- They help sell books. By reading reviews, people hear about the book and might go out and buy it (or, online, click through a link and order it).
- They are free advertising for a book. (If they are positive reviews)
- For potential readers/teachers/librarians and booksellers they inform them about new books, highlighting their appeal, strengths and weaknesses, so they can make informed purchasing decisions
- For authors, they can make you feel good (if the review is positive) and (whether positive or negative) they provide feedback.
Note that I’ve put the benefits to the author last because, in the end, reviews are not written for authors – or, at least, they shouldn’t be. They should be written for potential buyers and readers.Along the way that means they help authors to sell books and to learn, but that’s really incidental.
So I knew all this, of course I did. But then, having written a couple of thousand reviews of other people’s books, I started to get reviewed. My earliest trade titles, Doggy Duo, Floatingest Frog and Pemberthy Bear garnered a few reviews. But when my first verse novel, Pearl Verses the World, was published, suddenly lots of reviews started coming in. My little book was reviewed in newspapers, magazines, on websites and on blogs. It is still being reviewed, almost three years after it was first published.
Before Pearl was released, I’d had lots of people tell me how good it was – my mum, my kids, my editor, my friends. But then it was released intot he big wide world and I had to face what people who DIDN’T know me would say. Waiting for those first reviews was scary.
But then they started coming. And reviewers seemed to like it. They said things like:
This slender little book is, like its heroine, a treasure.
(Magpies, May 2009) and
Expertly written.
(Coast Kids, June 2009) and
A poignancy that is truly touching.
(Reading Time, August 2009)
Reading these reviews made me feel pretty good. They stroked my ego and made me feel like a real author. I printed them out. I showed them to anyone who’d read them. I cried tears of joy when I read them.
But then…
I got a bad review.
And it wasn’t just a little bit bad. The reviewer (in a big name newspaper) hated my book. She said the verse was clunky and that she just didn’t feel moved to care about Pearl. Added to this, the title of the book was misspelled and I wasn’t attributed as the author. Instead, the poor illustrator copped the criticism for her writing skills. (Note, I’ve not named the paper or the reviewer because I do not wish either of them ill-will.)
It was not a good review. There was nothing nice said about the book. Interestingly, the first thing that happened after this review, was that no one wanted to tell me about it. I knew my book was being reviewed on that date, but being interstate couldn’t buy the paper. But friends saw it, and didn’t know whether they should show me it. Once I did see it, I had an email from my publicist trying to reassure me. And my Mum and Dad were very cross on my behalf!
But me? To be really honest, I was a little cross at the misspelling and the mix up over the author, but as for the comments, I was able to get over them pretty quickly. I guess I was lucky because there had been lots of nice reviews previously, so I was able to focus on those instead.
But did I learn anything from this bad review? Yep.
- Not everyone will like every one of my books – just as they may not like my new haircut, my new dress, or (shock horror) me.
- Clever titles get misspelled (and the verses/versus thing has been a recurrent problem for this book)
- Reviews matter to the person being reviewed – but they aren’t FOR that person.
- Stuff happens – and then you move on. I couldn’t change the review. I had no right of reply, so worrying about it wasn’t going to do a thing.
In the three years since then, I’ve had lots more reviews – for Pearl, for Snowy’s Christmas and for Toppling. There’s been lots more good ones and, I’ll admit, others that were not so good. I read them, I smile (if they’re good) or feel a bit sad (if they’re bad) and then I try to move on. With a new book coming out next month, I know I’ll be waiting eagerly for those first few reviews especially which tell me how my book is being received, but then I’ll get busy with my next project.
Reviews do matter – but they can’t rule a writer’s life.
Want to see what two other Aussie authors think about getting reviewed? Head over to Meg McKinlay’s blog As In Egg and then to Anna Branford’s blog. As you can see, we’ve all got together and blogged about the same topic on the same day, so we’d love to hear what you think about our varying perspectives.
