As an author, what is your take on 'reviews'?

LostinMovement

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Lately, I've been checking some of the top stories on trending and I noticed although they do have a big number of readers and views, the majority of them have no reviews. I found that interesting because a while ago, I found some hidden gems on SH and despite having small readership and less exposure, they each had at least one review.

What is your take on this? How do reviews differ from views and readers' numbers in your opinion?
 

Assurbanipal_II

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Generally, I only read the negative reviews 1 stars and 2 stars as they are most insightful. 5 stars are generally just adulation.

But it is true, the number of reviews is quite limited. Maybe because they would reveal otherwise what the primary qualities of these popular stories are. :blob_reach: Or maybe there are just many recent new stories. At the moment we have a huge influx of new novels.
 

Ral

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Yeah. I want to know too.

As a reader, my reviews, especially when they aren't' very positive, are either ignored or seen with contempt. It is worse when the story is popular. The more popular the story is, the more hostile the author seems to be to any criticism.

I stopped reviewing any stories specially the popular ones. The more popular it is, the less inclined I am to review. And those stories that aren't popular, I would stop myself from speaking. It is just not worth it. Reviewing brings nothing but trouble.

What is the author's view on these things? Do they really even want reviews?
 
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CautiousTitan

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SH overall doesn't really do reviews. You're more likely to get ratings than reviews most of the time. Treat it as a rare occurrence, as I'm not sure people would even read reviews on this site. If Tony made some changes to the UI, one that encourages reviews, it would probably be a different story.
 

Ral

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SH overall doesn't really do reviews. You're more likely to get ratings than reviews most of the time. Treat it as a rare occurrence, as I'm not sure people would even read reviews on this site. If Tony made some changes to the UI, one that encourages reviews, it would probably be a different story.
Yeah. SH's review feature is terribly designed. One of the worst I've seen.
 

Ral

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It seems to be designed to discourage people from reviewing.

First it is very contrary to the principle of least effort. It takes so many steps to get there. After reading, you have to go back to the story's index page. You have to scroll down. Then click Reviews. Then you have to click Write a Review. Then an very cramped dialogue box would open. There is so many steps to get there and the final interface isn't comfortable or attractive.

This is actually is a very well known tactic to discourage users from using certain features. Like, did you try to delete your Facebook or Amazon account? Do you know how hidden the feature is to the point that you actually have to search online? The review feature in SH didn't go that far, but it still goes in that direction and similarly discourages people from using it.

Also, the reviews and review feature is not intuitive. The reviews and the means to reviews is in an illogical place. It is beside Table of Contents. Like, what is the two doing together? Anyone browsing casually will fail to notice it and when they go to the index page to look for it, it being beside table of contents would make many overlook it. And even if you click the review tab, the Write a Review button is so indistinct. It blends with the rest. You would not remember seeing it. It is made to be very inconspicuous. You have to take the effort and look allover for it.

Again, this is another tactic used to discourage people from using certain features (or things they just don't want you to notice).

It is one of the worst because SH seems to not want you to leave a review at all.
 
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Moctemma

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In my opinion, most of the popular series don't have reviews because there isn't much to say about them. The numbers (readers, ratings, etc.) and synopsis speak for themselves. I also guess people are unwilling to when they see how they interact with the readers on the comments; for example, one author didn't provide an answer to a plot-hole and only answered the easiest question of the reader with something unrelated, after some exchanges he told the reader to think for himself. There's also the problem of ignoring your readers; in the popular stories most of the questions (who don't involve spoilers) aren't answered, which leaves the readers wondering if their take on the story is accurate.

What is the author's view on these things? Do they really even want reviews?
I do want and appreciate reviews, even the bad ones now that I've matured as an author.
 

lnv

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Lately, I've been checking some of the top stories on trending and I noticed although they do have a big number of readers and views, the majority of them have no reviews. I found that interesting because a while ago, I found some hidden gems on SH and despite having small readership and less exposure, they each had at least one review.

What is your take on this? How do reviews differ from views and readers' numbers in your opinion?


I think part of the issue is that most of the traffic of SH most likely comes from NU. So people would click through NU. So more than likely not everyone is still taking full advantage of the site as a whole. Like how many non-authors are even in this forum?

Point is the engagement level of people in SH is different. And in general only 1% of readers actually do reviews. Most of my reviews are probably from people who read on RRL. Of course there are some new people as well.

That said, if I remember correctly, trending was made to favor new works correct? In that case them having less to no reviews isn't unexpected.

Maybe something like a review exchange between authors can help increase interest in leaving reviews *shrug* Or maybe some contests for best review and etc for members. Aka, SH is kind of lacking for member engagement activities.
 

LostinMovement

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It seems to be designed to discourage people from reviewing.

First it is very contrary to the principle of least effort. It so many steps to get there. After reading, you have to go back to the story's index page. You have to scroll down. Then click Reviews. Then you have to click Write a Review. Then an very cramped dialogue box would open. There is so many steps to get there and the final interface isn't comfortable or attractive.

This is actually is a very well known tactic to discourage users from using certain features. Like, did you try to delete your Facebook or Amazon account? Do you know how hidden the feature is to the point that you actually have to search online? The review feature in SH didn't go that far, but it still goes in that direction and similarly discourages people from using it.

