Funny Email From a Publisher re. Reviews

[seankreynolds]

:: sigh ::

Well, that's just strange. If you're that miffed about negative reviews, just do what the movie companies do: use ellipses to make a bad review sound like a good one! Most people won't know that the quote "Holy crap ... I can't believe it ... this book is great" comes from a review that actually says "Holy crap! That's what this book is. I spent $5 on this 320-page hardcover and I feel cheated, I can't believe it. I guess if you run out of toilet paper, this book is great. Otherwise, don't bother."

(Note: The above is not a review of any Avalanche book ... I haven't even _read_ any of their books, so I'm not making any comments on their book quality.)

Anyway, when dealing with reviews, I have to remember something Monte said long ago back in Lake Geneva, WI: "Good reviews count double."

Focus on the good reviews, learn from the bad reviews. And hopefully your next book will do better.

 

[Morrus]

Why bother? There are plenty of companies that stinks, just look at Microsoft Corporation. As long as these guys write good material, I will use it, no matter what this salesman people person writes in his emails...

Absolutely! This is not about their products. This is merely about the validity of reviews of their products. It doesn't even mean that the reviews are all biased - just that people should bear that in mind when reading the reviews.

If you don't use reviews to make purchasing decisions, then this whole thing doesn't apply to you.

 

[Toscadero]

Avanlanche stated in their e-mail, "A customer who has paid for the product has every right to complain as much as they want about the product, and its value. Someone who got it for free does not reserve such judgement."

I always thought that it was a reviewer's job to give an honest opinion of the item being reviewed. Talking about the product's value for your dollar is part of the review. It should be reviewed in such a way to be informative to the reader. I'm not getting the product for free so I want to know if I'm getting bang for my buck. Whether the reviewer got the product for free or paid his own hard cash for it should not be a consideration when he is rating it for the consumer.

When Avalanche says that they will continue to provide free copies to other sites (which I also read), they imply that that is only as long as they are happy with the reviews. I had been considering some of their product after reading reviews both from this site and others. If Avalanche wants to play favorites with reviewers that is their decision. Not buying their products is my decision.

 

[Mialee]

Wow, makes this article I did earlier this year seem kind by comparison to the reviews and feedback they'll be receiving now...

http://www.enworld.org/nutkinland/fashion/plate001.htm

This whole fiasco reminds me of the time when...

...

...oh, wait, I'm mistaken. I've NEVER seen a comparable act of such jackassed forehead-smackworthiness.

Here's hoping they'll put down their copies of Cracked magazine and Swank so they can take a look here for a moment and see how much business they've lost.

 

[Wulf Ratbane]

...oh, wait, I'm mistaken. I've NEVER seen a comparable act of such jackassed forehead-smackworthiness.

Here's hoping they'll put down their copies of Cracked magazine and Swank...

DAMN but I love snarkiness in my women. ROFL.

On the strength of this post alone, Mialee has just usurped Lidda's spot in my heart.


Wulf

 

[Buttercup]

Well, I don't purchase products from Avalanche anyway, since the covers are so gratuitous. I just always assumed that any company that used covers like that probably wouldn't write material that would appeal to me. So it's no hardship for me to swear off them now.

I did want to reply to the 'Devil's Advocate' posts. If they didn't want to give out any more review copies to ENWorld staff reviewers, for whatever reason, the sensible way to go about that would have been merely to say, "I'm sorry, but we aren't giving out free products anymore. If that policy changes, we'll let you know." They would then have been able to keep their reasons private, and not appear to be unsavory. In publishing, it is standard practice to give out review copies, if you are going to give them, with no strings attached. They may be inexperienced enough not to have known this, or they may have been under the impression that review copies were a bribe of some sort.

And besides, a review score of 4,4,3,3,2,2 isn't so bad. Sure any company would want it to be higher, but I can think of more than one company on the reviews page whose average is much worse. The fact that they did get some good numbers should have shown them that the staff reviewers were not out to get them.

The whole thing is just perplexing. And inexcusable, IMNSHO.

 

[Crothian]

DAMN but I love snarkiness in my women. ROFL.

On the strength of this post alone, Mialee has just usurped Lidda's spot in my heart.


Wulf

I'l second that. And follow the link and read her reviews on those covers. Fantastic!!

 

[Selvarin]

Hmm, reviewers get to keep the copies? Dang. When I used to do occasional reviews (years and years ago) they'd send a book and I'd have to send it back afterwards.

