Historical Fictionistas discussion

I know that it's an absolute no-no to respond in any way to negative reviews of your book. But if someone writes a carefully thought-out, positive review, do you ever acknowledge it? Maybe by sending them a short private message? I don't know what the etiquette is. Thanks!

As a frequent reviewer, I appreciate a private e-mail/ message of thanks to let me know that the author has seen the review. I have also had authors 'like' my reviews.

I generally think that it's better not to respond, regardless of whether it's a positive or negative review, unless the reviewer has agreed to read and review the book for you, and then I think it's best to just thank them.

I know that this is a social reader site with authors and readers, but it can make readers feel uncomfortable knowing that an author is watching reviews of their books. It can create a kind of atmosphere where people feel like they should be more polite than truthful about the book, because the author is now a 3rd party in the dynamic. That's probably not what's intended, but that doesn't mean that it doesn't occur.

Likewise, every reader is different, and while some may not mind an author contacting them, many others will feel that it's invading their space.

If I've read a book for review, or have engaged with an author, I likely wouldn't mind being contacted. But an out of the blue "You read my book, thanks!" message would put me off because then I'd feel like I was being watched or something. It would just be awkward.

Thanking amateur reviewers is tricky. I often use my blog or website updates to comment on a review which has been a thoughtful and intelligent analysis and has something useful to say for readers.

I say something like I was pleased/delighted/honoured to find a review on XYZ which appeared in ABC magazine/Online at... and thank the reviewer for such thoughtful reading.

It's not a direct approach, the reviewer may never see it, but it is public thanks for good reviewing work.

It's only happened to me one time (private message after a review) and I thought it was nice to hear from the author. It wasn't a long message, just short and said thank you. I like the community feeling of goodreads and responses to reviews are part of that sense of community to me.

I definitely see Becky's point about not wanting to come across like a stalker. You want people to be able to post honest reviews, without feeling like authors are poring over every word, ready to get their feelings hurt. That's why, for the most part, I agree that authors should respond to reviews at all, but maybe, possibly, occasionally, it's a nice gesture to say a quick thanks if you can tell a reviewer said something particularly insightful.

Becky wrote: "I generally think that it's better not to respond, regardless of whether it's a positive or negative review, unless the reviewer has agreed to read and review the book for you, and then I think it'..."

I agree with this and I think likewise, I always feel I did not write the review for author but for other readers so it's kind of weird when an author thanks me.

I also don't think it would be wise if an author who had given me a free review copy and/or been in touch with me previously thanked me publicly because then it might look like my review is bias, as though I wrote it as a favor to the author.

I've never seen Stephen King or John Grisham thank someone for a review. If a friend posts a review I will thank them personally, even though I don't think reviews from friends do that much good. I still appreciate the gesture.

On Goodreads, there's the option of hitting "Like" if you liked the review, and the review's writer can then see if the author saw it. That seems like a friendly, non-stalkery way of saying "Hey, saw your review, thanks!" without sending a PM.

It doesn't bother me if an author "likes" a review I have written; that is innocuous. A more involved response does get tricky. I had one author for whom I had written a so-so review about his book on Amazon respond with polite comments, more or less explaining why he wrote the book the way he did. It did feel weird, though. Before that, I had no idea that comments could be made about your reviews.

It is one thing for a great review of a book by an author you might know getting you a response from them. That is just friendly. It is different if you have never met the writer, did not like the book and then the writer starts communicating with you, almost pestering you to change the review.

I've never had a problem with an author getting nasty, but I know from what I have seen on Goodreads that it happens. It seems likely that an author who is touchy about bad reviews probably gets them because he is touchy about any edits to his books - somehow has the idea that his prose needs no help. Breaking News: We all need editors!

I still think responding to any review, good or bad, publicly is unprofessional. I know a writer who has a book that is doing fairly well. He got a one-star review on Amazon and immediately went on Facebook, Goodreads and Twitter trying to get friends to leave comments condemning the review. It was embarrassing.

The only times I've gotten PMs from authors thanking me for a review is when they asked me to review it, and I PMed them myself notifying them that I posted the requested review. For me, this is actually quite routine.

Authors liking my review or commenting on it doesn't bother me. I don't think it's creepy. The review is public, after all. I always think that the author might read it.

Kate wrote: "On Goodreads, there's the option of hitting "Like" if you liked the review, and the review's writer can then see if the author saw it. That seems like a friendly, non-stalkery way of saying "Hey, s..."

