Try some; it's good.
Wherein I ramble about books, movies,
music, TV shows, my life, and occasionally, hot emo boys.
My Books
Current WiP
My ValentineGuide sequel = DONE
|
Monday, April 02, 2007
reviews
This isn't a rant so much as a public service announcement.
First, let me say, if you send me an ebook to review, I will get to it as soon as I can and I promise to read it with an open mind. However, I don't promise to love it. I don't promise to give you an A for effort or even a B. Anybody who claims to read It's Not Chick Porn regularly and then explodes into frothing rage over my "mean" response to her magnum opus clearly didn't understand the tone of the site. Or maybe it's only funny when it happens to other people. Now authors are free to shit-talk me on their personal blogs. I don't care. Freedom of speech and all that, but honestly, when you talk about how stupid the person is for not loving your book, you only make yourself look bad. It's a subjective business, and you really can't please everybody. Professionals learn that early on.
Second point -- when I review a story, I'm not casting aspersions on anybody's character, intellect, or writing gift. I'm reviewing one story and it's just my opinion. It's sad I have to say that, but there you go. Do I need to start posting warning labels on my reviews like McDonald's coffee ("warning, this shit is hot and may burn your hoo-ha if you spill it in your lap")? I hope not.
But you know what's interesting?
I can only think of one author whose book I gave a not-so-good review who actually got in touch with me and said, "Thanks for your time, I appreciate it. I hope you like my next book better." I'm gonna call her out too, because that lady has class. That was December Quinn. Maybe she secretly thinks I'm a stupid cunt but she didn't go public with it, which shows a measure of self-control and class. People could learn from her.
A number of authors whose books I raved over have contacted me, but of the ones whose books I didn't like, not a peep, not a thank you, except for DQ. You want to talk about common courtesy? How about that? The books were sent to me and I gave my time to review them, which I did honestly. I'm only one person. I'm not a publishing conglomerate; I'm not an editor. Think about how much power I actually have before you lose your mind over it. But if authors think I'm too mean and unfair, there's a solution. Don't send me your book. I don't pick random people to shred. My reviews are unbiased, even if you don't happen to agree with me.
I've given higher grades than I expected. LE Bryce managed to sell me on m/m books, a feat that continues to astonish me. I would've said I could never enjoy that kind of thing, but she can really write. So props to Ms. Bryce. Likewise to Bridget Midway, who will be receiving my first A. I fucking hate BDSM books, and damn if she didn't turn one in that rocked my world. Props to Ms. Midway too.
So if I love your book I will rave about to the skies. Diana Bold and Bonnie Dee both quote my reviews on their sites because they loved what I wrote about their work so much. From Bonnie's site:
From Diana's site:
I'm not a reviewer who never has anything good to say about a book. To my way of thinking, my praise holds more weight because I don't (and won't) blow smoke up somebody's ass, no matter how much I like them. If I did, I would have buttered the hell out of December Quinn because I like her a lot, and I respect her for her attitude. Final point, you gotta take the bitter with the sweet, ya'll. Or maybe just send the book to somebody you know will give it four stars, if you don't really want an honest review.
First, let me say, if you send me an ebook to review, I will get to it as soon as I can and I promise to read it with an open mind. However, I don't promise to love it. I don't promise to give you an A for effort or even a B. Anybody who claims to read It's Not Chick Porn regularly and then explodes into frothing rage over my "mean" response to her magnum opus clearly didn't understand the tone of the site. Or maybe it's only funny when it happens to other people. Now authors are free to shit-talk me on their personal blogs. I don't care. Freedom of speech and all that, but honestly, when you talk about how stupid the person is for not loving your book, you only make yourself look bad. It's a subjective business, and you really can't please everybody. Professionals learn that early on.
Second point -- when I review a story, I'm not casting aspersions on anybody's character, intellect, or writing gift. I'm reviewing one story and it's just my opinion. It's sad I have to say that, but there you go. Do I need to start posting warning labels on my reviews like McDonald's coffee ("warning, this shit is hot and may burn your hoo-ha if you spill it in your lap")? I hope not.
