"Eavesdropping" on a group of gr reviewers

[Tara Woods Turner]

I'm linking to a thread here on gr about reviewing that I found interesting. The reviewer side of me was intrigued but because I am also an author i felt like i was eavesdropping lol. Either way I hope you, like me, will better appreciate what reviewers do for us and our books and maybe even understand how they go about the process a little better.

https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...

[Nik]

Eavesdropped a little.
Benefiting from reviews, I actually forget that:
"It is written by a reader for the benefit of other readers. If, incidentally, it helps the author become a better writer, or buffs the ego a tad, that’s great, but is not why they are written."

[Tara Woods Turner]

Thomai
You are so right. I am an avid reviewer on Audible and it is strange and gratifying to be on the other side of things, so to speak.

Nik
That stood out to me as well and it is so true. That's why I cringe when I see where an author either has or expresses a desire to engage with a reviewer who has not liked his/her book. Not cool - the review process has nothing to do with us as authors. It's about the reader and the book.

[Mike]

Tara wrote: "I'm linking to a thread here on gr about reviewing that I found interesting. The reviewer side of me was intrigued but because I am also an author i felt like i was eavesdropping lol. Either way I ..."

You're not really eavesdropping, Tara; the thread is part of the Goodreads Review Group, which is basically a bunch of writers who earn reviews by writing some themselves (and someone else then reviews theirs). I'm actually one of the mods.

But it's true that on this thread, everyone was in reviewer mode, and some of the questions people were asking were interesting. How much should I write? Who are you writing the review for? What should you be looking for that helps a prospective reader? When I write a review, I'm looking for pretty much the things Thomai suggests - in particular, could I relate to the characters; that is an excellent measure of how good the writer is.

I also totally agree that an author should not engage with someone who's done a poor review, except under very specific circumstances that are very rare.

[Quantum]

I like the purpose and professional guidelines of that group. I joined.

[Mike]

That's great, Alex.

[Tara Woods Turner]

Mike
*high five* Much thanks!

[E.M.]

Alex G wrote: "I like the purpose and professional guidelines of that group. I joined."

Ditto.

Thanks for posting this, Tara!