It seems many authors forget we’re all in this together. We’re coworkers, comrades in the literary trenches. Just because I have an opinion doesn’t mean I need to shout it from the rooftops. I’m happy to boost books I didn’t love because thousands of other readers might adore them. When I say “boost,” I mean sharing on social media to let people know the book exists, without commentary.
Just because I didn’t enjoy a book doesn’t mean someone else won’t. I’m an author, but I’m also a reader with subjective tastes. For instance, I’m not a fan of certain thriller genres that are incredibly popular.
When I blurb a book, and let my name be used on a book’s back cover, I certainly believe each word I say, and I’ll never strongly endorse a book I don’t like. Instead I might re-post it, make publication day congratulatory posts. Me not liking a book isn’t a big deal: tastes are subjective, not absolute.
Simply sharing that a book exists might help its target readers discover it, check it out, and buy it. Readers are wise, and can decide if they like a particular book before buying it.
I don’t mind other authors giving honest reviews of my books, positive or negative, but I’ll personally never write a negative review.
A public review pointing out negatives, no matter how kindly, only causes harm. For traditionally published books, the author can’t make changes. For indie books, private feedback is a better option that allows for improvements. There’s no situation where writing negative reviews of a fellow author’s book is professional, respectful, or kind. I avoid offering unsolicited help, even privately.
Author-to-author critiques belong in writing groups, not in the review sections of book platforms. Beyond the fact that a negative review from one author for another’s book can lead to hurt feelings, break friendships, and ruin cross-promotion opportunities, it is ultimately unhelpful. It doesn’t help the author whose book is being panned, doesn’t help the author who gives the negative review, and doesn’t help readers.
It’s short-sighted to think readers expect brutal honesty about the books their favorite authors didn’t like. Most readers want stories they love. They aren’t looking for authors to negatively review books by other authors.
I’m perfectly comfortable not publicly panning a fellow-author’s book, certain in the knowledge that readers would figure out their own likes and dislikes. I’ll shout out about the books I do love, and rejoice if my tastes coincide with some of my readers.
Book reviews are for readers, it is true.
As far as I’m concerned, authors should stay away from them. Especially if they’re not complimentary of another author.
What about you? If you’re a reader, would you support an author who disses books? If you’re an author, would you negatively review books by another author?
If you’re looking for a literary thriller set outside the West, and love books by authors like Lisa Gardner, Tana French, Jodi Picoult, Mary Kubica, Ruth Ware, Rachel Caine, Ivy Pochoda, Louise Penny or Harlan Coben, check out my literary crime novels, The Blue Bar and The Blue Monsoon on Kindle Unlimited now. Add to Goodreads or snag a copy to make my day !
And if you’d like to read a book outside the series, you can check out You Beneath Your Skin. Find all info about my books on my Amazon page or Linktree. If you have an Amazon account, a Follow will really help my ranking stay afloat.
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You’re so right. We differ in tastes… and as for authors, I agree with you. They need not negatively review their fellow author…
Empathy and compassion is so hard to come by in the publishing space and as an author yourself, I can picture how you feel. This also reflects the kindness in your soul. A lot has happened to change my own view about writing reviews over the past 10 years and I find myself coming around to your way of thinking. If I didn’t like a book (and if the author is someone I know), I choose not to review it. I feel kindness is the better approach as opposed to brutal honesty.
*Yes, I am back to blogging again and from a new home now 🙂
I couldn’t agree more. There is a time and a place for brutal honesty and direct feedback, but not online for thousands to see. Like you said, I find that kindness is so much more meaningful. Thank you for your kind words, and for stopping by. Welcome back to blogging!
I don’t usually post detailed reviews of books. So I may not be the best person in pitch in with my views. Sending constructive criticism privately seems like a great idea indeed. As long as comments are kind and constructive, I don’t think there’s any issue with sharing them. But when the author is known to you, things can be a bit tricky indeed
Absolutely, I feel like kind, constructive comments are always so uplifting and can make a world of difference. I never want to put down other authors or publicly paint their books in a negative light, especially considering how much better it would be to contact them personally.
