I live on Goodreads. I’m a writer and a voracious reader. So it’s not uncommon to see my fellow writer friends reviewing their fellow writer friends’ work. I review whatever I read but I don’t solicit myself as a reviewer for other authors. I just read what I feel like reading. That being said, I’ve noticed two things–some writers review and some do not. Both have their advantages, and each option suits each writer differently. Some choose to only post reviews of work they liked, and others feel perfectly content giving 1 and 2 star reviews with blunt honesty, regardless of whether or not that particular author runs in their circle.
What Works for Me
When I write reviews, I always focus on what I liked, keeping the spin positive. That’s what works for me because I’m not just a reader and I interact daily with my writer friends and want to support them, even if I don’t personally care for their work. The way I see it, we’re all adults. We all understand we’re not going to all love each others work. But that doesn’t mean I can’t point out a few positives to support them and give them an honest review. If I talk about anything I didn’t like, it has to do with how I perceived the storytelling and that is it. I never focus on critiquing the writer’s skills. I think a book review should be that–a book review. Not your opinion on how good of a writer someone is (in terms of the technical stuff). Sure, it’s one thing to mention poor editing or the writer’s ability to evoke certain emotions, but to give a full critical analysis of the writer’s abilities? Not so much.
That Thing Called Karma
We’re all entitled to write whatever we want in reviews. We’re readers. But I bring this up as writer, seeing writers write reviews for fellow authors. I think it can really hurt you in the long run if you’re critiquing them and not their work.
Why? Because everything you say is visible. Because everything you say will come back to you–tenfold. I guarantee you that if you spend paragraphs of a review critiquing someone’s abilities, the time will come when another writer will judge your abilities just as harshly, if not worse, when it’s their turn to “review” your work. Again, I’m just talking about writers reviewing work of fellow writers here. (And for the record, I’m not referring to any authors who have reviewed my work. In fact, I can only think of two writer friends of mine who have actually read and reviewed my stuff.)
I bring this up because I think we need to lift each other up in our writing community, without blowing smoke and mirrors. If you genuinely didn’t like a work written by another author, I think it’s more helpful to forego a review all together, or if you’re going to wear the reader hat and write a review, focus on the positives instead and leave it at that. No, I don’t believe in posting false, glowing 5-star reviews just for the hell of it. I do believe in being honest. Maybe it’s just the Southern girl in me, but I think some honesty mixed with the old adage, “If you can’t say anything nice, don’t say it at all” rings true. It’s all about balance.
I’ve made mistakes with reviews. I’ve experimented and have said things I wish I could take back, especially as I made my transition from being a reader to a reader and a writer. But at the end of the day, I find that balancing honesty with a focus on the positives is what works best for me as an author. I think it benefits everyone.
What about you? How do you, as an author, write reviews for fellow authors? Or do you even write them at all?
Actually, I agree with you completely. I’m a writer and I write reviews for some authors I know and I always try to focus on the story in the review. It is hard sometimes while reading to turn off that inner editor. Not that I’m the best editor, not by a long shot, but if I notice something off that I know should be fixed, I’ll mention it to the author privately. I don’t think a review is the place to do that. That is what critiques are for. Reviews are different. I think it’s important that they know. I know I would want that. Because sometimes, especially friends, you never know if they are just being nice or if they really truly liked your book. I would want any one who reads my work to tell me if something doesn’t work for them. And yes, I’d rather it be private. I may agree and may not, but if one person feels that way, maybe others do to.
I’ve had bad reviews and good reviews. The good ones are always thrilling to read. The bad, not so much. Here’s a question for you, Rachael. How do you feel about bloggers who are actually writers, IMO, just not novelist when they give a bad review? I believe everyone has a right to their opinion, but I think book bloggers should adhere to the same rules as writers. When you offer your book for free for a review, I don’t think that gives them the right to slam your book. If they didn’t like, they have the right to say so, nicely, but not to attack it. Only paying customers have that right. LOL
Thanks for this post. As you can tell, it is something that’s been on my mind lately. You and I seem to be in similar minds recently.
Reganā„
I love you for challenging other authors to think about their reviews. I know you made me think…and I needed to, really. Thank you for that little reminder that we should treat others as we wish to be treated, even when we’re writing reviews. I think, in a way, it’s hard reviewing sometimes as a writer because we tend to focus on those points that maybe other readers just don’t see. Writers are the first ones to pick out the one and only typo in an entire manuscript and we should be more understanding and compassionate when writing our reviews. This is especially true, considering the fact that we understand just how difficult writing an entire book can be! Again, thank you for the sweet and gentle reminder.
