There were so many great comments yesterday in response to my review question that I thought I'd linger one more day and take stock of the results.
When asked if authors or aspiring writers should be 100% honest when reviewing other authors' work in a public forum, the responses were:
Be honest - 10%
Be objective, but with sensitivity - 39%
Focus on good points only - 51%
Elana Johnson summed up the difference between reading as an author versus a reviewer:
You have to separate yourself from it. You have to draw the line.You're an AUTHOR. Sure you read, but it's not your *job* to honestly review books. In my opinion, authors should only talk about, star, and/or "review" books they love. Show the support, you know? However, if you were a BOOK REVIEWER, that's your *job* to honestly review books, good, bad, and ugly. So I stick with what my JOB is.
Catherine Ryan Howard pointed out that bad reviews don't necessarily make for bad sales:
...bad reviews are awful to read and no one likes getting them, but unless all your reviews are bad, I don't think they hurt sales too much, at least not on Amazon.
Summer commented that in some venues, readers should be able to trust reviews are objective:
I read reviews on Goodreads, but not Amazon. And when I go to those reviews, I want some honesty. Especially if I'm paying for the product...
To read all the comments, go here.
Due to a dodgy Internet connection that keeps dropping off, I'm having a tough time returning comments quickly right now. To give myself a chance to catch up ('coz I always feel so guilty when I don't return comments promptly), I've turned off comments on this post, but feel free to weigh in on my previous post and add your opinion to the mix if you haven't already done so!
A quick announcement before I go: Samantha Vérant is holding an Authonomy Splash! Head over to her wonderful blog and see what it's all about.
When asked if authors or aspiring writers should be 100% honest when reviewing other authors' work in a public forum, the responses were:
Be honest - 10%
Be objective, but with sensitivity - 39%
Focus on good points only - 51%
Elana Johnson summed up the difference between reading as an author versus a reviewer:
You have to separate yourself from it. You have to draw the line.You're an AUTHOR. Sure you read, but it's not your *job* to honestly review books. In my opinion, authors should only talk about, star, and/or "review" books they love. Show the support, you know? However, if you were a BOOK REVIEWER, that's your *job* to honestly review books, good, bad, and ugly. So I stick with what my JOB is.
Catherine Ryan Howard pointed out that bad reviews don't necessarily make for bad sales:
...bad reviews are awful to read and no one likes getting them, but unless all your reviews are bad, I don't think they hurt sales too much, at least not on Amazon.
Summer commented that in some venues, readers should be able to trust reviews are objective:
I read reviews on Goodreads, but not Amazon. And when I go to those reviews, I want some honesty. Especially if I'm paying for the product...
To read all the comments, go here.
Due to a dodgy Internet connection that keeps dropping off, I'm having a tough time returning comments quickly right now. To give myself a chance to catch up ('coz I always feel so guilty when I don't return comments promptly), I've turned off comments on this post, but feel free to weigh in on my previous post and add your opinion to the mix if you haven't already done so!
A quick announcement before I go: Samantha Vérant is holding an Authonomy Splash! Head over to her wonderful blog and see what it's all about.
