Yeah, so I have no brain because today is Thursday. I honestly thought it was Wednesday until my husband came home for lunch and informed of reality. So I really don't have a post to put up today, but I would like to direct you to my post on Rhemalda Publishing where I DID remember to post! Please go stop by and comment!
I feel so dumb.
Are Reviews Only for Readers?
..it happens.
ReplyDeleteIf that's the dumbest thing you do today, I've already got you beat, like, ten times over.
ReplyDeleteI had this notion that I wouldn't read any reviews of my novel on the theory that it didn't really matter what anyone said after it was published -- hey, it's *published* -- you can think whatever you want, 'cause I already accomplished what I set out to do and it's not as if I can change it. But of course, curiosity got the better of me, especially after my publisher told me that I had a very favorable Publisher's Weekly review up on the novel's amazon site. I'll admit to looking at it, and that it made me very happy. But I stopped there, because that was enough.
ReplyDeleteOn the whole, I'd say reviews are for readers. I haven't gone back and looked for any others in over a month now (book came out in September).
I can't see any reviews affecting my writing, really. What affects my writing is when I send a draft to a person whose editorial skills I greatly respect. Readers can have such extremely different reactions to the same work that I can't take any negative comments too seriously (which means I probably shouldn't take positive ones that seriously, either!).
Example: When I've read a book that I didn't care for, I often go to amazon to see what other readers thought, looking for validation for my views. I'm usually surprised and irritated if I find a lot of glowing 5-star reviews for the work. Who are these idiots? Same in reverse -- if I love a book and see 1-star reviews, I wonder about those readers' mental capacities. Do any of those reviews really help the author? I kind of doubt it.
-Alexandra (Alex) MacKenzie
@Alex - I tell myself all the time that I won't read my miscellaneous reviews on places like Amazon when I'm published.
ReplyDeleteTruth is, if I know there's a way I can find out what people are saying when they talk about me behind my back, it's going to be a strong pull.
I'm hopeful that some combination of vitamins will give me the power to resist.
Nevets: Cocktails are full of vitamins. Simon Larter will tell you that they give one the power to resist. Well, he might tell you that.
ReplyDeleteMixed drinks are taxonomic abomination that I only forgive when it's gin and tonic with a twist.
ReplyDeleteC.N.Nevets: I'm quite sure the juniper berries used to distill gin are good for you, and hey, the quinine in the tonic water, while no longer used in concentrations strong enough to protect you from malaria, may well act as a prophylactic against iffy reviews. Go for it!
ReplyDelete@Alex - It' true; the juniper berries do great things for my asthma, no joke. I had not, however, thought of the power of a quinine to find off reviews. You may have hit upon The Thing there.
ReplyDeleteMizmak: Yeah, good points! Since CINDERS was self-published, though, reviews seem to take on a different sort of meaning for me, kind of like validation. It's hard to explain.
ReplyDeleteNevets: Good luck. :)