Authors writing reviews of books they didn't like

[Jacqueline]

Thanks, John. And when I say read to review. I don't mean trade. I'm either joining read to review threads or downloading a free book offer anonymously or buying a book or taking up an author's read to review offer. I've not traded any reviews so far and I'm not planning to. Although the new author friend asked me to beta her next work. We're chatting now about perhaps trading beta work in the future.

The point is I don't believe in trading reviews. I believe in keeping it as unbiased as possible. As individual as possible.

As Indie as possible, hehe.

[Yzabel]

Though I haven't published anything yet, self- or traditionnally, I do write, try to hone my craft, and will at some point dive into self-publishing, I think (I find the whole adventure fascinating). Now, if I were already a published author, it wouldn't change anything to my policy as a reviewer.

I review as a reader first and foremost. Granted, I may have a little more insight into some things, or more of an eye for certain kinds of mistakes (= I made them myself, learnt not to make them, and now I can spot them more easily in other works). But I don't see why I should stop reviewing books, or writing only 100% good reviews, just because (let's pretend for the sake of argumentation) I'm an author too.

In the case of indie authors, I am a little more lenient, and I acknowledge this fact: they don't necessarily have a team of editors, beta-readers and other resources traditionally-published authors have, so I try to keep that in mind. However, only pointing out the good things wouldn't help such authors, and would even hurt them more in the long run, in my opinion. For instance, if an indie book is addled with typos, I will mention it, just like I would with a book come straight from an established publishing house: this way, it makes it easier for the author to know what to be wary of next time. Same with plot pacing, flat characters, and so on. Also, much like in my other reviews, I will also do my best to find positive things to mention, and balance my review out.

I don't think it helps anyone, neither authors nor readers, if we refrain ourselves from writing "bad" reviews, that don't contain praise only, and also point at the book's defects. In fact, as a reader, I'm even extremely wary of books with only a few reviews, and all of them 4 or 5 stars; paradoxically, I'd be more interested in an indie author's book if there were a few "bad" (read: constructive criticism, not useless ranting) reviews to temper the good ones. We can't please everyone, and it just feel more... authentic? A book with praise only will raise my flags, and make me wonder if the reviewers were truly neutral, or if they were friends and family who tried to boost the author's rankings and/or ego.

And if the reviewer is another author, well, what does it matter to me? That person read my book, ergo s/he was a reader at that moment, not an author. As long as s/he doesn't use the review to boast about his/her own book(s), thus falling into unfair and heavily biased territory, I'm OK with it.

What I find silly and demeaning is how some authors get all flippant at a bad review (not only indies—I've seen some published ones react pretty awfully, too!), and bitch and moan and encourage their fanbase to go bash the "meanie reviewer who's done so much wrong". This does nothing for the author's reputation... and the latter can get ruined pretty fast on the web, since things have the potential of going down in flames, and in a really ugly way. And who wants to have a bad reputation, right?

[John]

perhaps good questions to insert are these:

• Do you feel the exact same rating by the following groups has the same relevance, impact or elicits the same level of outrage/acceptance for a bad review...
1. professional reviewer for the New York Times (an example)
2. A spontaneous review from someone not in the industry (just appears with no action on your part)
3. A spontaneous review from someone IN the industry (other author, publisher, etc.)
4. A requested review from someone not in the industry
5. A requested review from someone IN the industry
6. A reciprocal review
7. A purchased or bargained review (in whatever type of transaction you prefer)

I am thinking that the SOURCE and CIRCUMSTANCE of the negative review will feel differently to you as author, when compared.

[Rick]

Personally, I would love reviews from any non-paid source. Even if they are negative reviews, perhaps especially the negative ones, I would still welcome them.

I come from a fanfiction writing background, and it was the really insightful but fundamentally negative feedback and comments that made me into the writer I am today.

Of course negative reviews hurt. It is, after all, your 'baby' that is being criticized. But in the end, a negative review can let a writer know what area he/she needs to work on.

I see no reason to change that outlook now that I am actually selling my work rather than giving it away for free.

