An Ethical Dilemma

[silverscreenselect]

I'm really agonizing about this and I'm not positive what's the best thing to do.

I've been reviewing books (including Center Point) and other products on Amazon for several months and I've risen fairly high in their reviewer rankings (#7,431 currently). Within the last week, I've had two authors ask me specifically to review their books (I don't know either of them) and provided me with complimentary copies to review. I've just finished the first book and, to be honest, it's terrible. It's obviously self published, and the man doesn't know how to express himself coherently on paper. Almost every page has grammatical or stylistic mistakes or just plain sounds awkward. The story itself is routine, but it's impossible to concentrate on it because of the vast number of mistakes.

In all honesty, the only grade I can give this book is one star. In over a year, it's gotten only one other review, a five-star review that seems suspiciously like a friend of the author. However, I feel very bad about this because the guy approached me to write this review and seems like a nice, hard working guy. On the other hand, if I spent $4.99 for this book, I'd be extremely upset at throwing my money away and I'd really be upset if I found out someone else had read the book and refused to do a review because he felt bad for the author.

I'm leaning toward writing a straightforward one-star review, but sending him an e-mail afterwards explaining my thought processes a bit more and giving him some suggestions (the primary one of which is to check with a professional editor). This man is actually a film grip in New York City, who's done some work with independent films. I've seen one of his shorts and it's quite competent from a technical standpoint. I think this is the most professional way to go about reviewing this, but I wondered if anyone had any thoughts.

Thanks.

[mrkelley23]

When I have students approach me about writing letters of recommendation (not the same, for sure, but somewhat close), I will tell them either "Sure," or "You don't want me to write you a letter of recommendation." And then I tell them why. I think I would do this guy the same courtesy. Tell him that you can't review the book, and tell him why. For the savvy purchaser, a low number of reviews is just as telling as a large number of low reviews. If he still wants you to review it, do so, but give the honest 1-star review.

[Bob78164]

When I have students approach me about writing letters of recommendation (not the same, for sure, but somewhat close), I will tell them either "Sure," or "You don't want me to write you a letter of recommendation." And then I tell them why. I think I would do this guy the same courtesy. Tell him that you can't review the book, and tell him why. For the savvy purchaser, a low number of reviews is just as telling as a large number of low reviews. If he still wants you to review it, do so, but give the honest 1-star review.

Patent litigators see the same phenomenon sometimes. A client will ask you to write an opinion letter explaining why their product doesn't infringe some patent. Sometimes you end up going back to them to say, "I really don't think you want me to express my opinion on paper on this issue." --Bob

[BackInTex]

Be honest. Here's your response.

[Ritterskoop]

The character traits at play here are integrity, honesty and kindness.

You said you would do the thing, so you want to follow through. But to do so would be hurtful, and you don't want to be that person either.

I would write him back and say, "I've read your book, and I'm sorry to say I think your film work is much better than your writing. Before I post my review, I wanted to warn you that it is rather critical. I do want to post it, though, because part of the point of Amazon reviews is to help people find good stuff and to avoid not-so-good stuff."

Or like that, in your own words.

Mom says when we have a criticism, to sandwich it between bread slices of compliments. Open with, "I really liked your premise or hook or character X." Then you provide the meaty complaint that next time he needs to hire an editor or just a college student who can fix up the mechanical errors. Then you have to find another bread compliment, which really might be the film work.

This way we can express our criticisms without people feeling broadsided. But the compliment parts must be genuine, so good luck.

[Bob78164]

The character traits at play here are integrity, honesty and kindness.

You said you would do the thing, so you want to follow through. But to do so would be hurtful, and you don't want to be that person either.

I would write him back and say, "I've read your book, and I'm sorry to say I think your film work is much better than your writing. Before I post my review, I wanted to warn you that it is rather critical. I do want to post it, though, because part of the point of Amazon reviews is to help people find good stuff and to avoid not-so-good stuff."

Or like that, in your own words.

Mom says when we have a criticism, to sandwich it between bread slices of compliments. Open with, "I really liked your premise or hook or character X." Then you provide the meaty complaint that next time he needs to hire an editor or just a college student who can fix up the mechanical errors. Then you have to find another bread compliment, which really might be the film work.

This way we can express our criticisms without people feeling broadsided. But the compliment parts must be genuine, so good luck.

Here's the thing, though. He would never have read the book in the first place if the author hadn't requested a review. I think the request implies the unstated condition that the review be favorable.

