When I was growing up I was never on a team, never in a group, never part of a special community. When I first discovered the online romance community I was amazed. Here were people, just like me, chatting about the books I loved and hated, swapping recommendations, mentioning authors I loved. Hell, even some of my favorite authors were blogging. It was an incredible discovery. (Yes, I’m pathetic). Those first few months were a dream. Commenting on posts I found interesting, reading in-depth reviews of the genre I love, entering contests while I was kept awake at night with insomnia.
I lived in this marshmallow sweet world for almost a year before I learned of the dark currents which ran beneath. It was only recently I heard of this ‘gap’ between readers and authors. I think it was on SFC or Dear Author. And I was so surprised by some of the passionate comments. It was almost as if one side hated the other.
Huh?
I though we as romance readers loved romance authors. Why? Because they provide us with our romance novels.
Yes, I know I’m naive but that’s how I perceived it. As the issue was raised on many other blogs I began to see why there was so much tension. Some authors were offended by some of the harsh reviews they’d received from readers. Some readers felt the authors were know-it-alls and intruding on reader territory (how masculine does that sound?) Another problem readers complained about was that authors weren’t commenting on readers’ blogs.
All of these arguments gave me food for thought. Everybody had a point. Some reviewers are so harsh, I blush with embarrassment for the author in question and the rest of the reader community when I read their posts. It’s incredible what some people think it’s okay to say. It’s un-bloody-believable.
Okay, I know what you’re going to say. You’re going to spout some rant about free speech and tell me to get over my repressed self. But please listen. I’m not saying don’t give your opinions on a book. I’m merely asking why do you have to be so damn nasty about it? You tear these authors apart, authors who’ve spent so much time creating their stories, for what? What kick do you get from it? Sure, your controversial comments will lead traffic straight to your blog. But if that’s all you care about you live a sad life.
And some of you reviewers don’t even explain why you hate a book. You just rant and rave about how it and the author sucks. What help is that to a reader? Most of us will disregard your review, thinking it a waste of blog space. But then there are those who are less savvy, unaware of vendetta and will take your word as gospel. You might argue that it’s their own fault for not using their own minds. But what about the author who has lost a sale to that stupid reader. All because of your biased review.
I love the internet. I really do. But this kind of crap really puts a damper on things. It reminds you that people can say anything and get away with it because they are anonymous. So in the real world, do you people say this shite in public? I’d place a bet that the answer is no.
I can’t comment on the readers’ arguments because I’ve never encountered know-it-all authors or a lack of commenting on readers’ blogs from authors. But I have no doubt this exists. Probably because authors are afraid of pissing on readers territory.
When I entered into this romance circle, I never would have guessed I was entering a world of politics. But life always surprises you. And I know this topic has been done a dozen times before, but I really wanted to put my own thoughts out there. If you remember nothing else from this post, please note the main point I’m trying to make:
Much as we hate to admit it, we’re not teenagers anymore. We’re grown-ups. So please, to all those drama queens out there stirring the shit, can’t we please act like adults?
I salute anyone who made it this far. You’re patience with my rambling is admirable.
P.S. If you want to win an ARC of ‘The Perfect Stranger’ drop by my blog and tell me a joke.
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Okay, I thought I should way in with some thoughts. With all these opinions everywhere (this post has spread to Karen Scott’s blog), almost a hundred comments in total, I got very confused. I found myself wondering what the hell I was talking about in that post.
After an hour of trying to sleep I figured it out.
I am as naive as a ten year old. And I’m proud of it. As Karen said I see the world through rose-colored glasses. I like it like that. I don’t understand why we all have to be so cynical, constantly putting people and their work down.
The reviews I was talking about come from Dionne Galace, Dear Author and Karen Scott. Yes, to you they might be tame. But still, they have to hurt.
And I know not every book can be graded A, I know that some books are pure crap, but surely if you’re going to review a book you can find at least one thing good about it, as simple as the heroine’s name. Why does it always have to leave a bitter taste in the reader’s mouth. Why do you like to be so snarky? Why?
I don’t get the point. Can you not just say, ‘this book wasn’t my cup of tea’ and give your reasons? ANd the reasons don’t have to include the word ’shit’.
I just thin (from my ten year old’s viewpoint) that this world would be a much better place to live in if we didn’t feel the need to be so nasty.
