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| Mixed messages for Shakespeare from these reviews... |
Today I thought I’d blog about a subject every author worries about far too much, yet which most readers probably never give a second thought to: stars.
Authors would do well to take some advice from the Bard, who cautioned us that “the fault…lies not in our stars but in ourselves.” That said, I’m not sure I’m going to take advice from him because his works, in their various forms, don’t have nearly as many reviews on Amazon as you would expect and they aren’t always that great or, indeed, that logical. (“Bought for a student as present very pleased with it” 1*.)
Of course Shakespeare’s reviews are largely not about the plays themselves but about the edition — poor formatting gets your book marked down and easy navigability gets it marked up. Equally, reviewers award ratings for the introduction and the commentary rather than for the wonderful work which forms the main part of the book.
Apart from the odd moment of dismay, I tend to be rather sanguine about bad reviews — and in fact I think authors worry too much about them. We expect them to be focussed entirely on the content, but for the reader they’re about the whole process of buying and reading a product. Shakespeare’s experience, if you call it that, demonstrates this neatly.
There is often a disconnect between the review and the star rating. Some of my four star reviews have been very much better than some of the five star ones, for example. Again, there’s no point in moaning about them because they reflect the reader’s response. As a reader I don’t review that much but when I do I’m not always that consistent. Sometimes I rave about a book that isn’t, in objective terms (as far as objectivity is possible) very good or don’t enjoy book that is, by every measure, a classic.
Why? Because if I enjoy a book the quality is only part of it. It will be the right book for me, at the right time, and as a result I will enjoy it far more than I might have done under different circumstances. Or it might be set in a place I know and love, or one of the characters might chime with me for a particular reason, or what have you.
I try and be kind when I review but not everyone does and they don’t have to. So my advice to the author reading a bad review is not to take it to heart. Not everybody’s going to like your book baby — and a bad review does’t reflect a poor quality book, but the fact that a reader didn’t enjoy it. Focus instead on the ones who did.
Great blog. When I feel down about my writing sometimes I go and read my 4 and 5 star reviews just to cheer me up. And I never let the bad ones get to me.
ReplyDeleteExactly the right approach - though sometimes easier said than done.
DeleteSometimes it's hard to remember what the reviewer is supposed to be doing.
Good advice, Jo, and a great complimentary post to the previous one about handling rejection. Thank you! :)
ReplyDeleteIt's taken me a long time to become sanguine about reviews, I confess!
DeleteA sound approach to reading book reviews, Jo. I was recently questioned on Facebook about why I give mostly 4 and 5 star reviews, to which I replied that I do sometimes give 3 stars which I only post on Goodreads rather than sharing widely. If a book merits only 1 or 2 stars then I won't finish it, so I don't feel it's fair on the author to leave a review as it might have a brilliant ending (I'll never know). I recently heard an author on a podcast say she hated when she received ONLY a 4 star review and that made me a bit sad, because I see 4 stars as a really solid thumbs up for a book, one I would happily recommend to friends. I keep 5 stars for those exceptional books, the ones I think will stand the test of time. As you rightly point out, it is all very subjective and probably best not to read too much into those glittering stars.
ReplyDeleteI'm the same. I also tend only to post 4* and 5* reviews, unless I've promised to write a review. Even then I'll always try to find something good about the book and be aware that it's a matter of taste.
DeleteA very balanced approach, Victoria, and Rae's comments also sanguine. My favourite 1* review - I forget for which book now - was the one that said, 'This was so bad I went and hovered the stairs'. Obviously she is a witch, but the good soul in me thinks she just needs a spelling lesson and she meant hoovered, not hovered.
ReplyDeleteI got a 1* star review which said my book "failed the Bechtel test big time". (The Bechtel test says that a book must have at least one scene in which two women don't talk about a man.)
DeleteMy book is a murder mystery...and has loads of scenes in which women talk about all sorts of things other than men.
But it's each to their own. The reader didn't like the book. That's fine.