@Regan and Cathy: It’s interesting that you both bring up one similar point–that it’s difficult to turn off that “inner editor.” I think it’s natural that writers are more critical of other writers’ work because we see and experience everything through a writer’s eyes, even down to the technical stuff. Bad grammar, typos, and structural stuff pops out at us like a sore thumb. I think it’s also hard because we want to be able to still be readers and write reviews as we normally would before we became authors. Only now we’re a part of a community supporting one another AND recommending books to other readers. It’s a dicey line. I know personally, I can’t recommend something I really didn’t like, so in that case, I try to keep my mouth shut. But I’ve struggled with it and have chosen to take down a few reviews and have had to really rethink how I want to approach it until I found something that works for me. I’d rather be honest and focus on the positives, that way it’s authentic, not false advertising for readers, but still supportive to writers.
@Regan: Thanks for your thoughts. I can relate and agree that it helps to have the constructive criticism–especially when it’s from writer friends or CPs
. It really can make all of the difference. I’ve found it to be bad form when authors aren’t familiar with one another and they write 1 and 2 star reviews that are very negative or trashing the work in some way. Granted, not many authors in the public eye do this, and those that do seem to do it by writing a well-rounded review giving pros and cons, etc.
You bring up a good question about writers who are also bloggers, and one that I’ll have to face myself soon because I plan on starting my own book blog (but won’t accept review requests, will just review what I’d like). With the situation you’re talking about, I think that’s kind of crappy. Trashing a book is so different than saying “I hated this book because A,B, and C.” That is someone giving valid points as to why the book didn’t work for them.–even if they hated it with a passion. But I’ve seen comments such as “I wouldn’t wipe my ass with this piece of shit.” Um….is that really necessary? I’ve also seen personal attacks on the author and assumptions made about their personality, like “I bet this woman is a stupid, boring prude with no sex life and no education.” I mean…come on, that’s ridiculous. Granted, those examples are not from writers reviewing other writers. But you get my drift. I’d like to think writers who are bloggers would empathize with other writers and would handle things a certain way. If they don’t like your work, maybe privately message you and say hey, not my thing. I’ve had that happen and I appreciate that far more than someone reading it and then blasting me just because they are in the mood to rip something up.
@Cathy: Thanks for commenting, Cath. It’s definitely a tricky thing. I still struggle with it sometimes because I’m really passionate about reviewing, and when I write a review for something I really didn’t like, I sometimes kick myself and think, “Man! I should’ve just opened another GR account under a different screen name and reviewed books that way!” I know a few authors who do that. But we learn as we go and the same thing doesn’t work for everyone. I can think of at least 2 authors who write reviews and say whatever they want, no matter what, and they are fine with that. Me, not so much. I’m honest when it comes to what I didn’t like, but I keep it short and sweet. Again, it’s easier said than done sometimes!
Oh man, I totally get that and opening a second account is tempting. But, right after I read this, I went back and redid a review I had done previously. I thought about it. I considered it. And I did note there were some issues for me (a lot of it was errors and you could tell there wasn’t a professional editor in the picture) but I went back and just focused on what I did love – the story line – a little more. The author is clearly talented but editors are so needed. You can’t ask your friends and family to edit your book. You just can’t.
But my word! I would never, ever, EVER imagine writing a review like that. That is horrible! I have been and sometimes am very critical in my reviews. And I notice that the more I write, the harder it gets to step away from the critical side. It’s not even that I hate the book usually or dislike it even. Often, I like the book overall but I just feel like weaknesses were distracting in the book. So, either I’m with ya on starting a second Goodreads account or I’m just going to have to learn how to shut my mouth when it’s really bad, lol.
Having a second account on Goodreads is another way to do it for sure. But then are you actually getting your word out to the people you’ve intended? Are you friends with the same ones? I suppose it really doesn’t matter. The review goes up by the book anyway. So, I say go for it.
But aside from that, getting back to bloggers. I’m talking about the bloggers who are NOT authors of books. They only have a blog and they review books, and that’s what their blog is about, but they are, IMO, still writers. Not of novels or poetry and their work never gets critiqued or reviewed. They are not professional reviewers just people who think they have the right to slam a book because they have 300 followers and they don’t care, or maybe they just don’t realize, how their words affect the performance of an author’s book sales. We as authors love reviews and our work thrives on them. We offer our books up for free to these people expecting, not always the best review, but at least respectful one.