And saying you didn’t like a book because it was ‘boring’ is not a valid reason. Please explain why it was boring.
And this is written by Maria Duncan, no-one else.
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See, this reads as a faulty logical leap.
Writing about a book is not the same as writing about an author. There is (and should be) some separation of self between creator and product. I am not my novel. Sure, I devoted time and effort to it, but it does not define my self-esteem and my value as a human being.
If somebody hates one of my books and writes a snarky (even a mean) review about it, that doesn’t mean they hate ME (or even that they’ll hate my next book for sure.) It speaks to one book alone. That’s it, that’s all.
As for throwing out words like “immoral” and “disgusting” with such ease, I’m just going to back away from that slowly.
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Those words were not thrown out with ease, they came from deep inside. Maybe my morals are too high to be realistic, but I’d rather have them high than low, thank you very much
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Wow, Maria, if you want to call me a dirty whore, just come right out with it. No need to wrap it up so ladylike. A person of low morals like me might not understand if you take the subtle route. I’m out, as reasonable discourse obviously just took the last train from the station.
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I don’t want to call you a dirty whore Annie, I don’t even know you
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And did I say you have low morals? Why is everyone putting words in my mouth?
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Michele, I liked your examples, and you’re only person who has brought up any. I read the Foley rant long ago, and though I’ve never read Foley or thought about her too much either way, and I understand what the author was trying to do, I didn’t care for that piece all that much myself. And the one review that I wrote myself that I felt guilty about afterwards concerned LKH.
I think that it’s important to think about intent when reading a review. When I’m writing a review, my intent is to sift through what I like or don’t like about it, and to help other readers decide if the book is right for them. A personal attack requires a level of involvement that is way beyond me. If I don’t like a book, it certainly doesn’t mean I hate the author, her family or choice of footwear. It just means the author could have done some things differently to make the book work better for me. To make it personal seems a bit unhinged to me. If you slogged through a book you actively loathed, the only person you should be mad at is yourself :) I think I could easily discern between a piece of writing that is just meant to be a rant, and one that has some actual critical content. And I think that most readers can, especially those that take the time to seek out reviews on line. And there is a place for happy, happy, joy, joy reviews as well, to promote new authors etc.
Ultimately it all seems to be coming back to that reader/author gap stuff, because the line of comfort with a review seems to be different for those who are not publishing authors.
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Devon, that’s the way I do my reviews. I read a book a while ago by a pretty well-known historical author and didn’t make it through it.
And in my review I said exactly what I didn’t like about it. I was honest. But I didn’t tear it to pieces either
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I’ve rarely read a review at any of the places mentioned that did not include at least one good thing. If anything, I have read reviews where the author liked the book despite the flaws that they percieved. So definitely I would like some examples of how these bloggers are not saying that a book was not their cup of tea.
And it is interesting that having a negative opinion about a book can make you immoral and disgusting. Maybe it’s just my rose colored glasses, but I think there are plenty of immoral and disgusting behaviors out there and blogging about romance novels is not one of them.
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What I find immoral and disgusting (I will concede those words might be a little strong) is when a reviewer blows a book to pieces. Negative opinions are fine.
Here’s a link to one:
and another:
(Alison here. I edited the links into clickables because they broke my tables.)
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The reviews I was talking about come from Dionne Galace, Dear Author and Karen Scott. Yes, to you they might be tame. But still, they have to hurt.
And I know not every book can be graded A, I know that some books are pure crap, but surely if you’re going to review a book you can find at least one thing good about it, as simple as the heroine’s name. Why does it always have to leave a bitter taste in the reader’s mouth. Why do you like to be so snarky? Why?
I have no doubt that some authors recoil from very negative reviews (as in the reviewer did not like the book), and probably all authors smart just a little at negative reviews. They wouldn’t be human if they didn’t. But I think the mistake — and yes, I think it’s a mistake — that authors make is that they believe there’s a logical inference between the feeling of hurt to some obligation of a reviewer to take the author’s feelings into account. And IMO that is not only a logical or valid inference but it would also be very, very bad for reviewing as a whole.