Damyanti, I fall into the slightly nuanced category of reviewing. To begin with, I will never pan a book online, meaning 1 or 2 stars. Come to think of it, I won’t pan a book in private either, because the job in private is to aid an author. And I will only be in that situation if asked. Like some commenters here, in private, I always offer support for the aspects of the work that shine or reach for shining. And I will point to aspects that could be better directed or buffed. So I make what might be 3-star reviews sound like 4s.
Online, unless a book is excellent, I usually give 4 stars and include a hint of my issues with a book. I do this so that readers who do want to know about the book can have a (slight) heads-up.
Now if the book is by a very successful author and I find she/he has not met her own bar and readers might be swayed by marketing hype, I will on rare occasions, say in kind language what disappoints me, treating the task like that of an editor. I once wrote a 3-star on a Jody Picoult novel when I was appalled by what she got away with. When I returned some months later, I saw that it had helped many readers assess the work.
When shopping myself, I use a similar standard. I skip 1s and 2s and read a lot of the 3s, to see what readers appreciate and don’t. My experience is that many of the 5s don’t go in to the detail I would hope for, which is to say they are less accurate in their praise than I would like. I notice this with 5-star reviews on my books as well.
Always happy to hear of your focus on your work, on craft, and on community.
I really appreciate you sharing your way of looking at things and approaching book reviewing. I agree, it’s important to give readers a heads-up about what they might be venturing into and you manage to be considerate and supportive while doing so. Feeling like one’s reviews have been helpful to others is always wonderful, and I hope that those I’ve put out into the world help both readers and writers alike. Like you, I generally try to read books which I think I’m likely to enjoy. After years of exploring my reading tastes, I feel I have a pretty good sense of what book to choose. Although, I am trying to be a bit more adventurous — picking up a new genre doesn’t hurt (much)! But back to the topic of reviews, I find what you mentioned about 5-star reviews not going into as much detail as you would hope for very interesting. I wonder why that is. Thank you for stopping by and for the kind words!
To me, this is a sticky one, Damyanti. I totally agree that panning another author is a bad idea. And just because I don’t like a book, doesn’t mean that other readers won’t. They may love it! Usually, if I don’t like a book, I don’t finish it, and I skip writing reviews for DNF’s since that wouldn’t be a fair assessment of the “whole” book.
So I end up writing reviews only for books that I enjoy OR that I think someone else will enjoy (even if the genre or story isn’t my favorite). I’m unwilling to mislead readers into buying a book that is poorly written or full of errors, but if the book was worth finishing, I’ll review it. Whether I rave about it or simply highlight a few positives says a lot.
And though I welcome private, constructive, unsolicited advice (which helps me become a better author), I know that other authors my feel affronted. I learned that the hard way, and no longer even advise other authors about typos, or that they used the wrong name in Chapter 7. Oh well. 🙂
Yes, as an author, I prefer to leave the more critical reviews to actual reviewers, keeping my thoughts private. If I dislike a book, I can simply put it down, rather than rushing to publicize its faults. I’d much rather bolster other authors’ spirits with the type of support I’ve been lucky to receive from the writing community. I completely relate to your way of doing things. I know that there’s still so much for me to learn and improve on, and constructive criticism is always appreciated (although I have had my fair share of trolls who aim to hurt more than help). Knowing how much damage a negative review can cause, I’ll always contact an author personally or refrain from giving feedback unless specifically asked.
Sounds like we’re in agreement, Damyanti. The world needs a lot more attention to kindness these days.
An important topic. Private feedback is a good idea.
I thoroughly agree, and I think it’s best to give feedback if the author themselves asks for a critique.
