Comments on: When do negative reviews go too far?

By: Cool Links And Some Thoughts

Cool Links And Some Thoughts — Sat, 04 Dec 2010 13:37:50 +0000

[...] Are you a Randy, a Paula or a Simon? I love this analogy and subsequent discussion. Over at Hey Lady! Watcha’ Readin’?, Trish discusses “when do negative reviews go too far?” After reading both of these [...]

By: Bookish Links for Saturday, April 25, 2009 | BOOKS AND MOVIES

Bookish Links for Saturday, April 25, 2009 | BOOKS AND MOVIES — Wed, 23 Dec 2009 05:20:04 +0000

[...] Trish at Hey, Lady! Whatcha Readin’? has a post asking When Do Negative Reviews Go Too Far. Lots of great points made in the comments as [...]

By: trish

trish — Mon, 04 May 2009 23:33:46 +0000

Nancy, that’s a great point about the difference between professional reviews and bloggers. Thanks for pointing that out!

By: J.S. Brooks

J.S. Brooks — Sat, 02 May 2009 16:17:09 +0000

Um, test? For me?

By: trish

trish — Sat, 02 May 2009 15:56:48 +0000

test

By: J.S. Brooks

J.S. Brooks — Fri, 01 May 2009 01:01:11 +0000

You are absolutely right. I’m only just now a recent blogger but a long time author and editor. If bloggers wish for their reviews to be taken seriously, then they need to take the job very seriously. Reviews need to be competent and to the point. If you dislike the book, you had better have strong technical reasons for saying so or you are not doing the job as a reviewer. Society as a whole is becoming ever mose caustic and that should be stopped. Authors and publishers do have every right to cut off bloggers who provide consistently poor, hostile, or uninformed reviews. Why give away a book to have it be dismantled in public?
Further, the reviewer needs to be sure they stand on solid ground when making negative comments. I saw one reviewer of an antiques book complain that the book did not contain every pattern and piece of Victorian Flow Blue and therefore gave the book a very negative review. Had the reviewer done some homework, the reviewer would have discovered there are over 1500 identified patterns of Flow Blue and many unidentified patterns. Further Victorian dinner sets contained roughly 101 separate pieces. Therefore, the book this reviewer sought was impossible to produce.
Your article is right on target. Civil, competent, well informed reviews are a service to the reading public, authors, and editors. Hostility and snarkiness are unwelcome and unuseful.

By: Tonya

Tonya — Thu, 30 Apr 2009 16:24:04 +0000

Completely off topic – what is Technorati? I tried to look it up and it didn’t make sense.

By: Tonya

Tonya — Thu, 30 Apr 2009 16:14:29 +0000

I think for me my blog IS about “look at me.” I write about books for me, not for the author or publisher. Maybe that’s another reason I stopped taking review copies! I want others to enjoy the books I write about but I’m putting up my blog for ME, not for anyone else. In cases like mine, maybe we shouldn’t take on review copies?

By: Tonya

Tonya — Thu, 30 Apr 2009 16:08:15 +0000

Trish – good point! This is exactly why I stopped receiving review copies. First of all I couldn’t keep up with the demand. Second, I wasn’t receiving what I really like – Sci-fi/fantasy. Just couldn’t find out how to get only those books. Now I just read and review genres I know I’m into. Then if I don’ like the book, it isn’t because I was wan’t into that “type” of book.

By: Tonya

Tonya — Thu, 30 Apr 2009 16:04:50 +0000

Doesn’t this point about Emmy’s languange on her blog go back the original point that the ones giving her the books should have read her previous reviews first? I haven’t seen her site so I’m not sure what it was like before she started receiving review copies, but my guess is her writing style didn’t change.