Good Tuesday morning. I hope everyone is safe and well. We’ve had a nasty round of weather here in the South and let’s just say it’s still really dark here.
When you pick up a book you’re taking a chance on that author. What if it’s an author you’ve never read or your favorite author? Either way you’re supporting that author. If you like the book it’s really important to send out a review. But what if you’re not too keen on the book, well still do a review, but don’t be nasty.
My rule of thumb when doing a review is to be honest and think of how I’d want a reader to respond. If it’s great then shout it to the world. If it’s alright, then give it a review that states it’s an alright read and maybe give some of it’s attributes if it has any.
But what do you do if it’s horrible? I’ve read some books that I just barely finished and others I never finished, even though I really truly tried. It’s time to review, but what do you do? Well, I think you need to leave a kind review. What’s that mean? It means don’t degrade the author with comments like “I couldn’t finish this book because it was horrid” or “This book stinks, don’t go near it”. Maybe say something like “This book wasn’t my style, but I tried it out”, which leaves it open for others to try. I like the reviews that mildly state a couple of issues with the book, but not by cutting the author to the quick, but by making a couple of suggestions. I’ve actually used some of mine to refresh my skills.
A comment I had on a review one time that really steamed me was that I left the book on a cliffhanger to get more money out of the reader by making them want to buy a book. She went on to say she wouldn’t buy another of my books because of it. The funny thing is that it clearly states it’s part of a Saga, which should have clued her in that it didn’t end with that book and she read it all the way through. Oh well.
My point is this, give your authors some love. We work really hard and spend a lot of time writing to get that book out there so give us something to work with. Good thing we don’t price our books by the hours we work on them. But it’s so worth every hour spent over the keyboard.
As always, good writing and May God Bless you…
Stephanie Hurt - Romance Author 
Great post!
The very first thing that comes to my mind regarding a review is the Latin maxim : De gustibus non est disputandum, “In matters of taste, there can be no disputes.”
Yes, it depends on someone’s taste and not only. A story may find approval and praise and a five star review from someone and then a lot of criticism and a two or even one star review from somebody else. The moment you are putting yourself out there, in the public, you must expect to be criticized. And words do hurt, sometimes even harder than a beating. Words are mightier than sword, someone said.
Hope by now the weather is better over there. Here, Romania, we have a beautiful, sunny autumn day. Today. Starting with tomorrow they say it will change to cold and rain.
Carmen
http://shadowspastmystery.blogspot.ro/