Totally with you Damyanti. If I didn’t like things about an author colleagues book, I’d rather not review it. <3
Absolutely, I’d much prefer to put positive reviews into the world.
🙂
That’s a lot of food for thought. Even the comments on this post.
Agreed, reading through the comments is always so interesting.
I’ve been at the top of some large corporate entities and in the process of management had the responsibility to review performance of those under my span of control. To my way of thinking a review of performance is about improving that person and there is no greater way to destroy a person than to put up their performance review on a public forum for everyone to see. That should be between professionals to guide them to a better performance not to humiliate them and it should be handled privately. A book review to me is a similar thing and it’s unfortunate that a bad review often says more about the reviewer than the one being reviewed raising questions as to whether they are wanting to draw attention to their own presumed scholarship, jealous of someone else’s hard worked achievements or just work out their dysfunctional personality by doing that. Bad reviews are useful, I always appreciated criticism as I could learn from that but appreciated those who chose to do so privately.
Yes, it can feel so diminishing and I would hate for new writers to feel discouraged or shamed if forced to undergo such an experience. Feedback is, of course, so important but I think the way it’s delivered is just as critical to consider. I fully agree with what you said, and I’ve also found that a lot of the hate I’ve received are from trolls with the intention of spreading negativity instead of providing constructive criticism. Bad reviews can definitely be helpful but, like you, I’m always grateful for those who choose to privately share their opinions with me.
Hi Damyanti – I have to say I wouldn’t give a bad review, but I’m only a reader … and thus am not really qualified to give an authorly review. If one doesn’t like a book … I’d not leave any comment. One can be nebulous … and also it doesn’t hurt the author. Equally authors I’m sure have enough negativity to deal with anyway – just trying to get their book into print. I’ve not been disappointed with yours … take care – cheers HIlary
Thank you, Hilary, that’s lovely of you to say. And as for what you said about not being qualified to give an authorly review, I appreciate you sharing your perspective as a reader and for weighing in on the discussion. I’m happy to hear from all sides, and your view on the matter is a valuable one. Like you mentioned, the process of writing and publishing a book is definitely challenging on its own, even more so when worrying about negative reviews from fellow authors. Thank you for stopping by, and wishing you all the best!
Oh dear – I suspect this is in response to my review of ‘The Vegetarian’ (or possibly of ‘The Satanic Verses’ too). I take your point Damyanti – my knuckles have been well and truly rapped!
In my defence I would make a few counterpoints. Firstly, I’m a reader as well as a writer (I’m on Goodreads, where they encourage you to review all the books you read). Secondly, I think it’s a matter of privilege. On my blog I would probably not give a bad review of a struggling author (or I would do it without naming them or giving any details that might allow them to be identified). But when it comes to the mainstream – the big business that is the publishing industry – I take a different view.
It’s very like the pop industry; when the big companies put out a book, their privileges, connections and influence guarantee success. They’ve got the market sewn up – they even use well known authors in their stable to give ‘stooge’ reviews (in the tradition of hooky street traders). Under these circumstances, I think it’s fair game for an unknown, who has been overlooked by the industry, to point out when said book is actually a pile of pooh!
I really do think that publishers have lost the plot, when so many of the books they put out are so poor. I almost wonder whether they’re playing some sort of game, where the aim is to get the worst, the least worthy of being published, into the bestseller list! The problem for the poor readers is that the marketing machine is so powerful they have no idea whether that new novel, with its gorgeous cover, and its glowing reviews, is everything it’s advertised to be. They trust the hype, take a chance, only to find they’ve wasted precious money and time. And added another sale to the figures to make it even more successful! Any genuine review – even one from an author (though I wouldn’t use the term ‘fellow author’, as we live in parallel universes) – is just one very small, valiant attempt to even up the odds. The review is for the publisher, as well as the author – to tell them they made a bad choice. Perhaps, as an author, I’m not the person to say that. Then again, perhaps it is fair for me to say ‘you rejected my book, but then went on to publish that? Really?’
