From: Goodreads ~ Penelope’s Advice To Authors Who Don’t Like Beeyotchy Reviewers…
I was trying to stay out of this discussion because I am not a professional reviewer or even very good at it but some of the comments really bothered me especially the whole “fragile precious new writer little feelings” bullshit.
Listen folks a book review to me is NOT “FOR” THE WRITER. IT IS NOT “TO” THE WRITER AND IT IS NOT MEANT TO MAKE THE WRITER “FEEL” GOOD OR BAD OR ANYTHING IN PARTICULAR.
It’s about this book I read that I spent good money on and that a fellow reader might be interested in spending money on and if I think it worked for me or not and how so.
There is supposed to be a healthy distance here in all this OK? Hell, I worry about writers who are so emotionally involved in their books they can’t disconnect and critique the work for what it is because I for one do not think writing is something they should spend so much time doing then if they are that emotionally unstable about it.
Everyday at my job I have to review and write down what I did and how I did it and check myself for any possible security problems stemming from my work. To do that I have to remain distanced enough from what I am doing to be able to be honest with myself and my team mates about if some process or software is working for the best of our customers or not. The minute I start getting upset or irate about some aspect of my job is the minute I need to take a break from the bull because it’s just a job I do every day, every month, every year, it’s not me.
In reality the boss likes the work I do and I get my bonuses and promotions all the time.
So what I am saying here is,,, YOU ARE NOT YOUR JOB! YOU ARE NOT THE CONTENTS OF YOUR WALLET! YOU ARE NOT YOUR DESIGNER JEANS!
YOU ARE NOT THE BOOK I AM REVIEWING!
You, the writer, are not the point of any review I am writing. When I think of you… well, I don’t think of you. You are one of those guys in the above picture. When it comes to a book I read I don’t know exactly what the editor suggested or what the publisher decided or who’s advice the cover artist took as gospel. I can take a guess but I could be wrong too. But… I will still point out stuff they probably should have caught because that is what a review should do is warn other readers about problems you found.
So editors and publishers in my mind are also exactly like those guys pictured above. I don’t honestly know if those are even guys or what their skin tone is or what nationality they are. I could guess the gender but who knows with all the rubber what might be molded silicon and what looks real is not always.
That is how I see reviews and writing in general. It’s the great leveler, a huge anonymous party, where every writer has the same chance and every book gets treated the same way.
So fragile new writers beware, I am not your mommy or your daddy or your BFF. Maybe other reviewers want to play that insane EGO game like they could destroy writers with a careless word if they wanted to and all that crap but I think fake smiles and forced nods of encouragement suck as bad as a kick in the ass. I mean you want to make it personal then being fake and plastic about something I know honestly is not my best is pretty insulting to me personally.
But then I respect honesty. Take a hint from my boss… You want to tell me I did a good job give me cash.
Tags: eBook Commentary
