Sheesshh! What’s a writer supposed to do? I uploaded my book ‘Death in Holy Orders’ onto the Kindle DP platform (it’s been there for just over six weeks). On the .com site I get a great review, 5*. The reviewer says-

5.0 out of 5 stars Morterilli---Amazing, January 6, 2012
By
Mike - See all my reviews
This review is from: Death in Holy Orders (Kindle Edition)
My first ever review,
Sometimes but not very often I am pleasantly surprised by the quality and readability of a new author (new to me that is). The story line is good, the characters are good, the pace of the storyline seems to flow like a well maintained classic car. My only query, how does this guy survive all of his adventures and mishaps? A five star read in my opinion.END

Then yesterday I received a 1* review on the .co.uk site

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

1.0 out of 5 stars Death in Holy Orders (the First Book in the Father Morterilli Historical Murder Mystery Series) by Merlin Lockey, 30 Jan 2012
By
Bridav - See all my reviews
This review is from: Death in Holy Orders (Kindle Edition)
Just plain awful in every respect. I bought this by mistake after downloading a sample. Gory, unpleasant, conjures up horrific images of maiming, torture, sadism, diseased and rotting bodies, rampaging rats, putrifaction. A rat coming out of an old woman dead plague victim's gumless mouth, popping its head out and sniffing round with a pink nose eg. Bloodthirsty dogs ripping people to pieces and eating them. Child eating demons, catacombs and endless human bones described, particularly nasty was the cardinal's death room with human shoulder blades framing an image of the crucifiction, just as rough examples. The ebook itself is full of typos and OCR errors, scrapping many times instead of scraping, eg.
I had a nightmare after reading just the first part of this book. 18 rated. For fans of corruption, putrefaction, pus and blood and animals eating people. Not for the faint hearted or discerning readers. The worst £5.14 I have ever spent, even by mistake! It will be deleted from my Kindle.END

Check it out for yourself- it’s genuine and still there. In fact they both are, genuine that is and still there.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B006K2586S
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B006K2586S

Now I can understand someone not liking my book. It’s not for every taste but then again I specifically put at the bottom of the product description ‘The book contains strong descriptions of sex and violence and is recommended for adult readers only’. (See below or at the website for cross reference)
My question is what more can you do as a writer? The title itself has ‘Death’ in it, not Father Morterilli rides around on a sweet pony smelling the spring flowers whilst falling in love with a pretty peasant girl who he gives up his vocation and marries so they live happily ever after. The tags are clear they say: horror, horror fiction, erotic and vampires (there aren’t any vampires but I didn’t create the tag and I can’t remove it).

Then the reviewer states that the text is FULL of typos and errors. Just to rub salt into the wound the reviewer castigates ALL of the text. I think that I can put my hand on my heart and say it isn’t FULL of the aforementioned.

I even priced it high because I thought that readers who think and read the product description and the title are going to think twice before spending their money.

Has this reader never read any James Herbert material? What about Stephen King? They tell me they had a nightmare after reading it- is that good or bad?

I like to write graphically, painting a picture as a story, letting the words create the effect in the readers mind. Should I stop? I noted the reviewer doesn’t mention the explicit sex scene at the end in the epilogue. Did they read it to the end?

What is a writer supposed to do? Your thoughts please, good or bad are welcome.

Product Description
Product Description
“They will come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ferocious wolves.” Matthew 7:15

'Secrets' - There are secrets here. Secrets hidden in the pages of a story depicting the life of a 17th century priest and Inquisitor. He finds answers to some questions but only in the enfolding of his and his companions lives can he find answers to most.

The secrets he discovers are not only relevant to his time but also to ours. Secrets of 'good and evil'. Secrets of how... Well I'll allow you to discover that for yourselves. But be aware, you have to know what questions to ask before you can possibly discover the answers and if you do they may change your understanding of life as you know it.

The book contains strong descriptions of sex and violence and is recommended for adult readers only.
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Thanks for that Jeffery!
Maybe I'm shouting in the face of a gale but both reviewers are unknown to me. I can't even give them an honest and decent reply. I don't engage in 'ghost/false' reviews. I prefer real feedback like I received here on YWO. In fact once again many thanks to all (and genuine) writers who reviewed 'Death in Holy Orders' (5000/62000 words). Some reviews were great, others gave more than a pause for thought, as is life. I simply found the swing from one extreme to the other strange and un-nerving.

Any review is worth it's weight in gold. Jeffrey's right in that the one star review is more informative. He bought your book, read it and reacted how he saw fit. You got a sale and will pocket the 70% royalty. The one star review will get you more sales than the five star review that tells a reader very little. At the price of five pounds odd, each sale will be a blessing. It's a very expensive price for a Kindle book by an unknown author. Just saying!

On edit: You can reply to your reviewer in the comments box under the review. "And, in the end, the love you take / Is equal to the love you make." Lennon and McCartney 1969

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Hi Dancingsue,
I initially put the book up as a free on the KDP Select and of course received no royalty, zilch, nothing! So I decided to turn it on its head and price at the top most allowed. Better 1 sale at 70% than 300 for nothing. I'm not convinced by the argument that I'm building a readership. I've read around on a variety of sites and it seems that many who download for free continue to do so as a pattern. Their not interested in paying for the sweat and effort it often takes to write. In addition, Select offers books to Prime members who pay to download x1 book per month from any and all in the programme. They pay $80 a year for this privilege and thus they don't 'borrow' books priced at $0.99 because it's not in their interest to do so. Hence the high price. Finally because this e-book is in the select programme till next month I'm obilged to sell it only on KDP thus there is a restriction of sales on other sites.

that's the mysteries of pricing for you.
A friend of mine's wife runs a deli.
If a product doesn't shift they put the price UP...
That's when it moves..