Damned if I do. Damned if I don't.
I actually had a couple of other titles for this blog planned before settling on the one above. Catch 22 was one. Between A Rock and a Hard Place was another. Authors Are Readers Too was also considered. But, in the end, I think the current title best sums up the quandary and the frustration that authors find themselves in over the R word.
Reviews.
More specifically reviews of books written by friends of the author. I can totally see both sides of the debate that’s raging (and will no doubt continue to rage) at the moment. How can readers, who base their decisions to buy or not on reviews, truly trust a review written by a buddy of whatever author they’re considering? I can see why people are talking about it and blogging about it and why Amazon had taken a stand over this.
But I can also understand the other side too. Because authors are readers too. Who love books and want to share that love with others.
But yeh… how can readers tell what’s genuine and what’s manufactured? What reviews are real and which ones are “back scratchers”. It’s why I make it a personal policy to not review author friends/acquaintances books. Which btw makes me feel really crappy especially when I know that reviews can be important for sales and that author friends have reviewed my books and are probably pretty pissed at me for not reviewing theirs especially when they know how much I enjoyed them because I've sent them an email telling them that!
So yeh….Damned if I do. Damned if I don’t.
It’s probably a cowardly stance but it’s just my way of trying to keep myself out of the muck and the vitriol that this debate tends to gets itself bogged down in.
But what happens when a friend of yours writes a book that you love and you want to tell everyone about it? Is it fair that I shouldn’t be able to do so because we happen to be friends?
I’d like to take for example an author friend of mine – Carol Marinelli. I’ve known Carol for about seven or eight years. We both write for Harlequin’s Medical line and we chat online and see each other once, maybe twice a year at conferences and for damned sure one of the biggest hangovers of my life has her name on it. We laugh so much when we’re together and talk until we’re hoarse. I simply adore Carol - despite that hangover!
I remember the first Medical I read of Carol’s, back before I’d ever met her. Back before I was published and I was reading widely in the line I was targeting. And I knew, I just knew she was, or at least had been, a nurse. And it wasn’t in the big stuff – pass me the epi stat! etc etc – it was in the little things. The way a nurse would do a certain thing, or say something a certain way. The nuances of her characters. And I was hooked.
Fast forward to now and I’ve just finished reading Carol’s first self-published title - What Goes Around - and I’m still hooked. It’s a beautiful book, written just the way Carol talks – I swear I can hear her narrate it in my head. Be warned - it’s nothing at all like her category romances. It’s a big book full of gritty issues and flawed people that yeh, sometimes I just wanted to slap. But she had me rooting for them every step of the way as well and that is the essence of a good story teller. Being able to make a reader care about a character that is not always easy to care about.
But I can’t write a review and say these things because the debate has forced me to make a decision about not reviewing. And that’s a shame because this book deserves my accolades and Carol and her book don’t deserve to be penalised because many authors do the same as me – we keep out of it.
All that’s really left is for me to talk it up on social media which I fully intend to do because yes, Carol is my friend but her book is bloody brilliant and I want people to know about it and find it and read it.
No doubt that is frowned upon as well. So again…I’m damned if I do and damned if I don’t.
Clearly there’s no solution to any of this. This blog is just a voicing of my frustration. Another viewpoint to add to the mix.
Oh, and if you want to read a really good book, you can find it here.
http://www.amazon.com/What-Goes-Aroun...
http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/17...
Reviews.
More specifically reviews of books written by friends of the author. I can totally see both sides of the debate that’s raging (and will no doubt continue to rage) at the moment. How can readers, who base their decisions to buy or not on reviews, truly trust a review written by a buddy of whatever author they’re considering? I can see why people are talking about it and blogging about it and why Amazon had taken a stand over this.
But I can also understand the other side too. Because authors are readers too. Who love books and want to share that love with others.
But yeh… how can readers tell what’s genuine and what’s manufactured? What reviews are real and which ones are “back scratchers”. It’s why I make it a personal policy to not review author friends/acquaintances books. Which btw makes me feel really crappy especially when I know that reviews can be important for sales and that author friends have reviewed my books and are probably pretty pissed at me for not reviewing theirs especially when they know how much I enjoyed them because I've sent them an email telling them that!
So yeh….Damned if I do. Damned if I don’t.
It’s probably a cowardly stance but it’s just my way of trying to keep myself out of the muck and the vitriol that this debate tends to gets itself bogged down in.
But what happens when a friend of yours writes a book that you love and you want to tell everyone about it? Is it fair that I shouldn’t be able to do so because we happen to be friends?
I’d like to take for example an author friend of mine – Carol Marinelli. I’ve known Carol for about seven or eight years. We both write for Harlequin’s Medical line and we chat online and see each other once, maybe twice a year at conferences and for damned sure one of the biggest hangovers of my life has her name on it. We laugh so much when we’re together and talk until we’re hoarse. I simply adore Carol - despite that hangover!
I remember the first Medical I read of Carol’s, back before I’d ever met her. Back before I was published and I was reading widely in the line I was targeting. And I knew, I just knew she was, or at least had been, a nurse. And it wasn’t in the big stuff – pass me the epi stat! etc etc – it was in the little things. The way a nurse would do a certain thing, or say something a certain way. The nuances of her characters. And I was hooked.
Fast forward to now and I’ve just finished reading Carol’s first self-published title - What Goes Around - and I’m still hooked. It’s a beautiful book, written just the way Carol talks – I swear I can hear her narrate it in my head. Be warned - it’s nothing at all like her category romances. It’s a big book full of gritty issues and flawed people that yeh, sometimes I just wanted to slap. But she had me rooting for them every step of the way as well and that is the essence of a good story teller. Being able to make a reader care about a character that is not always easy to care about.
