The Importance of Book Reviews

Every Sunday our local newspaper has a Books page with reviews and articles about new books and their authors. That page always brings me pleasure and good suggestions for new stories to read.

Goodreads.com is a great place to find out what other readers like about the books they've read. Authors always hope for the magic 5 star review, every time, but that's not realistic. Not everyone will like a book. The subject matter will not resonate with everyone, the language, the plot, the setting - not everyone likes the same stories. That's why I love the Goodreads rating system.

If I recall, 3 stars is for "I liked it." Four stars "really liked it." Five stars are "It was amazing." That's the scale I use to explain my review, regardless of where I leave it. As an author, I don't mind receiving a three star rating. Now, if I get the dreaded one star (I didn't like it) or a two star review (it was okay) - well, I would like to know why. I respect reader insights and keep them in mind for the next story. But the fact is, not everyone likes the same books.

So, I read the comments. If a reader likes the characterization but not the setting, I'll probably read it anyway because I like a character driven story. If they feel the characters are one dimensional then I probably won't enjoy it. But, it's not just the character that makes a story appealing to me. If the setting is vividly described and makes me smell the salt in the air, I love it. Readers want to be a fly on the wall, they want to "be there." That also makes a good book for me. A compelling story that will hold my attention - well, I'll be missing sleep over that one.

Amazon.com, Barnesandnoble.com are also great places to get review information. It's a great way to share your experience with other readers. Some local bookstores post reviews, as well. With the economy being so tight, the market for books being flooded, how does the reader know what book to spend their hard earned money on? Reviews.

We writers are readers and we want to know what works in our stories. We want people to enjoy our work. Take a few moments to share your experience. Even if you're not a writer, just a short sentence that says whether you liked (i.e. I liked the characters, they seemed real to me)  I didn't like a story (i.e. the characters seemed flat, unrealistic, but I liked the descriptions). There's usually something you like, even if you don't like it overall. Let the author know what they did right and let the reader know your experience. It's hard to write a book and even harder to read the reviews, because you can't please everyone.

Write for yourself. Read for yourself. Share your experience. You'll be glad you did. Enjoy the journey!

Bonnie Tharp’s novel, Feisty Family Values was published by Five Star Publishing in hardback and released in February 2010. Patchwork Family was released in paperback by Bell Books Publishing in March of 2014. You can find out more about Bonnie & her books at http://bdtharp.com.

Reader Reviews: Why They Matter by Jacqueline Seewald

As a reader you might think that your opinion of a book or short story you’ve read doesn’t matter, but you’d be wrong! Not only does your opinion matter to the author but it matters to other potential readers as well. Writers who can’t build a readership because they remain unknown are likely to become discouraged and stop writing. So if you do respect and/or enjoy a book or short story, voice your opinion. Give that writer some encouragement and publicity. Amazon is one place to do it and so are Goodreads and Library Thing. But there are many other sites as well.

For those authors who are published in print, major editorial reviews only matter as much as they do because the reviews offered in such publications as: The New York Times Book Review, Booklist, Library Journal, Publishers Weekly, Kirkus etc. are what acquisitions librarians consider when they place their orders. Librarians are often referred to as gatekeepers, but this is not quite true. For the most part, just a few publications control what books will be purchased worldwide. But these review pubs merely voice the opinion of single reviewers, and these reviewers don’t know more than the average person in regard to what should be available to readers. If a book gets a rave or starred review from these all important publications, then in essence that is what readers will have available in libraries and bookstores. 

Unfortunately, a great many fine, quality books will be ignored and get no reviews or publicity because they aren’t offered by the big publishers who heavily advertise. It appears that the major review publications give special preference to the publishers who advertise with them—not at all surprising. Readers should check out some of the internet review sites for buying recommendations. Also, why not request that your library order books from smaller, independent publishers that you think might be a good read.