Reviews on the sites you mention are not written for the authors: they are not job reviews or personal evaluations of how much someone loves an author. They are RE-VIEWS of a book a reviewer has read and is responding to critically for other readers. It is an opinion, and it is, in many cases, a service to other readers. Should reviewers consider the author AT ALL in their reviews, it would make for dishonest evaluations of a book. Because if the point of a review is to only approach the work, then it becomes illogical and contradictory for a reviewer to then be asked to consider the author’s feelings when the author *herself* is to be absented from the review totally. And in an environment where different authors have such vastly different comfort levels, I think it is completely inappropriate for reviewers to have to take an author’s feelings into consideration AT ALL. I mean, think about it: reviewer A reads a book, and all the while she’s putting her review together, she’s wondering whether Author C will be okay with what she’s saying. We have now moved completely away from the ENTIRE POINT of reader reviews. I read one of the books you refer to in your two review examples, and I was so offended by that book, so insulted by the level of craftsmanship and even some of the ideological underpinnings, that I have to wonder why MY being offended is any less permissible than the author’s potential offense at my remarks on her book? That makes no sense to me, especially since I have no more obligations to the author when I buy the book than she has to me when writing it.
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Is it really such a schism? Readers have money, writers have book. Even when a reader hates my book they have to pay for it–so I’m happy. The loudest voices are not always the most representative.
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I never thought of it like that before Robin. What you’re saying makes sense. Maybe I’m overly sensitive. But when I read those reviews I can’t help but think of those affected by it.
Maybe I’ve been watching too much Oprah
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I’ve rarely read a review at any of the places mentioned that did not include at least one good thing. If anything, I have read reviews where the author liked the book despite the flaws that they percieved.
I agree, Devon, but even if a reviewer doesn’t name one thing she liked about the book, why should she feel obliged to (and I realize you aren’t saying they should; I’m just using your comment to continue my rebuttal to Maria’s argument)? Outside of a personal insult directed toward the author (and I remember someone remarking that a certain author had to pick up men at funerals — which struck me as unequivocally over the line), honest reactions are at the heart of the integrity of the reviewing process itself. That *I* prefer reviewers who detail the reasons that books do or don’t work and who do some analysis in their review (which is the case with all the sites Maria mentioned, IMO) doesn’t even mean reviewers are minimally *required* to offer these things. Because if it’s really all about the work, then neither the feelings nor the personal habits of an author should influence the review. Otherwise reader reviewers become nothing more than spokespeople for certain authors, and that’s advertising and marketing, NOT reviewing.
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Hang on, I’m not saying you have to be a gushing fangirl about it. The problem I have with it is the level of snark or bitchiness in the review.
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Maybe I’m overly sensitive. But when I read those reviews I can’t help but think of those affected by it.
Which is your prerogative, as well. Hurt feelings are a reality of public life, I’m afraid. It’s when we start imposing obligations on other people for our hurt feelings that I think we get into trouble. I’ll give you a bigger example of what I see as essentially the same thing: people who express vocal political dissent and are accused of being unpatriotic. I think the problems with the logic of obligation (or the illogic of obligation) become clearer at this level. Why, for example, should someone have to love everything their country does in order to pass muster as a lover of their country? Book reviews aren’t political protests, but there’s an analogous logic: a harsh review isn’t necessarily any expression of dislike for an author’s person. And sometimes it’s those who have the most love and passion for a genre who are most vocal in their disappointment with a book. If you’re an author, isn’t that the same reader you want loving your book, reading your book? Suppress her voice in the negative review, though, and you might as well silence her completely.
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And I know not every book can be graded A, I know that some books are pure crap, but surely if you’re going to review a book you can find at least one thing good about it, as simple as the heroine’s name.
Why? I mean if it’s truly crap? Truly, truly no hold barred bad.
See, that’s the problem I have with the say something nice logic. If the books are bad, why should it be sugar coated? To keep from hurting the author’s feelings? That is not our job as readers. And it certainly shouldn’t be a reviewers job. Sorry but it’s not. And if another reader/reviewer liked the book, they’ll say the nice stuff anyway.
None of which is the same thing as attacking the author on a personal level.
As to the reviews you linked to, Maria, I looked at both of them. Yes, they were definitely completely negative. Were they unnecessarily so? That’s the question.
I’m familiar with the one from Dear Author although I haven’t read the book in question. The thing is that she didn’t say anything that she didn’t back up with exactly the whys you’re asking for. They just happen to be all negative. While that might be disturbing, is it truly wrong?
