Rating your own work--do or don't?

[Michael]

I personally don't feel right rating my own work.

[Kevis]

When I first joined Goodreads a few years ago, I believe you had to rate your book in order to add comments to the review section as some authors do. The rules have since changed and it isn't required to rate your books now. But not all authors know this.

Some readers have a problem with authors rating their books. Others don't care. What I do nowadays is mimic the professionalism of traditional authors. You don't see authors like Stephen King or Patrick Rothfuss rating their own books, so I figure it's best not to do the same either. With that said, Goodreads is also a cataloging site. So I can't be upset with an author for showing love to their own books and rating them. Where I think it looks really tacky is when a book has an extremely poor rating and an author still gives a five star review for his own work. That's the one that raises my eyebrow.

[Seawillow]

Leo wrote: "So I was working under the assumption that it's not really appropriate for someone to rate a book they've written, seeing as you can't really be objective when it comes to your own writing. However..."

I am probably the black sheep of the Goodreads family, but I feel authors must be their own advocate, and should rate their own book. If you don't think it's five stars why should anyone else? To be honest, I do not feel that my book should be given five stars, only because I know I can always do better. But, after a while, you must let the story go free.