The internet is now offering readers real alternatives. This is wonderfully democratic. A great many small independent publishers are making a variety of books available to readers. If you read a book you like, speak up and be a reader reviewer. Tell other readers why you would recommend a particular book. Write and be counted! Your opinion matters! But one caution: take this as a serious responsibility. Of late, it has been noted that some individuals bash books, sometimes books they haven’t even bothered to read. This is highly destructive, much in the way that hackers attack the internet.

What is your thinking on this topic? Your comments pro and con are welcome here.

Six Steps for a Book Launch

In May, Five Star will publish For the Love of Parvati, the third book in the Anita Ray series, featuring  Indian American photographer Anita Ray, who lives in South India at her aunt’s tourist hotel. Anita first appeared in a short story published in Alfred Hitchcock Mystery Magazine, “A Murder Made in India,” in the October 2003 issue. Since then, eleven more Anita Ray stories have appeared in AHMM and Level Best Books anthologies, with another in the pipeline.

Now that the book is written, my job is to launch it on what I hope is a very successful path. Launching a book, as most writers now, is almost as much work as writing it, but I have a few established practices that help me get the word out and generate sales.

1. I compile a list of professional reviewers and review sites, invite them to review the ARC. (These do not duplicate those contacted by Five Star.) Some say yes, and some say no. I send the ARCs out about two to three months in advance, depending on the reviewer. I also ask colleagues, friends, and local reviewers to review. I also do giveaways on Goodreads and LibraryThing. Depending on the reviewer, I may include a letter from the publisher indicating the type of story, etc. This year I have 45 ARCs for the third Anita Ray, almost twice what I had for the second book.

2. I order updated bookmarks with the cover of the new book. I give these to everyone, and even put them into reply envelopes for bills, etc. I also make sure I have enough business cards. I put cards and bookmarks on every chair at a book event (if there is seating), and hand them out at events like book fairs. For reasons that elude me, I find it easy to hand these out to strangers at events when I normally wouldn’t even say hello to a stranger.

3. I begin setting up events--talks, panels, etc., anything that gets my name out there and gives me a chance to interact with other people. I admit that I don’t do as many of these as I used to, but I’ve found a variety of events is more useful to me than a high number of traditional events like library panels.

4. I use social media, so I'll be posting regularly on my own blog plus do a few guest blogs. I post on FB and I am learning to use Pinterest, especially since I have wonderful covers. I don’t use these sites to sell my book. Instead I talk about writing, what I love about India, and other interests. No one wants to get constant requests to “like” my page, show up at my “virtual” launch, and the rest of it. If I haven’t something interesting to say about writing and other topics, then it’s better for me not to write.

5. This one is harder, but I recommend it if you can pull it off. I recently sold another short story featuring Anita Ray to Alfred Hitchcock Mystery Magazine. This will probably be published in the coming year, which will reinforce interest, I hope, in the novel For the Love of Parvati, coming out in May 2014, as well as the two previous books, Under the Eye of Kali (2010) and The Wrath of Shiva (2012).

6. I use Wattpad to introduce readers to my series characters by posting short short stories for free. I also have posted the opening scene from a longer work, with a link to the site where the reader can buy the whole book. Unless you’re a very well known writer, it takes time to build up a readership on this site, but it does build.

Like almost any other writer, I would rather be writing than promoting. I doubt I will ever get over the feeling of foolishness of talking about myself and my books. But once in a while, to my great delight, I strike up a conversation with someone who loves all sorts of mysteries, India, Indian food, and meeting strangers. That’s when I don’t care if the person buys my book or not because I'm enjoying the conversation so much, and that’s when he or she usually does buy it.

The first two books in the series are available as eBooks and in paper through Amazon. You can read an Anita Ray story at www.susanoleksiw.com

Goodreads and the New Policies

The change in the publishing world has pushed writers and readers onto the Internet faster than the offer of a free trip to the Bahamas, but we have adopted the new way of life without thinking much about it except how to manage the technology. Goodreads has recently stepped in to tighten up its policies, deleting reviews it deems unsuitable and shelves in a reviewer’s page, and Amazon is deleting certain books in a certain category (hint: think porn).

