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I recently experienced an incident with another author that
has me questioning, once again, whether I should be reviewing books. I reviewed this person’s book, generally
praising it and also listing a few minor issues I had with the story. It was a
mixed review, but a positive one, in my view, and I ended by recommending the
book.
The author, however, was so incensed that I had the nerve to
give him a three-star rating, that he sent me a scathing note, going point by
point over my issues, explaining to me why I didn’t know shit from
Shinola. It turned into an ugly assault
on me.
Evidently this author thinks he’s a cross between Hemingway,
Capote and Greene, and expects all reviewers to bow before him with offerings
of five-star accolades. I wish him success.
I did not take his attack too personally, knowing from my
own experience how fragile a writer’s ego can be. And I stand by my comments
and my rating of his story. Nevertheless, this has happened several times now,
and it does have me wondering if I should throw in the towel.
The reason I review books is solely to shine a light on
works by people who write about gay characters and/or gay themes. I began
reviewing gay fiction several years ago when there were few sites that
showcased lgbtq fiction. But if these very people I’m trying to help are
rabidly against me, then why should I bother?
Why should I devote a week of reading someone’s work, and then a few
hours of crafting a review, if the author fails to appreciate it?
I have learned that when you put yourself out there, no
matter what your intentions, some folks will welcome it and some won’t. Some
praise while others slander. I confess I’m growing tired of it.
I have a stack of books that I have committed to review, which
will take me well into the Spring of 2013. After that, who knows? I suspect I
will wrestle with this issue for weeks or months, whether to continue
reviewing. I had already stopped accepting new review copies simply because my
to-be-reviewed stack had grown too high. So it should be an easy thing not to
start it up again. Time will tell.
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2 comments:
Alan, I for one would hate to see you stop reviewing because your reviews are insightful, and because, frankly, there aren't a lot of reviewers whose taste and judgment I trust. I come at the review process a bit differently - I don't do negative reviews. If I don't like a book, I just put it aside. Writers take enough lumps without me beating up on them as well. That said, however, I do know that even when I've given a book a positive review, there are always those who won't be happy that I didn't praise it more fully. I think you just have to accept that it goes with the territory and remind yourself not to revew that author again. And I don't see any point in getting into a fight with them. I won't, in fact. I just don't reply to those posts. I did post comments to a book by my frind Lori Lake, because someone had torn her and her book apart and I thought it was unfair. But the same person just wrote back again, an even more scathing post, at which point I told Lori I thought we were only fanning the flames by trying to reason with her.
And there are reviewers I don't read. Amos Lassen won't read my books, so I don't read his reviews, which seems fair enough to me (he doesn't review e-books, and I can't afford to buy print copies and send to him.)
The reviews aren't for the authors. It's nice that they can and often do get some marketing tidbits out of them, but the readers are your audience. They're the ones will miss your comments the most. Don't let a prima donna (primo don?) chase you out of reviewing. I've gotten a few notes from authors explaining how "I just didn't get it" and was wrong not to award two more stars, or that last half star. I won't review them again. There are plenty of others.
@Victor I always wondered what Amos does with those stacks of books.
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