It would be different if SSS would have read the book anyway, or if he'd been asked by some neutral to read and review the book. In that case, his silence could be construed as implicitly dishonest. But I think when you're asked by a partisan to express an opinion on an issue where otherwise you would have been silent, there's nothing wrong with saying you can't provide a favorable opinion so you'd rather say nothing at all. --Bob

[silverscreenselect]

The character traits at play here are integrity, honesty and kindness.

You said you would do the thing, so you want to follow through. But to do so would be hurtful, and you don't want to be that person either.

I would write him back and say, "I've read your book, and I'm sorry to say I think your film work is much better than your writing. Before I post my review, I wanted to warn you that it is rather critical. I do want to post it, though, because part of the point of Amazon reviews is to help people find good stuff and to avoid not-so-good stuff."

Or like that, in your own words.

Mom says when we have a criticism, to sandwich it between bread slices of compliments. Open with, "I really liked your premise or hook or character X." Then you provide the meaty complaint that next time he needs to hire an editor or just a college student who can fix up the mechanical errors. Then you have to find another bread compliment, which really might be the film work.

This way we can express our criticisms without people feeling broadsided. But the compliment parts must be genuine, so good luck.

Here's the thing, though. He would never have read the book in the first place if the author hadn't requested a review. I think the request implies the unstated condition that the review be favorable.

It would be different if SSS would have read the book anyway, or if he'd been asked by some neutral to read and review the book. In that case, his silence could be construed as implicitly dishonest. But I think when you're asked by a partisan to express an opinion on an issue where otherwise you would have been silent, there's nothing wrong with saying you can't provide a favorable opinion so you'd rather say nothing at all. --Bob

I appreciate all the comments but I'm somewhat leaning towards responding in the manner Ellen suggested. I do know that the standard disclaimer on Amazon when the author gives a free copy to a reviewer is "I was provided a complimentary copy of this book in exchange for an honest review." It seems to me that only writing a review if you believe the book is good is a form of bias which means that any reviews I actually write under these parameters is not "honest."

I hope I can hear from Vandal on this because I'm honestly not sure what the protocols are for requested reviews (since this is the first request I've had).

[Vandal]

I've dealt with hundreds of review sites in the last few months, trying to get reviews for Center Point and Haney Field in exchange for a free, electronic copy. Almost all of these sites have a Review Policy page stating that they'll either, a) give the book the rating it deserves, regardless, or b) not post the review if it is negative (less than 3 stars out of five).

For many, option b keeps the angry authors and their friends away and prevents flame wars. This has happened frequently on Goodreads, but not as much lately. Some reviewers make their mark by giving scathing, gif-filled reviews and then letting their "posse" jump all over it (like MBFBB jumping on a crappy promo).

There is nothing on your Amazon or Silver Screen site that indicates a review policy, so I would say you should post the honest one-star as Skoop suggested. If you intend to keep accepting review requests, then you should make your review policy known on your Amazon page in your About Me section (your Amazon site doesn't link to your new site yet, BTW). If not, then I don't think you have an ethical dilemma.

[silverscreenselect]

I've dealt with hundreds of review sites in the last few months, trying to get reviews for Center Point and Haney Field in exchange for a free, electronic copy. Almost all of these sites have a Review Policy page stating that they'll either, a) give the book the rating it deserves, regardless, or b) not post the review if it is negative (less than 3 stars out of five).

For many, option b keeps the angry authors and their friends away and prevents flame wars. This has happened frequently on Goodreads, but not as much lately. Some reviewers make their mark by giving scathing, gif-filled reviews and then letting their "posse" jump all over it (like MBFBB jumping on a crappy promo).

There is nothing on your Amazon or Silver Screen site that indicates a review policy, so I would say you should post the honest one-star as Skoop suggested. If you intend to keep accepting review requests, then you should make your review policy known on your Amazon page in your About Me section (your Amazon site doesn't link to your new site yet, BTW). If not, then I don't think you have an ethical dilemma.

Thanks for the information. I have updated by About Me area on Amazon.

[silverscreenselect]

An update, and thanks to everyone who gave me advice. I did notify the author before posting the review (which was one-star) and he thanked me anyway and was very happy to hear that I looked at one of the video shorts he had directed and complimented him on his moviemaking skills. I have a feeling I'm not the only person to tell him about his writing.

So, all's well that ends well.