But you know what's interesting?
I can only think of one author whose book I gave a not-so-good review who actually got in touch with me and said, "Thanks for your time, I appreciate it. I hope you like my next book better." I'm gonna call her out too, because that lady has class. That was December Quinn. Maybe she secretly thinks I'm a stupid cunt but she didn't go public with it, which shows a measure of self-control and class. People could learn from her.
A number of authors whose books I raved over have contacted me, but of the ones whose books I didn't like, not a peep, not a thank you, except for DQ. You want to talk about common courtesy? How about that? The books were sent to me and I gave my time to review them, which I did honestly. I'm only one person. I'm not a publishing conglomerate; I'm not an editor. Think about how much power I actually have before you lose your mind over it. But if authors think I'm too mean and unfair, there's a solution. Don't send me your book. I don't pick random people to shred. My reviews are unbiased, even if you don't happen to agree with me.
I've given higher grades than I expected. LE Bryce managed to sell me on m/m books, a feat that continues to astonish me. I would've said I could never enjoy that kind of thing, but she can really write. So props to Ms. Bryce. Likewise to Bridget Midway, who will be receiving my first A. I fucking hate BDSM books, and damn if she didn't turn one in that rocked my world. Props to Ms. Midway too.
So if I love your book I will rave about to the skies. Diana Bold and Bonnie Dee both quote my reviews on their sites because they loved what I wrote about their work so much. From Bonnie's site:
FINDING HOME is the most beautiful book I've read this year. It possesses a haunting, visceral power, and this writing team produces seamless, utterly lyrical prose. It is rich and textured, gritty and real as life itself is real. From the beginning, even the exposition felt like foreplay, fleshing out a passionate, poignant, and utterly forbidden relationship with delicacy and simmering subtlety. If you read just one e-book this year, let it be FINDING HOME.
From Diana's site:
Thus begins an intricately woven story of love, lust, dark secrets and incredible intrigue. Diana Bold writes in a smooth, seductive voice that will raise shivers on the reader's spine and summon comparisons to powerful authors like Laura Kinsale. Every note in this dark, delicious symphony falls just right, perfectly euphonic. Talon and Kathryn so obviously belong together that one cannot help but be swept up in their story. Ms. Bold crafts a haunting secondary character in Daniel, so beautifully written that his pain lingers long after the hero and heroine enjoy their happily ever after. For an unforgettable read, hot with forbidden desire, smooth eroticism and unspeakable secrets, pick up a copy of NOBODY'S HERO.
I'm not a reviewer who never has anything good to say about a book. To my way of thinking, my praise holds more weight because I don't (and won't) blow smoke up somebody's ass, no matter how much I like them. If I did, I would have buttered the hell out of December Quinn because I like her a lot, and I respect her for her attitude. Final point, you gotta take the bitter with the sweet, ya'll. Or maybe just send the book to somebody you know will give it four stars, if you don't really want an honest review.
Labels: SBD
On a personal note - regarding topic of criticism - i am the world's WORST on taking anything less than enthusiastic critiques of my work. No really, the WORST.
My point is, whether an author submits a book for review or their publisher does it for them, you have to have a tough skin to make it in this industry. I'm sorry someone was unhappy with their review, and that they felt they needed to be negative in return. I can only say to them it doesn't get any easier. It helps to just roll with the punches. ^_^
I know I've been accused of *ahem* casting aspersions on others' intellect, insulting their children and pretty much being the spawn of Satan. I rarely get comments from the authors themselves, but the accusations are quite entertaining. And I actually have put a warning label on a review, not for the author's benefit, but for other readers who accuse me of simply being a total bitch.
Of course, I can be a total bitch. But I'm entitled to my opinion as is every other reader out there, and if a reader disagrees, GREAT! A dirty little secret of mine: it took me three months to actually sit and read one of Bam's reviews. I kept skimming by her site and thinking she had the worst taste. Then I read something she wrote about a book I loved (she hated it) and I realized she brought up a lot of valid points. I still love the book (she still hates it), but I truly value her opinions.
