By the time I learned to enjoy reading I was a career woman and a mother. It was important for me to understand that it was okay to take the time out of the relentlessly busy schedule I had made for myself to escape via reading. There are still too many people who think they are too busy or that reading is a chore and don’t stop to enjoy this simple pleasure.
Ms Trickey – 7 June 2013
About Reviewing
How did you get started?
I’ve always liked to share my opinion, I’ve blogged since the days of AOL Journals, and I recently developed this love for reading. I hate to say it, but it just sort of happened.
How do you review a book? Is it a read first, and then make notes, or do you make notes as you go along?
Most of the books I read are in digital format on my Kindle, this allows me to highlight lines that stick out to me. I’ll use that to mark quotes that inspire and other times to note a gaping plot hole. For the most part though, I read the entire piece first and then review based on the overall feeling I have upon completion. If I need to, I will go back and review my highlights to help me keep track of what I liked and what I didn’t like about a book.
What are you looking for?
I’m a full-time working mother which means that free time is precious. When I settle in at the end of my day with a book I want it to be worth my time. I’m looking for something that strikes up emotions in me that I may be lacking in my everyday life at that time; romance, mystery, and drama.
If a book has a great plot, great characters, but the grammar is less than perfect, how do you deal with that?
I’m not a writer or an English teacher for a reason. I try not to judge mistakes I would probably make myself and just enjoy the story the authors are telling. However, a clearly unedited piece may cause me to write a less than flattering review because future buyers deserve to be well aware of what they are purchasing.
How long does it take you to get through, say, an eighty thousand-word book?
It honestly depends on the kind of time I have at hand and how well the book has captured me. I’ve gobbled up entire books in a single night’s sitting; sacrificing my next day’s work performance so that I could finish a book at 3 AM. Other times it may take me four or five nights to complete a work of that length.
How did you come up with your rating system, and could you explain more about the rating system?
I use a standard five-star rating system.
* Not my cup of tea because it was poorly written, didn’t float my boat, or simply was not my genre of choice
**Meh, I’m indifferent. I liked it enough to finish it, it wasn’t great but it wasn’t bad, or for the price why complain?
*** I liked it, you might too. This read entertained me but don’t shoot the messenger if you don’t end up liking it the way I did
**** That was good stuff. A quality read and a recommendation that others who like the genre should go ahead and read it too
***** Amazing. I’ll read it again, I’ll watch the movie, I’ll force it upon other people, I’ll stalk the author
The biggest thing for my blog followers to keep in mind is that my ratings are based on the romance genre. I’m not comparing a Stephen King to a Nicholas Sparks.
Also, as a romance reader I’ve found that it is important to know what you are in for in terms of the author’s description of physical love. I’ve added additional information to my ratings to include a book’s “temperature”. Inside the Romance category there are many sub-categories, the farthest apart being Christian and Erotica. Each satisfies a different love pallet. I don’t want anyone to pick up a book expecting one thing and ending up offended or unsatisfied.
What advice could you give to authors looking to get their books reviewed?
Be friendly and just ask, but first make sure that the person you are asking enjoys the type of book that you write. If they have the time and you are willing to, offer them a digital copy of your book at no cost to them in exchange for an honest review. Be patient while you wait for your review to appear and when it does give them some feedback or acknowledgement.
I’ve learned that writing, reading, and reviewing all goes hand in hand. The book blogger to author relationship can be quite beneficial to both parties for cross promote your offerings.
Do you get readers emailing you and thanking you for a review?
No, but Amazon has told me a time or two that “Your review has helped a customer”. Mostly, I love recommending books to others and hope they enjoy them the same way that I do.
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?
Agreed.
Recently I was turned off completely to an author when they responded negatively to what I would consider a fair two star review. Now, I probably won’t read anything else they have to offer simply based on their tone from that one experience.
When I write a review I am fair, honest, and always mature. I will make a point to never slam someone’s work because I know it had to take some guts to put it out there to be judged. To me, the two stars I gave that particular book was not necessarily a bad thing; it simply meant that it wasn’t my cup of tea. Books are such a personal thing, what one likes another may not and vice versa.
You could go in circles with someone if you try to defend your opinion. We all need to accept that mature honesty is the policy and that books are a personal choice.
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 past-time is dying – do you think that’s the case?
Books are not only learning tools, they take you places you could never otherwise go. They open your imagination and you are free to view an author’s story in whatever way your mind so chooses. I enjoy getting completely lost in a story line, the feeling of forgetting my daily task at hand and focusing my attention elsewhere. For me is a relaxing hobby.
I think it’s important that we encourage our youth to explore books of all genres. Too often we go from Dick and Jane to a school summer reading list that we all loathe. I think we lose readers there. I know that I was one of them. It took me years after school was complete for me to explore a genre of book I never experienced before and realize that I could love reading.
By the time I learned to enjoy reading I was a career woman and a mother. It was important for me to understand that it was okay to take the time out of the relentlessly busy schedule I had made for myself to escape via reading. There are still too many people who think they are too busy or that reading is a chore and don’t stop to enjoy this simple pleasure.
About Writing
What are the most common mistakes that you see authors making?
We’ve all heard the saying, “Don’t judge a book by its cover.” That doesn’t mean people won’t still do it. The cover is the first impression you get to make on a reader. Just like you wouldn’t go to a job interview looking sloppy, your book’s cover should be neat and tidy too. A bad cover is easy to pass up on any shelf, real or digital.
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?
If I followed that logic my all-time favorite read would be one that I would have never finished. I cannot recall a time in recent memory where I had to put a book down because my purchase is usually well researched before I buy it.
Is there anything you will not review?
I’ll review anything that I read, so the question should be is there anything I will not read? To that I would say Action and Adventure and Non-Fiction are not my strong suit. When I read I’m getting away from my action packed husband, my adventurous son and all the real life happenings around me.
About Publishing
What do you think of the quoted comment that the “slush-pile has moved online”?
We are the digital age, it only makes sense that the slush-pile has moved.
Do you think attitudes are changing with respect to Indie or self-published titles?
I think the digital market has been flooded with a lot of indie/self-published titles recently, some of questionable quality. Unfortunately for the not so avid reader, that gives them valid reasoning to spending their money on something where quality has been tested. I think it will take a lot of indie readers and reviewers to sway others into reading something they otherwise may not pick up in hopes of educating mass opinion. There are a lot of great indie authors out there who do not get the credit they deserve.
Do you have any ideas or comments on how the industry can “filter” good from bad, aside from reviews?
Rating and reviews seem to filter the good from the bad. The only other thing I could think of is to some way prove/show that your work has been beta-read and tested.
Thank you so much for the opportunity to share Only Trick in the Book on The Indie View.
Warmly,
Ms. Trickey
End of Interview:
Read Ms Trickey’s reviews at Only Trick in the Book.
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