Pet Peeve #2

Reviews, reviews, we want reviews!

There are all kinds of posts across social media begging for reviews. "Help an author, leave a review!"  It is mentioned at least once a week in every group where I am a member.  

Of course there are lots of scams to go along with these requests.  Review swaps, buying reviews,  and even a few unscrupulous request for troll reviews (I see very few requests for Honest reviews, though).  

Authors share reviews they have received gushing over 4 and 5 star ones.  It is a great feeling to discover one when you check your books.  Very few share their negative ones.  Or, if they do, they imply the person leaving it was somehow in the wrong.

Negative reviews sometimes are the work of trolls. I will grant you that..  However, sometimes they are the honest opinion of the person who bought your book.  They have a right to share it.  Personally, I find negative reviews easier to believe.  I read them over and see if I can fix any mistakes they suggest.   These are two of my negative reviews.  The first one I am not exactly sure what I can do about the fact that he doesn't like poetry.  That he was gracious enough to not only read my book but leave a review, is priceless.  He was exact in his reasons for his opinion and for that I will always be grateful. 

3.0 out of 5 starsSome gems in here for the aficianado.

I want to preface this by saying I'm not really a poetry reader. I read the eBook version which did not seem to be formatted right so the poems jumped when going from one page to another. Most of the poems in the book were of a very personal nature and dealt with subjects I was unable to relate to.

The first section of the book "People in My Life" had too much of a personal memoir feel to it and I was unable to relate to the stories Cindy was telling. However, her reminiscence about her Farmville addiction in "FA Addict" was great. The second section "Nature in My World" was painted with a much broader brush and the pictures were evocative of some of my own experiences. "Aurora Borealis" was a favorite. Her "Visions in My Mind" section was also a winner with very enjoyable poems like "Child's View" and "Magic". In the "Days in My Years" and "Pieces of My Heart" sections she reverted again to poems of a more personal nature, except that "So Hard", which was clearly written for and about a specific person, was done in a non-specific enough voice that it built some true resonance.

As you can see from the other reviews there is some good work here for fans of a more abstract type of poetry. I think that if your personal life experiences were similar to Cindy's that there are some poems in here that you would find meaningful. While I liked reading the book and found some very enjoyable work here, I would have to say that I was unable to relate to most of the poems.

This second one truly annoyed me.  I don't mind that you don't like my work.  It is your opinion and you are welcome to it.  But, it is unfair to say you gave me a lower rating because you think I should write a different form of poetry.  That is not a review, that is an insult.  I would never presume to tell someone that they need to write differently.  If it ain't broke, it doesn't need to be fixed.  As for his "disclosure"  I guess he forgot he had me mail him physical copies when he won the e-books for just that reason.  Kinda wonder what he did with the signed books.

 

In “Voices in My Head”, Cindy J. Smith tells the reader about her life and her thoughts on the world around her through verse. She does a great job organizing the book by topic.

Each poem contained within this collection is nice enough in its own right. However, as one progresses through the entire collection, there is a sameness about them. The rhythm and rhyme scheme maintain a “greeting-card” feel, as though one had fallen into a darker version of a Helen Steiner Rice anthology. Just when the reader is tempted to through their hands up and surrender, Ms. Smith DOES toss in something a little different. Then, it's back to her comfortable rhythm and rhyming scheme again.

Please, Ms. Smith – you show that you have a talent for viewing the world and boiling it down to a short verse. Take a chance – experiment with other forms of poetry. Toss in a sonnet or two, or see if you can salute Dr. Seuss. Try Haiku, or a limerick, OR better yet, step out and move into something more progressive. You have a whole book – you're already taking a risk emotionally with your content, add to the challenge by stepping out technically, as well.

RATING: 3 1/2 stars, rounded down to 3 stars where 1/2 stars are not permitted.

DISCLOSURE: I was awarded a free copy of this book in a random draw. No requirement of a review was made, let alone any conditions on the tone / content of a review However, a prompt review was definitely hoped for. (Nope, it took me 2 years to get through this volume, a bit at a time. Nothing to do with the content or style; I am simply more likely to pick up a physical book than those tucked away on my e-device.)

I bet you are wondering what my "pet peeve" is if not negative reviews.  Well, it is authors who expect us to jump all over the internet placing them.  I am not allowed to post reviews on Amazon.  I have been banned for years.  Therefore I post on Goodreads and share them on my social media sites.  

I help authors by purchasing their books, I do not accept free ones.  If you get me to agree to beta read, which is not easy, I will delete your book from my computer and buy it when it is released.  I share book posts.  If I have purchased it, I mention that when I share...an added boost in the promo.  As I read it, when I share I mention that too.   When I am done I  leave a review.

I will not go to every site your book is loaded and share my reviews.  I used to put them up both on Amazon and Goodreads because I bought them on Amazon.  

I know reviews are important.  I know they are fun to get.  However,  do not make the person writing one feel like somehow their enjoyment of your book has made them a slave.  Say thank you for the review!  Thank them for the shares!  DO NOT give them a list of other sites to publish on.  If you want to suggest other places to publish reviews for you, post that on your author sites. 

How do I deal with this situation?  Normally I will go and delete all reviews I have left for the author.  I may continue to read their work, but the added promos usually stop. 

Be grateful for your readers, especially the paying ones.  Authors do not alienate the ones who leave reviews.  Their time is valuable too.  

Find Cindy:

Website:
http://carternovels.com/author-cindy-j-smith.html
Twitter:   https://twitter.com/cindysvoices
FB:  https://www.facebook.com/CindysVoices/
GOODREADS:
https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/6505989.Cindy_J_Smith
Pinterest:
https://www.pinterest.com/cindyjsmith1/