Thursday, April 19, 2012

Blogging from A to Z Challenge - April 2012 Letter "Q"


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Thursday, April 19th, 2012
Theme: Books and Blogging
Subject: Letter "Q"
Topic:  "Quality vs. Quantity"


With all these FREE or 99cents books out there, and there is an overabundance of them, I start to wonder whether or not I have quality books, or if I just have  quantity in my elibrary if and when I purchase these or grab them for free.
When I purchase a 99cents ebook or download a free one, (and this goes for ALL lower priced ebooks) I always make sure I read the synopsis and reviews on the book first to see if I may like it. This is where book reviews are SO important. 
If I see a book only has 2 or 3 reviews on it, I will click on each person's review, especially if the review is a short 2 or 3 liner and the review is generally 'generic' or 'vague'. When that happens, in my opinion, I believe the person who wrote that review is a friend, an associate, or is related to the author. Sure enough, when I click on the name of that person, they have written only '1' review in their entire history on Amazon. 
What does this tell me? That I am most likely correct in my assumption that  the reviewer's of that book IS a a friend, a business associate, or a family member who may not have even read the book. In this case, the author probably has not taken the time to request reviews from Book Reviewers/Bloggers and has taken the book directly to Amazon and put it on special first before requesting book reviews. 
WHY would an author commit 'Russian Roulette' like this with their writing career, and why do I say it is that? Because there is SO much riding on the book reviews that particular author does NOT have when . . . 
If you would like to read the rest of this article, please click on this link: http://www.lauriehere.blogspot.com/p/to-z-challengeblogging-april-2012.html OR click on the TAB above that say "Blogging from A to Z Challenge - April 2012".
PLEASE LEAVE A COMMENT! I WOULD LOVE FEEDBACK especially on this article! 
Thanks, and I'll see you tomorrow with the letter "R"!
Laurie

5 comments:

  1. I am a firm believer in reading reviews when making a 'blind' purchase and reviewing each book that I read. I like what you say about reviews being a help about determining if a book is a right fit.

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    1. Hi Sophie!
      Thanks for leaving a comment!! I'm SO glad! YES! I agree! There have been SO many times, BEFORE I found Book Blogs, that I have bought books ONLY based upon the back cover, got hoe and started reading and found out this story was NOT about what the back cover had said it was about. OR, it was what the back cover said it was, but SO MUCH was LEFT OUT! The books was NOT for me! Then I was angry at myself for spending SO much money on a book I will not read! Yes, reviews are SOOOO important! I don't know what I would do without then NOW!
      I have a story for you. The other day I went to Barnes and Noble to pick up my books to pass out for World Book Day, tomorrow, Monday, April 23rd!! Yeah!!!! I'm excited to see peoples's responses!
      Anyway, ALL I had in 'that' store was "The Book" to read the back cover and that was IT! HOW was I supposed to KNOW WHAT IT WAS ABOUT??? I didn't! BUT, I took MY KINDLE WITH ME!!! HA, HA, HA!!!!! I had a few employees looking at me!! LOL!!! I ONLY bought a spiral bound Crossword Puzzle book, which did not need reviews as I could tell "I" COULD solve them, and 2 other things - NOT BOOKS!!! I bought a Henna Tatoo Kit and a Tarot Card Kit for my daughter's birthday! That was IT! NO BOOKS!!!! While IN the store, I looked them up, read a few reviews and put them in my Wish List!!! LOLOLOL!!!!!
      However, I must say, that B&N was BARE! They did NOT have ALL the New Releases! They ONLY had 1 bookscase each of New Releases, each New Release covering 1 whole shelf for 4 separate categories. That was IT! Oh, besides 2 displays of New Releases. You could NOT walk into that store and purchase just ANY New Release if you wanted to!
      Plus, half the store was completely EMPTY!! Yes! They removed bookshelves! There was a HUGE area that was completely empty! There were a few college age kids there doing homework, that was IT! The amount of books IN the store was compromised as well.
      I hope we don't lose ANOTHER bookstore, but then again, THIS bookstore bankrupt ALL the other INDIE bookstores, so I'm 50/50 on this! I'm sorry to B&N, BUT, I sure WOULD LIKE TO SEE THE LITTLE GUYS BACK!!!
      Thank you for taking the tine to leave your comment! It means a LOT to have ANYONE take the TIME to LEAVE A COMMENT!!!
      Thank you!!!
      Laurie

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  2. This is a good reminder to take the time to review books on Amazon...thanks for the heads up, Laurie! Just stopping by from the Challenge...

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    1. Hi Jarm!
      Thanks SOOOO much for leaving a comment!!! I LOVE THEM!!!
      Yes! I could NEVER just buy a book without reading the reviews! Even if it were at a garage sale, I would have my Kindle 3G with me so I could look them up! HA!!! That's going a little to far, but . . . most people want a $1 a book, so . . . it adds up and I would MUCH rather buy a GREAT book than a not-so-hot book! I just replied to a comment ahead of yours saying I was at Barnes and Noble this last weekend to pick up my box for today's event WORLD BOOK DAY!!!!!!! YEAH!!!!!!!!!!!! April 23rd!!!!!!!!!i I'm SOOOO excited, as if you can't tell!!! It's just the 'thought' that the ENTIRE WORLD IS DOING THE SAME THING AT THE SAME TIME!!!!! We are ALL passing out DIVINE books ALL together!! Wow! Unbelievable! WHAT an event! To get MORE people reading! Drop a FREE book in their hands, NO strings attached book! You DON'T come across that very often at ALL!
      Back to what I was saying . . . OUR store has New Releases ON A TABLE now!! The store has been SO condensed! There are missing bookshelves intentionally, and I would say HALF THE STORE IS EMPTY!!! It's from the recession. NO ONE is buying books right now! NOR has been able to! If I had NOT Book Blog I would NEVER have been able to purchase ALL these books I get to read for review purposes! We could NEVER have afforded it! No wonder no one is purchasing books at that store! Being on Unemployment does NOT afford the luxury of books - beyond the library, IF you can get there. PLUS, that store DOES NOT discount their books AT ALL! Haven't they figured out by NOW that if they DON'T DISCOUNT THE PUBLISHER'S PRICE A LITTLE, THEN THEY WILL NEVER SELL THEM? People will just go to Amazon and buy the books! Plus, that 'impulse buying' they rely one, is NOT happening around where I live. People DON'T have the money.
      Our area was hit SO hard by the Recession/Depression(recession was 'just' another name for Depression!) as we had almost ALL auto manufacturing plants, mostly being auto parts. I really don't know "1" person who lives by me that it did NOT affect. So now that we are coming out of this, it WILL take a while.
      The store I was referring to. They DO NOT ALLOW YOU TO USE THEIR COMPUTERS TO LOOK UP REVIEWS AT ALL!!! Done Deal! NO! So ALL you have to rely on is the back of the book! NOPE! NOT FOR ME! I want my reviews! PEOPLE'S reviews!
      Thank you SO much for your comments! I really appreciate them!
      Yes! Keep reading reviews, everyone! Amazon, Goodreads! THOSE are THE places to go! IF you want to find a GREAT book!
      Take care and thanks again for the comment!
      Laurie

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  3. It's an interesting question, isn't it - how much price and actual value correlate. think about all the great classics that most people agree are amazing that we can just get for free nowadays.

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