Reviews and Indie Books

[ficbot]

Nancy, kudos on a well-written post on this. That said, my own feeling is that as a reviewer, the responsibility is imho more on the reader's side. I'd go for 'protecting other buyers from wasting their money' every time, even if it meant 'crushing the heart and soul' of the author, simply because the customer is the one being asked to shell out money there, and the author has willingly put their work onto an open market, and that means it's fair game. Frankly, I think more indie authors *could* be financially successful if they stopped thinking of the work as their 'baby' and started thinking of it as the straight commercial product it is, but that's just my bias

[Frida Fantastic]

Originally Posted by ficbot

That said, my own feeling is that as a reviewer, the responsibility is imho more on the reader's side. I'd go for 'protecting other buyers from wasting their money' every time, even if it meant 'crushing the heart and soul' of the author, simply because the customer is the one being asked to shell out money there

I agree. I think fiction being sold on a venue like Amazon and Smashwords is different from the free fiction amateur sites like fictionpress.com or whatever's more active these days. I don't give negative reviews to amateurs, that's the last thing they need, they need a critic-buddy that can help them improve. But Amazon/Smashwords is a bookstore where final products get sold, and must be judged as such. Ultimately, readers aren't evaluating authors, they're just recording their subjective experiences to (what is essentially) a work of art. Whether that piece worked for them or didn't is really up to them.

Of course, I completely ignore those two star reviews that say "I hate horror books, I don't know why I read this one." It's like, okay, why did you read it then? I *like* horror, your review is not helpful for me as the target reader. I think readers are pretty smart regarding which reviews are informative/relevant and which ones aren't.

As a book blogger/reviewer. I only read books when they fit my mood, because I want to write the most enthusiastic review possible for it. I would find it a drag to read through another space opera when I've read 2 others in weeks prior, whereas an urban fantasy would be very refreshing at that point. I also spend quite a bit of time writing my reviews, and I let a draft sit for a week before editing it and publishing it, because I want to get the tone right, and I want it to convey exactly the right amount of praise/criticism that I have of it in my head. I don't write negative reviews often, since I try to pick what I'm enthusiastic about and I spend more time sampling books than what is efficient. But hopefully when I do write negative or lukewarm reviews, they help point out who the target audience is, because even genres like SF/F have specific subgenres that people are attracted to and avoid.

Another SF/F book blogger I'm acquainted with gave 3/5 stars for a sci-fi romance book, which he said he didn't like, but he would consider to be up the alleyway of sci-fi romance readers... he just doesn't like romance-focused plot. I think that's fairly positive exposure for the book, because sci-fi romance readers would probably sample the book because of that review.

[GraceKrispy]

I pretty much review everything I read, and generally post the review on one or more of the "big" sites (amazon, smashwords, etc). If I couldn't finish for some reason, I'll "review" what I did read, but I won't do the star thing, and I won't put it on any site other than my blog. Once in a while, I do review outside of my "comfort zone" if it sounds remotely interesting, and I am often pleasantly surprised when I do ("Lovers and Beloveds" is a good example of that). It's a good reminder to me to give things a chance that I might otherwise not.

Like Frida, I really only try to read a book if I'm in a mood for it. Otherwise, my response may be unfairly tainted. I recently reviewed an epic fantasy that I had started several times before actually reading. It wasn't that the book was bad, I just realized each time I wasn't ready for it yet. And now, although the next three books on my lists are fantasies, I'm not ready for them yet, either. I like to mix it up.

With regards to the whole "which books to review" thing, I do review books that are in the middle. I find most of the books are there anyway. It's sometimes hard to find comments for a book that was just "eh," but I think those reviews can be important as well. Sometimes I'll look on Amazon and see that there are a ton of 5 stars and a ton of 1 stars for a book, and I'll think that people either loved it or hated it. But what if there really was a big congregation of people who just thought it was in the middle and didn't bother reviewing for that reason? As a reader, I'd want to know.

I really do hope authors understand that I can enjoy a book that didn't rock my world. In fact, my star ratings don't necessarily reflect which books I enjoyed reading the most. I know that may sound contrary, but (to me) it's not. The ratings do, however, reflect on what I think is the overall quality of a book, rated on many different factors (grammar/writing skills, character development, plot, etc). Sometimes I really do enjoy books that don't have it all together. Hopefully my review will be clear enough on what I did like and what I didn't that another reader can decide for him or herself if it's a good bet.

I started off my adult life as a teacher. It's not in my nature to totally slam people and their attempts to do things. It's in my nature to offer constructive criticism mixed with *honest* praise. I would hate knowing that I've broken the heart of a fledgling author, and I find it really difficult to write reviews for 1-2 star books for that reason. I can almost always find something redeeming about the book, but to present one redeeming factor that is accompanied by 10 "needs work" issues is difficult to do without coming off like gangbusters. That vast majority of books I review initiate as review requests, and I will assume they've read my review policy (even though I can tell some haven't... my name is GRACE, people, and I read epub! ) and I'll assume they are looking for an honest review. And, in all honesty, I'm one person with an opinion. I'm not the be all end all to reviewing- not by a long shot. A mostly negative review from me isn't going to make or break your career, just as a totally positive review won't determine your life-long success. I'm sure it's hard to let go of your "baby" (ficbot, I like the idea of looking at it as a commercial endeavor instead), but if you're going to let your baby fly, you've got to know that the flight may not be carefree. It's a risk an author takes.

On a sidenote, I rate in half star increments, so that presents a bit of a problem when I post on the other sites. 3.5- should it be a 3 or a 4? I try to be fair by making some 3 and some 4, and I choose which ones based on the other reviews. So if there are only 2 reviews, and a 3 would pull it down by a lot, I might choose to put it as a 4 star review on that site. On the other hand, if it's got 5 5 star reviews and 6 4 star reviews already, I may choose a 3 on that site. I always put in the body of the review the actual rating I gave. It's just the way I operate.

*sigh* all these rambling thoughts with which to torture people... should have written my next review already!

[caleb72]

I particularly like to review indie works. Sometimes I don't bother with trade published authors though.

I will review 0 - 5 stars for an indie writer and although I'll feel bad giving less stars, I'll still do it if I feel I need to.

Recently I struggled to review an indie author whose book seemed to be quite popular and although I loved the story, I found the writing really needed a few more editing passes. I gave it 3 stars for the excellent story, but on the writing alone I would have given it 2. I really thought it was a 4-5 star story waiting to happen though so the 3 star review was a disappointing one for me.

It's definitely a balancing act though. I have a great deal of admiration for authors in general and a particular soft spot for indie authors. I like to think that my review of an indie author is helpful to them either way even if my review doesn't earn them many stars.

I've been planning to set up Wordpress so that I can start an indie review site actually but I'm struggling to get the thing to work.

EDIT: Wordpress suddenly installed properly for me and worked. So back to work for me.

[Nancy Fulda]

Originally Posted by caleb72

I've been planning to set up Wordpress so that I can start an indie review site

Caleb: Once you have the review site up and running, please send me a PM. I know a couple of indie authors who'd love to offer complimentary review copies.

[Frida Fantastic]

Originally Posted by caleb72

EDIT: Wordpress suddenly installed properly for me and worked. So back to work for me.

Yay! You write great reviews! If you're setting up an indie review blog with an SF/F focus, let me know (by PM or email, etc.) and I'll add you to the Indie SF Reviewers list

[Seli]

I don't review books I've read, but I will comment if they come up in discussions.

The one review I ever posted was to counterbalance a flood if 5 star reviews I am convinced the book did not deserve. I did my best to explain why I thought the book was mediocre at best.