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Have you ever been torn about what rating to leave?
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In my opinion, it's a potential conflict of interest to swap reviews. It can leave you gored by the horns of a moral dilemma. I won't do it for that reason. I also won't post a review with less than 3 stars. If I can't say something nice, I just don't say.
Yes, I have been. And finally decided that I would only review books where the author didn't know in advance that I would be reviewing it. It was the best solution for me: I can opt out of a book that sounded interesting but turned out to be so bad I couldn't finish it--and sadly, this happens all too often. I will give 2 star reviews but try to be clear in explaining why. The point of a review is to help potential readers decide if they want to invest money and time into a book, so a reviewer should be morally bound to saying what they truly feel and why. But I would hate to give 2 star to someone I knew! I don't think I could do it. Best to stay clear of those situations, I think.
I would never review swap. I agree it's a bit of a conflict of interest because I know someone would expect a glowing review and to get anything less than that would open myself up to an unnecessary attack. Even still, I will purchase a book, shelve it and then review it with 1~5 stars or dnf. I wouldn't hold back my honest opinion because it belongs to me....if someone took that away from me, what would I have left? I'm only reviewing the book, not the person and I would hope the author would see that. If I dislike their book, it isn't a personal attack on them, it's just my opinion which in the grand scheme of things could mean almost nothing. Likewise, if someone purchased my book or was given a review copy (non-swap), I would expect an honest review because what would I gain from someone lying to me? All in all, I'm rarely conflicted...I do get nervous if I hate it, review it and someone attacks me for it. Luckily that hasn't happened because I haven't reviewed many of the not-for-me books I've read lately.
I'm with most of the others who've posted. I wouldn't do a review swap. There have been a few authors that have approached me to do one, but every time I've declined. Not only do I not have much spare time, I also refuse to give a book a review that it doesn't deserve. And while I don't give reviews below 3 stars often, I do give them. There are some books I don't connect with and as long as I give a reason as to why I gave it the rating I did, I don't see a problem.
Alexes wrote: "Yes, I have been. And finally decided that I would only review books where the author didn't know in advance that I would be reviewing it. It was the best solution for me: I can opt out of a book ..."I fully agree, Alexes. I still consider myself a 'new' author and I know how heartening a stranger's review can be. However, trading reviews with other authors always seems suspect to me.
My read/rate/review numbers don't reflect the books I've read in recent months because of all the new work I've read for which I refuse to post. If it's quality writing, I say so. If it's not, I delete it and move on. I want to encourage new writers, but I don't want encourage bad ones, nor do I want to set my own books up for the retaliation which other authors have experienced after writing a bad review.
You also have to remember, what doesn't work for you might be the thing someone else enjoys. You may not like a book, but that doesn't mean the book is bad. It just might mean the book is not for you.But I won't do review swaps either. :)
I don't do review swaps. Why? I don't always enjoy the genre that the friend writes, and it would be inappropriate.I have read fellow authors' books at their request/invitation before, yes. I always tell them that I will give an honest review -- and they always say that's what they want. In only one case was it a problem; I gave a 3-star review that called out some (fairly major) issues with the book) and the author flipped out. She expected a 5-star review because we were friends. I am not kidding.
We are not friends anymore, and I can live with that.
I did write a blog post after that incident that talks about my review methodology. I know we all go about a little differently, but this is my way.
It is risky. I feel as a fellow author I can appreciate the effort they put into a book, but as a friend I can't be honest. it hurts to get a bad review, getting one from a friend just adds insult to injury.
Whenever possible, I message writers privately with a less than glowing review, and ask if they'd rather keep the critique private, or make that opinion available to other readers. I like offering the opportunity for people to learn from others, and people are less defensive if you offer it in private.Other writers have offered me the same choice, and while I appreciate the heads-up, I've always told them to post it. I want readers to get the clearest possible view of my work, even if I sometimes think readers may be misinterpreting the work, or grading on their own biases. I'd rather have them see a negative review, decide they probably will agree with the reviewer, and pass on the book than have even more unhappy readers.
Of course, my writing is a little niche. It's pretty dark, graphic, and often has underlying political undertones. I have no interest in changing any of that, and would rather cultivate readers who enjoy those same things.