For some readers that still makes it feel like the author is "hovering" and reading all the reviews, waiting to "like" the good ones. Especially if an author has "liked" every single positive review, then it feels like a spammy way of trying to bump the good reviews so the bad ones are less visible. I'm not saying it would put me off reading more of their books but this has happened to me before and it definitely felt spam-like to me. I'm sorry, I know this all probably sounds very defeating for authors but it's really easy for your involvement to look like spam.

I respond to reviews (positive or negative) if there's a genuine opportunity for conversation there. Often reviews will bring up interesting tidbits about history that I just plain want to discuss with the reader.

I do also respond when a review makes me laugh. I appreciate a good humorous review (I like to write them myself) and I have to give credit where it's due of the reviewer cracked me up.

I'm very open in the backmatter of my books about reading reviews and utilizing them to improve my work, so I make it clear to authors that I welcome honest reviews, good or bad, wherever they usually review books. And I do read them all, and I do search them carefully for feedback on how to improve. (I also may be a rare beast in that I'm an author who doesn't mind when she gets bad reviews. Not everybody is going to like every book, and I expect that, so some bad reviews are just part of the cost of doing business to me. :) )

In general, I think it's better for most authors to refrain from responding to any review, unless you're sure you can respond to any review, even a bad one, in a way that can forge a positive connection between you and the reader. Here's a link to a recent response I made to a critical review, because I actually did want to discuss more info about the history with such a well-informed reader! It's a long review and an even longer thread, so you don't have to read it all, but if you have to respond to a review, that's the kind of circumstance where I think it's warranted...when you genuinely want to talk to that interesting reader and make a new friend just for the sake of it, not for the sake of selling more books! :)

L.M. wrote: "I respond to reviews (positive or negative) if there's a genuine opportunity for conversation there. Often reviews will bring up interesting tidbits about history that I just plain want to discuss..."

Sorry for the delayed response to this, L.M., but I found the whole thread fascinating, where you responded to a negative review and ended up having a real, substantive conversation! I'd never comment on a negative review (like you, I believe they're just the cost of being a writer), but I'm glad this particular exchange went well. And I'm grateful to everyone who shared their opinions in this thread...for now, I've decided that NO response is the best response for authors, no matter how lovely or well-thought-out the review may be.

The way I see it, especially on a site like this where the readers have direct access to the authors, I don't think its necessary or appropriate to initiate contact with readers. If I wanted to engage in a discussion with an author about a book, I can send a message or post a comment on their page. And its easy enough for readers and authors to interact on threads like this too. I don't do reviews for an author's thanks, so contacting me about it isn't really necessary. Having said that, I'm not freaked out by a simple, professional thank you message, but I think its important to be clear on boundaries.

I have had a few authors contact me or like a review, regardless of my rating and comments, but they were all books I'd won on First Reads, and I take that to be a bit more calaborative. I did have one where the author contacted me to thank me for pointing out that they'd forgotten to ad a disclaimer on a memoir. But I think if I've not won the book through a competition on the site, then the author should stay mum. To me, if an author contacts me about a review, it runs the experience of the book.
I don't have actors/directors seeking feedback when I go to the cinema or watch a show. If they read what I have to say online, then likely they're reacting to it on their next project, or as happened with one tele show, they responded to strong public critique by making a minor change. But they didn't feel the need to defend their decision or rip anyone apart for not liking it. Tastes are just that and if someone isn't find of your work, oh well, that's part of being an artist.

Darcy wrote: "I have had a few authors contact me or like a review, regardless of my rating and comments, but they were all books I'd won on First Reads, and I take that to be a bit more calaborative. I did hav..."

There was a time when readers, if they felt strongly enough, would actually write a letter (remember snail mail?) to an author with yays or nays or comments about a book. Shortly after my Dad died (1979), my mother gave me the letters to respond to. Dad never missed a response to a letter from a reader, good or bad. Childrens' books.

Anyhoo, some letters were very nice, others weird. Eventually the letters died out.

I wrote to Sara Douglass, fortunately before she passed away, complimenting her "Troy Games" and she responded with a nice note and two of her bookmarks autographed.

Online reviews? The way Amazon and others solicit them, I'd take them with a grain of salt. On forums like Goodreads, maybe learn from the reviews or if a really nice one, respond.

I guess where I'm going is I don't feel an online review is worthy of a response. Maybe a direct email to an author should elicit a response and I've kept that as a practice for direct emails to me about Dad's writings and my web site.

I still feel that if you really like an author's work, contact the publisher for an address and write a real letter. Failing that, try a direct email.