All this change has some readers and reviewers reacting loudly and angrily because they have come to regard these sites as public spaces where individual rights applh. The reactions are to (1) Goodreads making the changes without announcing them directly to all members of GR and (2) deletion of reviews and shelves without an explanation first.

I understand the emotional reactions from reviewers who have lost reviews without warning. Some have put time and effort into their reviews, stating clearly what they dislike and why. They take reviewing very seriously, and strive to present a thorough understanding of the book under review. But I also understand the decision of GR to delete the negative reviews. Writers who have received mean-spirited reviews that seem to attack the writer for writing rather than discussing the book have had no recourse to this kind of cyber bullying and will be relieved at the new policies.

The truth is, most reviews now are written by people who have little or no experience in the world of journalism; they are not professionals, trained and vetted by any independent organization. As reviewers, many do no more than react. They do not think first and write second. They do not give time or thought to why they dislike a particular book. And they blur the line between disliking the book and disliking the author. Personal feelings about the writer have no place in a review, and shouldn’t motivate a negative review either. A review is supposed to be about the book, to guide readers who are interested in finding books that will be entertaining, interesting, and rewarding in insight and experience as well as within the type they most prefer.

We have become a nation of individuals with short attention spans. The book that requires the reader to “dawdle” through the first chapter to get to know characters and ways of seeing the world is sure to get a negative review. A book with a terse style that is meant to mimic a particular group of people will certainly turn off some readers. But many readers are not going to understand that the fault, to paraphrase Shakespeare inventing a quote by Caesar, “is not in the stars but in ourselves,” that we are untrained readers telling the world what we dislike.

Reviews of self-published books are useful as feedback from unsolicited beta readers, and negative reviews of commercially published books can also be useful. But reviews that are snide and mean are of no use to anyone. They are often a brief one or two lines, which suggests that the reviewer didn’t read the whole book, didn’t begin reading with a willingness to give the book a fair hearing, and didn’t try to understand how the book fit in the genre or contributed to the topic. If you only enjoy modern spy thrillers, why are you reading for review a romance novel set in nineteenth century France?

The controversy will continue, and the new gatekeepers, Goodreads and Amazon among others, will have to continue making decisions about what will be allowable on their sites. Some people will agree with their decisions and others will not. But all of us will learn more about the kinds of people who are out in the world looking for an opportunity to tell the world what they think.

If you are interested in the discussion on GR, go http://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/1507089-new-rules-from-goodreads

And if you are interested in the policy statements, go

http://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/1499741-important-note-regarding-reviews?page=1&utm_medium=email&utm_source=comment_instant

and for the update on the policy statements go

http://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/1517130-faqs-about-reviews-shelves-on-goodreads?utm_medium=email&utm_source=comment_instant#comment_84136827

Amazon: The Behemoth That Swallows All?

Amazon: The Behemoth That Swallows All?
By Jacqueline Seewald

According to an article in the April 12, 2012 edition of The New York Times,
Amazon, which has become a dominant force in the publishing industry, may very well become a monopoly in the not too distant future. Amazon already controls about 60 per cent of the e-book publishing market. By dictating prices for e-books, publishers argue that Amazon may lower prices to readers in the short term, but by destroying competition they may be putting many more book publishers and book sellers under water. The fear is that many major publishers won’t be able to stay in business. Just selling e-books won’t bring in enough money to support the infrastructure of the book publishing industry.

Another article in the Sunday, April 8, 2012 issue of The Record, a NJ newspaper, taken from The Seattle Times, states that many independent publishers feel threatened by an already thin profit margin. Apparently, Amazon can afford to practically give books away because it makes money from many other sources. The publishing industry appears to be in crisis.

What is your opinion on this subject? How do you think an Amazon monopoly would affect your future as a writer and/or reader?