I have written some very flattering reviews, where it was justified (including your writing Damyanti).
But I accept you have a valid point. And by way of an analogy, when working as a gardener, and garden designer, I was always cautious of denigrating competitors, because I saw that as unprofessional behaviour. But then again, if a customer was considering using a contractor I knew to be either incompetent, or an out and out crook, I might have felt the need to speak up.
I didn’t have you in mind at all 🙂
As I said in the post, it originated in a reader + author group, where an author said they would have no problem negatively reviewing fellow authors.
This is a conversation each author needs to have with themselves, and come to their own conclusions. I do know a lot of trad-pubbed authors, being one myself. I also know that reviews affect a book, and its author. I know of multiple-bestselling authors with millions of books sold who do read their reviews. It never doesn’t hurt. Personally, I see no reason to hurt a fellow author. I find that readers are very capable of finding out the truth about books–and these days you can read a fair bit of the book without buying it.
I hear you on how marketing creates hype, some of it quite empty, but as a professional, I’ll never pull down another.
I have a very thick skin, and haven’t had a bone to pick with authors who have panned my work. But I’ll never do it myself: it’s a very subjective code. I won’t praise a book I don’t like, for sure, but I’ll never not support the author. Authors have it hard as it is, the least we can do is cause no harm.
With no good reason, I see that my opinion has a tiny bit of weight on social media, and I’ll always use it to raise other authors.
I don’t think a book I don’t like causes active harm the way a bad contractor might, so I let it be without comment.
Oops! Not aimed at me – I should have kept quiet!
I would also add that reviewers have a responsibility to be honest, perhaps somewhat reserved, not too quick to denigrate, and never do so to show how clever they themselves are.
Actually, bad reviews can be positive. For instance, if the Guardian newspaper gives a film a good review, I’m inclined not to go and see it, because experience has shown me I have rather different tastes in cinema to their reviewers.
As for a book not causing harm well, if you think of all the wasted time, anger and disappointment among readers who wonder why no-one thought to tell them the book they bought was no good, plus all the money they wasted, then add in the talented, deserving authors who are being deprived of the chance of a career because too many publishers are making the wrong choices (matter of opinion, I know), then you can start to see that a bad book can generate a fair amount of harm.
Maybe my thinking is that the publishers’ decrees that I don’t have validity as an author give me licence to be a reviewer.
I think you have validity as an author if you’re writing stories and readers are reading them. Based on your blog posts, I would read your books, and I’m sure so do others.
I take your point on the frustrations of a reader, being a reader myself. The publishing hype can build up certain books, and not so much others.
This is why I take particular joy in hyping books I’ve loved. I like buying copies of them and pressing them into the hands of my reading friends.
My only contention is I’ll never pan a book I haven’t loved, because someone else might. I don’t mind if someone hates a book I loved. I believe there’s a book for every reader, and for every book, there’s a reader.
The reviews that have hurt the most have been ones from other authors (damning with faint praise and negative tone can be done by almost any half-skilled author); I don’t have much energy to read, especially while I’m writing, but I certainly don’t have energy to make another author’s life more difficult!
If you’re reviewing another author, point out the things you like, give it a star rating, get the heck out of there – readers aren’t the least bit stupid, and can figure it out. ESPECIALLY when your avatar clearly lists something like, “Jane Doe, Author.”
I use my full name online, and have the general standard not to say something in writing to someone that I wouldn’t say to their face in Real Life – and it’s not my business or job to judge other writers.
That’s the problem: our words may carry more weight than we would like, and do more damage than we intended, simply because we’re supposed to know.
I know a lot of writers whose next book I won’t buy – that’s private information, and I don’t want to take the time to make my opinion somehow a more informed or more valuable opinion (critics do this all the time, and it should be KNOWN that they are critiquing professionally). If a reader can’t tell from the combination of professional reviews, downloadable or online samples, and their own previous reading, that a particular book isn’t great, they will spend a few bucks, and find out for themselves (and maybe even leave a negative READER review), and no great damage has been done to the world of literature.