I also buy books she trashes and love them, and buy books she loves and can't get through them. It makes the entire reading experience something to enjoy...which is what it's all about, right? RIGHT?
And I'm working my hardest to make sure you do like my next book better, too. :-)
As for the rest, I'm sure you understand why I'm not commenting on any of it.
*crickets chirping*
That was a joke I just made.
Ann, I just submitted! YESSSSS!! We're good to go.
And to be honest, I didn't send the book to you to review, but to Bam 8 months ago. I didn't even know you, but thought Bam might have enjoyed the read from what I'd seen of her tastes.
You could take a bit of this lecture and apply it to yourself, as well you know. If you're going to get your feelings hurt and need to post a public service announcement because one irritated author thought you didn't put your best snark out there, than maybe you need to take a little break.
I stand by the point made in my blog entry which was NOT to whine that I wanted you to praise my pwecious book. I'm good at seperating my self from my work. I was simply frustrated by the fact that it didn't seem you even tried to take the time to thoroughly read the book, that's all. And also, the comment that I must have written the book while drunk was a little hard-hitting. I took that personally...sorry if I shouldn't have. I have pretty high standards for myself when it comes to not writing while intoxicated. I save the merlot for after I'm done writing, to block out the bickering of my children.
Hopefully something good can come out of our little blog dialogue. I'll be sure to think for a long time before I respond to a review--which I've never done before, and I have received other poor reviews for other work. And maybe you can learn something as well...if you feel you have something to learn.
I adore December too. She's my critique and writing partner. So...maybe you'll end up reviewing something by the both of us some day. She can write you a thank you note and I'll pull pictures off your blog and draw horns on them and post them on my blog or...maybe we can meet in the middle between classy and in your face annoyed.
Have a great week, truly, and all the best to you in your future reviewing career :)
Anna, the once disgruntled, but now willing to let bygones be bygones if you'd like. Or we can keep snarking at each other. It's really building my blog traffic :) I was quite unpopular before, probably because I blog about toilet training too often.
Amen to that. The rejection I got from Erika Tsang singed my eyebrows.
Yep, I thought she was on crack with her review of Finding Home. I gave that a perfect 10 for RRT. But we're not the same people. We like different things.
You know I found TBD charming. And I'm sure I'll like your next book. :)
Anna wrote: "If you're going to get your feelings hurt and need to post a public service announcement..."
My feelings aren't hurt. I just wanted to make it clear that I'm not all about the fluffy bunnies, lest anyone feel I've been less than up front. That doesn't mean someone else won't rant about me in the future. That's a risk you take when reviewing people's books.
Free publicity is free publicity, though, so I don't imagine people will stop sending them.
Point of clarity, I didn't write anything about you being drunk. I said LKH. I don't know why you'd take offense at being compared to LKH, even if she was drunk, because the woman has sold MILLIONS of books. Even if I'm not a fan of hers, there are millions of people who are. If being compared to her offended you, that's unfortunate, but as I said in my post, I'm only one person. I don't have the power to change anyone else's mind. And some people, like rhian, will buy the book because of the things I didn't like.
That's all I've got for now because I'm mildly traumatized. I had to take the poor puppy to the vet to get some stitches out, and when they lifted her down from the table, her wound tore wide open. They had to sedate her and resuture. Hardass bitch that I am, I can't stand seeing animals in pain and I cried so hard they sent me away from the animal hospital for an hour while they worked on her. I need to drown my sorrows. Poor silly dog. :(
I guess this is the part where I say I might have freaked out about your review more than I should have because I'd had a miscarriage last week....
...but do big girls pull those cards?
I'll stay off your blog. I can't believe you said you're not about fluffy bunnies and then in the next paragraph tried to illicit sympathy by saying how you cried so hard to see an animal in pain.