I only have a couple of review swaps, mostly with writers in my critique group. In those cases, I selected their books because they interested me, so I could at least be sure of a three star rating. I also don't just give out five star reviews. A classic like The Hobbit gets five stars, but in my opinion, most books don't merit that. So I just try to be honest. I have given a one star review because I was upset for buying a book that I thought would be one thing when it was really nothing of the kind--bad marketing, and mostly fluff. I didn't know the author. I would have a hard time giving a scathing review to someone I knew or had offered a trade with.
One last thing--I distrust a book that has only five star reviews, so I see a great deal of value in having four and three star reviews. It looks more realistic of a sample of readers.
If I feel the book merits 3 stars or less, I will send a private e-mail to the author and explain in great detail the problems keeping me from reviewing it. I used to go ahead and post negative reviews, but from a networking standpoint, it proved to be a great way to shoot myself in the foot.If a book has a good plot, believable characters, and well-constructed dialog but contains too many grammatical errors for me to feel comfortable giving it a glowing review, I will e-mail the author with some tips on grammar and punctuation. I've even offered line edits for a couple books I felt would be worth the effort (this is a rarity).
My writing is similar to yours, Nicolas. I write mainly dystopian (often political) and dark speculative fiction, and people looking for a feel-good story with a clear and defined happy ending typically do not enjoy my work. With that said, it does tend to irk me when readers leave negative reviews solely because the ending was not uplifting--after all, the classic dystopia structure calls for the opposite (or an ambiguity that makes readers question the future).
Nice to meet you, Leigh. You do sound like a writer after my own tastes! So far none of my reviews have criticized my endings, they've complained about the politics of my concept. I honestly don't mind it so much, since I view the writing as a method of getting people to talk about the issues. Even if they're telling me I'm crazy, and proselytizing, and this is why... at least they're thinking of it.Three stars is usually my threshold as well, though I also admit, I avoid reviewing whenever possible, because I don't have a lot of time for reading, and I do feel that it's hard to filter my writerly tastes out of my reviews.
I don't want to score people down because they aren't telling the story I wanted to hear. I try to limit that commentary to actual flaws, plot holes, confusing writing, nonsensical twists, uneven characterization, etc. Every book's got its audience, and I don't want to prevent another author from finding theirs, by reviewing a book that was always going to be very far from my tastes.
This is a great topic for discussion. I don't think swap reviews are a good idea. I prefer to keep it to myself that I'm going to review a book, and never imply that I'm looking for a review in return. I have read a couple of books because I either knew the author, the author is local, or I had entered into exchanges of comments with them previously. If I know the author personally, I just can't publish a review with a rating of 3, and certainly not lower than a three. But, I do review these books on my blog without assigning a rating number at all. There is usually something that's laudable about a book, and in the interests of fairness to potential readers, it is possible to word criticism in a constructive, benign way. I do believe in encouraging authors as a principle. I make a distinction between books that are traditionally published and self published. I just don't post the review of a self published book to Amazon or Goodreads with a rating of less than 3. I will give a rating of 2 to a traditionally published bad book.
I agree -- any implication of tit for tat damages both parties. It's hard enough for even a traditionally published author to build and sustain interest, so when we work against our own interests, it just doesn't make sense. I just wish that there was something that could be done about the review trolls out there. For a good example, visit Barnes and Noble and see what was left for my newest book. B&N: Troll It was left the first few days the book was released, and despite my repeated attempts to have it removed, it remains, effectively poisoning any searches for my book. I've been told that readers know enough not to trust that one review, but here we are, months later, and it is still the only review on B&N -- that tells me the trolls work was effective, for whatever reason!
When I first put my book out early last year I naively agreed to swap a review with someone. It was probably the fasted book I ever read because I wanted to get my own review of their book out before they did mine, to avoid just the situation mentioned. I wanted an honest review and was offering one, but found myself feeling really uncomfortable because I had no way of knowing if the other author was in the same mental place or actually expected something more. Plus I discovered, to my own dismay, that I would feel guilty giving a poor review if they gave me a good one. That put my own integrity in question. I never did it again - too much anxiety and murkiness.I still read other author's work, even those who read my own. In fact, the author of the book I'm reading now read mine about 6 months ago, but I didn't ask her to and she hasn't asked me to. We write similar genres and the fact that she liked my work suggests that we have similar tastes. But from an outsiders perspective, that's probably still questionable.
