Slow it down, slow and steady will win the race. Don’t have your goal to just finish the book and publish. Have your goal to finish the book, publish, and have readers love it.

Kristine Schwartz – 20 March 2013

About Reviewing

How did you get started?

I originally began reviewing on Goodreads. I found a few great groups that allowed readers to connect with authors who were seeking reviews and were gifting their books to readers who agreed to their terms. I must have reviewed at a slow pace on Goodreads for a good year before I took the next step. My blog was a huge step for me because I consider it a responsibility to the authors and readers of my blog. It took me a few weeks to get my graphics just right. (I am in no way a graphic expert and the banners and buttons I have in place now are probably the best that I can ever hope to get). Now I’m just working on promoting the blog and working on gaining a good follow base.

How do you review a book? Is it a read first, and then make notes, or do you make notes as you go along?

I read the book first. I generally prefer to accept Kindle files from authors. Then I read the book and am able to highlight key things within the book that jump out at me. Whether I’m highlighting grammatical errors, typos, favourite lines, or things that just speak to me on a personal level, highlighting these things allow me to look over my thoughts and notes while I write the review.

What are you looking for?

A book will generally get a good rating from me if it has a lot of hooks in it. Something that is hard to put down because you’re never really sure how it will end. If I open a book and have an idea of how it will end, then it is a harder read for me and will usually get a lower rating.

If a book has a great plot, great characters, but the grammar is less than perfect, how do you deal with that?

Grammatical errors, spelling errors, and typos annoy me. That being said, I will still read the book and the rating will lose at least a star for the simple mistakes. If it is completely littered with mistakes then it could potentially lose more stars. I will review the book and comment on what I loved, and inform the author of the mistakes (sometimes giving specific pages, other times just a heads up).

How long does it take you to get through, say, an eighty thousand-word book?

The time it takes me to finish a book depends on several factors. As a mother, university student, and an employee, sometimes it could take me up to a week to read. That being said, sometimes I can motor through a book within 1-3 days. It really all just depends on my life schedule.

How did you come up with your rating system, and could you explain more about the rating system?

I use a five-star rating system. I post my reviews on Goodreads and Amazon as well as my blog so I stick to their five-star systems for consistency. If I am unable to finish a book, find it incredibly dull and pointless, it will receive one star and I will notify the author of several things to look out for in the future. A two star rating goes to the books that I finished but that didn’t surprise me at all. If I knew exactly how the story was going to play out, there was no conflict, or the characters were one-dimensional then it will be a two-three star rating. Four-star rating will go to books that I thought were good, they may have some errors, but have an amazing potential if a few tweaks are made. A five-star rating will go to books that I couldn’t put down, that had an amazing plot, great characters, and kept my attention the whole way through.

What advice could you give to authors looking to get their books reviewed?

I would suggest looking through some of the groups on Goodreads, and blog hopping. There are several blogs out there that are dedicated to reviewing books for authors and almost every blog will post the review on at least one other site besides their blog. When you find an option for your reviews, be sure to follow the blog’s policies. You want to find a blog that will enjoy your genre of book so that you have a better chance of a great review.

Do you get readers emailing you and thanking you for a review?

I have received a few emails from readers who have enjoyed my reviews. I also post the review on Goodreads and several of my reviews have not only been ‘liked’ but they have also had friends or group members of mine mark the book as ‘to-be-read’. The feedback I have been receiving has been great all around.

My advice to authors on getting a “bad” review (hasten to add that might mean a perfectly honest, well written, fair review – just bad from the author’s point of view) is to take what you can from it and move on. Under no circumstances to “argue” with the reviewer – would you agree with that?

I would. You have to remember that the reviewer has spent several hours going over your work. The reviewer’s job is to be completely honest and speak up. If the reviewer were to sugar coat their review, it still will not help the author learn because the reviewer is generally just saying what the future readers of the book will be thinking anyway. Take the advice, make notes, and improve.

About Reading

We talk a lot about writing here on the blog, and possibly not enough about reading, which is after all why we’re all here. Why do you think people love reading. We’re seeing lots of statistics that say reading as a past-time is dying – do you think that’s the case?

I sure hope not. As a mother and a reader, the greatest gift that I can pass on to my children is the love for books that I have. It’s an amazing pastime that can take you anywhere for a low price. I’ve been to space, past, present, future, mythological places, lived with vampires, danced with wolves, ran from zombies, married a prince, etc. What did all of those adventures cost? No more than $15 each. Several of my children are already following in my footsteps. Just last week my son went on an adventure with Captain Underpants 😉

About Writing

What are the most common mistakes that you see authors making?

I see a lot of grammatical errors, typos, and spelling errors. In those cases, I take note, and review the book. When the reviews are live, I always notify the author and I will inform them of some of their mistakes and let them know that they should take more time in the editing process. I figure they just get excited for being near the finish line and start to sprint across the line. Slow it down, slow and steady will win the race. Don’t have your goal to just finish the book and publish. Have your goal to finish the book, publish, and have readers love it.

We’re told that the first page, paragraph, chapter, is absolutely key in making or breaking a book. Agents typically request only the first five pages of a novel, what do you think about that; if a book hasn’t grabbed you by the first five pages, do you put it down?

In my free reading, yes. In a book that I have accepted from an author, no. I will generally give the book a few chapters. If it still hasn’t caught my interest then I will put it down and give it a ‘bad review’ or notify the author with my inability to finish their book.

Is there anything you will not review?

I dislike non-fiction and science fiction. I prefer any and all YA but I enjoy just about every genre.

About Publishing

What do you think of the oft quoted comment that the “slush-pile has moved online”?

I am not sure what a slush-pile is, but if it’s referring to the fact that eBooks are quickly becoming more popular then I’d say that is true. I still love the occasional paperback, but eBooks are more convenient. If that’s not what you’re talking about, then my excuse is I don’t get out much 😉

Do you think attitudes are changing with respect to Indie or self-published titles?

I believe so. I have read several that are amazing books and in my opinion they are beginning to get more credit and readers are noticing.

Do you have any ideas or comments on how the industry can “filter” good from bad, aside from reviews?

I don’t think they will ever be able to filter the good from the bad. My opinion of a bad book may be someone else’s opinion of a good book. It is hard to say what is truly bad and what is truly good. With the amount of readers there are today, there’s a reader for every book out there. The hard part for the author is to just find the reader for their book and market to them.

End of Interview:

Read Kristine’s book reviews at The Schwartz Reviews.