I'm taking my hormonal ass--that's been crying on and off for a week and a half--back over to my blog. We all have personal shit, but I thought this discussion was about reviewing and being reviewed.
I won't be wasting any more of your time. Take care of yourself.
Anna
As this is my blog, though, I didn't realize I'm limited in what I can talk about. I didn't play my dog like a card, and that's quite an unkind thing to say. I don't do sushine-y reviews, but I do love my dog. I don't see how the two are mutually exclusive.
I hope you feel better soon and recover from your loss.
If you had said why my review upset you more than it normally would have, you would have gotten a different reaction from me. Not a liking a book is different than dismissing another human being in pain.
Obviously I had no way of knowing when I reviewed your book, so I didn't mean to kick you while you were down. I'm sorry that I did.
Saying nothing is better than throwing a fit. But saying nothing with that cold shoulder is just a quiet form of bitching.
I am so soured on this bs in small press horror, friends publishing friends and people who just happen to know who's ass to kiss who suddenly get put into a position to convince newbies and not-quite-theres that they really are better than them. I hated that attitude when I worked Subway, and when I was in high school, and hell when I was growing up (my family are all like that).
If I could quit writing horror shorts I would because the bad names sure are overrunning the good.
I think it's creeping its way into erotica epublishers now.
So I'll just say--sorry to everyone who's going through tough times.
And I hope someday I get published so Annie can trash my book on Dionne's site.
Not being sarcastic, either.
Bad reviews may suck (the closest I've come are bad scores on contests, since I'm unpubbed) but getting them at all would mean my shit was good enough to get read by an agent, followed by an editor, followed by the reviewer in question.
Since my previous books have yet to make it that far, I kind of see bad reviews as a sort of rite of passage.
If you've ever peeked at the message boards on IMDb, you know what I mean--no matter how awesome I think a movie might be, somebody somewhere hates it. (Likewise, no matter how much I think a movie blows, somebody somewhere loves it.)
All that said, it takes a while to cultivate a thick skin. Some people may never. The first time I got negative comments from a contest judge, I felt sucker-punched in the gut. The last time it happened, I was like, "whatever," and moved on.
I'm looking at the ever-shrinking scrollbar and realizing I'm writing a long ass post that probably adds little to no value to this thread, so I guess I'll go back to my cave now...
P.S. to A&D: I do appreciate that the INCP site has honest reviews. If all the reviews were glowy, I would be suspicious of their sincerity. Much as I wish every book I open would be an A+, that's rarely the case.
Erica, you make an excellent point about IMDB and movies. I'm only one person, and people are going to disagree with me. I would rather have a reasoned discourse where somebody says, "This is why I think you're wrong" and presents his side of things, but sometimes it doesn't go down like that.
C'est la vie.
I like getting nice reviews, but bad ones are okay, too, as long as the reviewer is clear about what they didn't like. The worst ones are where you can't be sure the reviewer even paid attention to the book. I once lost it over a tepid review where the character's name was misspelled. That was worse than anything.
So when Annie snarked whiny, bitchy Sephil in My Sun and Stars, I laughed, because it was all true. She'd read the story and made a careful observation. So now I always refer to Sephil as the "cake boy prince."
I eagerly await the day when Annie (or Bam) reviews the sequel and brands Zhanil as "too stupid to live."
This is why I rejoice every time I see that a blog reviewer hasn't gotten a hold of any of my books. Not that I can't handle the truth, really I can, I just get the willies when I think about someone trashing my book.
Now mind you, I started in this business as a reviewer and I gave quite a few reviews that were NOT gushy and lovey dovey, but still, I guess I'm either too chicken shit or just plain double standard! LOL.
And no, I'm not sending you (or Bam, or Mrs. G) a book. ;)
Dee used to forward them to me, and the authors didn't say a word about it if I liked the book. Now someone has complained because she sent the book to Dee, not me, and said she didn't want me to review it. Well, fair enough.
So going forward, unless the author sends it to me, I'm not touching it. That way there can be no confusion about whether she requested my opinion on her book.