I have read some reviews as of late and well I have had some problems with some of them. Yes this is only my opinion but here it is!
First off, If you are reading an Indie Author and you expect a "polished" Big Pub'd book you need to stop reviewing Indie books! If you know that going in there are going to be some "editing problems" yet you still give a crap review or 1 star because of that, You need to stop reviewing Indie books!
Second... when writing a review make your case for why you didn't like the book.... then move on the whole post doesn't need to be about the books "mistakes in editing" You should totally tell what problems you had with the book if you had some... plot line, characters attitudes and such.... If you have a problem with the Authors "voice" or whatever let people know this... Again The WHOLE thing doesn't need to be about TEARING an author down.
Now again this is just my opinion and well it probably isn't worth much. I love my indie authors and I DO NOT like to see them being attacked in any way!! They do not get to spend massive amounts of money getting edited or with someone going over every thing with them... YOU KNOW THIS, they are indie authors. Some are more "polished" than others... MOST of us are good with that.
Again everyone has the right to their opinions I'm glad we all do!! I just think as a reviewer you shouldn't try to attack/tear into any author! Also, I know my grammar is NOWHERE near perfect or even really great. I'm ok with it :)
I am now stepping off my little soap box ;)
Back to your regularly scheduled SupaGurl now!!!
You go girl! I totally agree with you! There is no reason someone should attack an author like that! I'm really glad you wrote this :-)
ReplyDelete:) I totes love you
Delete*claps hands* bravo well said (please dont add commas or punctuation to my comment it takes away from the character that is me) lol
ReplyDeleteI would NEVER, EVER, do, that. to YOU. LOL
DeleteVery well said. I know that I have mentioned some editing issues in a review before, but I have never rated a book 1 or 2 stars because of it. I actually think that I gave the book in question 3.5 stars instead of 4 due to errors, but 3.5 stars is still a good review. If it's a few no biggie, but if there are a lot it will get to me a bit. I would in no way EVER bash an author though. I think that is disrespectful. They put a lot of hard work into writing.
ReplyDeleteExactly!!! You get me Amy :)
DeleteI despise when a review is completely tearing an author apart. Even if I didn't like parts of the book, I still point out likes. Strong points, its terrible just to bash. Like pros and cons basically versus dislike dislike dislike!
ReplyDeleteExactly!!! <3
DeleteI read one review on Goodreads that actually tore it up on the writer's look. I don't know the writer but I cried because the words were just so mean, and then made a nudging comment about it being rude and hurtful. I know being a writer, I should probably stay low and keep my mouth shut, but it was just so mean, I HAD to say something. The reviewer left her one-start rating up, but at least she took down her mean comments.
ReplyDeleteIt really upsets me .... and yet I don't want to Rant else where so I do it here....
DeleteI recently had a reviewer attack ME as a writer, and rate me 1 star because my book wasn't edited to their liking. Their whole review was just ripping me apart, and it was sooooo hateful!!! It made me cry! And I am still shocked over the vile nature of the reviewer. But as an author, I can't stand up for myself without looking "bad". Thank you for posting this. I only hope that the person who tore me down reads this. I would LOVE an apology from them.
ReplyDeleteI hope you get that from them too!
DeleteThis is just really sad! ughhh Good reason why everyone should read this!
*Hug* I'm so sorry to hear that! That is just unbelievable and unforgettable - that person should be ashamed! I don't understand why people think it's OK to do something like that. I don't get why vicious and spiteful reviews get so many "likes" on Goodreads. This is getting ridiculous!
DeleteLook, I don't mean to create more drama here, but there is another side to your story, Heather. I never read the original review because it was taken down, but you need to clean your hands first before you make accusations. You attacked the reviewer back on that review (and then went on a multiple number of reviews) and called the reviewer a "douchebag" (this link has a screen shot of you saying that: http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/363978928?auto_login_attempted=true&page=1) and I think that some authors (both indie and traditional because it happens to them too) need to be reminded this is a business and a profession. You're bound to get cristiscm. The best thing you can do is to walk away. The moment you go to reply you begin to dig yourself a hole.
