Wednesday, July 18, 2012

It takes a lot of nerve...

I'm going to talk about Goodreads and reviews, though it's a topic I try to stay away from. I do reviews on Goodreads, and Amazon for that matter. As an Amazon Vine reviewer, Amazon gives me products to try for an honest review. I used to review books on Amazon. Since I became a writer, I will no longer review books on Amazon (plus it's a time drain and you can only get more products if you have most of your other products reviewed).

I do still review occasionally on Goodreads, but if I don't like a book, I won't review it. I will only review books I would give four or five stars. I know some people don't agree with this policy, but as an author, I know how much low ratings hurt egos and feelings. That's just how I roll. 

Obviously there are review bloggers on there who review many books. Here's the thing, many of these bloggers are writers themselves. I don't know how they feel confident about giving a book one or two stars when they have books out there also. I mean, I would never retaliate against a blogger, low reviews don't really bother me any more, but I think some people might.

What do you think? I'd love some bloggers to weigh in if they read this.

4 comments:

  1. Not a book blogger but I am an Amazon Viner and I share your policy. I will not post bad reviews (less than three stars) because they are so incredibly subjective. What I hate someone else may love. But also, as a writer, I'm not going to tear down another person's work or do anything to harm their career. Aside from empathizing with the incredible amount of work it takes to produce a book, I believe in Karma. That's not something I'd like to bite me in the buttocks.

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  2. I'm a blogger and not a writer. I have said it a number of times I'm not sure goodreads is worth the drama. You have people who are bullies and review books they never read. I do write bad reviews but never attack an author. I explain what I didn't like and why that book doesn't work for me. Also I do believe that what doesn't work for me might work for others.

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  3. I agree.

    I don't leave a review that's below three. I don't want to review anything dishonestly. So, if I can't be a help, I'll bow out, quietly.

    More importantly, I review ONLY the kind of books I enjoy reading. I've got no business writing a review about a piece written in a genre I don't like, and don't read. I do not consider myself competent to review that which I know I won't like, just because of its type. Obviously, I don't get it.

    That's not doing EITHER readers or writers any favor. No one of us is that indispensable.

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  4. Great comments ladies. And it IS so subjective. Books I dislike, others may love and it's not my place to stop someone from reading a book just because I like it, but I love praising books that resonate with me.

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