People love to read because it is an escape from day to day life. I love nothing more than reading in truly engaging novel, especially if it’s so good I have to go discuss it with  someone.

Drako – 8 July 2013

About Reviewing

How did you get started?

I started reviewing books when I bought my first ereader, a nook. I started in earnest when I bought my kindle when I discovered so many free books.

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

Generally, I read the book first. Once I’m done, I immediately form my review so that I don’t forget the pieces I want to touch on specifically.

What are you looking for?

In a book I’m reviewing, I look for an engaging story that isn’t just hastily thrown together and published with no editing at all.

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

I will only mention the grammar if it takes away from the story.

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

Let’s put it this way, I read the longest of the Harry Potter books in one day, and I’m not even slightly exaggerating. If the story is good, I will find time to fly through it.

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

I do not normally put an actually rating. I close my review with how well I liked the book and whether or not I would recommend it. But I also post my reviews on Amazon and Goodreads, so the author will get to see the number of stars I’d rate them.

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

Be very professional and polite with your request to bloggers. I, for one, tell you exactly what information I want in my opening email. Stick to it and you’ll get a prompt reply. Also, understand bloggers get multiple review requests so we may not be able to read your work right away, but if we like it we’ll get to it.

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

Never had a reader email me about a review. I have had one post about a review I gave to a mainstream book, but that was to argue with the fact that I hated one of the characters. Not really helpful.

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 agree wholeheartedly. You can disagree with the review in your mind, and even rant about it. As long as you don’t argue with the reviewer in actuality.

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?

How can reading truly die when even past-times like videogames require you to read? I don’t feel it’s dying. I feel as if reading got a resurgence with the invention of tablets and ereaders. People love to read because it is an escape from day to day life. I love nothing more than reading a truly engaging novel, especially if it’s so good I have to go discuss it with  someone.

About Writing

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

Publishing works that aren’t well thought out. I notice this on Smashwords more than any other platform, especially under erotica. There are many who do not understand the difference between writing a scene they see in a porn movie vs. eloquently written and descriptive stories that happen to have sex in them.

Also, typos. A lot of new authors refuse to let someone else review their work and they miss typos.

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?

Yes, I would agree with this. If the first five pages can’t grab me, I don’t believe the rest of the novel will either. I have yet to have this problem in review requests.

Is there anything you will not review?

At one point in time, I’d have said Christian fiction. I’m not fond of the genre. I did read and review one, and it wasn’t bad. It didn’t offend me so I was ok with it. But I will not review any supposed erotica that is titled like a porn movie. That is really a pet peeve of mine.

About Publishing

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

It’s a valid point. Many self-published authors have tried traditional publishing and never been contacted back or have been rejected. While there are some who perhaps deserve to remain unpublished, others have great work that should really be picked up by a mainstream publisher but it isn’t. The horror stories scare many off of traditional publishing and they self-publish, sometimes getting lost in the pile until they find ways to promote themselves.

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

I believe the attitude is changing. Indie and self-published authors work hard to get themselves out there, promoting through social media and blogs, making actual tours and signings. Many take their work very seriously and go through the lengthy process of editing and having others edit just to make sure their work is as close to the quality of a mainstream author as possible. People are beginning to notice that.

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

Titles tell a lot about a book. The blurb does as well. If the blurb doesn’t match the title or seem like it could tie in, something is definitely suspect. If the title sounds too cheesy, it’s not likely to be that great either. They say don’t judge a book by its cover, but really, we do.

End of Interview:

To read Drako’s review, visit Drako’s Den.