Should I review my own book?
Something I originally posted on Facebook...
The title says it all, but a little clarification is needed. This is not about reviewing your own book under a false name on Amazon or Barnes&Noble. It's about assigning a rating on Goodreads.
To be honest, each time a new book of mine comes out, on Goodreads, the message comes up of rating your novel. Call it pushy or self-aggrandizing, I always assign it five stars. The analogy I use is a fish peddler does not yell rotten fish. By the same token, I'm not going to say my novel sucks when IMO it doesn't.
However, the key point to note is that it is MY opinion. My view is only one. It's the readers who will decide, whether it's one, two, or five stars. Their decision is out of my hands.
Some people may think this is false advertising at best, a lie at worst, and sort of arrogant all around. My view is that it is none of those and here is why.
One, the rating I give is that. My own view. Subjective, yes, but no different than the reader out there who reviews books. I do not 'review' per se; I merely write something to the effect that I hope readers willl enjoy what I've written. I also do not do reviews on Amazon--no account--so that angle is out, even if I wanted to, which I don't.
It is lying? No, it isn't, not where I stand. It's simply a view. Subjective, yes, but tell me any review that doesn't have some subjectivity in it. That is neither good nor bad. It is what it is.
Arrogant? One could see it as being such. I am proud of what I've written, faults and all. However, I don't think it arrogant in the least. These days, what with the millions of books out there, a person has to be a tad pushy and attract attention. A quiet voice is not heard. A loud one is.
The title says it all, but a little clarification is needed. This is not about reviewing your own book under a false name on Amazon or Barnes&Noble. It's about assigning a rating on Goodreads.
To be honest, each time a new book of mine comes out, on Goodreads, the message comes up of rating your novel. Call it pushy or self-aggrandizing, I always assign it five stars. The analogy I use is a fish peddler does not yell rotten fish. By the same token, I'm not going to say my novel sucks when IMO it doesn't.
However, the key point to note is that it is MY opinion. My view is only one. It's the readers who will decide, whether it's one, two, or five stars. Their decision is out of my hands.
Some people may think this is false advertising at best, a lie at worst, and sort of arrogant all around. My view is that it is none of those and here is why.
One, the rating I give is that. My own view. Subjective, yes, but no different than the reader out there who reviews books. I do not 'review' per se; I merely write something to the effect that I hope readers willl enjoy what I've written. I also do not do reviews on Amazon--no account--so that angle is out, even if I wanted to, which I don't.
It is lying? No, it isn't, not where I stand. It's simply a view. Subjective, yes, but tell me any review that doesn't have some subjectivity in it. That is neither good nor bad. It is what it is.
Arrogant? One could see it as being such. I am proud of what I've written, faults and all. However, I don't think it arrogant in the least. These days, what with the millions of books out there, a person has to be a tad pushy and attract attention. A quiet voice is not heard. A loud one is.
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