As for Karen’s review of the other book, I actually thought it was quite humorous. Yes, again, completely negative but still humorous. The thing is, I’ve read books just like what she’s talking about and wished I hadn’t. So, I appreciated the points she was making and would definitely know I didn’t want to buy the book. I also suspect that someone who knew they liked that type of book could read between the lines and know they would.
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The problem I have with it is the level of snark or bitchiness in the review.
But who’s going to establish the guidelines as to what’s snarky or bitchy? You have every right to say, “hey, I think Review A, B, and C” are too bitchy and too snarky. Every right. But for every one who agrees with you, there will be someone who says, “no, I think those sites are perfectly appropriate in their tone.” So who’s right? I don’t frequent all the sites on the list you gave, Maria, because not all of them are to *my* personal taste. But I don’t think any of them are so far off the middle, and they ALL have significant author followings, too. IMO your distaste with them is perfectly legitimate; where I part ways with you, though, is to say that your distaste = an objective designation of bad or confers a responsibility on those reviewers to do anything differently.
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Ahh, that is where you and me disagree Robin. I don’t think that softening a negative review is silencing someone. I think it is just taking into account someone’s feelings. And I really don’t see anything wrong with that.
And Bev, unlike you I didn’t find that review funny, I found it cringe-worthy. Yes I’ve read books like she described but there are better ways to put it.,
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But I’m honestly not trying to push my views onto anyone Robin. All I wnated to do was understand the motivation behind these reviews, and why they’re attractive to other people. This has been a learning experience for me and I really appreciate everyone giving their opinions.
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Maria, I just want to make one more suggestion here. Take all the things you’ve said about reviews and reviewers
“unlike you I didn’t find that review funny, I found it cringe-worthy. Yes I’ve read books like she described but there are better ways to put it.,”
“Hang on, I’m not saying you have to be a gushing fangirl about it. The problem I have with it is the level of snark or bitchiness in the review.”
“What I find immoral and disgusting (I will concede those words might be a little strong) is when a reviewer blows a book to pieces. Negative opinions are fine.”
” I believe that tearing an author apart, an author who has dedicated time and energy into creating a novel is immoral and disgusting.I don’t see how people can argue with that.”
“So please, to all those drama queens out there stirring the shit, can’t we please act like adults?”
“Self-rightiousness also disgusts me.”
If instead, any of all of these comments were part of a book review and directed at a particular book instead of at a review or reviewer (because clearly the reviewers are implicated here, yes, not just their reviews?), would they be okay under your own guidelines?
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But I’m honestly not trying to push my views onto anyone Robin. All I wnated to do was understand the motivation behind these reviews, and why they’re attractive to other people. This has been a learning experience for me and I really appreciate everyone giving their opinions.
This is obviously something I feel passionately about, as well, Maria. And you aren’t the only person to express these sentiments. It’s just tough for someone to explain why they appreciate review sites someone else perceives to be “immoral and disgusting.” That sort of shapes the discussion right off the bat, LOL!
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Reasons went along with those comments, I don’t know what you expect me to say.
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And Bev, unlike you I didn’t find that review funny, I found it cringe-worthy. Yes I’ve read books like she described but there are better ways to put it.,
Ah, but then she wouldn’t be Karen. And I’ll even go farther than that and say that when we’re talking about blogs, I’m not sure how much of what gets put out there truly qualifies as reviews anyway.
Wait a minute, I just had this discussion recently. Major deja vu kicking in here. :D
Let me ask you something, though, Maria, have you read any reviews from AAR (All About Romance) yet? Just curious. The reason is that, oh, well, say up to ten years ago online, they were the ones getting acused of doing all the “mean” reviews of romances. And I’m sure they still do. Some anyway.
Only now, the bloggers are a lot more prevalent.
And vocal. And loose with their, um, vocabulary. Which is not necessarily a bad thing. It’s not always a good thing but everyone has to find their own style.
That goes both ways. If someone isn’t comfortable going to a site/blog/whatever, then don’t go there. Don’t support them. But what difference does it really make if they do write their reviews/commentary about the books any way they want to as long as they’re discussing the books?
