Authors & Reviewers: What Do You Think of Reviewers Who Don't Post Negative Reviews?

[Stacy-Deanne (Novelist)]

Hi All,

Due to the behavior of certain authors lately, some reviewers only post positive book reviews. Do you agree with this? Do you think it's fair?

I must be honest, I read a lot of review blogs and I have a lot of respect for reviewers who have the guts to post honest reviews, no matter how negative they are. As long as they are respectful, I don't have a problem with that. I think reviewers should post negative and positive reviews of the books they receive. It's fine if they want to give the author an option whether they want the review posted if it's negative. I just don't think reviewers should flat out say, "I don't post negative reviews." Some reviewers say that if they don't like a book, they won't post a review. But since when does being a reviewer require you to like something? I thought reviewers were supposed to review books they've agreed to review whether they liked the book or not?

I hope this isn't the new way of reviewing. When I go to a reviewer's site and see a mixture of positives and negatives, I trust that reviewer a little more than a reviewer who only posts reviews of books they enjoyed. To me that's not really reviewing if you don't display a variety in the type of reviews you offer. I'd skip a review site in a minute if all I'm going to get are five-starred, "glowing eyed" reviews of books. How can readers take that seriously if the reviewer doesn't appear to not like anything? That's why I like sites like Dear Author. They are honest with their reviews and give you a sample of very good book reviews and very negative ones. That's how it should be if you're gonna review books fairly.

I remember one reviewer who said, "I post all reviews. If the authors don't like what I post, they shouldn't have sent me the book." Now that's a reviewer with some balls, LOL.

Just my opinion. What's yours?

Best Wishes!

http://www.stacy-deanne.net

[Linda]

I have had two hostile reactions to my reviews. One from an author and one a publicist. I will not quit posting negative reviews, although I hope I continue to strive to be tactful when I post them. If I were to only post positive reviews, it would be pointless to have a blog in which I give my opinion. I try to choose books that I think I will like, so I do have a lot of positive reviews, but I also have a smattering of average or bad reviews.

[Erik G]

I post about what I like :)

[Anysia]

If I received a review copy then I post a review whether it is positive or negative (if publicists only want positive reviews, then they should only send me good books). I do review under a pen name though because of the small percentage of authors who are stalkerish/nuts (I also try to avoid dealing with authors directly for the same reason).

[Karoline]

I have a little bit of everything. Some ok reviews, some not so great, some great! I always give my own opinion whether it's good or bad. If they don't like it, well tough. It's just an opinion. They don't have to take mine if they don't want to. I try to put in the good points and the bad with some books I've read in the past.

[Amy Jacobs]

I recently posted a negative review on a book that I didn't like and I had a negative comment back from another blogger. I learned from the experience that you can't please everyone. I read, I review and people can form their own opinion. I don't slam the book that I didn't like but I give honest reviews. I also state that someone else might like it, so I still encourage people to read it if they want to.

http://myoverstuffedbookshelf.blogspot.com/

[Jaime Huff]

Since I started my blog, I haven't YET come across a book I didn't like. Also, my blog is only a little over 2 months old. When I receive an awful book (I am sure it's sitting on my shelf right now) I will keep it honest.

[Mandy McClanahan]

Wow, you're lucky! In the two months or so I've been reviewing for my blog, I've had a handful of novels I just didn't like...even a couple I couldn't finish. They were novels I chose myself though, rather than ones that were sent by a publisher/author so I'm not too worried about whether I give a negative review or not.

[pussreboots]

I try to post honest reviews. Sometimes I get negative feedback for less than glowing reviews. I just posted a rebuttal from an author of a self pub book: http://www.pussreboots.pair.com/blog/2009/comments_08/publishing_ga...

All in all the negative reactions from authors are few and far between.

[Christy Pinheiro]

Hi; I just posted a response to the review. I don't think that your review was just "negative". A lot of people feel that way about "how-to" self-publishing books.

But I think that making money shouldn't be a dirty word. There's a lot of authors who are really not making it and publishing houses that are closing. It's nice to read something that gives us hope that we can support ourselves writing. That's what I write about-- trying to help authors make a reasonabe working salary from their writing.

Christy Pinheiro, EA ABA
www.stepbystepselfpublishing.net - Add your review blog to the author’s resource page

[pussreboots]

I'm not against self publishing or making money. But the approach of setting up a business to publish a whole line of books before even deciding what those books should be seems backwards to me. If the focus is only on the selling product then the product will end up being crap.

[Tim Roux]

You reviewed two of my books - 'Girl on a Bar Stool' and 'Fishing, for Christians'. You seemed to quite like the first and clearly hated the second. Actually, as a writer, the hardest thing is to get people to comment negatively about a book. Those that like it will often say so; those that don't will usually keep quiet. So I, for one, really appreciate straightforward criticism either way. In general, most people really like 'Girl on a Bar Stool' and reactions to 'Fishing, for Christians' are very mixed - my wife hates it for starters! What amazes me is that you can get through quite so many books (and thank you for doing so).

[Linda]

You are a gem! I wish more authors had your heart. My worst experience as a blogger was with Christian author who not only attacked my review, but me as a Christian.