A Great Way to Get Sacked
Thursday, December 13, 2007 at 12:05 It was too good to last! The unbroken run of 16 five-star reviews on amazon.co.uk of my book “Do It Tomorrow” has been followed by a review that only gives it one star (the minimum).
Entitled “A Great Way to Get Sacked” the reviewer R. Lakey gives some trenchant criticisms of the book without, it appears, actually having bothered to read it - since all his (her?) points are fully covered in the book.
Amazon now allows comments on reviews, so I have pointed this out. And so can you, if you’ve read the book and can’t understand what he’s talking about. Of course if you agree with him you can say that too!
Mark Forster
Amazon has now removed the review, since I had reported it as “defamatory”. They didn’t ask me why I thought it was defamatory, but I guess words like “idiotic” and “balmy” used by the reviewer probably made the case for me!
Also the book has now gained another 5-star positive review, making a straight run of 17 in total.
Reader Comments (15)
I use Amazon a lot. I'd trust a 17-strong 4.99 more than a 5.0. And I'd check out the one negative.
Anyone doing the same will see your response and give his negative review the respect (cough, cough) it deserves.
That 1-star review did you a great favor. It was written without much punctuation or formatting, and gave you the opportunity to respond. I bet its net effect will be to increase sales.
P.P.S. That review gave you a blog post, too! Will the dividends never end?
I've ordered your book precisely because of the review R. Lakey posted on Amazon UK. That might sound paradoxical but I believe that confronting different point of views often yields to a better overall understanding. After reading Mrs Davis' comment to Mr/Mrs Lakey's critism I decided to read the book.
Of course that reader used a strongly negative title and one unfortunate word ("idiotic"). I would attribute that to a "Stimulus-response" behavior. But I believe it would have been better to edit, not delete, Mr/Mrs Lakey's review because many people will have the same kind of reaction to some of the book's recommendations (notably : do not prioritize by importance).
Again, argumented comments to that review would have added value to the understanding of the books general principles, IMHO,
Thanks for this blog. I am looking forward to read your book.
Arnaud, Paris.
P.S.: Sorry for the English. Not my mother-tongue.
Yes, I think you are probably right - though editing someone else's comment is not an option that Amazon gives - I rather regret now having had the comment removed. But the truth is that I wanted to see what would happen if I pressed the "Report as Defamatory" button!
I hope you enjoy the book.
I think you touched a nerve with that negative reviewer. Methinks he doth protest too much. He's probably stressed and overwhelmed with his unmanageable to-do list, and would have thrown a cranky tantrum at anyone offering sensible suggestions.
If ever another ad hominem negative review pops up, I think you should keep it (unless it is obscene or abusive.)
People often judge favorably when something is irrationally criticized.
When an author responds (well), he is transformed from "author" to a real person in potential buyers' imaginations.
I hope that guy gets a vacation and a chance to calm down, and that your book sales never do.
I have had several bad colds and associated chest/ear infections this winter. Thanks to this book, I have not missed a beat in my "management" activities, and have hit the ground running once recovered. Of course my productivity fell due to these illnesses, but I kept my inbox clean and I can pick up all my tasks where I left them.
On a daily basis I now have better incoming/outgoing task flow, remember and hold in mind where each of my projects stand, am less resistant to "cold calls" and initiating new projects or communications, have a tidy and organised office, am plowing through a long backlog list, and have somehow managed to prioritise everything in my head even though this issue is not addressed in the book. My trick for this is simply to have a large email folder called "projects" with different folders for different projects, with a number indicating priority at the start of the name "1 project XY", "4 project YZ" etc. The priorities fluctuate with time and I can then change just the number to reflect this.
Thank you Mr Forster!
Personally, I look at the overall balance of reviews on the web and 1 bad one wouldn't dissuade me if there were 17 good ones.
No, I didn't ask for the review to be removed because I didn't like it. I asked for it to be removed because it was defamatory. In other words it said negative things about my book and about me which were not just a matter of opinion - they were factually untrue. There's a big difference.
:o)
I think he meant to write "barmy".
You aren't missing much by not seeing the article. It actually sounded much like an adolescent trying to sound like a *critical* adult. His mild ravings actually made me feel some pity for him....His ill-conceived rantings were baseless and obviously foolishly presented....but so much so that you couldn't really laugh at him....because it was actually sort of pitiful. (He obviously didn't read the book AT ALL!) He wasn't trying to be humerous or even rational! He was, simply put, spewing out baseless rantings! That's the only way I can describe it. Noone over the age of eight would even consider it for a nanosecond.
learning as I go