If you have a published book, you may already know something about book reviews. You’ve received a few or many—depending on how aggressively you’ve researched and approached reviewers. I’ve blogged many times about the process of getting book reviews and I’ve provided links to reviewer directories. Today, however, I want to talk about the different types of reviews we get. As you’ve probably discovered, not all reviewers think alike or review in the same manner. Here are some of the review variations you might encounter:
- The reviewer describes your book or the plot and doesn’t give his or her opinion of the book.
- The reviewer has a strict evaluation system and sticks firmly to it.
- The reviewer (generally a casual reader) gushes about the story and the characters and encourages sequels. (Authors love this reviewer.)
- The reviewer hates the story and says so.
- The reviewer nitpicks one aspect of the story—too many uses of “gosh,” too much (or not enough) romance, too much (or not enough) suspense, one character unlikable (unbelievable, shallow, etc.).
- The reviewer obviously doesn’t like this genre or an aspect of the type of story (animals, teens, Westerns, comedies, historical settings, etc.)
- The reviewer was negatively influenced by his/her own issues. He tried to read it when he was tired, in a bad mood, distracted, upset…Had he picked it up at another time, he may have thoroughly enjoyed it.
- The reviewer has a very different sense of humor and could not relate to your attempt at humor or light-reading.
Seasoned authors can probably add to this list. I think the thing we need to remember is that a review is simply an opinion.