Encouraging folks to do more reviews

[Drew]

I'm very interested in writing reviews, I just have a hard time finding / making the time to do it right. I have one review to my credit, but its no longer in the system because the product got updated (and thus my review was rendered meaningless).

That said, I have two reviews in progress. The first is just waiting for me to finish it. The second is waiting for me to use the product in play before I formulate my opinions. I should have the two posted up soon.

I'd be very willing to do reviews in exchange for free product, and I think its perfectly reasonable for a reviewer to accept such. I don't see it as payment or a bribe, but a means to provide the reviewer with the neccessary materials. It IS a nice perk to receive a cool product in exchange for a review, but I would never let that bias me. And honestly, who would? If a company sent you a steaming pile of crap for free, would you be compelled to tell everyone it was gold just because it didn't cost you anything? Who wants bad product (free or otherwise)?

 

[Eosin the Red]

I have written 20'ish reviews here and on RPG.net (depending on content) and I like to do reviews but dislike it when I don't like the product. It is hard to find a polite way to say "this sucks" and when I spend 2 hours looking and thinking about what the good points of a particular product might be - I come to the sobering realization that I am wasting my time.

Now, as to how to get additional reviews:

1. Look for people who have reviewed similar products and offer them a comp copy for a review (rather than being unethical, comp copies are the standard).
2. Post a request in the publishers forum and on RPG.net.
3. Establish a relationship with a frequent reviewer - maybe they won't review the first 3 products that you send them but if you keep up an exchange and it is friendly then eventually they will start reviewing your products (or tell you why they won't).
4. Watch for reviewers to post a "Anyone need a review" topic. I did so about 6 months ago and ended up being buried in material.

That is my 2 pennies.

 

[diaglo]

Also, if I don't like a book I can usually tell within a few pages and a quick thumb through. That was my biggest problem before, realizing right away that a product just was not for me made it a lot more difficult to slog through and do a review.

i try and hold judgement until i've convinced myself i've done a thorough job. i realize sometimes it is hard.

diaglo "still currently playtesting 1edADnD since 1979" Ooi
edit: and i still feel that a true peer review means not getting a freebie.

 

[Rodrigo Istalindir]

I buy very few RPG products when they first come out, and it's often the official and unofficial reviews here that prompt me to buy. When a product has already been talked about extensively, I don't often feel that I have much to contribute. Also, while I am a pretty good proofreader when I want to be, I don't like reading RPG books like it's someone's masters thesis. Minor errors in statblocks and such are going to slip past me because they don't concern me that much. Given how uptight some people around here get about that, I'm not sure how useful my reviews would be.

 

[Hand of Evil]

If I was capable of writing a review (even spelling) I would, reviews are harder to do than I ever thought, it is right up there next to dialog for me. :\

 

[John Cooper]

Rodrigo Istalindir: Minor errors in statblocks and such are going to slip past me because they don't concern me that much. Given how uptight some people around here get about that, I'm not sure how useful my reviews would be.

You need not concern yourself about that. Every reviewer has his or her own unique spin on a product. Some, like me, place stat block accuracy and proofreading/editing very high on thier list of importance, while other really don't care about such things. Over time, people learn what's important to the individual reviewers, and can "tune out" what they aren't personally concerned about. I'm sure quite a lot of people who read my reviews skip right over my "unofficial errata" section, because that really doesn't concern them, and they likewise "translate" my final review score by removing any effect poor monster stats might have had on the rating I arrived at. And that's perfectly fine. Go ahead and review in your own style, and don't worry about whether your style matches that of other reviewers.

Plus, from personal experience, you're not likely to get "heckled" for not pointing out errors in stat blocks. Quite the opposite, in fact.

 

[Yair]

So I'm curious, what can publishers do to encourage to folks to write reviews? In the past I tried contests, where the first 5 people to review a book would get a free copy of another product, but a few posters suggested that was unethical, since it would encourage people to write reviews without fully considering the product, and that it seemed like bribery.