Different strokes for different folks. Just my opinion.

Having just joined the ranks of indie authors, I was amazed to find out how much I wanted to talk to my readers. Reviews (good or bad) are incredibly valuable feedback and I think it is reasonable to thank a reviewer with a line or two for taking the time to offer their thoughts.

Scott

Liza wrote: "The way I see it, especially on a site like this where the readers have direct access to the authors, I don't think its necessary or appropriate to initiate contact with readers. If I wanted to eng..."

Liza, I agree with you. I'm not disturbed by an author reaching out to me (though I don't particularly LIKE unsolicited contact, either), but every reader is different, and even those may enjoy author interaction may be put off by the author initiating it.

It may not seem like it, but even a simple "thank you" can have a chilling effect on a certain type of reader. The author is inserting themselves into the equation and may not be welcome.

I just think it's better to let readers initiate contact if they choose. Is it really worth alienating potential readers who don't want that kind of interaction? It really may seem innocuous, but you have no way of knowing who is OK with contact vs who feels that their space has been invaded and will withdraw.

I thank reviewers whenever they take time to comment. I haven't yet had anyone trash my work, but I suppose if someone did I would simply ignore them rather than pour gasoline on the fire.

But a review isn't a comment to the author of the book. It's the reader's thoughts and opinions about the book, for themselves and/or for other readers.

Unless the reader has engaged with the author directly in some way (received the book specifically for review, or chatting in a discussion thread, or privately through PM or email, etc) I think it's best not to comment at all on a review - positive or negative.

I really don't understand the mindset behind freaking out over a bad review and berating the reviewer, or demanding explanations or whatever. What on earth is that supposed to accomplish? Always a bad idea. Always.

L.M. wrote: "I really don't understand the mindset behind freaking out over a bad review and berating the reviewer, or demanding explanations or whatever. What on earth is that supposed to accomplish? Always ..."

There was an incident last week with an author who pm'd a GR user because the user one star rated without a review and she wanted to know the reasoning behind the one star. This author then posted in the Feedback group saying she did this and that GR shouldn't allow star rating without text, yada, yada. You know what it accomplished?
Getting a crapload of GR users pissed off at her audacity and continued internet temper tantrum. Rather than having her curiousity satisfied she now has a bunch of one star reviews both with text and no text and a bunch of "not for me" shelves. Her average overall rating is a 1.84.

I can assure you that if this author had not gone as far as she did she would have higher ratings and potential readers would give her a chance.

And just to add to the stupidy of this author- GR changed the layout of the book pages so that star ratings without text reside at the bottom of the page while reviews with text take priority. This one star reviewer added text to satisfy the author so it's now one of the first reviews you see. Doh!

I also have gotten one and two star reviews without comment. It is frustrating just because I'd like to know what they didn't like about the book or if they had caught some mistake, but I accepted it without complaining, because I have gotten five star reviews without comment also. Eventually you will get both. It is part of being a writer.

L.M. wrote: "I really don't understand the mindset behind freaking out over a bad review and berating the reviewer, or demanding explanations or whatever. What on earth is that supposed to accomplish? Always ..."

It's an emotional, knee-jerk response, not one of rationale. They are not thinking far enough ahead to consider accomplishing anything beyond satisfying their emotions. Sadly, not unlike the response of a child.

I saw that, Jackie. :( I actually sent an email to that author giving her some tips on how to use GR in a way that would benefit her. She thanked me for writing, but still insisted that she was being "bullied" just because people added her book to shelves indicating they didn't want to support this author due to her questionable behavior. Siiiiigh.

A friend and I are going to start a podcast (about reading, not about writing) and I think I might offer some regular GR advice for authors on it. Sheesh.

L.M. wrote: "I saw that, Jackie. :( I actually sent an email to that author giving her some tips on how to use GR in a way that would benefit her. She thanked me for writing, but still insisted that she was being "bullied" just because people added her book to shelves indicating they didn't want to support this author due to her questionable behavior. Siiiiigh."

Lol, that's when you say "No, bullying is when you berate or harass someone simply because you don't like what rating they gave a book, and then badger staff to remove the rating." It's amazing how hypocritical and blinded some of these authors are, they really can't accept the fact that if someone doesn't like their book, it doesn't mean the reader is picking on them. As if they have never expressed a dislike for something that someone else created?

L.M. wrote: "I saw that, Jackie. :( I actually sent an email to that author giving her some tips on how to use GR in a way that would benefit her. She thanked me for writing, but still insisted that she was ..."

