Reviews are, by their very nature, based on the feelings and opinions of the reviewer – there are no ‘facts’ to argue.
Bob Milne – 6 May 2014
About Reviewing
How did you get started?
I’ve always been a voracious reader, so it just seemed a natural evolution to begin incorporating some book reviews in my blog. Discovering sites like Goodreads was a huge step forward, and once I got my first ARC in the mail, I was hooked.
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 may jot down a thought or two here or there as I go, primarily to remind myself of a phrase or scene, but don’t start thinking about a review until I’m done. I like to sit down, look back, and think of the elements (plot, characters, narrative style, etc.) in the context of the entire book.
What are you looking for?
I’m looking for a great story, with great characters, that’s well told.
If a book has a great plot, great characters, but the grammar is less than perfect, how do you deal with that?
To be honest, spelling and grammar errors have to be pretty significant to really impact how I read a book. As long as it has all the other elements, I’m willing to overlook a few errors here and there. Having said that, if it’s so atrocious that I find myself stopping to puzzle out what the author meant, then the story flow is broken and I likely won’t be proceeding.
How long does it take you to get through, say, an eighty thousand-word book?
It all depends on how much I’m enjoying it, honestly. If it’s a book that flows well and has completely captured my interest, I can devour an 80k book in a day. Otherwise, it can be anywhere from a few days to a week.
How did you come up with your rating system, and could you explain more about the rating system?
I hate rating systems and deliberately chose not to use one on my blog. They’re extremely arbitrary. There’s just no way a number can accurately convey all the strengths and weaknesses of a story.
What advice could you give to authors looking to get their books reviewed?
The best advice I can offer is to do your research and get to know the reviewers you’re looking to. If they have a review policy, then read it closely – pay attention to what they’re willing to read, and to how they want requests to be submitted. There’s nothing that irks me more than to get a blind ‘Dear Reviewer’ email for a genre I’ve made it clear I will never read.
Do you get readers emailing you and thanking you for a review?
I don’t get a lot of emails from readers, but I do get comments (on the blog, Goodreads, booklikes, Amazon, etc.) from readers who appreciate the time and effort that goes into writing a detailed review.
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?
For the most part, I would agree. Reviews are, by their very nature, based on the feelings and opinions of the reviewer – there are no ‘facts’ to argue. Having said that, I’m entirely open to an honest dialogue about what didn’t work for me and why, and I’ve established some strong online friendships based on those conversations.
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 pastime is dying – do you think that’s the case?
I think it all comes down to the increased completion for our attention, and the fact that so many of us are living digitally. With literally hundreds of TV stations at your fingertips, unlimited movies and music to stream on the computer, massive multiplayer games online, and smartphones that offer a constant stream of social updates, it can be hard for people to turn it all off and grab a book.
About Writing
What are the most common mistakes that you see authors making?
Since I read a lot of science fiction and fantasy, I think the biggest mistake I see authors making is simply forgetting that they’re writing about a different time or place. Vocabulary (particularly slang) that borrows too heavily from contemporary novelties just feels wrong, and metaphors or analogies that don’t work outside a 20th century worldview can be jarring.
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?
No, I generally give a book about 25-30 pages before I make a decision about consigning it to the DNF pile.
Is there anything you will not review?
Faith-based fiction, predominant religious themes, YA/NA fiction, romance novels, poetry, self-help books, and how-to books are all themes or genres that I won’t review.
About Publishing
What do you think of the oft-quoted comment that the “slush-pile has moved online”?
Actually, I think that comment is very apropos. It’s remarkable how many self-published books have gone through that online slush pile, generated buzz, and been ‘discovered’ by major publishers.
Do you think attitudes are changing with respect to indie or self-published titles?
Absolutely – but that change is still slow in coming for some people. I have to admit, there was a time when I was a bit shy of indie or self-published titles, but I’ve come to appreciate their diversity and originality. I find that when authors aren’t constrained by a big-name publisher, they have much more freedom to be creative and take chances.
Do you have any ideas or comments on how the industry can ‘filter’ good from bad, aside from reviews?
I think you have to look beyond ‘good’ or ‘bad’ and include ‘popular’ as well. You can write the most perfectly polished novel in the history of the world, a shining example of narrative excellence, but if nobody’s reading it, then does it matter whether it’s technically good?
Sales are a good differentiator, but you can’t fairly compare indie or self-published titles to mass-market ones. Social media buzz is another differentiator, but even that’s flawed, as it can merely reflect the effort invested in self-promotion, as opposed to actual reader engagement.
What’s really left (and this is hard to measure) is trends. A lot of people hate books like Twilight or Fifty Shades of Grey, but you can’t deny their popularity or the trends they’ve generated. Quality of writing aside, they speak to a genre or a niche that people want to read about and, at the end of the day, I think that’s what matters.
End of Interview:
Read Bob’ reviews at Beauty in Ruins.