Book reviews between writers: “I’ll lie, if you will!”

Ever bought a book because the blurb was decent and it had a shit-ton of 4- and 5-star reviews (which you read many of), only to find out the book was horrendous? Yeah, me too. It sucks balls.

Now, I understand that we all have different tastes, but this goes beyond a difference of opinion. Some books are just bad—I’m not saying they don’t have good qualities, just that the bad outweigh the good. And while I noticed this issue before I ever looked to self-publish, it became more obvious afterwards. It was at this point I spotted a trend…

Nearly every pair of self-published authors who reviewed one another would give each other 4 or 5 stars.

Obviously it occurred to me that many of these were just reciprocally positive reviews, but I wanted to give my fellow indie writers the benefit of the doubt. So I looked closer at my Facebook writing groups, only to find more of the same. Almost everyone was posting high-star reviews of every peer-written book they read. I’m sorry, but even with the fair number of tremendously talented indie authors out there, there is just no way every book is worth 4 or 5 stars. Now I was certain something was up.

Most indie authors were simply masturbating one another. Mutual gratification. I took my concerns into private message and asked a few indie friends, and they confirmed that they indeed never gave out less than 4 stars to fellow writers, and more than a few even told me they only hand out 5 stars, when it came to fellow indie friends.

As much as I like many of my indie peers, this dishonest-review shit is a disease.

If you don’t want people to eviscerate your writing, then please take the time before you publish, to get your work as close to your vision of perfection as you can. Will it actually be perfect? Nope, none of our works ever will be, but you can polish it until the shine hides the rough bits. Take exhaustive care in editing or, better yet, higher a professional; and get yourself a group of honest beta readers. When you go half-ass into self-publishing your writing, things will not end well.

Now, reviews… Reviews are sacred to me. As a reader, I use them to help inform my purchase choices. As an author, I want to know what my readers like or dislike about my writing. Either way, I need honesty.

As an author, you will not get better if you do not hear honest critique. And if you publish a story, you better be ready for that critique to come—not all the reviews will be positive. Take the good ones and brag! But take the bad ones and see what they have in common, try to figure out where you might improve.

 

Anyway, I asked around for more opinions on this topic. Some told me it’s rude to post negative reviews of my peers, and, if I was about to write a negative review,  I should instead post a 4-star review with the positive points and send the negative critique in a politely worded private message. Meanwhile, other authors have told me that sending unsolicited negative feedback via private message is rude—of course they also told me it was universally acceptable to send unsolicited positive feedback. Lot of contradictions here, and a hefty dose of hypocrisy. I call bullshit.

So, what’s a reviewer to do?

Let me give you a brief explanation of my review philosophy: Tell the fucking truth—reviews are NOT for the writers; they are for the readers.

And so I give honest reviews. If this bothers people (and it does) then so be it. No book is without flaws, and I expect others to point mine out. I want them to point them out. I want to get better. And, I want to have a reason to be legitimately proud of the good reviews I get; I can’t do that if people are blowing smoke up my ass in the hopes I’ll return the favor.

And why would you really want me to lie about your writing? Unless you’re just thinking about money.  Or maybe you just want an ego massage? But am I really massaging your ego, if you have to doubt the integrity of my review? 

So, my writer people, if I review your books, don’t expect sugar-coated bullshit. If I love it, I’m going to rave about it. If I dislike it, I’ll tell you why. In a review. And that review will have a star rating that reflects my actual opinion of the works quality.

I know this blog post won’t change the minds of many, but I do hope it gets more of us thinking about what it means when we are honest in our reviewing. This won’t make me popular with many, but honesty and integrity are far more important to me than popularity.