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Yes I’ve been on AAR Bev, I’ve also visited your own site a few times. And I haven’t seen anything there that made me wince.
Look, all I wanted to do was ask why, just why, people get all bitchy when it comes to books. And I wanted to give my own opinion on the matter. Tis all I was trying to say.
It’s all about perception, I guess
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And it would seem I’m in a minority here, something I find confusing. Does nobody think the way I think?
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Reasons went along with those comments
Which is, I guess, the same thing I’d say about the reviews you referenced — they gave reasons for the strong language they used, as well. I understand where you’re coming from, Maria, I really do. I’m just not sure I see the substantive difference between a reviewer (and I’m obviously using this term as inclusive of reader bloggers who review books) calling a certain book “disgusting” and you calling a certain review “disgusting.”
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Because there is something bitchy coming from the review. Some kind of intent.
The book isn’t mean, snarky, malicious whatever, the review is.
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Maria, I think a lot of people think the way you think, as this topic of “mean girl” bloggers pops up with regularity (just see the comments on the DA review you linked). I just read those reviews, and while they certainly were harsh, I don’t think they were personal attacks. I feel as though I’m echoing others, but what I think it comes down to is the nature of the blog and the intent of the review. Jane and KarenS are writing about their personal reading experience, and stating their reasons for their aversion to the book. It is up to the reader to decide upon the validity of their opinions, but they are entitled to their opinions.
What it comes down to in the end, is that if you, or anybody is uncomfortable with the tenor of a review, you should avoid that site. Both blogs allow rebuttals and Jane was quite reasonable when responding to those who disagreed with her. Karen S is abrasive, but day-um if that isn’t what makes her fun.
Thanks for posting the links.
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No problem Devon, thanks for your opinions
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Because there is something bitchy coming from the review. Some kind of intent.
The book isn’t mean, snarky, malicious whatever, the review is.
But is that even the point — assuming you can *accurately* ascribe a motive to be mean to these bloggers? I mean, if you want to go the intent route, then if I think an author intended to write a book that offended me as a reader, can I then call it “disgusting”? I just think it’s an issue of perspective, as you said. Because your perspective is that certain reviews are over the line, you don’t see your wording of “immoral and disgusting” as aggressive or over the line itself. Because you feel passionately that you are in the right. Just like a reader-reviewer feels passionately disappointed in a book she paid for and spent time reading and feels right in sharing her opinion on that book in language that reflects the passionate righteousness of her own response.
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But I did already say that the words immoral and disgusting might be too strong. That was said in the heat of the moment when someone was trying to rile me up.
I’m not preaching, I swear it. I understand your viewpoint, I know where those reviewers are coming from.
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That was said in the heat of the moment when someone was trying to rile me up.
Which is probably when a lot of those reviews are written, too. I know that when I just finish a book that pisses me off, it’s pretty red hot for a while. It takes a good while to get to a point where I can even articulate my responses without a lot of sputtering and cursing and elaborate hand gestures.
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That’s never happened to me with a book before. Maybe I repress anger or something, I should look into it :)
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Maria, I appreciate your take on all this, and I’m sure many others do, too. Authors and readers. For myself, harsh reviews may make me wince, then I move on. But I’ve been around a long time, and I’ve had plenty of harsh reviews for a wide variety of sources.
I feel–and always have–an author should be able to respond to a review (hopefully intelligently), without being jumped on by the reviewer or those who enjoy the site. Just as I feel a reviewer who say this book’s crap and here’s why shouldn’t be jumped on by the author or those who enjoy her books.
When we call all discuss–agree, disagree, snark, offer opinions as individuals without forming the hard lines of readers, of authors, we’ll go a long way to closing the gap.
I actually enjoy the sites you mentioned, but I can also understand perfectly why someone else wouldn’t.
Nora
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Maybe I am not seeing the whole picture but,
I just don’t see what the big dust up is all about.
Maria expressed her opinion. Her opinion,to
which is she is entitled. You either agree or you don’t.
If you agree, fine. If you don’t agree, you can respond back
and forth till your fingers fall off.. but is it highly unlikely
anyone’s opinion will be swayed. The thing is, if you put yourself
out there and voice a strong opinion there will always be those who
feel the need to make others “see the error of their ways”, so to speak.