Saw it as well, and it was like watching a trainwreck happening. :( A negative review is (usually) no bullying. Someone simply didn't like a book.

I do the "like"-button thing, which I also do in general with reviews I read.

I guess what just confounds me about authors freaking out about lower reviews or ratings is this: did they honestly expect everybody who ever read the book to love it, or even to like it? I never went into this writing thing expecting all readers to have the same reaction to my writing. I have to scratch my head over this. People are really expecting to write books that are universally loved? Nobody has ever done that!

I don't think it's that, L.M., I think it's a symptom of the entitlement generation. They wrote a book, therefore they should be praised for it. Anything else is not "nice".

Becky wrote: "I don't think it's that, L.M., I think it's a symptom of the entitlement generation. They wrote a book, therefore they should be praised for it. Anything else is not "nice"."

I'm not even sure about that either. Even though I don't mind people giving me bad reviews or low ratings for books or stories they genuinely hated, I've been several times victim of what one might call "punishment reviews", "retaliatory reviews" or indeed bullying.

Usually they are a reaction to either something I said that someone didn't like me saying, or I've given someone else a low review (and I do so with this, my author account), and they or their fans then one-star and take down whatever my name is on. This sort of thing happens (e.g. I could show you where it happened on my profile with ease), and it is noticed, of that I'm also sure. There's nothing I or anyone can do about it, and you've got to concede it's typical behaviour of bullies in real life.

I think a not so small amount of the authors immediately screaming "bullying" may react from having witnessed this general behaviour and atmosphere. I suspect they are simply those who haven't got the smarts or wherewithal to shrug and move on. Discrimination happens, people behave obnoxiously, that's life. They however expect life to be fairer than it is, maybe, and grow up late to the fact that this isn't at all the case.

I'm sure that there also are those who feel entitled, but then that's again a consequence of modern education in a way, isn't it? I just wished in each case someone took that person aside and told them to simply sit out their urges and write something nice instead. Or take a brisk walk. Or chop wood ;)

I think both of you raise good points. I've seen the retaliatory stuff you've mentioned, Steelwhisper. It seems to be more prevalent in certain genres. Fortunately it doesn't appear to be an issue in historical fiction. The community of HF readers and writers is rather pleasant on GR, but that's not the case in all genres. :/

Becky wrote: "I don't think it's that, L.M., I think it's a symptom of the entitlement generation. They wrote a book, therefore they should be praised for it. Anything else is not "nice"."

Yeah, I think in their minds there's an element of "if you don't have anything nice to say, don't say anything at all." I know one established and respected author whose work I actually love has said this exact phrase - though she's never responded to or targeted individual reviews, she made this general comment on the subject matter in her blog. I was a little disappointed to hear that from her (though it's not going to make me stop reading her books or let her comments influence my feelings on her writing abilities) because I believe readers have the right to express their feelings about a book no matter what - and I truly don't know what the point of reviews would be if they were all glowing, five star reviews. To me, that sounds more like propaganda than reviews.

I also think in some cases there's an element of debut indie authors who get negative reviews as their first reviews. I think it comes as something of a shock to them, not necessarily because they expected everyone to like their book but because they didn't expect the very first live feedback to be negative. They probably expected to get mostly good reviews and minority of bad ones - so when they first start coming in as negative, not only is it unexpected but I think they also feel like this will unfairly put anyone else off from trying and liking their book.

Good points, Robin. Could be.

L.M. wrote: "Good points, Robin. Could be."

I can't believe any author would say, "If you don't have anything nice to say, don't say anything at all."

When I look through reviews, especially reviews of Indie books, I disregard the five-star reviews as having been written by friends and family. I want to know what isn't perfect about the book. I recently read some negative reviews for Lone Survivor. Most of the bad reviews were because they didn't like the writer's politics not because of the book itself.

Personally, I don't mind if an author comments on my reviews. With that said, I mostly review books I liked; if I hate a book, I don't feel it's worth my time reviewing it, so on the rare occasion I do get comments from authors, it's mostly along the lines of "Thanks for the nice review."

I don't comment on Amazon reviews (or the ones here, either for that matter) because I want people to feel like they can speak freely without me breathing down their neck. So I make myself scarce.

Regina wrote: "I don't comment on Amazon reviews (or the ones here, either for that matter) because I want people to feel like they can speak freely without me breathing down their neck. So I make myself scarce."

