A plea from me and no doubt other writers
 

Having monitored some of the reviews on Amazon and others, can I be allowed to say the following:

- If a book arrives damaged, it is not my fault but "Review" is what you thought of the book not the postal service or packing.
- If a book is described as a photo album book, don't criticize the author for not going into greater detail in the text. Photo book is just that with enhanced captions and an intro.
- I am no technical expert (unlike the likes of Mikael Olrog and others) which is why my books are described as "in combat" (something about which I do know something). I leave technical matters to the experts and stress this on the cover.

Re: A plea from me and no doubt other writers
 

Good points 1 and 2. The 3rd is a bit mixed issue for e.g. Helion's "Tigers in Combat 3" is, despite its name, highly technical in its content so perhaps someone might expect something similar from other similarly titled books...

Re: A plea from me and no doubt other writers
 

As for photo books, e.g. Joshua Stoff's book on American aircraft production is definitely a photo book, but thanks to very extensive captions, it has substantial text as well. Perhaps authors/publishers should consider having similar substantial captions as standard...

Re: A plea from me and no doubt other writers
 

Thanks Jukka-I knew you would rise to the challenge!

Re: A plea from me and no doubt other writers
 

Chris

Are you seriously saying that someone actually blamed you for receiving a damaged book from Amazon?

Unbelievable!! But as we use to say in Sweden. The last idiot has not been born yet....

Cheers
Stig

Re: A plea from me and no doubt other writers
 

Stig, it is very a very common occurrence among Amazon reviewers to give a 1-star review based on damaged condition, delayed delivery etc.

Re: A plea from me and no doubt other writers
 

I understand very well the "photo book with too many photos". Years ago I was at IPMS-Rio de Janeiro anual contest seated at the Editora Adler table wich had released my book. I remember when one guy told he didn´t liked the book "cos it has only photos... Wow, almost 20 years searching for rare and not published images was not good to him...

Re: A plea from me and no doubt other writers
 

Chris,

I suggest contacting amazon about the 'damaged books count as a review' issue. It is ridiculous but it will not change without complaints. I went looking for a book unrelated to history and saw several "reviews" where people posted photos of the damage on the copies they received.

Sometimes publishers are careful about the difference between a book with photos and captions and one with more detail. A few polite messages to the publishers appear to be in order.

I prefer books with a good balance of text and unpublished photos. The previously unpublished photos book is the winner between similar books. Unfortunately, to some book buyers, it is not their concern if the book took one year to write or 20.

Best,
Ed

Re: A plea from me and no doubt other writers
 

No matter what you do for your book, some one won't like it.

Re: A plea from me and no doubt other writers
 

Every kind of review, a book, a game, a plastic kit, a music, a movie or a tv series will not be 100% honest when the reviewer is unable to separate the technical aspects from his desire.