This is so true to life. I once read a book that I can only class as terrible, and I mean … terrible! I didn’t say I liked it to the author and I didn’t leave a review, but I did try to give constructive criticism instead. Not sure it was well received though. Turning the tables, some authors have declined to leave a review of one or two books I have written, and that’s fine by me. Others have left 5 star reviews of the same book, so it just goes to show that you cannot please everybody.
Re-Post Authors Reviewing Authors (It’s a Minefield) #WritingCommunity #AmWriting #AmReading
13 Monday Jan 2020
Posted in Re-blogs, Useful Information for Authors
Stevie Turner 
Great share Stevie. I learned long ago, never to tell anyone I’m reading their book until I’m well into it. ❤
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Ah yes… I learned that one as well. I’ll get to the middle of it before I decide to put it on my Goodreads profile too.
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Lol 🙂
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I’ve been asked, as a result of buying choices on Amazon, to read books for review(s), and in many cases, I can’t. Because, as you say, they are awful. The (personal opinion) Dan Alatorre school of formulaic hack sterotypes (retired boxer turned PI and his retired cop friend), ‘I watched a lifetime movie once’ dialog and directorial character movements, occasional poorly written or over indulgent gratuitous sex…And believe it or not many major formatting flaws. The real issue is when or if any of these are mentioned instead of the more straightforward route, a simple declination, the authors’ don’t care! Which is how their works came to be the way they are.
No, we don’t need for the genre or the style to be what we’d choose to read, but that is no reason to criticize for the sake of it. Ask the author what they were looking for as far as tone and audience, work from there. If they can’t tell you or it’s all over the map, bow out. Let me know if you find a way to do that honestly AND gracefully.
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I have reviewed very few friends’ books, but it creates a dilemma. You want to be supportive of your friends, but you also feel the need to be honest about what you’ve read. I’m sure some avoid the situation altogether by ignoring the request. Sounds like a minefield
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It is, I think. It’s always best to get honest reviews from people we don’t know.
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It’s like movies ~ Some are critically acclaimed and I don’t like them much 😉
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What one person likes, another may not. This works well for us Indie authors!
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Thanks for sharing.
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You’re welcome.
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Strikes me as a wise blog 🙂
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