2/3/2013
When you have a writing or book blog you often get approached to do book reviews. I certainly do and I can’t imagine that’s unique to me. I’ve approached people about reviewing my books and I’m always so grateful when they do. Some people have approached me as well and I’m thrilled that they do.
I really appreciate those people who read widely and give thought out and informed reviews. I just don’t think that’s a job for me.
When someone offers to review your book it’s quite scary. Let’s be realistic not everyone is going to love your work so it’s a good idea to have people who review your books who read in your genre, who understand it and who enjoy it. Those people, I feel, can make a fairer comparison. If you normally read science-fiction and have never read an autobiography your frame of reference for reviewing science fiction is, in my opinion anyway, much better and I would put greater weight on your review of that genre than of an autobiography.
Reviews are subjective. Go and look at any author’s reviews on Amazon and you’ll see a spread of 2,3,4 and 5 star reviews for the same book. Someone will say “I love it so I give it 3 stars”…and someone else says “I love it so I give it 5 stars.” It’s all quite confusing isn’t it?
I appreciate the effort people put into writing a book and putting it out there, I think we all do. I certainly don’t love everything I read (you should hear me at bookclub!) but I don’t feel the urge to put those opinions in writing. If you know me at all you would easily guess there’s no way on earth I would give anyone a less than 3 star review and I have no desire to.
I read pretty widely but I also like to support authors who write in genres I don’t always read. I’ve been lucky enough to meet writers who work across all genres and while I tend to feature more chicklit and romance authors here I appreciate the work of authors across the board and by interviewing them rather than reviewing them I feel like I’m an equal opportunity supporter.
So you won’t see any book reviews on this site. You will see guest posts, author Q&A’s and other opportunities like my Taste of Tuesday feature.
If you’re an author who wants to be featured, drop me a line.
Comments
Patsy
2/3/2013 05:01:17 pm
That seems perfectly reasonable to me.
Erin Cawood
2/3/2013 07:59:11 pm
I think this is fair. I write reviews on my blog but I don’t accept requests for them either. I don’t have time to promise another author a timely review. I’d also hate the idea of posting one that was bad. If I’ve taken the time to write a review then the book was “totally awesome must tell the world to go read this book now!”