And that’s cool. Diversity make the world go around. Agree to disagree
and let’s not put words in other people’s mouths. Take what is said at face
value. To put it in perspective here, its not like anyone is
advocating clubbing baby seals or distributing kiddie porn. We’re
talking about book reviews, not global warming.
I feel that if someone is paying you to review something
you have an obligation to provide an unbiased review focusing on points
that can be supported by the work itself. Otherwise, it is your perogative to
be as biased as you want since it is your opinion.
Personally, I rarely read reviews. And I love bitchiness and snark.
I find it entertaining, because that is what it is meant to be. I’m not saying
there aren’t folks who rip others to shreds, focusing on the person and not the
work or overlaying their feelings for the person onto the work itself, but
that is to be expected and should be taken with a grain of salt.
Can’t we all just get along? :)
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You are a breath of fresh air Angie. Over the past few days I’ve felt I was fighting for worldn peace
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So…lots of interesting comments.
I read many of these sites and get a laugh, I also end up reading a number of the panned books and make my own decision to agree or disagree. Regardless of how snarky, or bitchy, or mean a review might be I don’t base my reading decisions on that alone. But then I have a rather large sense of the absurd (hence my gleeful enjoyment of such ridiculousness like Scary Movie 1-howevermanytheycanmake).
Seriously, does no other author see these reviews as a means to grow? Personally someone taking the time to point out my problems (great that they are), is worth more to me than someone gushing about how ‘wonderful’ a book is – thats not to say that I dislike ‘nice’ reviews, my ego thanks them very much.
Why so much furor over the same thing a person in any number of book clubs across the world might stand up and say? Is it just because it’s said on a blog accessible to more people? Everyone’s entitled to an opinion, good or bad, and they are entitled to tell you about it, but they can’t force you to listen – or in this instance, read.
Personally the girlfriend that answers the question “do these pants make me look fat”, with “yes, honey, wear your blue ones instead” is the person I want on my side. To be ‘nice’ at every turn is to live in a vacuum where growth is at a minimum – we, as a species, relish conflict, it’s how we expand and develop.
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Do you want me to tell you what the problem is? 99.9% of romance novelists AND reviewers of romance novels are women. Underneath your sweet smiles, you’re all just conniving, catty, sneaky bitches. That’s why you start anonymous blogs to write snaky (is that the right word?) reviews. You can’t do it as yourself and damage your precious, sweet reputations. Oh, and let’s not forget about the fact that one of those anonymous reviewers might be a closet writer herself and have to submit an MS to one of the very people she’s put down in the past.
Do you think the discussion you’ve been having would even take place in a male-dominated genre. Hell no! Because we say what we think, and we don’t give crap if Dan, Mac and Joe are still gonna love us at the end of the day.
That’s my take on it ladies.
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Wow, a man weighed in, cool! And that did actually cross my mind Vidman, men don’t do that
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Um, you do realize he “weighed in” to tell everyone what idiots they are to care about reviews while pointing out how supposedly awesome guys are, right? All the while clearly ignoring the fact that /everyone/ worries about what other people think of them, men and women.
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Well, the truth hurts. That’s what I think the Duncan chick has being trying to say. This post and others I’ve seen around the net during the last week also points our why women aren’t capable of being world leaders. If they get their panties in a knot over a silly little thing like reviewing a romance novel, how would they handle a real crisis. “Okay, we’ll set up a blog called ‘Mrs. Bitch Goes To Washington’, and we’ll all take turns writing it. That way we can express our political views and not harm our reputation with the electorate. After that we’ll plan the congressional tea party for the all of the other women leaders of the world.”
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I don’t think he was calling us idiots Maire, he was merely speaking the truth. Men DON’T bitch, they don’t get all tied in a not over insults or the like. They can have a bust up one day and be best friends the next. We as women (for most of us anyway) are sensitive, and are inclined to be bitchy in an effort to make ourselves feel better (and I’m not excluding myself from this). It may be a terrible thing to say about our own sex but hell, it’s true! Maybe the men have it right, don’t take these things so seriously, like Angie said earlier on:
‘Maybe I am not seeing the whole picture but,
I just don’t see what the big dust up is all about.
Maria expressed her opinion. Her opinion,to
which is she is entitled. You either agree or you don’t.
