Friday, February 26, 2010

Reviewer's Tip - How to "Turn-Off" Reviewers

This week's tip comes from Lynette Latzko, a reviewer for Feathered Quill Book Reviews.

The Fab Four Things Authors Can Do To “Turn-Off” Reviewers



As a reviewer, I strongly believe that the author's actual writing is the most obvious and critical part of the review process. An honest reviewer will not be influenced into giving a great review by a flashy book cover, positive reviews from famous people, and most definitely cannot be bribed into the positive review.  But let's be honest here, first impressions do indeed have an impact. So with that said, here's my top four things authors can do to decrease their chances of giving that oh so important good first impression, after all, who cares what reviewers think, you've got a best-seller anyway!


Sending a Bad Review Copy – This means that your book can be photocopied, have tons of typos or grammatical errors, and even be in bad condition, because reviewers will forgive all those mistakes, they're nice people, right?


Mailing – Go right ahead and send it in a thin mailer that's been used ten times before, you need to save all your pennies, and the post office will get it there in pristine condition no matter what.


Ignoring the Reviewer – Don't bother having a synopsis on the book or attached to it. Oh, and once the review is over, don't bother sending a thank-you too, it's just a review, and you knew it was a good book anyhow.


Hassling the Reviewer  - Try to contact the reviewers of your book at least twice weekly to inquire about whether your review has been completed, they really should hurry it up already. And once the review is completed, and it's not exactly the most exemplary and flattering, email them and make sure you insult their intelligence and point out that your friends all loved the book. Better yet, just hire a hit-man, it's much easier.

2 comments:

  1. This is an excellent piece. I am not only an author and book editor, but I've also been writing book reviews for 20-odd years. Bad reviewer copies? I've seen 'em. Like the book that had errors on every single page. Like mailers with so much tape holding them together I needed explosives to get the book out. I've almost never been thanked, and I've been hassled many, many times. Every authors should read and pay attention to this tip.

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  2. Oh, man, could I tell you some stories about what authors submit! Some do a fantastic job, others simply don't seem to care.

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