tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1293492602513569232.post7720194947840845856..comments2023-05-16T07:11:23.125-07:00Comments on Preposterous Twaddlecock: Sucking It Up: The Slings and Arrows of Outrageous CriticismRayGartonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09973158405226955253noreply@blogger.comBlogger9125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1293492602513569232.post-31902326500806400822012-08-08T02:32:52.887-07:002012-08-08T02:32:52.887-07:00To be fair, i've seen stunningly poor reviews ...To be fair, i've seen stunningly poor reviews from amateurs and pros - and what i mean by 'bad' here is not giving good reasons for their criticisms, personal attacks, speculation and so on. Everyone has an opinion, sure, but there are good, reasoned opinions, and then there are spurious unreflective opinions. <br /><br />I think those bad reviews might be fair for an author to address; but probably still a bad idea. I guess sometimes i'd like to see bad reviewers held to account. <br /><br />-sheikyurboutiAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1293492602513569232.post-85890259934199714542012-08-03T12:26:36.687-07:002012-08-03T12:26:36.687-07:00To amateur reviewers, I'd say this: If you'...<i>To amateur reviewers, I'd say this: If you're going to be mean and personal, don't be a back-shooting coward, do what the pros do and put your name on your review.</i><br /><br />I'm assuming all writers use their own names then? No? all right then.<br /><br />Amateur reviewers aren't pros. And most of them don't use their own names for the very reason that this blog post was written: because there are some crazy fucking people out there. Other than that, I agree with your comment. This post was fantastic.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1293492602513569232.post-81415605131845928392012-08-01T05:16:16.332-07:002012-08-01T05:16:16.332-07:00Was it Blackwood Farm or Blood Canticle that got a...Was it Blackwood Farm or Blood Canticle that got all the bad reviews which in turn caused Anne Rice to snap on Amazon? I don't recall. <br /><br />At any rate, this article is perfection. Thank you.Dustin Scott Woodhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14148732084741979069noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1293492602513569232.post-6252273542282802692012-07-28T20:51:43.620-07:002012-07-28T20:51:43.620-07:00I had someone buy a book of mine, give it a bad re...I had someone buy a book of mine, give it a bad review then get a refund. I know they did it on purpose , just to have a go at me as they later admitted this. My response was to ask people I knew who had read it and liked it to log on to the site and post their reviews. My thinking is that four or five five star ratings and one one star rating sends a message about the person making the bad review more than the book they canned. It also allows the reviewer to have their opinion read (this time it was a hatchet job but next time it might be a genuine opinion, hey, maybe the book is really bad)along other opinions and they use the review for the purpose intended of deciding whether to buy the book or not.<br /><br />I don't like those sites where anyone can review and rate, even without buying the book as too often the ratings affect the ranking and rubbish can be #1 so long as enough friends vote for it and hate similar books in the genre.<br /><br />Still, it is all part of the rich tapestry of self-publishing and the eWriting World!The Anonymous Bearhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08771969651930267657noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1293492602513569232.post-64265141234609575502012-07-25T13:19:08.294-07:002012-07-25T13:19:08.294-07:00Great article, Ray. Such great advice for aspirin...Great article, Ray. Such great advice for aspiring authors and published alike. I recently commented on a review of a book I loved that was less than favorable and seemed spiteful toward the author. I was just expressing my opinion and disagreeing with the reviewer. It opened up a firestorm. What reviewers need to realize is that not everyone is going to agree with their reviews. If they can't take contradictory opinions (from other readers/reviewers) then they probably shouldn't be writing reviews on public blogs. I have had people comment on my reviews, disagreeing with my opinion of a book. Case in point...While I liked The Catcher in the Rye, I wasn't quite sure why it is such a lauded work. Someone disagreed and commented. I took it with a grain of salt and did not get defensive. Everyone has their own opinion.Michelle Stockard Millerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03572227726980569386noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1293492602513569232.post-90711872521281217452012-07-25T13:00:24.269-07:002012-07-25T13:00:24.269-07:00This is a great blog, Ray, a primer on a very impo...This is a great blog, Ray, a primer on a very important topic for anyone who wants to write professionally. As Ray says, professional editors and agents provide a real service to readers by rejecting the great majority of what is offered for sale by writers. Not all of it deserves rejection, but most of it does. As readers, we are entering a Brave New World in which anyone can publish his or her novel for a few hundred bucks and it will look the same on the electronic bookshelf as novels by Grandmasters Ray Garton and Stephen