Quote:
Originally Posted by Aladyleyna
Cool, I've never thought of it that way. Here I was thinking that reviews were meant to be read by the author!
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I run a weekly speculative fiction ebook review blog (cross-posting on Amazon, Smashwords, and Goodreads), and I also write fanfic on fanfiction.net (man, how much more nerdy can I get? I do play outside. Sometimes.)
Fanfiction.net reviews
Fanfiction.net reviews are different from Amazon/Smashwords/Goodreads. Fanfiction.net's reviews are really informal encouragement or critique for the author, but the raw review numbers (This has been reviewed 100 times!) tells other readers whether the fic is worthwhile to read or not. A lot of it is feedback written by amateurs for other amateurs (which I think has it's own place) and it's generally more emotional (I loved this scene, this was funny, etc.) than constructive.
Reviews on Amazon/Smashwords/Goodreads, on the other hand, are for other readers, essentially answering the question "Who should read/purchase this book?" I see it as a professional and finished product. I know writing is a collaborative process, but I think that's for the writer's critique and beta circle to handle, not for the general public.
Book reviews
The general public takes a while to respond to stuff. I never reviewed books beyond a short paragraph on Goodreads until I started my ebook review blog. Now I write reviews for indie books at least once a week, and the word count tends to end up somewhere between 500-1000 words. I keep it up because blogs that update regularly are taken more seriously.
Like Anke and Ficbot, I see book reviews as tools to inform other readers. Reviews are a record of subjective reactions to a book. For me, helpful reviews address the following:
(1) What kind of book is this?
(2) What are its strengths?
(3) What are its weaknesses?
(4) Who would I recommend it to?
There's a lot of books out there, and as a reader, I want to know if the book is likely to connect with me or not, because not all books are for everyone. One-line reviews that say "This is a wonderful book!" are emotional reactions that don't say who the target audience is, so I'm specific with both my praise and criticism.
Beta Feedback
Book reviews are different from beta feedback, or at least the ones I write. I haven't done that much betaing, but I've betaed a horror screenplay that's being produced by an indie film company, and I'm in the process of betaing a scifi indie book. Book reviews are to be read by a public that chooses to buy or not to buy, so it's important that each word delivers the right impression. It shouldn't be more glowing or more critical than it should be.
For betaing, I don't care about that glowing/critical balance. They're private comments for the author and/or other betas to follow up on. I give some praise, but I dive down to the critical nitty-gritty. "This character motivation isn't convincing", "This turn of events has unfortunate implications that people could read a lot into", "You don't need this scene." Authors don't need betas for ego-boosts, that's what fan emotional reactions are for. Betas are for pointing out problems. Or maybe I'm just a menacing beta
How to get more reviews
I second anamardoll's post. I add looking into some indie book bloggers
http://www.simon-royle.com/indie-reviewers/ Many cross-post to Amazon/Smashwords/Goodreads/etc. They can take a while to respond back, but you know what sort of review to expect from them.