tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2429560125838989988.post459901532330765545..comments2024-03-26T23:41:10.319+00:00Comments on Authors Electric: Dear Sir: Stuff It You Know Where--Reb MacRathKatherine Robertshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17196712319655603442noreply@blogger.comBlogger7125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2429560125838989988.post-16344197361195938182016-02-15T14:03:01.323+00:002016-02-15T14:03:01.323+00:00By the way, Bill, the few with bored or stony face...By the way, Bill, the few with bored or stony faces were planted there by your rivals...or they'd forgotten the hemp hoodies they like to smoke while they wear. glitter noirhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11728649916344336118noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2429560125838989988.post-20344329642769744982016-02-12T13:32:13.209+00:002016-02-12T13:32:13.209+00:00Thanks, Wendy, Jan, Elizabeth, Bill and Valerie. S...Thanks, Wendy, Jan, Elizabeth, Bill and Valerie. So far, the only seriously cruddy Amazon reviews I've had came after a free event--both from the same guy and posted days after the event. No specifics, just 'cheesy writing' and 'sounds like a 40-year-old guy trying to sound like a kid.' Much harder to take were the negative reviews I got from Kirkus, Publishers Weekly, etc. for the three books after The Suiting. Eventually, I came to see that those books were compromised by personal/professional problems plus deadline pressures. So, in those cases I listened and learned. I agree with Elizabeth, though, about critics who don't read the books they review. In Canada, I knew a reviewer/journalist who skimmed books while he watched TV and reviewed them while doing his nails. glitter noirhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11728649916344336118noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2429560125838989988.post-9720760686060577372016-02-12T12:03:36.305+00:002016-02-12T12:03:36.305+00:00Thanks for crediting me Reb, presumably it was my ...Thanks for crediting me Reb, presumably it was my one-star review post you mean, but you've certainly taken the ball and run with it here in your trademark style! We all tend to give more credence to one unpleasant comment than pages of rave reviews, and of course we can't keep acting on every random comment, but you are right about considering whether they've picked out a habit we could change. I'm just wondering who's been giving you these duff grades and on what platform - amazon? But there are always going to be people who don't like what we do. A very successful writer friend just posted this amazon review of her new book: '"The story has an excellent set of twists and turns but the problem is that you know from the first that there are secrets which will be revealed during the novel." The problem is?! And the word 'secret is in the title! Nowt so queer as folk, as they say.Lydia Bennethttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09328239009863878547noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2429560125838989988.post-34405299193063641732016-02-12T10:03:57.371+00:002016-02-12T10:03:57.371+00:00Thought-provoking as ever, Reb.
My wife and I did ...Thought-provoking as ever, Reb.<br />My wife and I did a revue show at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe for a few years in the late 70s. It got great reviews and full houses but, while I still have the recordings that prove people were enjoying themselves, the main things I remember are the occasional individuals sitting in a laughing audience with stony, bored faces. The logical response to that should have been that, since they were so clearly in a tiny minority, they were 'wrong' about their assessment of my material. But, perversely, that's not the way it works and I've no idea why. I think our responses to negative criticism are more complex than the motives of the people who articulate or demonstrate it.Bill Kirtonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16345949773423764808noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2429560125838989988.post-41582929145507645842016-02-12T09:58:53.795+00:002016-02-12T09:58:53.795+00:00I once had a battle between two kids on the Barnes...I once had a battle between two kids on the Barnes & Noble site - one pasting my book, and promoting another fantasy, and the other doing the opposite. Presumably they used the computers of friends because otherwise they'd have been rumbled. So for a while all I had were one star and five star reviews.It was quite clear they were the same kids, as the spelling mistakes were consistent! The only other thing that really annoys me is when it's clear that the reviewer hasn't read the book, and posts totally inaccurate information about it.Elizabeth Kayhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16773078844943829786noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2429560125838989988.post-4092287078871046042016-02-12T08:41:05.869+00:002016-02-12T08:41:05.869+00:00plenty to chew over there with me sausages and gri...plenty to chew over there with me sausages and grits, thanks. incidentally, as a lifelong englishman, what are (is?) grits? the only sort of criticism i find hard not to grit (grits?) my teeth over are those on amazon which are mindlessly spiteful. but that, i fear is a product of the social media age we live in.Jan Needlehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15823078224282953782noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2429560125838989988.post-14807151952434425112016-02-12T08:30:12.820+00:002016-02-12T08:30:12.820+00:00What a great way of putting this and so true. Grea...What a great way of putting this and so true. Great way to start my dayWendy H. Joneshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04022089775887274043noreply@blogger.com