DeleteI just don't like how you are portraying yourself as a selfless victim when you hit back not once, but multiple times, and I think that people commenting here and reading your comment need to be made aware of your own attacking comments. This isn't a school yard. You can quite easily ignore the comments by blocking and ignoring. And I suggest blocking and ignorning before you make the insulting comments, not after.
Please do not bring the goodreads drama over here. I know we all have opinions but let's keep that stuff over there.
DeleteI have nothing to do with what is going on over there and I would really like it if I could keep it that way. As I have said I love my indie authors, I don't want anything to be linked to me (as the goodreads thread is sending peeps here) when I am not involved.
Thank you.
Everyone is entitled to their own opinion as long as it's yours.
DeleteNo blogger will want to review your books for fear that if they post a review saying they don't like it, they'll get insulted.
They reviewed a book, not YOU. Opinions are subjective and your rant is more damaging than a single review.
If you don't want people to critise your work, I suggest don't publish, because not everyone is going to like your work
Good point, honey! I totally agree with you. In the end, no matter what, no one deserves to be tore apart - even if you didn't like the characters, plotline or whateva, people still spent a great deal of time pouring their heart and soul out, and they gathered strength to put it out there. And then they probably couldn't sleep at night, waiting for their first review. It would be nice if we could all keep it in mind, show some appreciation and support. It really doesn't cost all that much to try and be positive and, instead of poking around for things that made us cringe and frown, try and find something that we enjoyed, something that made us laugh/cry - anything! The whole blogging "community" seems to be going in a wrong direction recently. So much drama, poiting fingers, hating each other.. what is the point?! We seem to forget why we do what we do: to spread the love of books and support authors. Not to bash them, fight with each other, or compete for free books. Ugh! Sorry, this turned out to be a bit ranty. Bottom line is: I agree! A review that focuses on something as silly as a few spelling/formatting mistakes is not a review at all. A "blogger" like that shouldn't be even asked to review books, as such opinions have no value what-so-ever.
ReplyDeleteSo very well said Evie!
DeleteI COMPLETELY agree with you! I also really adore Indie authors and to me, you read the book and pay attention to the story and characters, NOT the editing mistakes. And seriously, these overly critical reviewers most likely couldn't write any better than these authors, so they need to stop acting all high and mighty.
ReplyDeleteWell said, Heather! =)
EXACTLY :)
DeleteI am with you!!! I LOVE my Indie authors!! LOVE THEM and would defend them to the death. I have seen reviews bad one over simple editing not the story GET OVER it or move on. 9/10 Indie authors rock your face off with their books. That is all I have to say :)
ReplyDeleteSame here I will defend them because they rock! Both as Authors and People... somewhere some people keep forgetting that yes! they are people too!!
DeleteNice. Editing errors should be noted, sure, but there are editing mistakes in both indie and traditional novels. Most writers I know hire editors to catch these mistakes, too, so we shouldn't come to expect spelling errors from indie books at all. More and more lately, indie releases are becoming just as professional as a traditionally published book.
ReplyDeleteI agree that it's just wrong to trash someone period, especially when they're putting themselves out there by releasing a book to the world. Kudos to everyone who mentions the positive with the negative in a review. You all rock!
Thank you. I agree more and more are becoming that way. I also have seen editing and even spelling errors in big pub'd books... no one ever mentions those :)
DeleteI don't think trashing a book, let alone an author, is acceptable. If someone does not like a book and needs to explain what didn't work for them, that is totally fine. But there is a right way and a wrong way to go about it. For me the situation is simple: if a reviewer is speaking in a way that I feel is disrespectful, I place no stock in their review.
ReplyDeleteI totally agree! I can ignore editing mistakes-it's not like I can't figure out what it was supposed to say. There's never been anything major that's so distracting that it really bothered me. Some of the BEST books I have ever read have been Indie books. I can't tell you how many times I have read a book from an author I never heard of that was free-$2.99 and have been completely blown away by it! So they had a few typos-I loved the book and it was such a great deal!