If you agree, fine. If you don’t agree, you can respond back
and forth till your fingers fall off.. but is it highly unlikely
anyone’s opinion will be swayed. The thing is, if you put yourself
out there and voice a strong opinion there will always be those who
feel the need to make others “see the error of their ways”, so to speak.
And that’s cool. Diversity make the world go around. Agree to disagree
and let’s not put words in other people’s mouths. Take what is said at face
value. To put it in perspective here, its not like anyone is
advocating clubbing baby seals or distributing kiddie porn. We’re
talking about book reviews, not global warming.’
And let it be clear, that I totally admit to being someone who get’s their panties in a twist over reviewing romance novels. Maybe I should sort that out, :)
The Duncan Chick
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You know what bothers me about all of this utter shit…is that it becomes a she said/she said, back and forth from blog to blog to blog. The old, I have the right to say what I want and don’t tell me what I should say or not say…by telling that other person who just said what she wanted to say…I have the right to say what I want and don’t tell me what I should say or not say..
It’s this vicious little circle that goes around and around…it’s absolutely pointless.
My advice, if you don’t like what people are saying on Bam’s, Jan(y)e’s, Sybil’s, The Book Bitches, SBTB, and so forth…don’t visit those blogs. You dont’ want to see and read negativity then avoid those places. Go to positive blogs that you like and enjoy.
I’ve had to avoid certain blogs because they were pissing me off, so I go to the places I find positive and uplifting.
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No, men don’t bitch like women; they handle things like men and launch fancy missles, perjure themselves about leaking the covert identity of female CIA operatives, and deny knowledge of politically-motivated firings. Boy am I sorry I’m a woman!
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‘Maybe the men have it right, don’t take these things so seriously’
When I said this I meant in terms of bitchiness. I’d still rather be a sensitive female,
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Just to clarify, Maria, I was responding to vidman’s comments (no anonymity there, no siree), not yours.
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I’d like to weigh in here as a former reviewer. Yes, Mr. Vidman, I’m one of those chicken sh*t people who isn’t going to use my real name, because I’m submitting an MS right now and don’t want repercussions.
As a reviewer, I’ve read a lot of terrible books, but I didn’t feel the need to tear down the author, because more often than not, I felt that it was the publisher’s fault. Either the book was poorly edited, not edited at all, or it was so bad, it should’ve never been accepted for publication in the first place.
During my time in this business, I’ve come to realize that a lot of epubs and small presses are started by authors who for one reason or another think they can start their own publishing companies. As a consequence, they’re too busy writing and promoting their own books to do the hard work of publishing—mainly EDITING. I’d like to give a collective slap across the mouth to all of these people who accept these substandard books, let them go into publication and then subject the unwitting authors to reviewers like BAM, Dear Author and Mrs. Giggles. Naturally, the authors are hurt and don’t understand why their books get slammed. They were good enough to be accepted for publication, weren’t they?
If I were in a position to do it, I’d tell every aspiring author out there to be very careful who he or she submits her work to. Spend as much time researching publishers as you do writing your book. Contact authors who’ve been published by them. Most won’t talk openly, but they will privately. Ask them how much editing was done was done to their MS. If the editing amounted to little more than a spelling and grammar check in MS Word, you don’t need to go there.
I’ve taken up too much space here already, but maybe as reviewers, we need to start taking some of the publishers to task instead of tearing down the authors.
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“I don’t think he was calling us idiots Maire, he was merely speaking the truth. Men DON’T bitch, they don’t get all tied in a not over insults or the like. They can have a bust up one day and be best friends the next.”
*laughs* Yeah right. I don’t know where you get your data from, but clearly your version of the truth is different from what I’ve observed. Men have feelings too, it’s just that some express them and some don’t. I know which kind I’d rather hang out with.
Besides, that wasn’t what I was saying in the first place. I was talking about people caring what other people think of them. As I said, /everyone/ cares to one extent or another, despite what “vidman” was saying. That’s part of functioning in society.
From what I’ve seen on this page… well, I’m not gonna insult you. I just find little value in what you seem to be attempting. *shrugs*
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I believe that some of these review bloggers post bad reviews to try to tempt the author to respond on their blog. You get the bloggers friends defending the reviewer, you get the author and her fans in on it and now your blog has some excitement when it gets dull and boring. I simply love when an author ignores them and doesn’t show up.