Being a Better Reader: Leaving a Good Review · 10:47pm Nov 21st, 2016
I'm going to file this one under Being a Better Writer, but as most of you can tell from the title, I consider it more in line with the act of being a good reader than a writer. Though I suppose as a reviewer, you're going to leave a written review ... but by the terminology of what I usually refer to when I say "writing" it is a little different.
Nevertheless, this topic has been one that's been requested of me not just before, but on multiple occasions, so it's about time that I got to it on the list of future topics (which, yes, is an actual list that sits on my desk, I'm up to note-paper #8 now). Plus, this topic has the added bonus of coming at a fortunes time: Right on the heels of the release of Colony! Which, having been out for exactly ten days starting today, is just moving into the realm where many of you who acquired it first thing have recently finished it and are now wondering what to do with yourselves now that it's done. Well, let this post be your not-so-subtle guide.
So, leaving a review. Scratch that, leaving a good review.
We'll tackle the basics first: What's the point of leaving a review? Why do so many authors (myself included) stress them as often as possible? Why do so many institutions? Crud, turn to the back of any Kindle ebook, and the last "page" of every book, no matter where it came from, is a reminder page that invites the reader to, now that they've finished said book, tweet about it, share it, or leave a review for it on Amazon.com.
Now, the cynical among you might think "Well of course they want you to leave a review on Amazon. After all, they own the site."
Sure. That's entirely true. But at the same time, by admitting such, you're also admitting that there must be a reason to it. Amazon wouldn't bother doing it if there wasn't a net gain for them in the process, would they?
You can read the rest of this post at Unusual Things
If we are just talking about books out of amazon, which this topic does. You hit on all the major spots, good and bad. And its a good way of doing things to improve as a whole. Just that in other places, well, it only works in a place that moderated heavily against sniping comments designed to derail.
Will you also be doing so in a more open forum such as this for being a better reader? Or not really in the cards/stars?
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While Amazon was the foremost on my mind (as Amazon's reviews hold possibly the largest market share), there are other places where you can write up a review in the same manner. Goodreads, for example. I believe Barnes & Noble also follows this format, where you can simply write up a few paragraphs and assign a score. What you're talking about sounds a bit more like a forum discussion rather than a review aggregate, if I understand your comment correctly.
And I'm afraid I don't understand what you mean with your last question. Are you asking about me doing more posts on the subject of Being a Better Reader, or something else? I've done one or two of these before, from time to time.
4312234 more so, in a place like fimfic, or where other readers can reply without the moderation such places as amazon or its like ones have. Since it is more than just a directed review for published works in part?
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I'm still not certain I'm reading your question properly, but if you were still reviewing something, I don't see how a lack of moderation would matter. Granted, what I said about helping sales and why authors and publishers push for reviews so much wouldn't matter nearly as much, since places like Amazon and the like are places where people look for reviews, but in general if you're going to do a short, concise review of something, regardless of where it'll go, this write-up still offers pretty good advice. But that's about writing a review, as opposed to just offering a quick snippet about something.
People try to snipe reviews on Amazon and other places as well. Most people just ignore those snipes as trolls.
As soon as I finish Colony (currently at chapter 19) I'm gonna review it so hard.
One thing I can't help but notice is Jake and Sweets. i vaugely remember reading your blog and hearing how you scrapped the relationship between two characters so it could be developed over the course of the book. I suspect it was those two. Just a hunch I have, no real basis. I really like when they joke around with each other, this goes for both Jake and Anna and Jake and Sweets.
Heh, I bet Hunter and Jake would get along great together as well.