ReplyDeleteI have also read some books by famous authors whose books have had great reviews etc., but I have been really disappointed-even the "professional editing" didn't save the book for me. Everyone has different tastes and when I don't love a book it just means it wasn't my taste and I know there will be plenty of other people that WILL love it. Does that mean the the book is bad or that I am wrong? NO! I don't blame the author if I picked out a book that turned out to be "not my taste." I would never criticize an author for that. I have also found plenty of typos in famous "best sellers" that have been professionally edited! It just reminds us that NOBODY is perfect. To me it's really not that big of a deal. I could never write a book, but I respect the talent and hard work of those that do. So my policy is that if I can't say something nice, I don't say anything at all unless I feel like I have some "CONSTRUCTIVE criticism that I think the author would appreciate and not be offended by, while emphasizing the positives of what I DID like. I try to put myself in the author's place and think how I would feel getting a review. Just my opinion....
I have to rate this post as flipping awesome. I just found your site via Tess Watson's. Love it! (I'll always pick Superman over Batman.) As as indie author, this is a sensitive subject and I'm glad to see that there are bloggers out there who get it. I had a embarrassing number of typos (um, 10ish, i think) when I first rolled out. Even though my book was professionally edited. (Not even editors are perfect!) But the beauty of indie is that you can quickly FIX that... (yay, eBooks!) You can't FIX a soggy story. So thanks, SupaGurl, and hopefully more bloggers will hear your shout-out!
ReplyDeleteThe internet can be a very anonymous place when you don't actually interact personally with the people that you are talking about. Many of us who are internet immature are people who understand that what they say can make other people cry, get angry, or whatever, but still say these things because to them they are just talking to Mario or Pac Man. Similar to how some people treat others when they drive, these people are not real to them. It is some kind of a game. These 'internet babies' need to grow up. I am not sure what the best way to let them know that we are people with feelings and not just zeroes and ones because of the way they see us. Responding to them publically might possibly let them understand when they find that what you say to them pricks their feeling back.
ReplyDeleteOn another note, indy authors do not have the budget or the resources to make their books covers as pretty, or their text as flowing and error free as published authors, but does that not mean that their stories are any less great? If anything, indy authors are probably better just because they write when they want about what they want and how they want with maybe a couple of fans rooting them on. No rules just words straight from the heart.
Shane
www.doomsdaymoose.com
You're exactly right BUT your comments aren't limited to self-published authors. Authors fortunate enough to be published by big houses are also human beings, and when people post one word reviews or just slam the author, it's being mean. *hopping off my own soapbox*
ReplyDeleteWith regards to your other point, I'm a big believer in editing, and I run my own business working with authors worldwide. Yes, it does take a considerable financial investment to hire an editor, but it's worth considering. I'd never put anything out that wasn't what I considered as close to perfect as possible. It matters in the whole reading experience.
This is a great blog post Heather! I think you did a fantabulous job putting into words what a lot of us are thinking when we read those reviews! I actually read a review recently that was precisely what you are talking about ( I will link it to the bottom of the post.) I don't mind reading a bad review from a book that I enjoyed, but what this girl did was not just a bad review. She was hating on the author the whole time and I really don't think it can be counted as a review. Most of the post she just talked about how the editing was terrible "blah, blah, blah" and then in the last paragraph she sort of told us why she didn't like the book. I felt the need to confront her about it in a professional way, and it's amazing the reaction I got when I decided to defend an Indie author. Not the blogger but a commenter started attacking me.
ReplyDeleteWHERE I GOT ATTACKED FOR DEFENDING AN INDIE AUTHOR
While I agree with the loyalty and spirit of supporting Indie and Self-pubbed authors I'm also a firm believer that it is a *requirement* and a *duty* as an author to make sure their novel is the best it can be. If I'm going to pay for a book whether it's .99 or 10.99, I expect that the book should be up to standards to sell. You wouldn't buy a shirt at a store regardless of the price if it had giant stains and rip. (Unless of course you plan to fix it yourself when you get home but you cannot do that with someone else's novel.)I think when most people come across an Indie or Self-pubbed book that is chock full of editing errors, it makes the author seem lazy and shows that they do not value their work as much as they should OR their readership enough to put in the effort it takes to put out a great and respectable novel. I know from first hand experience that editing is expensive, but as an author, if you're not willing to shell out the money to make sure your novel is the best it can be, than honestly, you don't deserve to have four or five stars. As with any "product" or "service," you should never put it out half-assed and expect everyone to love it if you didn't take all the necessary steps to invest in it's worth.
