Links: Tuesday, September 17th

September 17, 2013 Links 1

Image of black text on white background, text fades to nearly transparent as you read down. It says - "To escape criticism: do nothing, say nothing, be nothing." Elbert Hubbard

I’m going to do this links post a bit differently and use it to catalog some of the key posts in the ongoing discussion book culture is having about reviewers, authors, and reviewing books as an author. So much has been said already that any post I wrote would basically be a work of ego. Better to just signal-boost at this point.

  • The Bullies of Goodreads – I guess I’ll start with this piece of trash. Author Nathan Bransford started the “negative reviews are mean” conversation back up with this unresearched nightmare of a post where he links to that site as both something new and a great idea. Because book culture needs more cyberstalking.
  • Smugglers’ Ponderings: On the Peter Grant Series by Ben Aaronovitch – Author Ben Aaronovitch wanders into a discussion of his books on Book Smugglers. Hilarity ensues.
  • Why I Don’t Like To Negatively Review Other Authors’ Books – Chuck Wendig starts out very YMMV, but ends up prescriptive, and makes troubling assumptions in the process.
    • Thoughtful Reviews R Us! – A fixture on the Amazon romance forum, Penny’s an outspoken reader and author. She has some thoughts on straddling the two worlds successfully.
    • Authors and negative reviews – So does Jenny Trout, aka Jennifer Armintrout. You know, the author who skewered the Fifty Shades books.
  • Full Disclosure – I linked this last week, but the comments have ballooned since then. A good overview.
  • Venn Diagrams – Natalie has one foot in SFF fandom and the other in the romance community. Her post just ties everything together perfectly.
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Ridley

An ice hockey fan from north of Boston and the genre's most beloved troll, Ridley enjoys reading contemporary and historical romance, as well as the odd erotica novel. As someone who uses a wheelchair, she takes a particular interest in disability themes.

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One Response to “Links: Tuesday, September 17th”

  1. Scarlett Parrish

    I think it was Winston Churchill who said if you’re not making enemies, you’re not trying hard enough. Which is a roundabout way of saying if your books don’t piss SOMEONE off, you’re probably not trying hard enough to stand out.

    I’m troubled by the assumption that negative reviews make you a Nasty McNasterson; no, they just make you a reader with a mind of your own. As for the possibility of my negative opinion affecting someone else’s sales? If only I had that sort of power. If only!

    I just think, “If you get negative reviews, try writing a better book next time.”
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