon.

But because Amazon has the most "visible" of saleschecks, in both the author ranking (never mind that sometimes they don't update for days) and the reviews, it's one of the biggies.

But how does attaching a name to the review which criticized Lauren's characterization make it more valid or more damaging? Either it's a sensible comment, or it's not; either the editor is paying too much attention to it, or they're not.

once again -- I think it is a consistancy thing. If you can see other reviews by that person , an editor can make a real judgement-- not just a paniced reaction.

Micole, I brought up the example of Lauren's editor wanting her to rewrite because of an Amazon review only as an example of the fact that those reviews have weight with editors.

My desire for consistency or continuity by people who take the trouble to write a review, so that I can use those feedback instances while working? Totally different thing, personal to me. Only thing they have in common is, both are Amazon.

Thing is, one reason I've become more paranoid about privacy lately is because I'm thinking about my image once I'm published. I don't want anyone to decide they hold a grudge against me because I criticized Ms. Bestsellers for headhopping within scenes, or said that Ms. Wellknown's quality has been uneven of late, and I didn't find her heroine's motives plausible. And while I don't use my full name on forums, it's not that hard to figure out who I really am.

Thing is, one reason I've become more paranoid about privacy lately is because I'm thinking about my image once I'm published. I don't want anyone to decide they hold a grudge against me because I criticized Ms. Bestsellers for headhopping within scenes, or said that Ms. Wellknown's quality has been uneven of late, and I didn't find her heroine's motives plausible.

So, I'm assuming you want Ms Bestseller and Ms Wellknown to pay attention to your reviews, even though you don't want them identifying you as (insert real name here).

So use a pseud. Just, be consistent with it, so that if either Ms. Wellknown or Bestseller has enough nous to put their ego on the shelf for two minutes and pay attention to what you're saying, they can not only use your crit constructively, they can look for it in future.

Unless you don't give a damn whether they read your reviews and suggestions or not, and are just venting. I'd imagine that's different, but I don't do that, so I don't know how it works.

Changeing the Subject if anyone is interested. Has anyone read Blade Dancer by viehl? I'm trying to decide if this is a good book/ average or worse than average book by this author. I'm trying to decide if I want to start searching for the stardoc series.

here is most of my amazon review -- it isn't up yet 'cause I just did it.

I stayed up way too late last night reading it. Very exciting -- and the fight scenes were really well done. I have no experience with fighting, but I could see the scenes. I really liked the character of Jory. However, I didn’t like some things. My feelings for Kol - her partner...well I didn't have any. Parts of the book felt like a text adventure game. Also, I had to fight the urge to say "Luke, I am your father". It was a fun romp. I hadn't read anything by Viehl before.