Yesterday I was talking to an acquaintance about books and book writing,
She asked me about writing and about reviewing,
First she wanted to know how could I review a book, particularly one that I didn't like,
I told her to define like,
She said, 'Not your cup of tea,'
I laughed because I love all kinds of tea,
Which is mostly determined by my mood,
Well-written contemporary, women's fiction is my favorite tea,
Closely followed by literary fiction tea and timely non-fiction tea,
However, on any given day, I will change tea and tea time,
So, when doing a review, I have to take "Me" out of it and read the book from the,
Perspective of how well it was written, did it make any sense, engage me, enlighten me or entertain me...
Given that criteria, I feel I can write a fair review,
For me most books have fallen into the 4 range, average to above average,
I have encountered few true 5s,
And very few below 3s,
But that is all opionion I grant you,
If I truly can't fairly review a book, I pass it on,
She then asked me how I deal with reviews,
I told her with a grain of salt,
As with anyone, I love favorable reviews,
And no one has ever bashed my books,
At least not within my hearing range or so that I could see it in print,
But I have been told that most of that kind of thing is usually undercover or the infamous off-loop...I try to avoid all of that,
With my first book, many reviewed it on the storyline,
Those were good reviews,
Others reviewed it on the style and editing and those were average reviews,
I found them all to be fair,
The best reviews I have received of course are from those readers who tell me how they felt or how my work impacted them or even what they didn't like,
Those are the ones I learn the most from and the ones I remember when writing the next book,
I also tell writers who are not feeling how I have reviewed them,
'When you place your work in the hands of a reviewer, going in understanding that the reviewer can only review from his or her perspective, and that in most cases it is business and not personal. Always adding my true belief that everything is not for everybody, and as writers we have to constantly remind ourselves of this. Tea is a preferred taste in it's variations.'
Love and Blessings,
angelia
Writer, Reader, Reviewer
