THE FACTS AND MYTHS
SURROUNDING REVIEWS AND THE WAYS IN WHICH EACH ONE COUNTS
We understand that
not everyone has the funds to spend on things like books, or perhaps you’re reluctant
to spend money on a new title or new author that you’re not familiar with.
Heck, in my entire life of writing and reading, I’ve always had to rely on
libraries for my reading and researching needs.
But did you know that
reviews are the most difficult thing to come by for an author (for most
products in general), yet it’s those very reviews that most people look at when
they’re considering purchasing a product, or even picking a restaurant? Or that
those who are most likely to leave a review are those who are dissatisfied with
a product?
What this does is
skew results, so if a 1000 people love a book, but they don’t leave a review,
and 1 person doesn’t like the book, and leaves a review saying so, then anyone
else considering the product will see that one bad review, but not the 1000
good ones.
So here’s something
you probably didn’t know. Most companies of any product, as well as publishers, already
have a list of reviewers before the product even comes out on the shelves. Have
you ever heard those radio commercials or seen other advertisements where they
offer to give out a product for free ‘to their first 100 callers’? or ‘for the
next 30 days only’? They do this so that by the time the product actually
reaches the shelves, they already have an entire list of reviews and reviewers
to discern the quality of a product so that the public can have a relatively
honest opinion on it before they determine to purchase it.
They do this because
most people don’t leave reviews or have the time to complete surveys. I know I
don’t. Not even when I’m told that I can get 5 dollars off my next purchase if
I go online and complete a survey about my experience. Only once when Walmart
was offering like a 10,000 dollar giveaway did I go through with the whole shabang.
I didn’t win the first time, so I didn’t do it again.
With the
sky-rocketing amount of book titles coming out in a single year, the market has
become highly competitive for authors, but even for readers, it can be so
frustrating, because even though there’s an endless supply of free reads out
there, self-publishing platforms are so user-friendly that literally anyone can
publish a book. For so many aspiring writers and authors and readers, it
enabled passage for all the hidden extraordinary and original talent out there
in the world and indie publishing has become so popular for that reason, but it
also opened channels to all those that wouldn’t provide quality or to those
just trying to make some fast-cash whom could then just change their pen name
and do it again. Further, there are hidden exchange programs and groups and a
variety of illegitimate ways that people can go about getting dishonest
reviews. I remember one I came across that advertised, $5 for 5-stars.
Now Amazon and other
companies have done their best to try to filter these illegitimate reviews out,
but there’s only so much they can do in a free market. So put together all the
information I just revealed, and the fact that most people don’t provide
reviews, even if they’re completely satisfied with a product, then you find
that those most likely to get an abundant of positive reviews have come upon
those reviews through either having a backlist of reviewers or through illegitimate
ways. (The backlist of reviewers is completely legit and legal, because those
reviews are honest, but it is more likely an exchange of free goods, so the
reviewer isn’t paying for the product and then leaving a review at their leisure;
rather, they’re getting a free product and then being asked to complete a
survey or provide their honest opinion on how they felt about the product).
What this means is
that reviews – honest, legit reviews – are more important than ever for the
public to know if they’re going to get a quality product.
Which is what Freebird
Express Publishing’s Paying-It-Forward Program is all about. The Read &
Review feature is for titles that Freebird Express Publishing is able to provide
for free; however, the Paying-It-Forward Program applies to the entire market
and any and all businesses that provide products or services for sale by
spreading the word.
If you get a product
for free, there is a person or a business behind it that not only created the
product, but also invested their time and money into it, and nothing is ever
quite free. Someone has to pay for it, so if you’re getting something for free,
it’s at the expense of the person or business that is providing it.
Artists especially –
authors, illustrators, photographers, musicians, designers, producers – those
who create – spend thousands upon thousands of unpaid hours, decades even, to
create that product or provide that service. So behind every e-book or
paperback that is promoted as free for a limited time is a person with a home,
a family, and bills to support. Most authors/writers/artists have to work fulltime
jobs outside of their profession to make ends meet. Most artists only dream of
one day making enough to be able to commit themselves full time to their art.
So if you get
something for free, remember to think about the person whose hard work, time,
and expense provided it, and pay it forward. Whatever your opinion is of it,
share it. Leave a review to help others filter out the poor and good quality
products. Take a few seconds to share the link and spread the word. Know that
it matters significantly and could be the difference between an extremely
talented individual gaining acknowledgement and appreciation, versus one whom scams
for sales and scams the public, whom doesn’t provide quality, while gaining more
reviews in illegitimate ways than the honest talented individuals giving out
thousands upon thousands of their product or service for free in order to be
able to get their product out their and be acknowledged for all their hard work,
talent, and expertise.
Most artists aren’t
motivated by money, just like most would choose freedom and the ability to
create their own original work versus signing their lives away on the contracts
that could help them to achieve fortune and fame. You know what we all DO love,
though? Fan mail. I’d take fan mail or inspiring reviews any day over cash,
because to know I even just made a single person’s day better or inspired and
impacted a person’s life in a positive way is priceless.
Freebird Express
Publishing offers a Free Read & Review Feature as part of its Paying-It
Forward Program.
What does this mean?
It means that you,
the reader, can check out most any title featured on the FreeBird Express
Publishing page and read it for FREE where we just courteously request that you
provide an honest review of what you read and/or spread the word to those that
may also enjoy it. In the coming year, FreeBird Express Publishing will be signing
3-4 dozen authors, alongside our current authors, and releasing dozens of
titles, in addition to working alongside other authors and publishers in the
recommended authors/titles & new releases list.
What this can mean
for you as a reader is thousands of hours of leisure reading time that doesn’t
cost you a dime.
In addition, there
are plenty of rewards programs and additional incentives for reviewers offered
on places such as Amazon and Goodreads and first-come-first-serve access to
giveaways on gift cards, Kindles, Nooks, Books, and more!
So give it a try, and
if you really like it, you may even be able have access to titles before they’ve
even hit the shelves!
You may sign up here via email or complete the Free Read & Review form HERE where you
can read the descriptions of the various titles offered as well.
In addition, FreeBird
Express Publishing will be posting Free Reads as part of this blog, and your
comments and opinions will help let us know what you like, don’t like, and what
your reading preferences are so we can give you more of what you like or what
you’d like to see in the future.
Finally, we’ll be having a
huge, once-in-a-lifetime, promotion coming up on 4th of July week,
2018. And let’s just say that #FREE and #ONETIMEONLY are the key words. You don’t
want to miss it.
Next Up: Get the entire 6-book Modules Series for
FREE beginning July 4th and ending midnight Friday, July 6th,
ONE TIME ONLY, in celebration of Independence Day Week(end), and the revolution
of a reformed dystopian world begun by one rebellious, prodigy, quirky, yet
humorous, teenager, Catina Salsbury.
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