Skip to main content

6 things that readers dislike




I am a multi-genre author and thrillers are my favorite genre. Being on another side, as a reader and reviewer (only when I pick the book) I discovered things that readers dislike.

I was reading about 150 books by indie authors. Partly to improve my English and writing style, and partly because I love reading, I was on a journey with interesting views.

This is my opinion and some will not agree with me, but you can comment and express your opinion.





Here is the list of book turn-offs:

Prolonged books. I understand some authors want to tell the story with many details, but the plot is lost if you are stuck with too many descriptions and unimportant things. Reading a thriller that is stuck with a love story in the middle will distract readers. In the end, you have a messy book where the content is not clear.

Mixed genres. Ok, if I am reading a thriller, I don't want to spoil it with a sleazy love story, about the wedding plans of the main characters. Sugarcoating is not good. A good example is Nora Roberts who is writing thrillers, but they are ruined with romantic elements.

Repeating some sentences. Once I read a book where the sentence "his brow furrowed" was mentioned about 20 times. My brow furrowed because of it.

Absence of logic. When you write a book, be careful to check the facts. Everyone has Google research. You can't know some expert things, and if you mention in the book that someone died from a disease that is not lethal, check it carefully. 

Copy content. Did you ever read a story it looks so familiar? I am very sensitive to originality. If an author is stealing ideas, I don't like it. A bad original is better than a good copy.

The author request readers for excellent reviews. Believe it or not, some authors will demand 5 stars reviews, and readers will not have a choice. 


Reading a book is an exciting journey and readers will dive into it. If I start to get bored, I can't finish the book. A smooth, fast, and dynamic read are my favorite.

Comments

JanisL said…
Thanks for your views. Great food for thought.

Popular posts from this blog

Should we respond to negative reviews?

Recently I had a discussion in my social media about negative ratings. There was a situation in Goodreads, where I got two negative reviews on my two books. The point was in the way how the ratings were set up. First rating for my book "Body in the waves" was placed under 5-star review from another reviewer. While the reviewer praising my book, the troll came under to say "This is really bad book." Second rating was described as " Poor author needs writing lessons." Both reviews broke standards of reviewing, because there is no visible evidence that book was downloaded in Kindle unlimited or purchased. It was a clear troll act from a new page, without a profile photo and with a nickname. I reported this to Goodreads and they responded me they are processing this. Meanwhile, I heard from other authors that Goodreads failed to do anything about trolling.  In these terms, Goodreads should delete such profiles and forbid the access because of breaking rules. T...

Swapping books - a devil's deal

  "I will read your book if you read and review mine." This is an example of author's deal when it comes time for reviews. Reviews is hard to get. If you sell books, it is still not guarantee you will get reviews. If I could get a review for every book I sold, it would be great. People will buy book to collect it on the shelves and leave it un-read. Or, they will read but not rate it. Many reasons are for not getting reviews, but some people don't know where and how to write reviews or are not eligible. That is the reason why authors will turn to other authors, with a proposition for review. The danger of such review is on Amazon rules: author can't review other's author books on request. I love to read indie authors and they inspire me, but I have my circle and I never accept offers to read someone I never heard about. Once I got a proposition :" Hey, I saw your review for XX author, can you write it for me, too?" I ignored it. When you have a deal ...

Why is refund damaging indie authors?

I understand someone can be disappointed with a book. It is like I was disapointed with my trousers online and returned it. What makes a difference, my trousers were 40 euros. The book was 2.49 cents. This makes return funny, because what can you do with this money? Some readers don't understand story behind the refund. The author will get minus royalties. - 0.13 c in my Kindle report, that will vanish when someone else buy the book. The situation happens. Someone accidentaly clicked and bought a book. A random customer wants a refund. Maybe it was not a random move. Maybe the customer clicked, bought and did not like the book. When you don't like the book choose another options, instead of damaging authors. Write a negative review. Write negative one star rating. Don't purchase another books from this author. Or, maybe to reconsider and read it, again? If you write negative reviews or rate it with 1 or 2 stars, you are making a favor to authors. You are moving algorithms i...