Anyhow...perhaps the reaction from others will give Avalanche reason to reflect on how they think things are vs. the way it really works. There are some critics who will never be satisfied, just as some companies won't be happy unless the reviews go their way. However, if a reviewer gives good reasons for why something received a poor rating then it's hard for them to gripe.

Oh, and by the way...I've never purchased an Avalanche Press book. I'm a full-blooded male (and then some) but their choice of cover art turns me off completely. Jade & Steel is the perfect example. They may as well have airbrushed Betty Boop on the cover, it has little to do with the contents and it gave me a bad impression.

 

[Morrus]

Important update: Avalanche have now replied. I have posted this on the main site and also in the other thread in Gen Disc.:

Gentlemen,

I tried to send this shortly after I replied "no comment" to your past e-mail but have had e-mail trouble most of this day.

Having recovered from a tremendous bout of stupidity, I owe you a tremendous apology. The result of our recent conversations regarding reviews of our product on your web site was driven to this point by a ridiculous case of coincidence & mistaken identity. I take full responsibility, and you have my sincerest apologies. Please allow me to explain:

Back in March of this year, there was posted to a d20 review web site (off the top of my head I forget, but I will find the URL for you as proof of my statement) that we supported with review copies, a review of Black Flags. This review was quite unfavorable, and even went so far as to suggest to the reader to not purchase this product unless they could get it heavily discounted on e-bay or in a game store bargain bin. I am afraid that this is where I had to draw the line. A bad review is one thing, basically telling people not to buy our product is ridiculous - especially since we were of the opinion that this was our very best d20 product to date. The mistaken identity stems from the fact that this reviewer's name is also Simon, and his last name also begins with the letter "C." This is made worse by the fact that this reviewer also uses a 1-5 scale of grading a product, and gave Black Flags a 2, as well. I was foolish to immediately associate this bad review with Simon's review, without first going back to read what you said about Black Flags. I write this letter today, because I did go back to re-read your review, and apologize for my error.

Simon, while I may not always agree with the opinions you have expressed in your reviews, you have never told your readers to not buy our product. While I may not always agree with your opinion of our books, your reviews have always been objective, balanced in their criticism, and fair in judgement. I apologize that I associated your name with this other reviewer.


Furthermore, I apologize to all of the staff at ENWorld for making unwarranted statements about your review practices. I do not in any way perceive a complimentary review copy as a bribe for a favorable review. I began my career in this industry as a reviewer for Space Gamer/Fantasy Gamer Magazine, and Shadis Magazine, so I am angry with myself that I even made such a statement in the first place. With so many products out there to review, we do appreciate that you take the time to review our products so thoroughly.

Gentlemen, this situation has been an unfortunate accident (misidentification of the reviewer & web site), and a lesson in poor research on my part. Again, I do apologize for the inconvenience. Avalanche Press is totally in favor of re-establishing our relationship with ENWorld. I do realize that we are currently at the mercy of your good graces, but if you are still interested supporting Avalanche Press products, we are still in favor of supporting ENWorld.

I thank you in advance for your prompt attention to this matter, and look forward to hearing from you very soon. If there is anything else I can do for you, please feel free to contact me anytime.

Sincerely,

Marcelo A. Figueroa
Sales Manager
Avalanche Press, Limited
"Walk with heroes."

 

[Ashtal]

I did want to reply to the 'Devil's Advocate' posts. If they didn't want to give out any more review copies to ENWorld staff reviewers, for whatever reason, the sensible way to go about that would have been merely to say, "I'm sorry, but we aren't giving out free products anymore. If that policy changes, we'll let you know." They would then have been able to keep their reasons private, and not appear to be unsavory. In publishing, it is standard practice to give out review copies, if you are going to give them, with no strings attached. They may be inexperienced enough not to have known this, or they may have been under the impression that review copies were a bribe of some sort.

Exactly. I don't think Morrus, or any of us here who have reacted negatively to this exchange, would have cared one way or the other if they had simply said, "Hey, we're not able to send out review copies," and left it at that. That was what they should have done.

But instead they made a point of saying that people who do not pay for the item do not deserve to criticize them, something completely against the whole point of reviewing. Do people not let Ebert into a movie screening, because he gave the director's previous movie a bad review? No - you put out your product and you take it, good and bad, and work with the good, improve the bad. The position is assinine, and I am not surprised they aren't commenting on this matter because it's one hell of a P.R. hole they dug for themselves, especially over what appears to be a very broad range of ratings ... looks like a regular bell-curve of results to me! If we were talking nothing but a slew of 1's here, I could see taking umbrage ... but not those scores.

Edit: *after Morrus's post, which I didn't see until after I posted* Looks like they've found a way out of the hole.