But in this case, the only reason to give a writer your honest personal opinion is because they requested it, and promise to take it with the helpful intent it is offered. PRIVATELY. And I can’t even do that – zero energy is zero energy, and I won’t promise to do what I know already I can’t.
There are many more readers than writers; let them do the public feedback of opinions in public forums.
It can be so disheartening when those whom you think would be most equipped to empathize and understand your situation are the ones who end up leaving negative reviews. I don’t have the energy to make another author’s life more difficult, either, and I certainly don’t think the damage done, whether emotional, professional, or social, is worth it. Being kind takes away nothing from oneself. Speaking from personal experience, a good review usually lights up my day and gives me an overwhelming sense of gratitude and motivation to keep pushing forward. I hope that every review I post does the same for the author in question, and I’d love to provide the same level of support as I’ve been lucky to receive from the book community. As you said, words are powerful tools and can hurt or heal in equal measure. I’d prefer to use mine for the latter and leave the critiques to the reviewers.
I was with a hybrid publisher and the pressure to review other author’s work was massive. Even if I didn’t enjoy a book I’d try to find something I liked about it … but I could never trash another writer’s work unless they were preaching hate or some hideous agenda.
I’m sorry you had to go through all that stress and pressure! I’m grateful that I’m not forced to write and share reviews, and that the ones I do post publicly are always for the books which I’ve absolutely loved.
Years ago, I read a novel written by a blogger friend, and was shocked by how badly it needed editing. A lot of self-published novels need editing, professional editing that will cost money and hard work on the author’s part. I had planned to write a review at my blog but decided that the book was in such bad shape that my review would get bogged down by all the editing issues. So, instead, I wrote to my blogger friend and told him that I couldn’t really say whether or not I enjoyed his novel and his writing because it was so poorly edited, and I’d decided not to review it. He was surprised, because the company he’d contracted to format the book was also supposed to edit it. I suggested he not use that company again because they hadn’t edited it. I was surprised he hadn’t checked. I hope that he learned from this, but I don’t know. I am not a professional book reviewer so whatever I write as a “review” online, no matter where it is, is my personal response to the book. I’ve sometimes prefaced my comments, especially of self-published books, with the reason I am including negative comments and it’s always to help the writer learn what it means to be a writer. And I also have an expectation that they are adults and can understand that. Being a writer is not for the faint of heart or the thin of skin. It’s important to learn how to listen to or read feedback from readers and use it to become better. And ignore the trolls, of course. Cinda
Agreed, writing can definitely be a grueling and demoralizing process. Receiving critiques can be scary, which is why I think that your method of communicating directly with your friend and personally sharing your feedback is such an excellent one. It gives authors a chance to potentially rectify their mistakes without being publicly shamed, and hopefully contributes to the entire experience of learning and developing as a writer. Constructive criticism is so necessary, but the way in which it is delivered is just as important. I admire your approach to reviewing, and thank you for sharing!
It depends how bad the book is. If it’s historically inaccurate, or the standard of English is very poor, then I think it’s fair enough to point that out.
I do agree that historically inaccurate books can be very misleading to the public, potentially twisting the facts and swaying the audience away from the truth.
I partially agree. First if you know the author personally, a family member, a relative, a close friend, you shouldn’t review the book at all, at least not on Amazon or Barnes and Noble. Your own blog, that is a different story. If you know an author from online, via blogging, or an author group, but they are not a personal friend, that is a different story. Amazon allows this. However, in this case what I do is write a positive review if I can do so honestly but I won’t write a review if I cannot honestly write a positive review. As you say in this case, for indie authors, giving private feedback is a better option that allows for improvements, well, assuming you have a way of contacting them. For authors I don’t know at all, I may very well write a negative review and has done so many times. I don’t see that as spreading negativity but as a service to potential readers. I also think that what is negative to one reader may be a positive to another. I’ve bought many books after reading negative reviews because I know I wouldn’t agree with the reviewer.
