What I do not enjoy reading is reviews on freebie ebooks by reading snobs.
Now don't get me wrong, recently I have read some-for want of a better word-trash. Books written overnight with no care given to the cover or wording inside sort of books. Writing greed and not writing need is what the 'author' was driven by. But I just felt cheated out of a good read and shrugged my shoulders.
When I climb into a book I wait. Wait for the call, 'read some more. Don't put me down'. Don't you just love those books?
Anyway, what I do not do is freeze with horror when I find a sentence has ended with a preposition. Nor do I crumple into a heap when I find a minor error. In some cases I have read reviews where readers have mentioned multiple mistakes and I have been left scratching my head. The story captured me not the errors. I had been so taken in by the characters that I had missed the chance to write a scathing review. Yes, I had paid good money for the said item. Yes, I had been taken in by the cover and the back page blurb. No, it had not ruined my reading pleasure. The only time I had noticed the mistakes is when the reviewer had pointed them out, it never changed my view of the story I had just enjoyed.
I am also surprised when they point out the book was printed by one of the 'big guys'. I never worry about who publishes what nowadays. I just enjoy the journey authors are embarking upon in this present climate, regardless of who published.
Obviously editors will notice grammatical errors right? Wrong. An editor friend of mine pointed out that if the plot is hot she would not be put off by the errors and in fact may not notice them.
Self-published authors are great targets for the reading snobs who have risen from the ashes of pompousness. I love reviewers-good ones who can share their disappointment in style, this is not a rant against them at all by the way.
The posse of 'reviewers' download the freebies on offer and fill their boots with delightful, scathing snorts.They are my itch to scratch.
The book was free for goodness sake! Put it aside and don't comment, let another reader make up their own mind. Spend a little cash and write a review not a slight on the author's ability. Contact the author privately if it upsets you so much. Privately point out the errors. Give them the opportunity to redeem themselves in private. Not cringe-cry-in public. They are human after all.
It is not a war between reader vs author it should be a balanced pleasure.
Many of you will cringe when you read this post because of my errors. That is your right. However, I know you will politely read, enjoy/hate the Glynis rant and move on.
Like me you won't give two hoots about whether I ended in in preposition, used one speech-mark instead of two, had two spaces at the start of a sentence. So what? You survived, no money changed hands and you got a story out of it.
I know I will get reviews when my work is finally out there. Good ones, middling ones and dreadful ones. I just feel sad when I read one star reviews on something that deserved praise for the story told and it was given as a freebie gift. GIFT = PRESENT = ACCEPT GRACIOUSLY and put in a drawer with the rose soap and socks.
38 Comments:
I know where you're coming from Glynis. I recently received an odd review of my 'Vandal' free book. The reviewer said, 'It wasn't what I expected'. Well, what was he expecting from a book titled 'Vandalism of Words? War and Peace? lol
But by putting out a free book you open yourself up to a lot of reviews as for some strange reason people seem to comment on these much more. Especially on sites such as Goodreads.
Your 'reading snobs' tag is very appropriate and for some reason these types are really attracted to free books. For good reason probably. Why spend money when your only motivation is to 'slag off authors' and try to prove your intellectual superiority.
I'm with you, Glynis. I don't mind a few errors. But more than that, it becomes distracting.
I have a short story out. The editor and I went back and forth, but still that tiny mistake glares at me. Why didn't we see it back when?
Derek, yes free means run-down, slag off, destroy in some folks vocabulary.
Thanks for dropping by and reading.:)
Theresa, a few errors are totally acceptable. As you say, any more and it distracts. But there is a way of getting over to the writer rather than a public flogging.
The error fairy gets to work overnight, I am totally convinced! LOL
Thanks for visiting. x
Glynis, you are so right on here. Let people make up their own minds, for goodness sakes. If the book is free, one doesn't have to feel guilty if you stop reading it because of either mistakes or the story doesn't grab you or whatever.
Karen
Thanks, Karen. It is a frustrating thing for me this new band of reviewing book bashers.
Thanks for coming to see me today. x
When my novel came out, the publisher sent out free copies to targeted women in book clubs hoping to hit the demographic and get a buzz going. To my surprise some of these women felt the need to bash my book on Amazon, Goodreades, and one even started a book review blog just to slam it (mine was the first one she reviewed.) They got it free for heaven's sake! I can laugh about it now but it was absolutely the most hurtful thing at the time.
KarenG, that is the most dreadful thing I have heard. How horrible to start a blog just to be spiteful. I am sorry you had to endure that. I praise you for being able to laugh at it now.
Thank you for visiting today. X
I don't really like to read reviews. I like to make up my own mind. Totally agree with your rant :)
This is my favourite part of this post:
"The book was free for goodness sake! Put it aside and don't comment, let another reader make up their own mind. Spend a little cash and write a review not a slight on the author's ability. Contact the author privately if it upsets you so much. Privately point out the errors. Give them the opportunity to redeem themselves in private. Not cringe-cry-in public. They are human after all."
On typos - I can remember posting a book review of a good book but was distracted by jumbled words - the typo errors weren't spelling mistakes but mixed-up words that really distracted me so had to mention it on my blog. Nevertheless, I still loved the book and still recommended it. I'm hoping that if I get published, my MS would be free from any typos that can distract readers.
I totally agree with writing/emailing the author instead of trashing them in public. As a writer, I have every respect too for authors, self-published or traditionally published. I've always wondered though, the nasty comments and extremely low ratings, could they be anonymous on-line haters? I seldom see real names of those who post bad reviews.
Good points you've raised here, Glynis.
When I first started writing, I got caught up in the "rules" and I got to the point where I couldn't enjoy a book because I saw all the places where the author broke the "rules", I started reading with an eye for critiquing rather than enjoying.
