tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2429560125838989988.post7859766449581146167..comments2024-03-26T23:41:10.319+00:00Comments on Authors Electric: Pay-Per-Review - Debbie BennettKatherine Robertshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17196712319655603442noreply@blogger.comBlogger8125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2429560125838989988.post-56386501766878404812012-09-04T16:55:28.533+01:002012-09-04T16:55:28.533+01:00I will! (But have to get a book out first...)I will! (But have to get a book out first...)Catherine Czerkawskahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14554969254207924049noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2429560125838989988.post-79012697299114923622012-09-04T15:57:01.612+01:002012-09-04T15:57:01.612+01:00Dennis - did you ever review me in my glory days? ...Dennis - did you ever review me in my glory days? Just curious.<br />Catherine - might you take a look at my children's (back) book list?<br />To everyone - I now have nine out of print children's books out on Kindle (one of them on Kobo too). I've put a flyer with their (wonderful) cover images into Dropbox promo. Use it as you will, and I'll return the compliment.Enid Richemonthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17218197995089241666noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2429560125838989988.post-25710223293690079942012-09-03T18:30:07.684+01:002012-09-03T18:30:07.684+01:00Absolutely right, Julia. In fact I'm working o...Absolutely right, Julia. In fact I'm working on a paid review for a Scottish literary magazine, even as I write this. I know of the writer, but I don't know her as a friend, and I was asked if I wanted to review the novel for various reasons to do with the subject matter. Mind you, I would also be happy to review work by friends - and have done it in the past - for money - on the understanding that I had read the book and genuinely saw something interesting in it. (Scotland is such a small literary pond that we DO tend to know each other) And I assume that all those who write reviews for newspapers and mags are and should be paid.What I DIDN'T know until quite recently (although I've reviewed on and off for years) was that many professional reviewers especially male reviewers, will send literary editors lists of books they want to review. I've seen this cited as one of the reasons why fiction by women, with by far the biggest sales, is so seldom reviewed in newspapers and magazines. (Somebody has collated the stats and it's horribly true!) <br />Jan is quite right, though, that the various literary cliques will review each other for money, sometimes unquestioningly, and nobody takes them to task for it. I've said this elsewhere, but one remedy might be get rid of the star system altogether, on Amazon and on Goodreads. I've never been asked to rate a professionally reviewed book according to some kind of star system, and I would never agree to do it. It might at least prompt reviewers to think about what they were writing, instead of thoughtlessly clicking on stars. Catherine Czerkawskahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14554969254207924049noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2429560125838989988.post-39873560814135408392012-09-03T08:05:59.104+01:002012-09-03T08:05:59.104+01:00Of course people should be paid for reviewing in n...Of course people should be paid for reviewing in newspapers magazines etc if they have been hired to do so. It's no different from writing the football commentary or a leader column. Sometimes the paper will use its staff writers (the literary editor, for instance) sometimes it chooses freelances - because they have something to say. Newspapers are businesses, they print what they think will interest their readers. Amazon is also a business but only in certain areas. In other areas its attempting (for commerciela reasons) to be a commuity. I think of the reviews as school gate gossip. If only people did talk about books in public surely the same thing would happen? We'd praise our friends because we approach their books wanting to like them. There are emotions involved which shouldn't be the case with a professional reviewer writing as per request. The most reputable professional reviewers that I know won't accept books by close friends and it's though to be bad form if a literary editor sends a book for reivewer to a known rival. julia joneshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09773900100240758504noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2429560125838989988.post-76232824951421360542012-09-02T16:23:36.735+01:002012-09-02T16:23:36.735+01:00I think there's an important difference betwee...I think there's an important difference between a literary review and a personal opinion... a line which has become blurred in recent years, now that everyone has a blog and can post on websites such as Goodreads.<br /><br />It's perfectly possible to write a fair review of a book that you personally hate, picking out the good bits and identifying the type of readers who might love it. But a personal opinion is quite a different thing.<br /><br />If someone has been given a free copy to review, I think they should approach it in a professional manner, and keep their personal opinions for those books they have actually paid for and were disappointed by.Katherine Robertshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17196712319655603442noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2429560125838989988.post-74167022565483494502012-09-02T11:36:59.158+01:002012-09-02T11:36:59.158+01:00Nice one, Jan.
I was paid fairly well and month...Nice one, Jan. <br /><br />I was paid fairly well and monthly for some years for reviewing both educational books and fiction for the TES. I had no crisis of conscience about it. I just wish it hadn't stopped. I reviewed fairly (when writing education books you have to anyway because teachers bought books on my recommendation and I certainly wasn't in the business of peddling rubbish to schools to please publishers), took great pains over it and sometimes thought I was worth a lot more than they actually paid me. Of course I was never paid by the School Librarian, Carousel and (still) Armadillo, but then I wouldn't want to be. The reward of possessing the book was enough, although I gave most to schools and only kept those I really valued. Most of the time if I didn't like the look of a book I didn't review it, though when Carousel send a quarterly packing case and ask the reviewer to choose six, some good books aren't reviewed which probably should be. For the thirty-odd years I reviewed for the SL I only wrote two really damning reviews because both books, for different reasons, really offended me and I thought people should know. The first review was published and I spent some weeks half-expecting a libel suit. The other, significantly, was written by a very well known, extremely successful writer of adult novels who, when he or she sticks to his or her last, is very, very good and writes books I normally love. But the one children's book he or she wrote was, I thought, so bad and wrongheaded that I wrote a real stinker. It wasn't published. Were they afraid of trouble? It must have worked though because, so far anyway, that author hasn't tried another.<br /><br />I've talked to quite a lot of writers lately, some once well-established but now on hard times and others starting out, about Indie ebooks and have told them of the possible prize of reviews on IEBR. They are very interested but understand that they couldn't all receive the accolade. IEBR will expand, I think, into something vey significant as an essential item.Dennis Hamleyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15781139870037634374noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2429560125838989988.post-38050273713404510682012-09-02T11:05:24.242+01:002012-09-02T11:05:24.242+01:00i used to review kids' books for the guardian ...i used to review kids' books for the guardian - for money, naturally - but stopped when i realised i'd have to say bad things about some books. not my bag at all. there was no suggestion from the guardian they wanted me to be nice about anything, so that was fine. i just stopped and lost the money.<br /><br />i've also wasted vast numbers of pounds over the years buying books on the strength of cover quotes by extremely well-thought of writers who turned out to be saying nice things about their chums and promoting crap. ditto buying booker prize winners, only one of which i've ever managed to enjoy.<br /><br />it's a problem, isn't it? and i don't think there's an answer. my favourite book puff is on the back cover of my own wagstaffe the wind-up boy. it reads: This is the most disgusting book I have ever read. Please buy it - we need the money. Jan's mum. she was mortified when i used it!Jan Needlehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15823078224282953782noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2429560125838989988.post-85640037343514709912012-09-02T10:09:50.841+01:002012-09-02T10:09:50.841+01:00Good overview of a complex subject. I too have bee...Good overview of a complex subject. I too have been paid for reviews by Scots Magazine. Admittedly not a lot but it was payment nevertheless. However, I don't think there should be payment involved for reviews on Amazon, Goodreads or any of these sites. It's probably OK for magazines to pay because that is content for their publication and isn't actually the author paying for the review.Chris Longmuirhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02488093821886798927noreply@blogger.com