I defiantly feel the same way about writing a review for someone. I would rather avoid the confrontation of writing something negative about someone’s work. Getting into a heated conversation is not something that is appealing to me. I thought it was strange that I bought an e-book that had great reviews only to be disappointed with the e-book. The great positive reviews were not even close to the reality of the e-book. It only took me one time to figure out that the e-book with all great reviews probably isn’t that great. I definitely don’t want to feed into that machine and become a rubber stamper. I will not do that.
But at the same time I want to get involved and write honest reviews for authors. It makes me feel more involved in the process and I learn a lot about critiquing someone else’s work to make my work stronger.
I just reviewed 2 novels for 2 different authors. I gave two honest reviews pointing out the good the bad and the ugly. That is the only way you can do it.
But at the same time I want to get involved and write honest reviews for authors. It makes me feel more involved in the process and I learn a lot about critiquing someone else’s work to make my work stronger.
I just reviewed 2 novels for 2 different authors. I gave two honest reviews pointing out the good the bad and the ugly. That is the only way you can do it.
Larry wrote: "This is a great topic for discussion. I don't think swap reviews are a good idea. I prefer to keep it to myself that I'm going to review a book, and never imply that I'm looking for a review in ret..."I can agree with your Larry in that a traditionally published book should have a lot more eyes on it than a self pubbed. I know my publisher didn't go and do a through edit of the files I sent him. If I could correct the error i would but till my contract runs out I can't. My self pubbed if someone points out an error I correct it and repost it.
This topic definitely has me torn. It's natural to think highly of our own opinions, and it's tough to realize that those opinions aren't supposed to matter for everyone. When I write a book review, I aim to do it in a way that helps readers who don't like certain things to stay away from that book, BUT the readers who WOULD like the book to pick it up. I know not everyone is going to love every book I love and hate every book I can't stand.That said, the stars-system does tangle that up a bit. Because they're SUPPOSED to signify opinions. If you give a book 2 stars, it means you didn't think very highly of the book for yourself. Will somebody else out there love it? Probably. That's why I put more stock in the reviews themselves than just the star-rating.
I wrote a little article on my blog, saying much the same thing. :-)
http://www.vkfinnish.com/archives/1842
Larry wrote: "This is a great topic for discussion. I don't think swap reviews are a good idea. I prefer to keep it to myself that I'm going to review a book, and never imply that I'm looking for a review in ret..."I totally agree, Larry. I will occasionally leave a two star review for a traditionally published book but not for an indie. The traditionally published author has at his/her disposal a team of plot advisers, line editors, and fact checkers that an indie author does not. It is not a level playing field, so my expectations are higher.
For a problem-riddled indie book with potential and a serious author, I will instead send an email with suggestions and constructive criticism.
Larry wrote: "This is a great topic for discussion. I don't think swap reviews are a good idea. I prefer to keep it to myself that I'm going to review a book, and never imply that I'm looking for a review in ret..."I totally agree, Larry. I will occasionally leave a two star review for a traditionally published book but not for an indie. The traditionally published author has at his/her disposal a team of plot advisers, line editors, and fact checkers that an indie author does not. It is not a level playing field, so my expectations are higher.
For a problem-riddled indie book with potential and a serious author, I will instead send an email with suggestions and constructive criticism.
You Deb are the type of reader we need more of!
I'm torn on this whole idea of different review/rating criteria for trad books and indie/SP books. One part of me, probably the prideful part, thinks we (the indies & SPs) won't ever be taken seriously by the readers of traditionally published books if we can't, or at least don't expect to, compete on the same playing field. Otherwise we seem to be saying from the start, 'we're not as good and we know it, but we're good enough so give us a chance.' That's not really the right message, is it? The other part of me, the part without the big budget, literary contacts, and a bit more realism has to admit that it would be naive to claim to be starting out on an even playing-field to start with. We aren't. Like Larry, when I review books on my blog I don't use a star rating. That way I can treat both trads (which I honestly don't read many of anymore) and indies more alike.
The first two books I purchased, from the big boys, after publishing my second book, took all of that away instantly. There were typos, long, rambling passages, bad chapter breaks, then my wife showed me Fifty Shades. After reading a couple of paragraphs of that, I was even proud of just my business letters. So much of the success as a writer has little to do with writing.
