Tag: Big Al

Bad Blogs and Bloggers?

A recent blog post from an author I follow sent me to another blog written by yet another author. In her post she was complaining about bloggers behaving badly, at least in her opinion, and upset at “bloggers swindling her.” That’s what she calls it when a blogger “promises” a review of her book and the review isn’t forthcoming. In a follow up post she provides a short list of bloggers who have “swindled” her.

This is only the latest in a growing trend I’ve seen in the indie publishing world that I find disconcerting. This trend is calling people out in public (it doesn’t get much more public than the internet) for perceived wrongs. You can find threads in the Amazon forums for outing authors alleged to have behaved badly and reviewers who are supposed to have done the same. There are numerous lists and shelves on Goodreads for those badly behaving authors. One of the latest is a site devoted to “Goodreads Bullys,” (which “fights back” against readers accused of writing vindictive reviews on the popular reader review site by posting personal information about them). The Huffington Post has had at least three separate articles about this site. Continue reading “Bad Blogs and Bloggers?”

What is a Reviewer? – Part 2

Big Al

Last month in What is a Reviewer?, I took a stab at answering some specific questions about the complete spectrum of book reviewers. This month I’m looking at two specific questions. First, what qualifications does a typical book blogger possess? Second, what are the thoughts of readers about book reviewers: How do they use them? What qualifications do they think they should have? What influence do they have on their purchasing decisions?

Last year in an internet forum frequented by many indie authors, a New York Times bestselling author who has gone from traditionally published to indie made the comment that “anyone can start a blog and be a ‘reviewer’ now.” He was right. A free Blogger or WordPress account and the desire to review books is all that’s required. The barriers to entry are low, just like they are to become an indie author. What the author I quoted above may not have been aware of is that while the removal of the barriers is a relatively new development for authors, it isn’t for reviewers. I was reviewing music for a multi-reviewer website more than ten years ago. Continue reading “What is a Reviewer? – Part 2”

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Big Al: What is a Reviewer?

Big Al, the big Kahuna

Last fall Stephen Hise interviewed me, along with several other book reviewers, for his What Reviewers Want series. In the comment section of part 2, Jacqueline Hopkins posed some questions about reviewers:

“ . . . what is a reviewer, do they have to have certain credentials; i.e., a degree in English, or writing/reviewing, what makes a good reviewer, and can just anyone be a reviewer, are there professional reviewers and what makes them professional? Do reviews written by a reader carry more weight than a professional reviewer?”

I volunteered to attempt answering Jacqueline’s questions in two posts. This post will be my thoughts on some of the questions. In a few weeks, a follow-up post will explore the answers further with input from other reviewers and readers.

Since starting my review blog, I’ve been amazed to realize that when interesting questions like those posed by Jacqueline come up, the answers for me are usually the same as the answers a self-published author would (or at least should in my opinion) give if presented with the same basic question. Just like authors, reviewers cover the entire spectrum of possibility and attract different kinds of readers. On one end of the spectrum, you have James Patterson, Stephanie Meyer, and The New York Review of Books. On the other, you have my nine-year-old granddaughter’s authorial debut (published in a very limited pencil and printer paper edition) and the one line, one-star Amazon reader review that says, “This book sucks.” Anyone who is inspired to write a review can do it. All it takes is an account on Amazon – the same minimal requirement to publish an eBook with almost worldwide distribution. However, just as not every reader is going to like every book, not every reader is going to agree or value the opinion of every reviewer. Continue reading “Big Al: What is a Reviewer?”