Also, the reviews and review feature is not intuitive. The reviews and the means to reviews is in an illogical place. It is beside Table of Contents. Like, what is the two doing together? Anyone browsing casually will fail to notice it and when they go to the index page to look for it, it being beside table of contents would make many overlook it. And even if you click the review tab, the Write a Review button is so indistinct. It blends with the rest. You would not remember seeing it. It is made to be very inconspicuous. You have to take the effort and look allover for it.

Again, this is another tactic used to discourage people from using certain features (or things they just don't want you to notice).

It is one of the worst because SH seems to not want you to leave a review at all.

I wonder why though. Reviews are a great way to improve if you are an author, specially the negative ones. Negative reviews at least give an explanation unlike those out-of-nowhere 1-star ratings.
 

Ral

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That said, if I remember correctly, trending was made to favor new works correct? In that case them having less to no reviews isn't unexpected.
This too.

Still, there aren't really much reviews anywhere. The only ones that are the exemptions seems to be the longer running ones. Those those that has been going on for a year or more. And even then they will be just about dozen, at most two dozens reviews, if your lucky. Most stories here will be met with silence.

There is really not much interaction here. Even the comments seems to be minimal if not absent. SH seems to be one of the more silent platform.
 

Ral

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I wonder why though. Reviews are a great way to improve if you are an author, specially the negative ones. Negative reviews at least give an explanation unlike those out-of-nowhere 1-star ratings.
I think this is more of an accident. Many of the design decisions in SH seems to be very arbitrary.
 

ForestDweller

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This too.

Still, there aren't really much reviews anywhere. The only ones that are the exemptions seems to be the longer running ones. Those those that has been going on for a year or more. And even then they will be just about dozen, at most two dozens reviews, if your lucky. Most stories here will be met with silence.

There is really not much interaction here. Even the comments seems to be minimal if not absent. SH seems to be one of the more silent platform.

Not necessarily. I got more comments here than in RR.

I did get more reviews there though.
 

Ral

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Not necessarily. I got more comments here than in RR.

I did get more reviews there though.
Oh. RR. I think they have a very different type of audience there. Well, personal experiences varies. There always are exemptions.

You might also just be one of those authors who interacts with their readers. People seems to love talking to the authors it seems. The more you talk to them, the more they talk to you.

They don't seem to like to talk to other readers though. I think I've never seen a comment chain where readers just talk to each. Any discussion that I've seen seems to be mainly be the author-reader kind.
 

ForestDweller

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Oh. RR. I think they have a very different type of audience there. Well, personal experiences varies. There always are exemptions.

You might also just be one of those authors who interacts with their readers. People seems to love talking to the authors it seems. The more you talk to them, the more they talk to you.

They don't seem to like to talk to other readers though. I think I've never seen a comment chain where readers just talk to each. Any discussion that I've seen seems to be mainly be the author-reader kind.

Yep, I always try to reply to every comment.
 
D

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Yeah. I want to know too.

As a reader, my reviews, especially when they aren't' very positive, are either ignored or seen with contempt. It is worse when the story is popular. The more popular the story is, the more hostile the author seems to be to any criticism.

I stopped reviewing any stories specially the popular ones. The more popular it is, the less inclined I am to review. And those stories that aren't popular, I would stop myself from speaking. It is just not worth it. Reviewing brings nothing but trouble.

What is the author's view on these things? Do they really even want reviews?

This is an interesting view about a reader's take on reviews.

While I do get defensive on my work, everytime I receive a negative review, I make sure that it has substance before replying in defense of my work.

Of course, it's not all the time the readers will be correct on their reviews (i.e., I received reviews about my MC being a 'dense Japanese character' when his race is actually Southeast Asian, his romance develops in the course of the story, and he just don't like to assume things). And likewise, not all my defenses are objective relative to the story.

The key here is learn to distinguish constructive criticism over those that were influenced by readers' biases.
 

Ral

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This is an interesting view about a reader's take on reviews.

While I do get defensive on my work, everytime I receive a negative review, I make sure that it has substance before replying in defense of my work.

Of course, it's not all the time the readers will be correct on their reviews (i.e., I received reviews about my MC being a 'dense Japanese character' when his race is actually Southeast Asian, his romance develops in the course of the story, and he just don't like to assume things). And likewise, not all my defenses are objective relative to the story.

The key here is learn to distinguish constructive criticism over those that were influenced by readers' biases.
Well, "dense Japanese character" is more of a character type that they actually being Japanese. It is called Japanese because it is so common in Japanese webnovels/anime/manga/light novel/movies/games that the name stuck to it. Take it like this. Do you know Mickey Mousing? It is a film technique where the actions are synchronized to the music. Just because the name has "Mickey Mouse" in it doesn't mean it literally applies only to Mickey Mouse or Disney general.

And, reviews, they are always biased. One would say that this character is annoying, another would say the same character is well written and another would say that this same character is uninteresting. All of these are just opinions and they are true (except when they are trolling you) to the reviewer who makes it. They do find this character annoying, well written or uninteresting.

I think the better way is to see why they have these opinions. If this person says that the MC is being a 'dense Japanese character' then you to ask why they think so. There might be some insight there. Maybe you failed to show your character's personality correctly or emphasize on the wrong traits. Maybe the character interactions are very much like a typical "dense Japanese character" interactions. At least, a deeper look at your story is not a bad thing to do even, if you still don't get why his opinions is this way.
 
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