King. We readers who venture outside the lists of traditional publishers will have to do all the gatekeeping ourselves. Because a lot more crap is going to show up in this venue, we can expect a tremendous upsurge in negative reviews from mostly amateur sources (since professional reviewers rarely stray outside publisher lists.) The internet has made everyone a potential reviewer, which means we should <i>expect</i> to see a lot of thoroughly unprofessional reviews. <br /><br />To amateur reviewers, I'd say this: If you're going to be mean and personal, don't be a back-shooting coward, do what the pros do and put your name on your review. At the very least, don't say anything you wouldn't say if your identity was there for everyone to see. To authors, take Ray's advice. If someone posts that he hates your novel, whether he signs his name or not, ignore it. If the review is constructive, learn from it, but don't answer back. Same thing if the reviewer loves your book. With extremely rare exceptions, pro novelists do not respond to glowing reviews because it puts the reviewer in the position of losing some of the impartiality on which his or her reputation depends. <br /><br />Your job is to write novels, and if that's what you're meant to do, you'll keep doing it. Samuel Johnson said, "No man but a blockhead ever wrote, except for money." You don't get paid for arguing with reviewers (or praising the ones who like you) so don't be a blockhead. As for raging against the amateur reviewers, forget it. Patrick Swayze played a professional "cooler" in the movie "Roadhouse"--the guy in charge of keeping the place calm. When one of his bouncers tries to pick a fight with him, saying "You don't look like much to me," Swayze replies with perfect calm: "Opinions vary." It is the reply of a professional author learns to murmur to himself, an excellent phrase to memorize if you're going to put your fiction out there for people to read.Steven Spruillhttp://stevenspruill.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1293492602513569232.post-13938020672982979792012-07-25T12:36:57.473-07:002012-07-25T12:36:57.473-07:00Yes, that's just as bad, Thomas. It's des...Yes, that's just as bad, Thomas. It's despicable behavior and I've seen people do it.RayGartonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09973158405226955253noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1293492602513569232.post-13672878909065700042012-07-25T12:34:21.459-07:002012-07-25T12:34:21.459-07:00Well said, Ray. This also goes for the writers who...Well said, Ray. This also goes for the writers who post links to bad reviews to their minions, letting the fans do the dirty work.Thomas Pluckhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17008022962076648740noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1293492602513569232.post-54868941815917145332012-07-24T22:42:12.537-07:002012-07-24T22:42:12.537-07:00As wonderful and glorious as the internet can be, ...As wonderful and glorious as the internet can be, it gives people (read: cowards) grapefruit size balls to post whatever they want and hide behind a fake name or most oftentimes, the "anonymous" title. I'm amazed that so many people feel it okay to spout off in such a negative manner, that's nowhere near construcively critical and is simply mean-spirited.<br /><br />I have never left any sort of book review, mainly because it isn't my thing. However, were I to do so, I would praise the ones I liked, and provide constructive criticism to those I don't. Being overly rude, and intentionally offensive in the course of the review helps no one and often points to the inability of the "reviewer" to provide anything useful. Anyone can say "This books sucks, the author is horrible and has no business writing." On the other hand, it takes someone with some amount of skill to review a novel that they didn't like in a way that's informative, insightful and ideally, helpful to the writer.<br /><br />As for the "authors" who are badgering those who are providing legitimate and constructive reviews of novels they didn't like, as many others have said, they need to develop a thicker skin or gain some maturity before further writing. It's that simple. While I think the traditional publishing world is in need of a serious overhaul, and I appreciate what the digital age of books has allowed new, unpublished writers to accomplish, there is something to be said for the training ground that traditional publishing provided to new authors. Under the old system, if they were rejected by an agent or an editor, they were forced to go back (if they had the temerity to do so) and revamp and revise their novel into something that was deemed worthy of acceptance by the agent/publishing house. By not having that check and balance system in place, anyone can get their work published in any form they desire, and if it's bad, not polished enough and not ready for publication, instead of having a desire to learn the craft well, they assume they are super-awesome out of the gate and impervious to any negative criticism. To badger those who provide a negative review, says volumes about the kind of person they are. They need to realize that in today's world of uber-information, its not only the quality of novel that they produce that gains them fans, its the quality of their persona that gains them fans. Be a dick and you'll alienate more people than if you only wrote a bad novel.Vincenoreply@blogger.com