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

[AkalE]

so this is what a derailed thread look like!!!

 

[XianPiete]

My take on reviews? I think they serve no positive purpose. I wish that Tony allowed authors here to select whether they want to have reviews and the star system attached to their work. I know that I would never opt-in for them. If people read something they don't like in my story they can leave a comment.

 

[GDLiZy]

My take on reviews? I think they serve no positive purpose. I wish that Tony allowed authors here to select whether they want to have reviews and the star system attached to their work. I know that I would never opt-in for them. If people read something they don't like in my story they can leave a comment.

Ah... yes, to live in a bubble that no one can rate your work.

 

[XianPiete]

Ah... yes, to live in a bubble that no one can rate your work.

Not sure what you mean here. I guess that means I have to go rate all your works negatively on the off chance you meant it in a negative context.

And yes, that has happened to me here before which is why I don't care for the star system or the review system here on the site. If someone would like to point out something the didn't like, didn't understand, or would just like to say that they loved, I would rather it was a comment. That's not living in a bubble where no one can rate your work, that's asking that it be specific and hopefully a dialog.

Someone lazily throwing a star on a story or leaving a review after skimming one chapter or even the synopsis of an unfished story isn't rating anyone's work.

 

[AkalE]

Not sure what you mean here. I guess that means I have to go rate all your works negatively on the off chance you meant it in a negative context.

And yes, that has happened to me here before which is why I don't care for the star system or the review system here on the site. If someone would like to point out something the didn't like, didn't understand, or would just like to say that they loved, I would rather it was a comment. That's not living in a bubble where no one can rate your work, that's asking that it be specific and hopefully a dialog.

Someone lazily throwing a star on a story or leaving a review after skimming one chapter or even the synopsis of an unfished story isn't rating anyone's work.

You could just not bother about them. Engage your readers in the comment section instead.

But to have an option to disable review and rating seems counterproductive. Its like channels on youtube with comments turned off. They usually get less traffic than others.

 

[XianPiete]

Its like channels on youtube with comments turned off. They usually get less traffic than others.

So wanting comments instead of anonymous star ratings is like having comments turned off in your mind. Good talk.

 

[GDLiZy]

Not sure what you mean here. I guess that means I have to go rate all your works negatively on the off chance you meant it in a negative context.

And yes, that has happened to me here before which is why I don't care for the star system or the review system here on the site. If someone would like to point out something the didn't like, didn't understand, or would just like to say that they loved, I would rather it was a comment. That's not living in a bubble where no one can rate your work, that's asking that it be specific and hopefully a dialog.

Someone lazily throwing a star on a story or leaving a review after skimming one chapter or even the synopsis of an unfished story isn't rating anyone's work.

Sure, do it. Not like the system won't remove those spammy 1-star ratings.

Accept that someone rated it and move on or tried to get better. You don't close your eyes and ears with the excuse of "1-star rating is just hate". The spammed ratings are removed by the system if they detected them.

If they read one chapter and rate it 1-star, guess what? It's your writing that sucks enough for them to rate it 1-star. The agent of traditional publisher also read merely one page of the work before deciding to drop or read more, too. As long as it's not a spam, it's a valid input.

 

[XianPiete]

Sure, do it. Not like the system won't remove those spammy 1-star ratings.

Accept that someone rated it and move on or tried to get better. You don't close your eyes and ears with the excuse of "1-star rating is just hate". The spammed ratings are removed by the system if they detected them.

If they read one chapter and rate it 1-star, guess what? It's your writing that sucks enough for them to rate it 1-star. The agent of traditional publisher also read merely one page of the work before deciding to drop or read more, too. As long as it's not a spam, it's a valid input.

Not sure why my opinion has you so fired up, it's not like you get paid from Tony's page if another star is posted. I just don't want, like or need the star system or a rating system on my work. You are welcome to love them.

 

[GDLiZy]

Not sure why my opinion has you so fired up, it's not like you get paid from Tony's page if another star is posted. I just don't want, like or need the star system or a rating system on my work. You are welcome to love them.

Well I take all discussion seriously.

It’s just that your suggestion will do more harm than good the the credibility of the site. Option to disable review hurt the site as a whole.

 

[weakwithwords]

Of the couple of hundred novels I have skimmed for later perusal or currently following and more or less reading regularly, not even two or three dozens have reviews. Majority of those reviews are superficial enough to might as well have been written in the comments section.

