I realized then that I wanted somewhere I could share books I loved and could connect with people that enjoyed them as well.
Aly – 7 July 2015
About Reviewing
How did you get started?
I was sitting in my dorm room at university, with my roommate and reading a book. It was amazing and I tried to share that but I could in no way do this book justice. I realized then that I wanted somewhere I could share books I loved and could connect with people that enjoyed them as well.
How do you review a book? Is it a read first, and then make notes, or do you make notes as you go along?
I make notes as I go along. I find it easier to write the review that way. I usually do sentences if possible, and then try to string those sentences together. Sometimes it’s harder than others.
What are you looking for?
Generally, I’m not great at commenting on the writing, besides whether it was good, great or not. But I usually focus on the characters and if they are well developed or not. The same holds true for the plot. If the writing grips me or pulls me in then I’ll also comment on that but I have a harder time talking about the technical parts of an author’s writing.
If a book has a great plot, great characters, but the grammar is less than perfect, how do you deal with that?
I try to focus on the good while still ensuring that I mention that the grammar wasn’t amazing. If I write a three paragraph review then as long as everything else was done really well then I’ll only focus one paragraph on the grammar and it’s likely to be a short, to the point paragraph at that.
How long does it take you to get through, say, an eighty thousand-word book?
It depends. If I don’t have anything that needs done or I don’t have anywhere to go then it will likely take me a day to a day and a half if I really enjoy the book and get drawn in. Otherwise it could take me up to a week, a week and a half.
How did you come up with your rating system, and could you explain more about the rating system?
I don’t really have much of a rating system on my blog. Of course when it comes to Amazon and Goodreads I give ratings and generally if I didn’t like a book but it was well written and the characters and plot were well done, I’ll give them at least three stars.
What advice could you give to authors looking to get their books reviewed?
Be sure to check out the blogs that you’re sending requests to. Maybe not an in depth view but if you make sure to read over their review policy and about me page, then you’ll be able to provide all the information they ask as well as be able to mention something small from their about me. There’s nothing that makes me happier than to have an author looking for their work to be reviewed to know my name, and mention something small that might have been mentioned in my review policy or on my about me page.
Do you get readers emailing you and thanking you for a review?
No, not yet.
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?
I very much agree with that. If you argue with the reviewer than you’re just making a situation that might not be that bad and blowing it into an even bigger mess then it needs to be. That will spread and you might lose potential readers over one ‘bad’ review that was blown up, shared and spread.
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 pastime is dying – do you think that’s the case?
I think reading gives people an escape from their ordinary lives. Nobody is perfectly happy all the time and reading gives people the chance to choose how they want things to go. If they want a happy ending then they know that they can find it in a book.
I do think reading as a pastime is dying. Books are being made into movies, technology is developing and taking over. I’m not saying that’s a bad thing because e-readers and e-reading apps are great, but at the same time, it’s a lot easier to get distracted from your book when you have Facebook or twitter, or social media in general to distract you. I’ve noticed that I’m reading a lot more (mostly thanks to my blog) but I also spend a lot of time on Facebook which takes away from my reading time.
About Writing
What are the most common mistakes that you see authors making?
Hmmmmm….a lot of times it’s just not getting the edits that are necessary to make a book amazing. A book can have an amazing plot, amazing, well developed characters but if the writing isn’t up to par then it takes away from those things. Authors are human and therefore they can’t write the perfect novel grammar wise, without help from editors.
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?
I do try to read past at least the first 100 pages. I find five pages doesn’t give me enough time. There’s been books that I’ve loved but it’s taken me a little while to get into the book and be grabbed by it. So I think if it works for others then great, but I personally can’t put a book down after five pages.
Is there anything you will not review?
Children’s fiction and non-fiction as well as horror. While I appreciate the lure of those genres for others, I’m no longer a child and I don’t have a child so I’m more interested in other genres. I read for an escape so reading non-fiction is also a no-go. And horror is not my type of genre because I generally dislike horror anything. I’m easily scared and that would make it hard to go to bed at night if I read a bunch of horror novels. But other than those three usually I’m open to everything. Although if I don’t like the sound of the synopsis I’m unlikely to review it.
About Publishing
What do you think of the oft-quoted comment that the “slush-pile has moved online”?
I can understand where it comes from as it’s much easier to publish in today’s age of technology. But at the same time that doesn’t mean that the book’s going to be popular. And maybe some books that might not have seen the light of day do, the author gets constructive criticism and creates a much better work than they may have if they tried publishing traditionally.
Do you think attitudes are changing with respect to indie or self-published titles?
I think that sometimes it does but then there are those dramas that go down that might affect it as well. I have to say that me personally, I would have not heard of a lot of the authors I’ve come to love if I hadn’t started my blog. So while I think indies and self-published titles are becoming thought of as successful and not necessarily something that’s done just because they can’t find a traditional publisher I also think that it’s still got a long way to go.
Do you have any ideas or comments on how the industry can ‘filter’ good from bad, aside from reviews?
Definitely check out the samples of books, make sure that it’s something you’re interested in and something that isn’t going to be your thing because of the writing style or the language. Other than that it’s just trying new things and being open to new ideas.
End of Interview:
You can read Aly’s reviews at Reading Shy with Aly.
