UPDATE: I've added a new post detailing the outcome of the issue here.
The Situation
I got my first one-star review for Balance yesterday. I feel congratulations are in order.
Actually, I'd be fine with the one-star review, if it had anything at all to do with the book.
Instead, it is from a user who is apparently frustrated with the way his kindle is functioning, and he says that he is unable to read my book because it hurts his eyes. The problem is, the review reads as though it's the formatting of the book that's causing the issue, not the device itself. From what I understand (and I'm pretty technical, but I don't know everything), this simply isn't possible.
(You can read the review here if you'd like)
That's the windup. Here's the pitch.
The Numbers
March Sales (U.S.)
| Purchased | Returned | P-R | Borrowed (Select) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 967 | 20 | 947 | 52 |
April 01 Sales (U.S.)
| Purchased | Returned | P-R | Borrowed (Select) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 33 | 0 | 33 | 6 |
That's before the one-star review. An average of 32 books per day sold or borrowed. I'm super happy with that, no complaints at all.. it's beyond what I ever expected.
April 02 Sales (U.S.)
| Purchased | Returned | P-R | Borrowed (Select) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 46 | 0 | 46 | 8 |
The Results
That's the cumulative total. If you do the math, its 15 books sold or borrowed, the day the one-star review hit (it was published at 1 am PST). I've been tracking daily totals, and the lowest I've had in the six weeks prior was 23. Also, Tuesday is typically one of my BEST sales days. I understand that there is an ebb and flow, and I'm pretty content with 15, but it irks me to think that this review could be crashing my sales at all. Like I said, it would be one thing if it was actually about the book, but since it's about the device the reader was trying to read the book on...
Conjecture
A few of thoughts on HOW it could be affecting sales.
1.Visual star-rating went from 4 1/2 stars (4 filled, 1 half-filled), to 4 stars.. There's one big ole' empty star staring out at viewers who see the book in a list. It's at 4.2 overall.. point one more and I'd have that little halfie back :)
2.Star rating affects position in recommendation que (I don't know if this is true)
3.Viewers read the review and think my book is formatted incorrectly, and they're going to have trouble reading it
Conclusion
It could just be a coincidence; it's only one day after all. At the same time, I'm an analytical sort of fellow, so I couldn't help but analyze.
In the end, I'm left waiting in the hopes that a few more positive reviews will push it out of sight for the majority of users, and blogging about it so I can get other people's thoughts on the whole situation, and maybe make some lemonade out of the lemon.
Do you think that's the right thing to do? Have you had a similar experience? Do you have any advice, or other thoughts? Please share.