The rating stars are pretty much like banner ads. Neither truly helps me determine what I want as a reader or a consumer. They are just attractive distractions.

Commenters can be limp noodles or aggressive hounds. Still better than a bramble bush rolling in the background.

 

[ForestDweller]

Well, stories in SH, are mostly mediocre. It is flooded with it. I even think mediocre stories thrive in SH where they would fail in other platforms.

I've been wondering about this actually. All the trending stories seem to be pretty good on this site. And if you're talking about the site as a whole, well, RR has mostly mediocre stuff as well. Not to mention Wattpad which has the most amount of garbage on it.

 

[Ace_Arriande]

It’s just that your suggestion will do more harm than good the the credibility of the site. Option to disable review hurt the site as a whole.

Honestly, I think it'd be fine to allow authors to disable ratings/reviews/stars for their fiction, if choosing to disable such also removes them from trending and rankings and such. This way, the people who are doing it purely for fun who don't care about that don't have an advantage over the people trying to treat it more professionally. Their only visibility would essentially be from searching for tags or latest updates. Their friends or few readers would still know about their stories, but they wouldn't be visible enough to hurt the site's credibility.

 

[Ral]

I've been wondering about this actually. All the trending stories seem to be pretty good on this site. And if you're talking about the site as a whole, well, RR has mostly mediocre stuff as well. Not to mention Wattpad which has the most amount of garbage on it.

Well, what is good really depends on you.

To me the trending stories here are just not interesting. I've tried reading some of them and they are poorly done in many ways. The storytelling specially is kinda meh. I understand why they are popular though.

Wattpad . . . I really don't like that site. What happened to it?

Taken as a whole, I subscribe to Sturgeon's Law: 90% of everything is garbage. So wherever you go, most of the content would be garbage. The important thing thought is how you could find the good ones, or at least the ones that you would enjoy (things are subjective after all). How the platform helps you with this task. SH is kinda poor at this. I mean look at the Similar Series feature.

Though, RoyalRoad, Webnovel and pretty much any other platforms aren't particularly good either but they have more tools and features that do try to help you although some of these tools and features are detrimental instead (looking at you Wattpad).

 

[Assurbanipal_II]

Well, what is good really depends on you.

To me the trending stories here are just not interesting. I've tried reading some of them and they are poorly done in many ways. The storytelling specially is kinda meh. I understand why they are popular though.

Wattpad . . . I really don't like that site. What happened to it?

Taken as a whole, I subscribe to Sturgeon's Law: 90% of everything is garbage. So wherever you go, most of the content would be garbage. The important thing thought is how you could find the good ones, or at least the ones that you would enjoy (things are subjective after all). How the platform helps you with this task. SH is kinda poor at this. I mean look at the Similar Series feature.

Though, RoyalRoad, Webnovel and pretty much any other platforms aren't particularly good either but they have more tools and features that do try to help you although some of these tools and features are detrimental instead (looking at you Wattpad).

You seem like a critical spirit. I would be interested to see your reading list. Can you recommend something?

 

[Ral]

You seem like a critical spirit. I would be interested to see your reading list. Can you recommend something?

I can't really recommend you anything. I have two in my reading list and they aren't really that good. They are there more because they use the tropes I quite enjoy.

I'm still kinda searching. Reading stories here and there, dropping them and continue looking. It still kinda fun going through and surfing through these stories. They do have interesting ideas and whatnot.

 

[Assurbanipal_II]

I can't really recommend you anything. I have two in my reading list and they aren't really that good. They are there more because they use the tropes I quite enjoy.

I'm still kinda searching. Reading stories here and there, dropping them and continue looking. It still kinda fun going through and surfing through these stories. They do have interesting ideas and whatnot.

Oh, I don't search for actual recommendations. I am just interested in what you read in order to better understand where you come from. A reading list says a lot about people.

 

[MajorKerina]

Reviews are cool but I am still jazzed that I got a reflection comment which was like 500+ words long about how a reader felt emotionally crushed by how the story ended and gave a mix of nitpicks and things they enjoyed. Even though they were upset, that kind of engagement and willingness to write that much about their feelings helped me learn and grow.

But my feelings about reviews are be respectful to the author but be willing to point things that didn't work for you and your sincere thoughts. A glowing review of only a handful of quick words is fun but doesn't really give me anything to work with as a writer for the future.