Pam Stack Guest Blog: So, What About Those Book Reviews?

SO, WHAT ABOUT THOSE BOOK REVIEWS?

Lately there have been a lot of comments made about the quality and quantity of book reviews on sites like Amazon.  There is a general discussion among writers and professional reviewers about authors who may be writing reviews for their own work under a pseudonym.  If this is true, it’s a shame because it diminishes the words of a true book lover who reviews books as a profession and the words of every day readers.  I’ve been wondering then, why do we care so much about reviews and who really benefits from them?  Do we need professional reviewers, or should writers only insist that their customers post book reviews?  Which are more necessary?  Which are more, dare I say it, legitimate? 

Being a voracious reader myself, easily breezing through over 300 books a year, it wasn’t until I began to interact and speak to authors that I recognized that I could write a pretty decent review if I put my mind to it.  So, that’s what I did.  Once I became the host for Authors on the Air, an internet radio talk show, I wrote reviews more seriously, as I wanted authors to know that I had actually read their books and understood their style and POV.  Since my early days of posting my reviews as simply a “consumer”, I have established rules for myself as a more “professional” reviewer.  I will not write a review that won’t garner less than 3 stars; I will always be honest as my credibility is as stake; and I will never review a book because an author simply asks me to.  I ran into an ethical dilemma there and have blogged previously about it.

On my Facebook page for Authors on the Air as well as my personal page I recommend books to my friends and that got me thinking about reviews.  My friend followed my advice to read a Brett Battles book and she loved it.  I suggested that she write exactly that same statement on Amazon, where she purchased the book and thought that her comments might be more appreciated by the author than those of a professional reviewer.  Interestingly enough, Brett posted that he agreed.

So, what do you want, authors?  I know you like those long wordy reviews we love to spout out and yes, they do help, I think, to perhaps guide sales of your books, however marginally.  But does that diminish the impact of the everyday reader who takes the time to write “hey, I’ve never done this before but…I loved your book?” Which would you rather see?

And readers, which review would you reply most upon?  The review that’s rather long and and wordy or would you prefer to see what the “average Jane” has to say about an author’s work?  And, do reviews really matter?

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Pam Stack is the host and producer for Authors on the Air, live radio interviews, at www.blogtalkradio.com/authorsontheair and a motivational public speaker.  She can be reached at authorsontheair@gmail.com.

Guest Blog: Pam Stack "From Reader to the Writer"

Today on the blog voracious reader and frequent MRM contributor Pam Stack joins us with an open letter to writers.

I’m an avid reader.  Crazy avid reader.  When I was young, my Mom showed me the value and joy of reading and I’ve been doing it ever since.  I used to read the print on the boxes of cereal (what 7 year old should know about all the junk in cereal?)  But I did.  And that love has taken me on journeys through countries never visited, mystic countries only real in my mind,  given me conversations with the most interesting characters.  I’ve heard beautiful music and seen exquisite art. When I read I have a small movie paying in my mind as words unfold on the pages before me.

Which brings me to the writers of all of these wonderful journeys.  As a reader I want to thank you for helping my brain grow and letting my imagination soar.  However.  Don’t you hate that word?   However, while I support writers and authors of all genres, part of your responsibility to me, the reader, IMHO, is to make my trip the most entertaining it can possibly be.  There are “speed bumps” along the way that detract from the journey.  Not your problem you say?  Yes, it is.  I am your customer.  There is a certain standard by which you are judged by your customer.  So here at some thoughts about those speed bumps.  

Please remember that if you introduce a character, regardless of how insignificant YOU think he/she is, I will remember that character. I may go back pages to remind myself about that character.  If you drop him/her like a lead weight and never mention them again, I am likely to think you’re in the early stages of dementia.  After all, shouldn’t the writer always remember who they write about?  

If you switch your dialogue from past to present and do not explain WHY you are doing that, chances are I will lose some of the richness of your story.  You don’t care?  I won’t either and it is likely that I will not buy your books again.  Consistency has its place in a storyline and since we readers want that consistency, please be kind to us.  

And the now, the speed bump of all speed bumps.  PUNCTUATION.  Lordy lordy, some of you writers have never been introduced to punctuation and some of you love it so much that you use it everywhere.  Do you realize that you change the nuance of dialogue by placement/non-placement of your commas, periods, colons and question marks and those other little delightful “road signs”?  I want to read your story knowing exactly what you meant to write.  It’s not a rap song, unless you meant it to be a rap song and I’m unlikely going to purchase a rap song in book form.  Please – read out loud what you wrote. Does it make sense to you with the  punctuation or lack thereof?   

Thank you, dear writers, for giving me a joy and passion that cannot be duplicated.  We readers want to be invested in your stories as much as you were when you wrote them. Perhaps these little tips might make our mutual trips ever the more pleasurable.  I look forward to the next journey!

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MRM Reviews: Pam Stack on Mike Faricy's "Russian Roulette"

Devlin Haskell, is not your well dressed, well heeled, fancy-pants private investigator. He has no office and no office phone. He doesn't have a buffed bodyguard and side-kick like Spenser. What this P.I. does have is street smarts, a rogue's wandering eye for the ladies, a little too much to drink and a very intriguing case. Dev, as he's known to his friends, finds himself interested and not always in the professional way, when he is approached by a sexy redheaded tootsie hoping to find her sister. And she's got what Dev assumes is a French accent, making her all the more mouth-watering to him. Mike Faricy's Russian Roulette is a fun, smart and sexy romp to figure out who the tootsie is and why she wants to find her "sister" who isn't her sister. Dev finds himself involved in a human trafficking ring by the Russian mob, who are none to thrilled to have him poking his nose where it doesn't belong. Along the way, our intrepid hero finds himself on the receiving end of some nasty fights where he generally isn't the winner, meets up with an anal-retentive FBI agent out to make a name for himself, and an ICE agent who seems to want to do the right thing by Dev and the victims in his case.

Faricy has put together a well written, taut, fun ride through Dev Haskell's case, complete with a few twists and turns. It's like riding on a roller coaster - you're enjoying yourself, screaming at what you know is sure to happen but scared of what's up ahead. This was one thrilling ride and a highly recommended good time for all.

MRM Reviews: Pam Stack on Raymond Benson's "The Black Stiletto"

As a kid, I loved to read comic strips and comic books. I loved the Superheroes portrayed in those pages. But once I read The Black Stiletto all thoughts of those childhood comics were stripped away. Imagine meeting a woman in the late 1950s whose sense of justice for a wrong done to her as a young teenager compels her to work hard, train and fight injustice in her world. The "Stiletto" does just that. Raymond Benson has created a character whose feminism and feminist traits were not all that common in those "good ole days". But heroine Judy learns at a young age that to right wrongs, she must take it upon herself to become the equalizer. She trains in boxing, martial arts and reads. I love this character! Judy's adventures are documented through her diaries left to her only child, a son, who is stunned to read about his famous, or rather, infamous, mother. The story flips from Judy's diaries to present day as her life unfolds before the son. There is a point where the action crosses between the past and present day that will keep you glued to the story.

Benson has woven a true superhero without the superpowers, but nonetheless leaves his readers begging for more. I'm certain that we will see a "Black Stiletto 2" soon enough because I for one, cannot get enough of her. You won't either.