I remember bringing it up to some of my writer friends, and they would say that author could break the rules because that author was published, but unpublished writers couldn't break the rules and expect to get published. Well, than never made sense to me. How would any new writers ever get published if they never broke the rules and developed their own style.
Anyway, I got to the point where I couldn't read for enjoyment, because I was always trying to learn something... I finally had to tell myself to just read for the fun of it. That's when I started to enjoy books again.
Loree, yes making up your own mind is a good thing. I have just read a sweet, heart-warming story that had been given poor reviews. I am so glad I ignored them. The story was good and the writing was not poor at all. Jealousy plays a part.
Len, thanks. It is how I feel. Jumbled words are not acceptable as they are poor editing and distracting. To recommend the story is a good thing. Yes, the reviewers hide behind their identity.
Loree and Len, thank you for visiting today and joining in with the comments. X
Loribeth, oh the rules. They bog you down and in the end you lose yourself. Rules are meant to be broken. ;D
Yes,I went through much the same with my reading, now I am back to pleasure reading and accepting small errors.
Thank you for visiting and joining in today. X
You make such a great point here! I've heard that every book has at least one error in it. Who cares? If the story is good, I don't notice the errors. Reviewers should base their reviews on the story, not on the grammar. Now, on the other hand, I have read a few books that were so filled with errors that I was completely distracted from the plot. But chances are, these were plot problems more so than grammar ones.
Hello Glynis, thanks for saying out loud what I've been thinking for a while now. I've published a series of free short stories this fall to publicize my crime fiction novel, the first in a series, and while downloads have been decent the feedback is almost nonexistent, except for one solitary person who flamed me badly for wasting their time. Worse, they posted the feedback twice!
I struggle to understand one's point of view in taking something from someone for free and then complaining about it being a waste of time, or a disappointment, or what have you. It cost zero, folks. The risk was remarkably minimal!
I've begun to wonder if some people download the freebies from indies simply for the sport of ripping them afterwards. At this point I'm struggling to see a tangible upside to this marketing tactic....
The Overnight Bestseller
http://michaeljmccannsblog.blogspot.com/
Susan, plot problems or errors, I am sure you would not publicly flog the writer. Thanks for reading and commenting today. x
Hello Michael, welcome to The Important Ones!
I am sorry you had to suffer at the hands of a spiteful reviewer. I do wonder why they feel it is a good thing to do!
I totally agree. Everybody has an opinion whether it's right or wrong and a negative viewpoint can absolutely kill the momentum of a newly published piece.
If errors aren't distracting, I don't worry about them. Nobody's perfect. And I really only get distracted, especially when grading, when I can tell that there was a lack of care put into the writing. But, if that's the case, the actual writing usually suffers too.
The odd error turning up does happen. After all, even editors are still human, and will miss the odd thing. If the story works, then the odd mistake doesn't matter.
Glynis, I didn't cringe - I applauded your words!
I try to be as fair as I can, even if I didn't like the book. I don't want to be mean to my fellow authors!
MAFW, you are so right. A newly published item can suffer at the hands of the negative reviewer. By negative I mean the spiteful ones.
Thanks for commenting today. :)
Missed Periods, yes there is a difference. A lack-lustre piece of work will never gain a comment from me. If it shows someone has made an effort I will find something positive to say. I deleted a story from my Kindle this morning. It was poorly written and of no interest. I did not find the need to belittle the author. It is up to the next reader to make up their own mind. They might enjoy it!
Thanks for visiting today. x
William, I do so agree! Human error is acceptable. Thanks for leaving a comment. :)
Thanks, Alex! So pleased you dropped by. :)
Deniz, there is no place for meaness as far as I am concerned. So pleased you feel the same. Thanks for visiting. x
If I'm drawn into a story, I don't care if it's written in chalk or skywritten into the sky. I just want to get lost in the story.
Reviewer rants? I ignore them.
Liz, same here. I do get annoyed reading the rants when they are mean.
Thanks for visiting today. x
I find errors and holes often in books. The better the book, the more the holes. I don't worry about gaps in the plot. Its okay. Its alright. No need to put the book down. I've had to put down some very boring books that were near perfect.
Stephen, the good thing is you didn't rip the author to bits after you put the book down. You never crossed the line of being spiteful.
Thanks for visiting today. :)
I'm not a paid reviewer, but I do review books. I'm also a writer. Sometimes authors will send me books. Sometimes publicists do. Sometimes I buy them myself. I write reviews for books I like. That probably hurts my credibility as a reviewer, but that's okay. I'd rather write about books I like than write reviews that hurt the author. Besides, what I dislike may be liked by another reader.
Helen, your reviews are always fair, interesting and encourage readers to buy. That to me is the sign of a decent person.
Thanks for visiting today. x
And they don't just do that for "freebie" books - I've been to Amazon to read reviews on a book by someone I don't know and have not read their stuff and been taken aback by some of the things written -lawd!
I never read my own reviews unless someone sends it to me and says "hey read this!" because I am chicken *laugh* . . .
Kat, how anyone could write scathing reviews about your books is beyond me. OK, they might not be to their taste but some folk are just sosooo jealous it's crazy.
Hugs for visiting x
I don't mind a negative review where valid points are brought up -- and by valid, I just mean the reviewer mentions specific things they didn't like. I recently had a review that said I should stop writing and I was a disgrace to my genre. Now that seemed a bit OTT, ha!
Talli, thank goodness you haven't given up. They are the disgrace, not you! ♥
Negative -but pleasant-reviews can help a writer grow.IMHO. However, a scathing one can end their career unless they get a thick skin!
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