ReplyDeleteThat being said, the novels I've read by self-pubbed and indie authors that take their work serious and pay the price to have it edited have been SUPERB and WONDERFUL! I would even claim they are on par or better than the big publishing house novels. BUT they did it the right way and spent the time and money to make sure their readers were satisfied with the final product.
I agree 100% with what you have said in this post. I hate it when a reviewer writes a review that seems to be more of an attack against the book or the author than an actual review. I dont mind reviewers giving low reviews as long as they back it up with what exactly about the book they didnt like, i feel that is more informative to me as a reader as people like different things. What makes one person dislike a book may be why someone else likes it. Also authors put a lot of time and effort into their books and i think that even when writing a bad review the review should be considerate of the authors feelings.
ReplyDeleteI would like to point out.... I was/still am upset over these things when this post was written. That being said I was not trying to leave out big pub'd authors! I love them too... They do get the same kind of crap reviews like I am talking about and it is TOTALLY NOT RIGHT for them either. All authors are people and none of them deserves to be torn into.
ReplyDeleteThank you all so much for your comments!
I have read tons of these mean, hateful reviews on Goodreads, and they are always the ones that have the most likes. Honestly, I think the people who write them are more concerned with trying to be witty and funny than actually getting their thoughts across about the book. Unfortunately, it does happen to both indie and big pub authors.
ReplyDeleteThere is always a way to write a negative review and still be respectful, and that is what I will always try to do.
Love,love,love this post momma!I'm currently reading a self-pub book that has some editorial issues but OMG the story is brilliant and should be a best seller right away! I'm not a grammar nazis. I read books for their stories and don't understand why people enjoy being mean in a bad review. Wait, I do! It is a place where they can talk crap without owning up to it. I could barely pay foe editorial services on my book and I only paid alittle. I'm still paying the person back. I hope people will get over a few glitches and concentrate on my story instead of is every single comma where it needs to be. You should love books for stories and characters not tearing authors down and picking apart editorial problems.
ReplyDeleteI agree. Sometimes grammer isn't important. One of the best indie books I have read was edited terribly, whilst one of the worst was word perfect. I know that grammer and spelling can make a book difficult to read, but this shouldn't be a reason for a 1 star review if the actual story is good x
ReplyDeleteWe're never going to be able to stop "hatchet reviews." There will always be someone who gets some kind of weird satisfaction from tearing other people down. Bullies are everywhere, and I think they love the Internet because someone can't punch them in the face through a computer screen. But it's not only readers who are "misbehaving." I've also come across several disturbingly tasteless reviews from authors (mostly indie) viciously ripping apart other authors' books. That infuriates/disappoints me more than anything, since it's your peers you should be able to count on for support when things go sour.
ReplyDeleteWhen I review books, I always mention what I didn't like first and exactly what they are. but then I go and mention the things I loved about the book to balance it out. And I don't rate books so that's good I guess?
ReplyDeleteAmen sista! Think how many absolutely awesome books we would be missing out on if we didn't have those amazing indie authors!!!!
ReplyDeleteHow sad that reviewers are taking time out of their lives to
ReplyDelete1. read the book and
2. write a review on it
only to be put down for their honest opinion. I think to all the reviewers out there we can spot an author who isn't cut out for this and will respectfully ignore future drama and continue reading our awesome books and writing our amazing reviews.
Don't let one author get you down.
Just as the author shouldn't let one reviewer (or even 100) get them down.
If writing/reviewing is your passion then do it regardless of what slander people like to put on the web about you.
As I like to say "F*** em"