If you want to write a review then you should have the courage of your convictions. Not liking something is not a bad thing, but writing a negative review that centres on the author's faults and not the book's, is.
This is sort of my take on it as well. And, as I said, not all of my amazon reviews have been glowing, but that's part and parcel of putting your work out in public. People are allowed to have whatever opinions they want -- I appreciate it if they don't write, say, "Your writing sucks since you had kids" or an equally personal variant, but by and large, their experience might make a difference to other readers.
I did once write to someone who clearly hadn't liked my first book, because he'd given 1 star reviews to the last two in the series. Mostly, I wanted to know why he finished the books; they're not short, and it's a lengthy investment of time, given the stark reaction to the first one. He was actually happy to hear from me, and we had a lengthy back and forth about why he found them emotionally traumatizing, and about my lack of intent to cause that sort of trauma -- but he did confess that the latter two reviews were written from that state of upset, because he hadn't actually read the books. The conversation itself was interesting, and gave me insight into different modes of reading, which I'm still thinking about, so from my perspective, it was good. (My husband told me he hadn't read them before I sent the email, but I thought he must have, or why bother posting? and in this, he was right).
I didn't ask him to take them down; he offered, but I told him "controversy doesn't hurt". It doesn't, in my experience, and as amazon doesn't have any policy that I can see when it comes to reviews (such as, having to read the book), it was just as valid as anything else. Otoh, he did take them down.
I've noticed this at the store: If one person loved a book and one person hated it and they both post reviews, it has the effect of engendering curiosity in readers, because they want to know either who to believe or what they think, given the polarization.
So, even if the bad reviews sting, the overall effect isn't a bad commercial effect: And the more polarized, the more people are curious.
And the net effect of Anne Rice's rant on her sales? Books that hadn't moved off our shelves for months and months have sold out in the last one <wry g>.
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branchandroot
Re: anonymity
Date: 2004-10-24 11:56 pm (UTC)This is sort of my take on it as well. And, as I said, not all of my amazon reviews have been glowing, but that's part and parcel of putting your work out in public. People are allowed to have whatever opinions they want -- I appreciate it if they don't write, say, "Your writing sucks since you had kids" or an equally personal variant, but by and large, their experience might make a difference to other readers.
I did once write to someone who clearly hadn't liked my first book, because he'd given 1 star reviews to the last two in the series. Mostly, I wanted to know why he finished the books; they're not short, and it's a lengthy investment of time, given the stark reaction to the first one. He was actually happy to hear from me, and we had a lengthy back and forth about why he found them emotionally traumatizing, and about my lack of intent to cause that sort of trauma -- but he did confess that the latter two reviews were written from that state of upset, because he hadn't actually read the books. The conversation itself was interesting, and gave me insight into different modes of reading, which I'm still thinking about, so from my perspective, it was good. (My husband told me he hadn't read them before I sent the email, but I thought he must have, or why bother posting? and in this, he was right).
I didn't ask him to take them down; he offered, but I told him "controversy doesn't hurt". It doesn't, in my experience, and as amazon doesn't have any policy that I can see when it comes to reviews (such as, having to read the book), it was just as valid as anything else. Otoh, he did take them down.
I've noticed this at the store: If one person loved a book and one person hated it and they both post reviews, it has the effect of engendering curiosity in readers, because they want to know either who to believe or what they think, given the polarization.
So, even if the bad reviews sting, the overall effect isn't a bad commercial effect: And the more polarized, the more people are curious.
And the net effect of Anne Rice's rant on her sales? Books that hadn't moved off our shelves for months and months have sold out in the last one <wry g>.