Sadie, I wondered that, too. I see so many indie authors talking about putting out updates for their books. Shouldn't you spend the extra time before its release getting it right? I'm not flaming; I'm genuinely curious.
Abigail wrote: "Sadie, I wondered that, too. I see so many indie authors talking about putting out updates for their books. Shouldn't you spend the extra time before its release getting it right? I'm not flamin..."I'll disclose one of my most embarrassing publishing moments in response to this, 'cause I agree but sh*t happens. Despite innumerable editing passes in which I both read and listened to my text, beta readers, AND a professional editor my book still eventually went to press with reference to a kimono dragon. WTF? Of course I know it's a Komodo dragon, but the eye will see what it expects and kimono is a word so the electronic checks didn't catch it. (I secretly tell myself that the spellcheck probably even helpfully autocorrected it for me, but I don't know.) I lost credibility over that one and yes, posted an update.
But is this sort of thing limited to indies? Mistakes seem to be becoming more common in Trads too. I think maybe they just get enough exposure and reviews to dilute them so that the number mentioning the errors blend into the masses. Thereby, allowing Trads to get away with leaving well enough alone. Indies, don't have that luxury and fix the mistakes or risk having every hard earned review pointing out the same flub. I know at least 3 of my reviews point out the dreaded Kimono mix up even though I've since corrected it. But before putting a book out I wouldn't have understood why such mistakes weren't caught before publication. I would have thought 'they couldn't have made one more pass to make sure it was right?' They could have, but still might miss it. It happens. I know. Arghhh
Sadie;That's pretty bad, but try this on: My character takes a horse up from the field, then takes a donkey into the barn. (Transmigration of species wasn't intended...) That wasn't caught in my first book, for two full years until -- thank God -- a reader called me on it and I thank them to this day. I still find problems even in books that have been written by major authors and edited by major editors, but if it doesn't actually stop the read cold, I shrug it off and generally won't mention it in a review, because my job as a reviewer is to tell readers what my own experience with a book has been.If I read it straight through without pause, never laying it aside from boredom, I give it four stars. Three if I had to quite at some point and return. Five if it really made me see things from a new perspective, even with an occasional typo. It's not my job to damage a writer's cred, or to be sure a reader finds my review all it should be.
Richard wrote: "Sadie;That's pretty bad, but try this on: My character takes a horse up from the field, then takes a donkey into the barn. (Transmigration of species wasn't intended...) That wasn't caught in my f..."
LOL, thats a good one.
I'm the same way. I'll look over minor errors. We all make them, as we've just demonstrated. The only time I really make mention of them in a review is if there are a just lot of them or they are habitual, i.e. the same mistake is made over and over...or if they're funny. The first person to point out my Kimono dragon did so by telling a story of how his small daughter used to called komodo dragons just that and how it made him laugh. I very rarely drop a star for it. I won't say never, but rarely. I do sometimes have trouble decided what star to assign a read. I initially write my reviews without them and then use that same review to judge how well I liked the book in comparison to others. If I've found a lot to critique (I try not to criticise) then the star rating tends to fall. If I've been all praise it tends to rise. I have to LOVE something to give it a 5 star or HATE something to give it a one star. I have very few one stars.
Without the stars any review would stand solely on its content, and any specific recommendation or warning the reviewer might choose to add (e.g "if you are looking for x,y,z this book is/isn't for you"). With the present star system we are all to some degree anchored to a quantitative measure of something that doesn't, with respect to creative writing, lend itself particularly well to that kind of appraisal. Even when working with what is effectively a 100 star system (awarding percentage marks for academic work), chosing the right point in the scale is always difficult, but with only 5 grades the practice is fairly meaningless. Alas, though, they are hard to ignore, hence we'd all be better served if they would all somehow disappear. Not least because then more reviews might be read in full and then reflected upon?
It's always gonna be a scramble, though! At least the job definition for "Gatekeepers" is broader than it used to be. That must help in some small way.
Richard, Sadie, thank you for sharing (and for the laugh!).
Thank you all so much for your thoughts and input. There seems to be a lot of different opinions about stars, reviews and ratings systems, but at least everyone seems to be on the same page. As I said, I had pretty good luck in my first couple of experiences, but I think I may stop that little practice while I'm ahead. :-)
This is exactly why I do not "swap" reviews. You're under the pressure to leave a decent-great review, and if the work was actually bad, you're not leaving an honest review. And unless you know the person really well, putting a bad review could potentially lead to retaliation by the other author. Not saying it happens often, but there is always that chance.
