More than Just a Rating discussion

Author Elisabeth Wheatley's 5 Rules for Negative Book Reviews
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=LKtUXQG...

Interesting to hear what someone who's been writing reviews for years and is an author has to say about negative reviews. She makes some good points.

I think I agree with those points in general, but I also think that there's some gray area there. If I'm not familiar with an author (and I do try VERY hard not to be), I generally try to let their work and writing stand on its own. I review the book for the book, and the not the author.

But, sometimes not. I'm thinking about situations where I've been reading the author for decades, am familiar with their patterns and habits, and their lack of growth, and call that out (perhaps less than constructively) in my review(s).

Or perhaps the author uses their huge international platform to make it extremely clear about how they feel about certain communities having rights, or existing. And that is not something I can separate from their work.

Granted, both of these scenarios are ones where the author is exceedingly unlikely to notice or be bothered by my opinion, and even if they were personally bothered, it wouldn't impact their livelihood in any way. I think more likely than not, this video was designed more for authors who are still working to achieve success, who might be more invested in individual readers/reviews, and in those cases I agree. Review the work, not the author.

Becky wrote: "I think I agree with those points in general, but I also think that there's some gray area there. If I'm not familiar with an author (and I do try VERY hard not to be), I generally try to let their..."

I would say I agree with the main points but some of the details are a bit iffy for me.

There are authors whose writing changed because their lifestyle changed and they mention that in their dedication, forward, or bio. I would tend to mention the change in writing without mentioning author.

One thing I very much agree with is I write reviews for readers not authors and don't tag authors when I write review. I have given feedback to authors who sent me books and asked for critique. Told authors upfront I may or may not write review.