Ladies, thank you SO much for taking the time to give me your opinions, YOU ROCK!
"I see a three-star review as being something like a C or C- grade in school. Sort of a meh/average. I think any student would prefer an A or a B (and any writer would prefer a 4 or 5 star review!) However, 3-star reviews (and 1-star and 2- star reviews) are important, because they make the four-star and five-star reviews mean something."
Carolyn Crane,Author of The Disillusionists Series.
"A 3-star rating, to me, is a book that was somewhere in between--not great, but not bad, either. Or there were parts of it that were so good and parts that were so bad that I couldn't make up my mind whether I loved or hated it. I may or may not give it a reread in the future. As with any other book, it's just my opinion. Others may feel differently."
Jess Haines, author of the H&W Investigations.
"It's like being in school. 5=A, 4=B, 3=C, 2=D, and 1=F A three-star rating is supposed to mean average, but it comes down to making a C in class. I hated making C's in school and felt I was a failure. And in the military, we received officer evaluation reports that had a rating too. Average meant you didn't get promoted and eventually you were kicked out of the service. So to me average really has a negative connotation. I try not to think of it that way with reviews...but sometimes the negativity just seeps in."
Terry Spear, A SEAL in Wolf's Clothing, USA Today Bestseller.
"Ooh, 3 star reviews, huh? Well...they don't thrill me, but I don't HATE them the way some authors do. I have a lot of friends who say they'd rather have a 1-star review than a 3-star one, because that means that at least the book evoked a passionate response, even if that response is hate. They think a 3-star review always means "meh." But I don't share that view. Yes, 3 stars might mean "meh," or it might mean that the reviewer loved some aspects and hated others...so the book evoked those passionate responses, even with only 3 stars. 3 stars also means that the reviewer might try another of my books down the road, where they are probably a lot less likely to try again if they'd hated the first book enough to give it 1 star. I know that if I give a 1-star review, I hated the book so much that I'll likely not read the author again. But I'll give the author another shot if the book was a 3-star one."
Larissa Ione, New York Times Bestselling Author of The Lords of Deliverence Series.
That was very insightful. It seems that 3 = average to most, but it is wide open to how 'average' feels.
Thanks for pulling together the posting!