I understand your view.
However, my subjective take on it is: the only way for me to serve my readers is to write the best stories possible, and recommend the best books possible. If I don’t like a book, I don’t need to talk about it other than to congratulate the author, or re-post their posts on sales/ offers.
It’s not my job at all to point out flaws in books to readers. They can decide if a book is bad by themselves, or with help from reviewers.
Just because I don’t personally know an author doesn’t mean I switch to being a reader/ negative reviewer. I’m an author/ positive reviewer at all times.
I write books, and I recommend good books. Books I don’t like are no one’s business but my own.
I never ever offer feedback to fellow authors I know, because my take is unsolicited advice is criticism, not critique, and again, it’s not my business.
Only place I ever offer feedback is when an author specifically asks for it, before the book is published. If they ask after it’s published, I merely say I haven’t had the time to read/ it’s not my genre. Better to make myself look scatterbrained than hurt another author’s feelings, and help neither myself nor the other author.
As a reader I appreciate both positive and negative reviews. And will take both with a healthy grain or two of salt. I don’t believe that any book (or thing) is perfect, but neither do I believe any book is all bad.
That’s very true — one’s opinion of a book is so subjective, and there will always be someone who disagrees.
I agree. I always wrote positive reviews for the same reason. There are always things point out that are encouraging. If I found things that I thought needed improvement, I would write the author a personal note and offer to help. A critique has its place, but a review is not that place.
Absolutely, and it’s lovely to see so many people saying that they do the same. I always feel terrible seeing an author’s potential success being diminished by negative critiques, and I hope never to put someone in that position. I’ve had my fair share of bad reviews, so I understand how damaging they can be and how much better it is to show compassion and support.
I disagree, Damyanti, though you must know that, having been a faithful reader of my blog for years (for which I thank you). When I review a book in a largely negative light, I take care to cite specific evidence for any judgment and avoid using adjectives to describe what I dislike. I might also suggest how the author could have taken the premise in a different, perhaps more nuanced direction. But if I think that the narrative relies on tired tropes, I’ll say so. Or if the characterizations are all one way or read like male or female fantasies, I’ll say that too.
As a historian and historical novelist, I’m particularly troubled by narratives that pretend to re-create historical events or eras without a shred of research behind them. I’ll cite one example, a novel about British spies during WWII in which the head of operations personally trained a beautiful candidate for field operations, slept with her, and tolerated her questions about when and where D-Day was supposed to take place. The improbabilities multiplied from there.
When I was an editor at Historical Novels Review, my reviewers would sometimes ask me whether it was all right to say anything negative, to which I replied that we had journalistic standards to uphold.
That said, I hate writing negative reviews. They take a lot of time, please nobody, and don’t change the world of literature one iota. I’m also not important or well-known enough to influence anyone’s sales record beyond a copy or two. And like every other author, I’ve felt the sting of negative reviews. For my first book, historical nonfiction, a critic construed the wording of the dedication as evidence I knew nothing about my subject.
I think the key to reviewing is to be honest and scrupulous, giving the benefit of the doubt when possible, calling out lapses when they matter, and admitting that certain criticisms are quibbles that don’t change the overall opinion of the book.
I do know your blog quite well 🙂
As an author with a middling following (where my readers do pick up books I recommend), I only ever review books I genuinely like on the review platforms because I know two things:
You yourself say of negative reviews: “They take a lot of time, please nobody, and don’t change the world of literature one iota.”
This I agree on, and have chosen to take the view that life is too limited to take the time to do negative reviews. I leave that role to reviewers, whose role it is to critique books. On public platforms, I’m an author, first and foremost. In my private domain I might be an obsessive reader, but I keep my private opinions to myself unless they are overwhelmingly positive. Since a negative review from me won’t help anyone, I choose not to post any.
