A Cup of Coffee with Reggie (8) - Getting Friendly with Authors & Negative Reviews
A Cup of Coffee with Reggie is going to be a discussion post feature in which I discuss anything book-related. They're just normal (sometimes random) discussion posts that are named A Cup of Coffee with Reggie because it's like having a cup of coffee with me and listening (or in this case reading) about my bookish opinions. It will be a random feature here at TUBL that can pop up anywhere from twice a day to twice a year.Today's Topic:
What do you think about getting friendly with an author and then giving them a negative review?
I always wonder how it feels like to be a book reviewer who is so conflicted about whether or not to give a novel a negative review (honestly) to the author of whom they are friends with. Personally, I only have a select number of authors who I'm friends with because of this particular reason. There's a fine line between honesty and friendship in this case and I don't know how authors deal with getting a bad review from a friend or relative.
I think that if I was an author, I'd try my hardest not to get too offended by a negative review from a close friend/relative...I would welcome their constructive criticism and take it into account...of course, I don't know how it feels, so it's easy for me to say.
And as a blogger, I would try to be as honest as I possibly can but along with a lot of justification as to why their book wasn't a great read for me...But then again, I can't say anything because I've never done it to an author friend (because I'm in love with all of their books :D)...
I think that if I was an author, I'd try my hardest not to get too offended by a negative review from a close friend/relative...I would welcome their constructive criticism and take it into account...of course, I don't know how it feels, so it's easy for me to say.
And as a blogger, I would try to be as honest as I possibly can but along with a lot of justification as to why their book wasn't a great read for me...But then again, I can't say anything because I've never done it to an author friend (because I'm in love with all of their books :D)...
What's your opinion? Do you guys get friendly with authors, or is this a setback for you? Authors? What do you think?
About the Author
Reggie is the (not so genius) mind behind The Undercover Book Lover. She's currently a sarcastic college student trying to juggle school, blogging, and her (non-existent) social life. In her spare time, she enjoys writing her not-closed-to-finished novel, photography, reading, and blogging. She can't get enough of oreos (especially the golden ones!) and caramel macchiatos and she loves everything vanilla or cookies and cream.
Follow Her on Twitter at @ReggieWrites
Follow Her on Twitter at @ReggieWrites
4 comments:
This has happened to me only once before but it definitely wasn't easy. I'd met a local author when I first started blogging and we talked and emailed over a few weeks. I had bought her book and one to give away at the signing weeks before without having read the book. Once I read it I realized I really didn't like it but thought I had to review it before I gave the other away. Ended up basically saying it wasn't good but had promise and having the giveaway. After that the author and I didn't really talk and I haven't reviewed any more of her books. Kinda sucks, but I felt like if I didn't give an honest review no one would take my other ones seriously ya know?
Great question! I think this is an issue. Even if I have never had direct contact with an author but did an interview through a publicist I still feel bad if I didn't love the book. But, I try and put into the review that I know kids at my school who will read this book. So far, most of the authors I have made contact with are ones that I already wrote a glowing review for.
One friend/blogger "loved" my book and then gave me a 3 rating on Goodreads. I asked her about that and she said she never gives 5's! lol...it's all contextual. It hurts when a blogger you like gives you a poor review but you have to respect their honesty.
I've posted about negative reviewing. It's a difficult thing to go through with even if you are barely acquainted with the author!
I have heard, however, that many authors avoid reviews of their books after a certain point. I do believe that I *have* had an author read a negative review of mine (the most negative review I've ever written). I just made it a point to explain that these were *my* peeves and that others had really liked the book. I even linked to a few positive reviews to make sure I wasn't sending the message that no one would ever like it!
But I agree - it's a difficult situation to balance.
Thanks for the post!
P.S. This is going to sound random, but how did you get that widget-like thing above your posts that cycles through previews of book reviews? It's really neat!
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