I wish more authors would adapt this attitude. I don't really don't mind author interaction in the groups or even in reviews for books that are not their own. I prefer to interact with authors reader to reader and have a dialogue, especially when they're knowledgeable on the subject. I usually come away from the conversation learning something new and it makes me want to check out their work. For example, in this group some authors, like C.P. Lesley and Kate Quinn, have chimed in on our book group discussions with good information that I would have no idea about and probably wouldn't be able to google myself. Interaction like that is invaluable to me as a GR user and it's the reason why I love this site so much.

But, when an author comments on their own reviews it makes me hesitate and even nervous to put a review out there because I know they're reading the reviews for sure.

Yeah, I get that. My readers can and do interact with me all they want on my blog. They leave a comment on the blog about the blog, I always thank them for commenting. It's an entirely different scene, organic and interactive. Talking to commenters on one's blog is expected. But it's a whole other ball game when we're talking about selling published books. The rules are entirely different.

Jackie wrote: "Regina wrote: "I don't comment on Amazon reviews (or the ones here, either for that matter) because I want people to feel like they can speak freely without me breathing down their neck. So I make ..."

I agree, it makes me uncomfortable when the author responds to a review. Even when they are polite about it, it just puts me off a little. Still, the one time it happened to me, it was an interesting exchange I had with him. And I learned stuff from it.

Thanks for all the useful comments. I'm new to Goodreads and it's only a few months since I published my first novel, so its been really helpful reading all your views. I'd more or less decided that the best policy was not to respond to good or bad reviews and most of the comments on this thread seem to bear that out. I wouldn't want to make anyone feel uncomfortable by making unwelcome approaches to reviewers.

Joel wrote: "L.M. wrote: "Good points, Robin. Could be."

I can't believe any author would say, "If you don't have anything nice to say, don't say anything at all."

When I look through reviews, especially rev..."

My feeling about 5-stars: I'm a reader and I'm not the friend [except a GR Friend to several] or family member of any of you writers. I give 5 Stars when there is something in the book that has especially touched me or I've found some kind of commonality with a character: it could be what I consider a special writing style; a character I identify with.... It's an intangible thing. I can't explain it.

I'm similar Jane, I am not friends or family with any authors and I give 5 stars to books which are my favorites or evoked a strong emotion in me (in a good way) - it doesn't have to be "perfect" to get a 5 star rating from me. I don't really understand when people say "I never give a book 5 out of 5 stars because no book is perfect". If that were the case, there would be no point in having the option of a "perfect" 5 star rating anyway - a "perfect" rating for me would be 6 out of 5 stars and a 6 star rating doesn't exist because perfect books don't exist. For me, a book can be imperfect but I can still love it anyway and if I love it enough, I will give it 5 stars.

An update since I first wrote this post and my book was published: I've found that the readers who want to engage with an author will do something proactive, like sign up to follow the author's reviews or send a friend request. In that case, I've enjoyed being able to thank them for a particularly thoughtful or well-written review (and I'm assuming they WANT that interaction, if they got in contact with me). It's the 21st version of fan mail, which was mentioned earlier in this thread. (I did write actual letters to authors when I was younger and was thrilled when they wrote back.)

Regina wrote: "I don't comment on Amazon reviews (or the ones here, either for that matter) because I want people to feel like they can speak freely without me breathing down their neck. So I make myself scarce."

I agree. As a general rule, I don't respond to reviews, regardless of the number of stars. It seems more intrusive than helpful. Any reader who wants to reach me can send me a PM or friend/follow me or find me in various groups, including this one.

I do give five stars to others, if I love the book, and not because I am a family member or friend. I tend to top out at four stars (because if X is five stars, then what's left for Chaucer, Dante, or Tolstoy?), but I have made more than a few exceptions.

Jackie, I'm glad you have found my comments helpful. Thank you for mentioning that!

C.P. wrote: "Regina wrote: "I don't comment on Amazon reviews (or the ones here, either for that matter) because I want people to feel like they can speak freely without me breathing down their neck. So I make ..."

I do not give out five-star reviews easily either, and I judge bestselling authors harsher than indie authors because I expect more from them.

Joel wrote: "I judge bestselling authors harsher than indie authors because I expect more from them. "

I judge them the same. If it's deemed worthy of putting out for public consumption, I'm going to hold it to my standard - regardless of who the publisher is.

Becky wrote: "Joel wrote: "I judge bestselling authors harsher than indie authors because I expect more from them. "

I judge them the same. If it's deemed worthy of putting out for public consumption, I'm going..."
I agree, Becky. Speaking as an indie author, if we want acknowledgement for our self-published books, they MUST be up to professional standards.