I find with Goodreads I often write reviews without stars, especially if my quibbles with the book were a mismatch of my tastes with the author's vision. Everyone who's mentioned the undue pressure to falsely inflate ratings for friends are right. Review swaps do put you on the horns of an ethical dilemma. Reviews without ratings have been my only solution so far. Whenever I've asked a friend to be an early reviewer, I give them the out to not review if they didn't enjoy it. Not every story will resonate with every reader. And I've been pleasantly surprised that other writers have been willing to pick up my book and review it when I bought and positively reviewed theirs--but I think that wasn't tit for tat as much as recognizing similar tastes.
I find that reviews whose goal is to share insight rather than to simply "incite", whether they are 'swapped' or not are the reviews that grab a reader's attention. I've canvased readers on Facebook and on various Reader Street Teams asking what it is about reviews that matter to them. Their cumulative answer... substantive content. Not a rant of how they hated the book, or hated what the author did or did not do, but something that gave a true accounting of both sides, what they liked as well as what they didn't. It was those reviews, they said, that showed them the review was someone worthy of 'listening' to...
Sadie wrote: "Richard wrote: "Sadie;That's pretty bad, but try this on: My character takes a horse up from the field, then takes a donkey into the barn. (Transmigration of species wasn't intended...) That wasn'..."
I think I can beat that when it comes to typos! I had a sex scene in my paranormal suspense where my victim was supposed to be cut from her throat to her pubic bone... only it read "public" bone. Ugh. I caught it after the book was released. I was Small Pubbed at the time, and my publisher wouldn't change it unless I paid for it. I argued that her editor missed it, but it was more important for me to have it corrected, so I footed the bill. I've been indy ever since.
Marianne, that is the true test of someone who can actually write a useful book review. As opposed to those that write book "reports" (straight from the classroom), personal rants, or just like to hear the sound of their own voices.
Hello, everyone....As to Angel's comment about review-swaps, I agree. They can put you into an awful predicament when two books of greatly diverse quality are being reviewed. I'd rather take my lumps (and suggestions) from an honest reader.
As happened to me just a couple of weeks ago. The reviewer said that "this SHOULD have been a five-star book," and then she gave me three. I huffed and puffed-and slept on it. Then, I read it again and took up my cat's fine-toothed flea-comb (he doesn't need it!). Been at it ever since (through all 450 pages-not that they are full of typos, but one always finds a better word; a better phrase-and sometimes I wonder, 'wow, I wrote that.'). And now, I am grateful. In the end, I'll have a much better (hopefully flawless-if such a thing exists) product. I am grateful for that honest opinion-even though it had a bite.
Marianne wrote: "I had a sex scene in my paranormal suspense where my victim was supposed to be cut from her throat to her pubic bone... only it read "public" bone. "True story, although not in a book. When I was working for the Dept of Defense many years ago, in procurement, we had a particular piece of documentation called a "mistake in bid" exposition that had to be completed and signed off on by several people, including the district engineer, in order for a contractor to resolve that particular problem.
Imagine my horror when it came back, signed off by all parties involved, noting that the contractor had made a mistake in *bed.* Egad.
I love this stuff!! No such thing as a perfect book, but it is the bane of our craft that we keep trying. As Indies, it's also a big pain in the butt that we can revise our POD titles relatively easily, once we find the public bones.
I'm currently reading a couple of other Goodreads authors, and I genuinely love the books and will give them truthful reviews no matter how they rate mine. I like to believe I wouldn't agree to do any sort of "review trading" with somebody who wrote a book I didn't believe I would enjoy in the first place. But I was on another board discussing 1* reviews and it occured to me: What if I really didn't like one of the books I was reading? What if it sounded alright in the beginning, but then the other author gave me 4-5 stars and I truly felt like their's was maybe a 2 at best? While reviews aren't the be-all end-all of the literary world, as a new author I find them to be a helpful way for others to see my work being read and what people are thinking of it. I don't base what I read strictly on the reviews, but it can be helpful in determining if something with a fun premise and interesting cover has any meat to the story, or vice-versa. Has anybody ever been torn as to what kind of review to give on a book based on any sort of personal experience with the author? Just curious...