But I can’t write a review and say these things because the debate has forced me to make a decision about not reviewing. And that’s a shame because this book deserves my accolades and Carol and her book don’t deserve to be penalised because many authors do the same as me – we keep out of it.
All that’s really left is for me to talk it up on social media which I fully intend to do because yes, Carol is my friend but her book is bloody brilliant and I want people to know about it and find it and read it.
No doubt that is frowned upon as well. So again…I’m damned if I do and damned if I don’t.
Clearly there’s no solution to any of this. This blog is just a voicing of my frustration. Another viewpoint to add to the mix.
Oh, and if you want to read a really good book, you can find it here.
http://www.amazon.com/What-Goes-Aroun...
http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/17...
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It is actually quite a tricky thing these days. You read a book and you like it. So you go and look at the website to find more books by the author. Then you see they are on social media. So you start *cough* stalking them. You say something nice to the author who is desperate for affirmation of her work. So a conversation starts. When does stalkerish fan behaviour cross the line to being 'friendship'?
yes, exactly, Carol. I think the majority of authors I know will only review books they really loved for fear of being accused of dastardly deeds!
Fiona wrote: "It is actually quite a tricky thing these days. You read a book and you like it. So you go and look at the website to find more books by the author. Then you see they are on social media. So you s..."Yes, another good point, Fiona. And when it does cross the line what kind of pressure does that put on the "fan" to then only give a "good" review?? It's a tricky one!
I just wanna say....what a bloody nice profile shot. I that allowed LOL
Jenn J wrote: "I just wanna say....what a bloody nice profile shot. I that allowed LOL"Thanks Jen. Taken at the GC!
It's so tricky, isn't it? I have been of your school, Amy and have stayed well out of it - but I've changed my mind. And what changed my mind was a sweet review by a fellow writer. I didn't ask her for it and she didn't have to do it but she did and it made my day. Just to know that someone I like enjoyed my work and was willing to say so was lovely. So I've changed my mind. If I like something, I reserve the right to say so. If Amazon doesn't like it, so be it, but I've been a reader a lot longer than I've been a writer and it seems silly not to be able to talk about works I like just because I've met the person who wrote them. I may live to regret this decision, but for now, at least, that's what I'm going with. As for your dilemma, you can always do a rave on your blog. That's what I did when I wasn't commenting elsewhere. It wasn't as visible to the general reading public, but it eased the frustration! Cheers, Imelda (oh, and btw, I agree with Jenn J re the pic!)
Imelda wrote: "It's so tricky, isn't it? I have been of your school, Amy and have stayed well out of it - but I've changed my mind. And what changed my mind was a sweet review by a fellow writer. I didn't ask ..."Thanks Imelda for your wise words. I think we all have to do whatever we feel comfortable with and try and ignore the naysayers! Another issue for me is boooks you dont like. I refuse to write a bad review for an author but I also refuse to lie so for me this is another reason to avoid them altogether.
And yes, thank god for social media!
Great post Amy. Much to consider. And it is a real shame because writers are great readers *and* great reviewers.
Allison wrote: "Great post Amy. Much to consider. And it is a real shame because writers are great readers *and* great reviewers."Yes, it *is* a shame :-(
I rarely write reviews and then only when I've really enjoyed a book. That said, there've been many books I've enjoyed and would like to have commented on but time is also an enemy. If I'm going to comment, I want it to be a decent review and that requires a fair input of time. As of Monday, I'll be a newly published author too. I'm not sure if that will change the way I feel about reviewing, but thanks for a thoughtful post, Amy.
Sue wrote: "I rarely write reviews and then only when I've really enjoyed a book. That said, there've been many books I've enjoyed and would like to have commented on but time is also an enemy. If I'm going to..."I'll def take your review on one of my books as a compliment then :-)
Mega Congrats on your published status and good luck with the release!
Carol wrote: "Good luck with your release, Sue cx"Thanks Amy and Carol for your good wishes. I've no idea what to expect when White Ginger goes live on Monday. It is exciting and scary all at the same time. But I'm going to take on board your comments about how you use your blog. I just need to work out how to build my readership.
I don't think there is anything wrong with an author saying "this other author is my friend and I think she's written a great book. I really liked it, here are the buy links if you're interested." I will be up for those who read your post to decide what to do, but you have disclosed any "conflict of interest" so I don't see a problem. Writing a review might be a bit more problematic I agree (not that I personally have a problem with it) but there's nothing wrong with a bit of mutual author promo. A blog post, a few tweets. (As long as it doesn't become spammy.) I get lots of book recs that way.
Kaetrin wrote: "I don't think there is anything wrong with an author saying "this other author is my friend and I think she's written a great book. I really liked it, here are the buy links if you're interested."..."Hi Kaetrin. I agree that we should be able to promote our friends books but I guess the issue for readers (and lets not forget authors are readers too!!) is that the line can get kind of murky and everyone's walking on eggshells trying to decide where the line is.
Which leads me back to my orignal thoughts - damend if we do, damned if we dont...
I do know exactly what you mean though about giving reviews. I don't post reviews on Amazon but I have started to here and I have stated that I will only give positive reviews. I actually don't finish a book if I am not enjoying it - I figure life is too short so, if I do finish it, it means I have enjoyed it. My only exception was SOG. I would have stopped reading as it didn't grab me but I pushed on because of all the hype and ended up really enjoying it.
I know I read a lot of books and I know what I like and what I don't and I think romance writers are massive romance readers too. None of us have the time to review all our friends so, when we do, it is because it is a book that we love - not just a friends book.
As you say, damned if we do....
cxxx