Book Blogger Confessions is a meme that allows book bloggers to discuss issues unique to what we encounter in the blogging world. Every 1st Monday of the month we will post a question and invite you to answer, comment and discuss opinions and different views.
Please keep the dialogue courteous. No bashing!
If you would like to participate in this meme sign up below and please feel free to to grab the button to include in your post with a link to For What It's Worth Reviews or here at Midnyte Reader.
Question:
Have you ever e-mailed an author to tell them you loved/disliked their book? As a book reviewer, do you think we should cross that line?
Do you mind when authors re-tweet or comment on reviews? Does that intimidate you in any way in regards to review writing, knowing that they may be reading it?
Do author interactions - both pro or con - change how you view their work?
Answer:
I've never e-mailed an author one way or the other about their book. But I have tweeted them if I've liked/loved it. I would not e-mail or tweet an author if I did not like their book. I know a lot of people do it, but really I think it would be unkind and what would be the point? It's enough if I'm reviewing it. I'm getting my thoughts out there. I'm telling my fellow readers my opinion. If the author happens to read a less than stellar review I feel bad, but I've never had any problems (knock wood). Also, if I don't love a book, I won't tweet about the review as much as when I do love it. However, this is just me. If someone wants to e-mail an author that they didn't like their book, that is their business.
To be honest, I do get a little freaked out when an author comments on a negative review. I guess I get worried that it will turn into a "thing." You know, a meltdown, a scandal or something similar. But then again, I don't think that my blog or my opinion has that much power to put an author over the edge. One author did tweet me that his next book would be better or that I might like it better. I was kind of like "yipes." But I have to remember that I only write (or say) what I would tell that author personally if they were in my writing class. I'm very happy when authors re-tweet a review because it's validating.
Author interactions definitely change how I view their work. If an author has a meltdown or is somehow involved in poor behavior, I probably won't read their books. It just turns me off. I have enough books to read as it is. On the flip side, when I meet an author and like them, I'll be more likely to pick up something they have written. I think this is especially true when I see them speak and they talk about their characters or their writing process. It is as if knowing them, even in a public forum such as a signing or on Twitter, allows me to see a little slice of their brain and that is intriguing.
How about you? How do you view author interactions?
