Authors and reviewers

It’s the hot topic du jour. Again.

In the Telegraph today, an author describes how it is ‘a necessary part of the job’ to track down negative reviewers. You know what, Jon Stock, it is neither necessary nor morally acceptable. In fact, it’s both creepy and counter-productive, because many, many people who read that article today will, like me, steer well clear of all your books in future. I don’t want to run the risk of a stalkery-author coming after me to make me change my reviews. Ugh.

Here’s what I feel about reviews, as both a reader/reviewer and as an author:



1. Reviews are primarily for readers

That is, they allow readers to express their responses to a book and sometimes promote discussion about the book between readers. Further, they can help potential readers to determine whether they want to read the book.



2. Reviews are not primarily promotional tools

Sure, a great review can lead to some increased sales. That is a nice side-benefit for authors, but it is not what the review is for. A poor review might put some readers off buying your book. That is not such a great side-benefit for authors, but is a great side-benefit for readers who want to make sure they spend their book budgets wisely.



3. Negative reviews can lead to increased or ‘better’ sales

A careful negative review which identifies why the book didn’t work for one reader may actually make other readers want to read it. It’s also likely to make readers who won’t enjoy your book not buy it. This is a good thing. Either way, a negative review is not the end of the world. Get over it and write a better book next time.



4. Positive reviews can be wonderful for authors

A review where a reader really gets the book is fab. Truly fab. You will want to feel like dancing and shouting from the rooftops and squeeing all over the comments. Don’t.



5. Authors commenting on reviews inevitably make the discussion about themselves and not the book

Again and again, readers testify to the presence of an author in a discussion about her book as something which kills the discussion. Reviews are NOT the place for author comments. Not even a thank you. Not even a correction or clarification. Not even an answer to a question posed by the review. Let your readers talk about your book without consideration for your feelings.

This is actually something I’ve changed my mind about. When I first started reviewing, I enjoyed having some author interaction. I have no problem telling someone to her face what I didn’t like about her book. But I know, because I have seen it and been told about it so often, that this isn’t typical. It is more important to me that readers can discuss a book freely than that an author gets to have her say.

6. Authors can respond, carefully, in other ways

I think this is okay. I will sometimes tweet a link to a lovely review, or very occasionally post excerpts on the blog. This lets me respond to the review without intruding on the reader space. If someone wants to talk to me about the review, they can do so, but there is no obligation. If an author wants to offer up information, I’d suggest maybe contacting the reviewer privately. Not stalking them, but using a public contact form on a blog, or a twitter DM or something. I would think very, very carefully about doing this and ask yourself whether the review genuinely invites that sort of response. You do not get to tell anyone that their response to your book is wrong, but you might, for instance, want to confirm that you have a sequel in the works featuring a particular character they were wondering about.

Mostly, I think authors really, really need to calm down about reviews. It’s great that the internet provides easy ways for readers to talk to each other about the books they’re reading. The more discussion there is, the more books get bought and read. This is a GOOD THING. Not all books are equal. Not all readers will love all books. Authors cannot change that, except by writing more and better books. Charging into the discussion is merely going to stifle the discussion and leave readers with a bad taste in their mouths. It will not sell books.