Do you have any suggestions? Does anyone feel a hankering to go out and do some reviews?

I want to do more reviews but, as was said above, I lack the time. I also haven't read many of my books/pdfs with the scrutiny I do when I'm writing a review, so don't feel I can review them properly without even more time. (Of course, I can't review products I don't own - such as the two you want reviewed.) All of this isn't really helping, I know.

I write reviews mainly when I disagree with the current reviews or want to expose an unreviewed work for excellence or abysmal failure.

I think the best course of action for a publisher is simply to ask for reviews. If a publisher says "hey, this work hasn't been reviewed yet, does anyone want to do it?" I'm far more likely to review it. If I had bought any of the two products mentioned by you in your post, I'll be probably be working on their review right now.
Another thing that might, tangently, increase reviews is to say thanks & link from the company site, especially for larger companies that actually see a lot of traffic to their site and have fans.
I don't believe giving review copies is out of line, but giving other works or rewards is.

I have no idea what affect, if any, reviews have on sales. I suspect they have little effect for cheaper products and more effect for more expensive products. Cheap pdfs are simply not affected (basing my opinion on stuff Phil Reed said here), but things like a 40$ pdf or PC-Generation or online-game program will probably be significantly affected. (Print products are, by their nature, less affected.)

 

[JoeBlank]

You need not concern yourself about that. Every reviewer has his or her own unique spin on a product. Some, like me, place stat block accuracy and proofreading/editing very high on thier list of importance, while other really don't care about such things. Over time, people learn what's important to the individual reviewers, and can "tune out" what they aren't personally concerned about. I'm sure quite a lot of people who read my reviews skip right over my "unofficial errata" section, because that really doesn't concern them, and they likewise "translate" my final review score by removing any effect poor monster stats might have had on the rating I arrived at. And that's perfectly fine. Go ahead and review in your own style, and don't worry about whether your style matches that of other reviewers.

Plus, from personal experience, you're not likely to get "heckled" for not pointing out errors in stat blocks. Quite the opposite, in fact.

I'm one of those who does not delve into stat blocks, and minor errors there probably escape me even when I use them in game.

Besides, everyone else can skip worrying about stat block and proofing errors and just wait for John's review anyway. If you try to do a thorough job, he is likely to come along and put you to shame for the things you missed.

Not a knock on you John, take it as a compliment. I think you have corned the market on this style of review.

 

[diaglo]

the reviews i did took a lot of time as i said i like to be thorough.

unlike message boards, you have to make all of your points very clear. as you don't have time to go back and clarify later.

so every point you want to make should be covered.

i put page numbers for mechanics. i put references to other editions. i put historical references and suggested reading/movies (nonfiction and fiction). i put everything in i could think would be important to someone like me reading it.


and i only reviewed... Hero builder's Guidebook and Stronghold Builder's guidebook here.
my reviews were almost longer than the books.

but someone decided to remove them.

if the reviewers aren't interested in a review from me then i won't provide one. i've got better things to do with my time.

 

[Gilladian]

I wrote reviews professionally for a few years - I'm a librarian and I wrote for a magazine (VOYA) that reviews YA materials for librarians and teens.

The way it worked there was that the journal received free (frequently prepub) copies of books from the publishers - and they then distributed those copies to reviewers. When you chose to do reviews for VOYA, you specified areas of interest for reviewing. Naturally, I chose to review Fantasy/SF among other things (science books particularly). The journal staff selected materials for the reviewer based on their stated preferences. Then you had a set deadline to review by. And a few weeks or months later you received a published copy of the title you had reviewed as a thank-you.

And once or twice a year, Voya would send extra copies of books out to their reviewers as an additional reward - because I worked for a library and wrote my reviews at work, I always donated all those books to the library.

If ENWORLD really wants to get good, consistent reviews on products, it might behoove them to set up an official reviewers membership and deliberately solicit prepub materials from publishers to give to reviewers. It would probably take a fair amount of coordination and time, though.

Gilladian