i am a person like a lot of other people who works really hard on the reviews i write and puts a lot of time/effort/energy into them and feel that in some ways the reviews i write tend to be worth more than those i receive

since there is a method for rating reviews why not use it to reward members for proficiency in reviewing?

Well, we’ve already talked about the gold crown.

The problem with the rewards system you mention is that some very good reviewers’ quality ratings are not as high as, say, DCAllen’s. coughs This is often due to their hold-nothing-back, tell-it-like-it-is reviewing style. The fact is, some authors will give you a “0” just because they didn’t like your tone. I walk lightly but carry big red pen.

Another issue: A reviewer could put a lot of time and effort into a horribly unhelpful review. One doesn’t have that much to do with the other. I’ve had several reviews that looked like hours of work but were overflowing with hogwash: pedantic tirades, florid jags that veer far far away from the text and general(ly condescending) sermons on style. None of these belongs in a review.

A couple of times I’ve received reviews that were twice as long as the item itself. Sure, the guy spent a lot of time on the review, but was it helpful in the end? I didn’t think so. Please don’t misunderstand me. One of the best reviews I’ve ever received was six pages long when I printed it out. Of course, the story was 27 pages long. I could tell that the reviewer had spent time trying to understand what I wanted to do with the story. Her critical observations were excellent. If I could give her a gold crown, I would.

At some point there were plans that reviewers with higher rankings would be sought after by people and be able to request a fee (credits or cash) Is this reward enough for you.

DC is right as well. I am one of the ones he refers to. My stats are lower than they should be because of my style of reviewing, but I give good help generally if you can see through it.

Those who mostly review shorter works like poetry/haiku tend to have somewhat lower review ratings than those who review longer pieces like nonfiction/horror, because of the subjectivity of the shorter pieces. You would have to weigh these differences before implementing any review rating reward system. It doesn’t seem feasible.