I was reading the blog The Worst Review Ever – brainchild of awesome YA author Alexa Young – and I was thinking about the books I’ve reviewed and how the book’s authors would have seen those reviews, about Amazon reviews and about reviews on other blogs.
To authors I have to say: If you get a bad review, don’t react. You’ll regret it later on. If the bad review is on Amazon, it means nothing. Many, many people have rubbished To Kill A Mockingbird on Amazon. Most of the people who post negative reviews of wonderful books can’t spell to save their life. These reviews don’t matter.
To reviewers and bloggers: When you review, take into consideration that the author may read the review. By no means does this mean all your reviews should be positive. Remain unbiased, but try and think about the book from another person’s perspective (if you are not the intended reader). Keep it constructive, and never be mean, or insult the author (Like “A. Author should be shot for writing this tripe” = BAD). You can be honest to your readers AND be kind. Usually, if a book reaches the point of publication, there must be some merit to it, for that many people (agent, editors, marketing people) to believe in it.
If an author does react to a negative review – and sometimes they will – this does not mean you should change your review nor should anyone say anything bad about anyone else. First of all, consider your review. Is it just? Or have you been nasty? Always consider what you’re posting on your blog for the world to see, especially if you’re saying something negative.
You might have noticed I haven’t reviewed anything negatively on this blog (except for Twilight, but that was a bit of a joke). I do note the things I like and don’t like about a book. I haven’t reviewed anything negatively, because all the books I’ve been asked to review so far I have enjoyed. I’ve read lots of other books from the library and that I’ve been given, and some of them I haven’t enjoyed. But those books aren’t YA (I do read a lot of smart, grown-up people fiction, mainly because I’m trying to be worldly, and I’m just not) so I don’t review them.
I want to ask book bloggers: Have you ever written an atrocious review and regretted it? Or written a nice review about a book you hated because you didn’t want to hurt the author’s feelings?
And of course, authors with stories about their worst review ever should check out The Worst Review Ever.
It’s good stuff.
6 notes passed:
Oh, this is an awesome blog. Thanks for sharing, Steph! Appreciate it. :)
As for your tips, right on, as always.
I have not written an atrocious review. I do try to be aware of the author and if there is something in the book I do not like I express why I feel as I do. For the most part though, I read what I like and review the genre that I like so I haven't really had too many negative experiences. Mainly a negative will only be a small aspect of a book and if it is mentioned I will say exactly that. Most of the time if it is a small thing, I probably will not even bring it up. I definitely try to be aware of the intended audience for the book, because what I love someone else may not and what I dislike may be just what the doctor ordered for another group of readers. :) Great post!
I don't like to think of having negative reviews... I call them "not positive" I would never say "the Author should be shot for writing this tripe!" I try to be fair about it. Sometimes it's just a matter of personal opinion, too.
I regret nothing. Ever. To live with regrets is to not live, not learn and not do something you actually want to do.
Authors need to suck it up. They really do. I've had my work shit in all in the name of a critique and while I may be wishing that beta's mother copulate with a donkey on the inside, on the outside I'm gracious, albeit slightly silent. If you want to be an author, it's mandatory to have a thick skin. If you can't take it, keep your writing to yourself.
Not to long ago a well-known author went batshit on Twitter after she got a bad review from a newspaper in Boston I believe it was. She did something like 30 Twitter post thingies giving out the reviewer's home address and phone number and having her fans bombard the poor woman. Maybe someone should take some Valium?
It's best to just not react at all publicly. Period. I honestly don't think that that website is the best of ideas because it can always make the author appear that they can't handle criticism, even though said criticism may be roast worthy. No one wants to pull and Anne Rice, now do they?
As for reviews, I don't up and target books that I think are going to be failures for me. I'm not going to accept a book that I think is going to suck and I'm certainly not going to buy one and waste my money. With things like Twilight and Alphas, well, for the former I had to see what the hype was about and the latter was a free book from BEA. I have since learned not to take everything thrown at me and to be more choosy at BEA next year. For the rest that I picked up because they looked interesting, they just didn't work out. It happens.
But I see no problem in saying a book blows balls for bratwurst so long as that opinion is backed up with something legitimate. I think Twilight should die by far but you'll be hard-pressed to find me just spouting out anti-jaw-wagging without substantiating it.
I've always been a proponent of "tell me it sucks, but tell me how I can fix it too." As a writer I feel I'd be doing a disservice if I gave anything but the truth in a review. And I know full well that the truth can suck. Hard. It can be painful. But I don't say anything in my reviews I wouldn't want said about my own work (well, how I'd want it said, anyway) and I'm fully aware that Karma can come around and bite me in the ass when (please, god) my books come out but I'm willing to take it. Because there'll be good shit in there too and that alone will be worth it.
Great advice. I dread my fist "bad" review, but I've heard it's best to just ignore it as hard as it may seem to do.
I try to stay on the positive side if I am reviewing a novel that I did not care for. For example, I read/reviewed Libyrinth. I had to give up on reading it after 4 chapters because it was not holding my interest. When I posted my review, I tried to say as many nice things about it as I could, but also explain why I couldn't finish it. I think that if done correctly, you are not hurting or embarrassing anyone, you are just giving your honest opinion. And that is something that we as book bloggers/reviewers are here to do.
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