Reviewing for Pleasure & Revenge

New authors ask me how to react when a reviewer seems to have a wooden stake to drive through their new novel or how to review other authors’ books. The questions make me evaluate how I regard reviews.

First, each book has qualities that may not work for me, but are probably the reason other readers love it. The very aspect that one reader enjoys, another will dislike. I know that and remind myself when I see reader reviews of books – other people’s and mine.

That’s the part of reviewing that’s hard for me: being an author. I want to say only encouraging things to other authors. I’ve been there. No one wants to read a harsh review of their work.

A review is, after all, one person’s opinion. My friend Brenda would often recite, “Opinions are like a$$#*les; everyone has one and it usually stinks.”

So, on sites like Amazon or GoodReads, I tend to not write reviews unless I’m crazy-infatuated with a book, and then I’ll keep focused on what I think other people will find interesting about it. 

Giving stars is difficult too. For a while, I gave 5-stars to every book I enjoyed, but it occurred to me that 4-stars are “great” and 5-stars means a book is “perfect.”  That was the performance evaluation criteria we had in the corporate world – I was always disappointed if I didn’t get a perfect evaluation.  Donna, my director, would remind me that I did not “walk on water.”

No book “walks on water” either. A 4-star review is a compliment to the work. I know I see a lot of all 5-star reviews. Moms and friends are kind to their writers. ;-)  Also, some authors have achieved teen idol status, so gushing reviews are common for household names or pretty writers. I like to read and to write well-thought reviews about what was enjoyable about the novel. A written review takes time and effort; I appreciate those for my own work and try to return that to others.

We can’t always be syrupy in admiration for a book, but if I find a book doesn’t speak to me, I stop reading and move to the next one on my list. I don’t release brimstone onto the author. A rabid, hateful review demonstrates more about the reviewer than it does of the targeted book.

That’s what I tell new authors about reviews. If the tone is harsh, the review is about something more than the book. It was written to be hurtful to the book’s author. Julia Cameron says “blocked creatives” can be very spiteful to those who are achieving what they long for.

 

Focus on encouragement and refinement when reading or writing a review from someone not of your relation! The old adage “If you can’t say something nice, say nothing at all” is a good rule for reviewing (and in life).

eBooks on the “Down Low”

I’m finishing Elena Santangelo’s Poison to Purge Melancholy, which I bought at Malice Domestic this year. I’m enjoying the way she works poisons into the historical subplot and how readily available those poisons were in the 1700s. Even before I started reading it, I had heard a NPR radio interview with Deborah Blum on her new book about poisons and forensic science in New York City in the 1920s.

I’m not a CSI TV show watcher; in fact I don’t think I’ve watched a cop show since “Hill Street Blues.” Forensic science is fascinating. I’ve heard multiple opinions from the real technicians: Either they say the TV labs have more funds and equipment than real life could ever hope for, or they say they never get involved and only write up reports – not much drama there. So I think I avoid those CSI-type programs because I don’t want to write a mystery where the research comes from watching TV. That’s second-hand knowledge.

Back to the poisons. Now the public is gaga over forensics. I don’t know if Blum’s book would have been on NPR if it weren’t for the success of television shows like CSI. I listened to the interview as I drove and found her anecdotes fascinating. I went into the William & Mary Bookstore yesterday and bought The Poisoner’s Handbook by Deborah Blum. It has bumped up on my reading list to follow Santangelo’s mystery, which is just a few chapters from the end.

The “Down Low” part of this tangential blog is how self-conscience I felt walking around town with a book titled The Poisoner’s Handbook (trying to be green, I declined the shopping bag for the one item). Sunday afternoon is a time for beer in Colonial Williamsburg. People tended to guard their drinks when I sat down near them and they saw the book’s title.

[I will clarify: Blum does not give poison recipes.]

I thought, maybe I should have bought the Kindle copy. That way, no one would know what I was reading.

That covert reading is a plus for eBooks. I will admit I have bought Kindle books that I probably wouldn’t have bought in paper form – mainly because of the cover or title. Some books look too much like romances (not that there is anything wrong with that), when they aren’t. Some aren’t as literary as you want your reading image to convey. Some covers are just too sexy to have complete strangers see you carry on the train or bus.

My first Derek Mason Mystery Fingering the Family Jewels is doing great Kindle sales. Yes, I know the title is a bit risqué for some people, and I wonder if that’s who is buying it in eBook format. Read the book, but don’t let mama know.

Where the Internet opened up a way to buy any book without awkwardness, now eBooks let you read any book, anywhere with complete subject/storyline anonymity.

Be it books on poison, romances, erotica, Dr. Ruth, Dr. Phil, or books with risqué titles, now you can read on the down low. And that (as VP Biden likes to say) is a big f-ing deal.

Read what you want!

BAM, BAM to Small Publishers

Here's a bit of advice to authors and small publishers and readers who appreciate the innovation of the independent presses: Stay away from Books-A-Million.

After over a month of sending e-mails and making phone calls, I finally was able to talk to "Kim" at Books-A-Million. She said that unless a book was in their warehouse, the stores could not sell it or have the author in for a book signing.

So, I asked, how do you get into the warehouse? She was sketchy, but looked up my three books. Then said they didn't warehouse them. Why? Because the independent publishers use Print-On-Demand (POD).

A quick word on POD: This is the technology of the future for publishing. And most small and independent publishers use it because there is no inventory to warehouse (or destroy if sales lag). POD is more expensive per book for the publisher, but the inventory costs are zero.

Both my publishers (Regal Crest Enterprises: Fingering the Family Jewels and Devil's Bridge, and Cherokee McGhee: Under a Copper Moon) use Ingram's POD printing company.

I couldn't get Kim to say why they wouldn't take a POD book -- they are returnable if books are left after the book signing. Amazon sells a lot of these books, and returns them if they get too many at their warehouse.

So, if you want to help out independent presses and authors, ask for the books at your local independent bookstore, Amazon.com, or Barnes & Noble. These companies want to give you the full spectrum of books available.

"Books-A-Million" doesn't mean that they have millions of books to choose from, but that they only stock books that can make them millions.