First, for those who’ve been worrying about me on on twitter…I’m still alive. I’m just down and I’ve got the the blahs. I need some time away. I’ll be back around.
Second…onto author rants and the epic-failness of such. There was a big, epic, screeching whine about unprofessional blogs and how these don’t benefit an author.
First…well, most blogs are run by readers as a labor of love. They don’t get paid. So, technically, by definition, I reckon they aren’t professional…by definition. But, by my definition of professional, an author who goes on an epic-y rant about a blogger’s lack of professionalism, all because the blogger gave a subjective opinion in her book review…well, um…I don’t consider that professional, either. The fact of the matter is, most reviews are subjective, because we are reading them and discussing our thoughts related to the work, right?
Now if we were discussing the technical aspects-unfinished sentences, bad editing, etc? Sure. Put that out there as objective criteria. (FYI, I use unfinished sentences, it’s part of my writing style, I’m fine with it, I know some don’t like it. That’s fine. I’m not changing how I write and if it causes a negative review? I’m fine with that.)
But if the book didn’t work because of plotting issues, they didn’t like the story, the character…whatever…that’s subjective. As a writer? If you don’t want to go insane in this biz, it’s best to just learn to accept it. If you can’t? Don’t read reviews.
Back in 9/2010 , I posted this…
There are certain things that just don’t do a writer any good at all…
Things like…
Screeching about bad reviews. Deal with it. It’s going to happen. Everybody is entitled to an opinion and when you rail about somebody not liking your work, you’re basically telling them they aren’t entitled to their opinion. Move on.
Want to rail about it? Go ahead. But you might want to be aware…it’s not going to help things, change things…unless it changes them for the worse. You can’t deny a reader the right to voice their opinion. You just can’t.
My two cents? Save the upset until one of them gets personal and attacks you and doesn’t say anything about the book. And instead of screeching? Call a friend. It will save you grief in the long run.
Amen. I read the particular author blog post and I honestly don’t believe she considered how she would be perceived by new readers. I’ve never read this author but I’m not certain I would put her book on my wish list. I don’t read that particular book review blog either. I think the author did herself a disservice. She can’t control bad reviews but she can control her reaction & how that will effect her author image. I would normally give the author the benefit of the doubt and say she was having a bad day. But the fact that she trolled the review site multiple times to rant makes me feel sorry for her. Most every author I follow on Twitter said she made a PR blunder with that post. I wouldn’t be surprised if she regrets her actions. It’s a bad situation that could have been avoided.
I agree. It’s illogical to think that every review will be a good one because not every one shares the same taste in books. If we did, it would be boring, wouldn’t it?
I don’t get paid to keep my blog, I do it because I read a lot and I love talking to other people about the books I read (go figure) and it is a bonus that someone will ask me to do a review or as to add me to a blog tour or to be a guest blogger. Its what I do with my spare time because I enjoy it and I’m sure it is the same for all those out there who don’t get paid to blog.
I’m sure it is hard to read a negative review, I hate giving negative reviews but something that I didn’t like someone else might think “Oh, well that won’t bother me” and still read it.
I just found it so insulting that this author said that readers aren’t qualified to review books! Well then who is?!
Good, bad or indifferent, the only reasonable response any author should have to a review is, “Thank you for taking the time to read my story/book/novel/what-have-you.”
Period.
End of discussion.
Because there won’t be one!
And the author won’t look like a frigging arse!
OMG!! Hope this person never reads my blog… I failed Freshmen English.. I write how I speak… But as long as people are talking about your books what is the problem… Even if someone doesn’t like who cares… Cause there will be 100’s of others who do!!!
Some people are just STUPID and have nothing better to do then bring others down with them… GEEZ!!!!
I think we have all spoken out of turn at one point or another. It is unfortunate that now when people do it they often do it digitally. I try to teach my kids to stop and think before reacting. I guess that is true for authors responding to bad reviews.