Hi, Mark - Actually, I don't think you disagreed with me at all; your story proved my point. Two of the authors responded gracefully to the criticisms in your review, but the third, in your own words "didn't take it well."
Well, if you have dreams of getting a book published, that person who didn't take it well is now a potential stumbling block, because said person is likely to remember your name. It's just human nature; we remember the people who have said bad things about us.
I'm not arguing this is the way it SHOULD be. Nor am I arguing that only positive reviews should be published. Nor did I say you should lie and say you like books you don't. My advice is: if you love a book, feel free to write about it. If you have some big problems, just don't publish your review.
I say this because I'm arguing that you need to carefully weigh what you're doing if your goal is to be published yourself. If you don't care about being published, or if your goal is to be a professional reviewer, you don't have to worry about how the author reacts to your criticisms. If you need to come to that author with hat in hand at some point down the road (or perhaps one of the author's contacts), you need to figure out if publishing that critical review is in your best interest.
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TL Hines
Hi, Mark - Actually, I don't
Hi, Mark - Actually, I don't think you disagreed with me at all; your story proved my point. Two of the authors responded gracefully to the criticisms in your review, but the third, in your own words "didn't take it well."
Well, if you have dreams of getting a book published, that person who didn't take it well is now a potential stumbling block, because said person is likely to remember your name. It's just human nature; we remember the people who have said bad things about us.
I'm not arguing this is the way it SHOULD be. Nor am I arguing that only positive reviews should be published. Nor did I say you should lie and say you like books you don't. My advice is: if you love a book, feel free to write about it. If you have some big problems, just don't publish your review.
I say this because I'm arguing that you need to carefully weigh what you're doing if your goal is to be published yourself. If you don't care about being published, or if your goal is to be a professional reviewer, you don't have to worry about how the author reacts to your criticisms. If you need to come to that author with hat in hand at some point down the road (or perhaps one of the author's contacts), you need to figure out if publishing that critical review is in your best interest.
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TL Hines