I’m not a professional reviewer so anything I say is by that nature, subjective. I prefer to support authors who haven’t come to me for writing help. When I first posted that on reviews (that I didn’t post reviews of books I didn’t like so most of my reviews garnered 4 or 5/5), I thought I was an outlier. Not true. A lot of people agreed!
Agreed, I’d rather put out more positive reviews into the world and simply set aside the books I dislike, instead of openly criticizing another author’s work. I’m glad we’re not the only ones who feel the same!
Dear Damyanti
The problem with reviews on the net is that nearly 90% are positive. There it doesn’t matter so much because the impact of these reviews is minimal. It’s different when I review a book in magazines, radio or TV. If I really don’t like a book I say it but if I have doubts I choose more friendlier expressions. I just had a bigger problem, my publisher asked me to review a book from his printing house I thought it’s rubbish. Well, after three days I found a diplomatic way to tell the listeners of this radio programme indirectly what I think about it. Fortunately, that was in my mother tongue, I couldn’t have done this in English.
Wishing you a wonderful weekend
Klausbernd 🙂
A significant number of internet reviews are negative–I know because I’ve received many, and the impact is significant, because it can affect the momentum of a commercial book in the crucial initial weeks preventing it from making the lists so many trad pubbed books covet.
Magazine, TV, Radio reviews are a very different kettle of fish because they are paid assignments and there’s a compulsion to review the books you’ve taken on. You were in a very tricky situation indeed with your publisher.
On the review platforms, I categorically do Not write reviews for books that aren’t my taste, choosing to only review books I love.
Thanks for always stopping by with your insights, and have a lovely weekend.
Hi Damyanti 🙂
Do you think it’s possible to disagree with someone without being somewhat negative?
🙂 Norbert
I think it is possible to be more positive than negative. I try my best to disagree with compassion, courteousness and good rationale. 🙂
I don’t write negative reviews of fellow authors’ books for two reasons. First, I don’t want to spend time writing a negative review when I could spend that time more productively (and enjoyably) by doing something else. Second, as you mentioned, we all have different tastes in books.
I can completely relate to your reasoning, Liz. Not only are negative reviews damaging to the author and the potential success of the book, but I feel that writing and posting such criticism is simply not worth it.
I’m in agreement with you, Damyanti. I don’t ever leave negative reviews.
Yes, it can cause so much damage, and I simply feel like kindness and compassion is always the better option.
I’m of mixed minds on this question, especially considering that fellow writers are often the main readers of an indie author’s books. Reviews other than positive are problematic and awkward. But authors are also readers.
I understand, and it’s certainly true that authors are readers and it can feel disingenuous to share positive reviews about books we don’t like. That’s why I take care to only review books which I absolutely love, and I prefer to personally contact an author with feedback if they’ve asked for criticism.
A quote from ‘Bambi’ (the 1942 Disney animated film) helps us decide what to say. “If you can’t say something nice, don’t say nothing at all.” That quote gets to the heart of building up instead of tearing down in public. If we have something constructive, email the author.
A saying which resonates throughout the ages. Not only is it applicable to most aspects of life, but I think it’s something to always keep in mind when dealing with another person’s hard work. As writers, it’s so much better to share kindness and support than hate and negativity.
In the corporate world, I learned not all employees desired improvement. By asking privately if they wanted to hear constructive insights, I narrowed the number. Their reactions to suggestions told me if I helped or wasted my time. By identifying the few who actually applied the lessons enabled me to recruit a dream team cable of building leaders of leaders. I believe the same principle applies to writers.
A perfect strategy. Critiques, when delivered in private, to someone who’s requested it, is the most effective tool for improvement.
I always try to give a good review and to be honest. If I feel I can’t post my review I will send it privately to the author and say that.
Absolutely, I feel like that’s the best approach.