Rules To Book Reviewing.
And for the love of all things good, use the spoiler button.
Author John Updike has a list of six rules for book reviewers.
They are:
-Try to understand what the author intended to write, and don’t punish him or her for something she or he did not attempt to do.
-Provide enough quotations from the work to give the review reader a feel for the quality of the prose.
-Confirm your description of the work with quotations and other evidence from it.
-Limit your plot summary, and never give away the ending. Don’t spoil the experience for others.
-When a book is deficient in quality, cite similar examples of good books (perhaps even by the same author). Try to understand and explain what went wrong; don’t just do a “hatchet job.”
-Don’t review books you are predisposed to dislike or like (for instance, one written by a friend); don’t see yourself as a caretaker for some tradition or standard of literature; don’t try to put an author “in his place” with your critique; and always review the book, not the reputation.
I agree with most of what he has said. I also believe there should be a soul when reviewing books. Let us see why it endears you to it or why it makes you pull out your hair.
Some reviewers believe that you shouldn’t be overly personal about reviews, maybe if you are writing for a major newspaper or magazine but I believe we should hear you in your reviews. Big words are good but sincerity and genuineness are what win people over.
If you can find a way to communicate through big and flowery words while making it heartfelt then great, but I believe sincerity should be topmost.
Another thing I stand by is not writing a review when you really have nothing to say. There is this saying, if you don’t have anything good to say, don’t say anything. I know some people would go but how does that help the other readers trying to make their decisions? If you must write, be nice about it. Like John said, you don’t have to be overly harsh about it.
I know some authors deserve the criticism they get (Coughs, grey something) but some are in their growing stage and they would get better. This is a phase they have to pass through. Even some established authors make a flop once in a while.
I personally don’t really provide quotations when reviewing except they really hit me. If I am quoting, then it really made an impact on me. If this is something you do normally, please continue. There are those who appreciate it.
Tell us what you love about the book and what you don’t like. That way it is balanced. This is to curb the overly cristism that often occurs. No matter how bad a book is, there must be something you love about it. Our bias might want to come out and play and who am I kidding, they would come out to play, just give peace a chance.
There are times that the things you dislike, heartily dislike, are what the next bookworm likes, they get to see it in your words and decide for themselves. Don’t assume for them.
I have already ranted in a previous post about spoilers so I wouldn’t do it here again but just for clarity; if you are putting spoilers in a review, kindly use the spoiler button so that they can be on their guard. Thank you.
Your main focus should be how to guide others in making a great book decision and leading them on a journey that would broaden their horizon.
Happy book reviewing!
Below this is a clap icon. You can hold down the clap icon continuously on a single post for as many as fifty times, this reveals how you felt about the post and helps other people see my entries. You can also comment too, I would love to hear your thoughts.
So kindly clap for me as often as you can.
