October 7, 2019
Do you read your book reviews? How do you deal with bad or good ones?
Good reviews from readers are like nectar from the gods. And about as hard to get!
Truth is, I’m convinced that readers just don’t like to write reviews. No matter how much they like (or dislike) a book, taking the time to write a review is time they could use to do something else. So it’s high praise when a reader not only takes the time, but gives you a good review.
Yes, I read every one. Even the not-so-good ones.
The good ones are what help keep me motivated to write. To know that someone enjoys my books is the praise I seek. The reassurance that I’m doing something right.
Sure, I’d like to be a world-renowned author, but that hasn’t happened yet. So I’ll take what I can get.
And that includes the “bad” reviews. Although I can’t say I’ve received any. What I consider a bad review is one written by someone who didn’t really read the book. I’ve heard horror stories about those- reviews attached to the wrong books, reviews where the person has problems with downloading the book that have nothing to do with the author’s work, reviews that downgrade a book before it’s even been released! I have none of those.
I do have reviews where the reader didn’t like the book for one reason or another. I’ve read books I didn’t like, even by big name authors. It happens. If they’re fair, I’ll read them as see what I can pull from them as a lesson to help my next book be better. ( I have made edits to a book based on a review)
But since we’re talking reviews, I’ll share a few snippets of the good ones:
For The Marquesa’s Necklace: I read this one straight through-it was really good–I have no idea where I saw this first but I am certainly glad I took a chance and bought it–now I have to go look into Book #2!!
For Her Ladyship’s Ring: First I would like to say I am a great fan of Mary Higgins-Clark
mysteries. I have now added this author to my favorites list. Like the Marquesa’s Necklace, it was very difficult to put down for life’s interruptions. The suspense was great, and so many surprises at every twist and turn. I love Ms. MacLayne’s style and ease of reading. Now it’s time to order book three of the series via Kindle. I personally prefer books I can hold but once again do not wish to wait two days for the third installment!
For Wolves’ Pawn: The author of this book did something very unexpected in this new novel. She took a shifter book and the customary male alpha, but gave us a no non-sense female heroine that gave as good as she got in the different antagonistic scenes. Smart, funny, sassy, and the ability to improvise in different situations. I was also happy to see that there was definitely romance, but not page after page of sex scenes that normally bore me to tears, and have to quickly skim through before we get back to the story. All in all, I give this book an A+++.
And one more, for Wolves’ Knight: This fast-paced paranormal is a breath of fresh air. Action packed and full of amazing female characters, I loved reading a book where the women were more bad ass than the men! Great plot and intriguing characters. Highly recommend!
See anything there that interests you? You can find out more about my books elsewhere on this web page.
Before I close, here’s a meme I pulled off another site today. It seems to fit.
That last one – say hi and be kind- seems to fit a lot more than supporting writers. Now I’m going to go find out what the other writers on this hop feel about reviews.
October 7, 2019
Do you read your book reviews? How do you deal with bad or good ones?
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3. Promise to visit/leave a comment on all participants’ blogs.
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Very good post. I accept the validity of every review as an expression of opinion. Like you I appreciate the time taken to write it and I think that to get a reaction, even if it’s not what you wanted, is a sign that your writing has had an effect on the reader.
Exactly. The fact they don’t hate it entirely can be viewed as praise.
Trolls will write a bad review without even reading the book, because they can. I can’t understand the sort of person who gets enjoyment from doing something like this.
And I don’t understand how platforms refuse to take those down. They are quick to take down reviews that come friends.
Yes indeed. I don’t understand it either.
I appreciate that people write reviews, but I consider essentially for readers. It’s the same position I take when writing reviews. I’m giving my take for other people who read the book.
I do read reviews before I make a purchase for a book. There are certain criteria I look for. One of the big ones is to make sure the book isn’t written with a cliffhanger ending
I don’t write enough reviews of other authors’ books, frankly — for many of the reasons you state. I should probably repent of that.
And I’m with Stevie about the trolls. Some people just get off and being mean and not just in book reviews. It’s an unfortunate phenomenon of our era.
I don’t write any under my pen name because I know the risk that they will get taken down anyway.
I don’t have an Amazon account under my pen name. My daughter informs me that she can’t post reviews on my books. She tried after her roommate read The Willow Branch (using her hard copy) and wanted to post a review but doesn’t have an Amazon account (broke artists, don’t you know). Bri figured they could post it under hers, but Amazon declined based on a relationship to the author. We guess it’s her father’s unusual last name – they must have a bot on it.
Of course, there’s also the policy that you can’t post an Amazon review unless you’ve spent at least $50 (or something like that) on amazon.
Now I didn’t know that. Interesting.
“The good ones are what help keep me motivated to write. To know that someone enjoys my books is the praise I seek. The reassurance that I’m doing something right.”
This. <3 We all need some direction now and then, and I like to know if I'm at least headed in the right direction.
And when I get discouraged, I can look back at the reviews and remember I’m not all bad.