Rick Field

[Martyn]

You mean a negative review like this one https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...? Or https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...?

Because I consider those reviews a public service, both for readers to know which books to avoid, and for authors to know which mistakes to avoid.

[Nicole]

If a book sucks a book sucks at the end of the day I'm a reader first. What I'm going to so pull my punches Cuz I have a booked published? No! I don't always leave reviews on the books I read whether good or bad. Constructive criticism is never a bad thing. And giving praise to a book is always a good thing too

[Vardan]

I think that both the negative and positive review should be balanced. For some reason I do avoid leaving one star reviews, especially for SPAs. Even if the work is terrible, I add one star for the mere guts it takes to press that "publish" button :)

[B.C.]

Yzabel wrote: "In the case of indie authors, I am a little more lenient, and I acknowledge this fact: they don't necessarily have a team of editors, beta-readers and other resources traditionally-published authors have, so I try to keep that in mind. However, only pointing out the good things wouldn't help such authors, and would even hurt them more in the long run, in my opinion. For instance, if an indie book is addled with typos, I will mention it, just like I would with a book come straight from an established publishing house: this way, it makes it easier for the author to know what to be wary of next time. Same with plot pacing, flat characters, and so on. Also, much like in my other reviews, I will also do my best to find positive things to mention, and balance my review out."

I agree. I recently took a little flack on a review I wrote for a fellow indie (but on my own reading time, not for swap purposes). I thoroughly loved the book. I'd have given it 5 stars if not for the abundance of typos and grammatical issues. And I rarely give a book 5 stars, let me tell you.

The author wasn't the happiest with my review. Believed my making note of why I gave it 4 instead of 5 stars would hurt their sales. They missed everything good I'd written about how wonderful the story and characters were and went straight to the only negative thing I had to say.

I'd even finished out the review with, despite the typos, I'd re-read the book and recommend it highly.

There were issues with the technical aspects of the book. I wasn't going to hide it from readers. But what was important, and what I applauded, was the brilliance of the story. To me, both things were equally important for readers to know.

And, yes, I can admit that I'd hoped bringing the typos and grammatical issues to life might help the author in the long run.

Like you, I believe that constructive reviews are key to helping both readers and authors. I know I appreciate each one I receive, study them, and apply what I take away from them to my work.

[Judy]

I belong to a review group here on Goodreads, where you are assigned 4 books to review, and the assignments are carefully constructed so that there are no reciprocal reviews. I gave the first book a 3 (barely) and the second book 2 stars. The writer of the 2 star book pulled her book after another writer gave her a 2 star review as well. I don't feel bad about it. Her book wasn't ready to be published. She's going to work on the issues that I and the other writer noted, before she puts it back up.

I'll tell writers over and over again, join a critique group, get feedback, get LOTS of feedback, both from writers and beta readers. Only when you can be sure you have a professional product should you put it out there.

From there, I think people should be honest in their reviews. No one learns from receiving compliments all the time.

I'm also very stingy with giving 5 stars. A 5 star review means I want to read it again, or I'm hungry for the next book.

[Reed]

Every book I read and review gets my honest opinion. If I feel as though I've wasted my time on a pile of crap, my review will reflect it. You can't coddle people if their work is truly awful. It's better they learn where the flaws are ASAP so they can make the necessary adjustments in their writing. Any writer, trad published or self published who gets incensed over a bad review and targets people as a result is nothing more than a petulant child.

[Scarlett]

Dear Reviewer,

I would very much like a review by an author who has given a bad review to a book. The reasons for a bad review are many, but I believe if a reviewer is able to recognize all the grounds for a book that deserves a good review, he is equally able to recognize a bad book on the same grounds. My book titled The Angel with Burnt Wings, is a docu-drama, a fictional memoir, based on real life happenings. If you are a reviewer who is interested in the story, I will be so grateful to receive a review from you.

I can arrange a free download. Please contact me at scarlettjensenauthor@gmail.com, thank you.

Scarlett Jensen