I've been warning for several years about the abusive mentality that has taken over reviews, and received great criticism and backlash. Well, now publishers are taking notice.

According to the article Publishers Are Reshaping Themselves  Wiley and Hyperion are taking steps to move "away from publishing books for which their primary revenue dependence would be on bookstores and their primary marketing dependence on the book review media". (Emphasis added)

The article further states "Both Hyperion and Wiley are showing us what the publisher of the near future is going to look like. They will be more focused."  and "They will be less dependent on the trade bookstore and book review trade networks."  This would include blog tours, as some publishers have encouraged their authors to participate in a blog tour, or hired publicists to do so in hopes of getting as many reviews as possible. This I know firsthand, as that is what my publisher, publicist and agent told me I needed to do for Allon Book 1, get gobs of reviews.

Yes, this will begin with 'backlist' titles but it reaches to the core of what the publishers will do. "It is now necessary for publishers to communicate directly with consumer audiences to be effective marketers. At the same time, it is now possible for publishers to do the core work of reaching the trade without big fixed overheads. The combination of those two things will motivate changes in how publishers view the value of both their backlists and their publishing programs. What Wiley and Hyperion have done shows what kind of conclusions publishing today allows them to come to."

I understand bloggers and reviewers won't like this post as well - but don't kill the messenger! The entire system of relying on reviews for book sales had grown into a monster of abuse, misuse and mistreatment from all sides. I've noticed a steady decline in civility in reviews, especially on Amazon. Since the system can't - or won't - fix itself, steps must be taken to change the situation. Wiley and Hyperion are responding in ways dictated by the current environment to reshape their publishing from the old ways, into a way to compete in today's market. Just like with the music industry, the publishing industry must find ways to stay viable. To do that, something has to give, and somethings have to go.

Bookstores have been on the decline for years, and pushed to brink by the rapid expansion of e-readers.  Even Barnes & Noble is on the verge of revamping to stay alive.  These steps should be of no surprise to those keeping close tabs on the market, and the ways in which reviews have been hijacked  by anyone and everyone with access to the internet.  What once was a valid means to utilize for marketing and promotional purposes has denigrated into battles between reviewers, authors, readers, publishers. It's become divisive instead of helpful.

Perhaps some good can come out of this, and those who are truly inclined to give helpful reviews will see this as a wake-up call and begin to weed out those who only offer abuse.

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