And, if you haven’t yet visited my review site, Aussiereviews, please do. It’s just been relaunched with a brand new look.
Thanks Sandy. I like your coping strategy – and will adopt it forthwith. I also agree re scathing reveiws – I wish I'd thought of that term when I was trying to explain what I menat by unfair reviews.
There are some books that almost everyone in the whole world just loves (and I would put Pearl in that category).But there are also some good books (that win awards and have a strong readership) that seem to polarise reviewers – I'm not sure why – they might strike a chord with the reviewer – the type of language might grate, the subject matter might be personal or a whole range of things –
Gabrielle, thanks for reading and commenting. I agree that a review can reflect the reviewer as much as it does the book, which can be a good as well as a negative thing. I am so sorry to hear of your experience> I sometimes wonder when there is a spate of negative reviews if some reviewers are influenced by each other, particularly if a prominent publication has been negative. But massive
This is a really interesting conversation and a never ending one. Being a reviewer and an author yourself, Sally, you have a great perspective on the subject. Sometimes I think reviews say more about the reviewer than the book they are reviewing. Of late I've had some pretty negative reviews of The Garden of Empress Cassia which was published in the US in September. They weren't just
Thanks all for your comments. Sorry I'm slow geting back to you – been rnning around the place being a writer 🙂
Meg: I'm arrogant. And also very self-effacing and insecure. I reckon that's probably a fairly common mix in the creative arts. Yep. I think that is very common mix. And, as a reveiwer I am aware of that mix all the time. I started a book review site when I
Sally, I so admire your ability to move on from a bad review. My experience is that all the rejections you get on the path to being published, should help to reduce the impact of bad reviews. I know it's too much to ask that everyone likes my books, but it still is a dart in the heart to me when I get rejected. As for reviews, I haven't had many for my non-fiction books. Sales themselves
Hard to believe anyone didn't like Pearl, Sally.I loved that book but I guess it goes to show not everyone is going to like every book. I recently started to read one by an 'acclaimed 'Irish writer and have given my thoughts on Goodreads which is very different from what others thought. That time I was the negative voice. Good to read your thoughts on this subject. Dale
I don't think you're arrogant at all.
Ah, but what you haven't understood is that I don't care what you think :). I am impervious to the reviews of others! Come at me, slings and arrows!
I am totally joking. I was just messing about in my head thinking about sources and authority. I actually do think I'm arrogant. And also very self-effacing and insecure
I don't think you're arrogant at all. I too hate to thik that anyone would make a decision against a book based on a single review. But I'm sure it happens. But I do think there ARE review sources that are considered more authorative than others. Just online, for example, a starred review from Kirkus would hold more sway with post readers than a glowing review from Barry's
But I do think negative reveiws will impact on some readers, especially if they come from an authoritative source.
And now I think I must fall into the 'arrogant' camp because when I read this, I immediately thought, "Oh, but there's no such source." Again, I guess this just reflects the way I see reviews as one part of a broader dialogic process (in which
Glad to hear my negative review helped you, Anna! And yes, I think having been a reviewer I know that most reviewers do it in the spirit of sharing, of wanting to contribute to the conversation (as Meg puts it, so nicely).
And ladies, I agree with you both that a bad review does not necessarily turn all readers away. Sometimes I read a bad reveiw which makes me want to read the book
Sally, I never saw the bad review of Pearl Verses the World but when I was nervous about seeing the first reviews of Violet, someone mentioned it to me in the context of, 'If Pearl can get a bad review, then its hardly worth worrying about'. It helped a lot.
I have often wondered if writing reviews changes the experience of being reviewed and vice versa, so I was especially
Sally, this is such a luminous post. It really resonates with me. Thoughtful, engaging, this latest offering is a worthy addition to the growing genre of 'thoughts on reviews' in this country.
Oops. Accidentally flipped the switch on the 'random review phrase generator' 🙂
Seriously, I love reading these different takes on things. I wanted to comment on your