Good or bad, I've always told my reviewers to be honest when reviewing the books they receive. If a book costs $20 as a paperback (very true with some publishers like PublishAmerica for example) and the book is only mediocre at best, I find it very hard to recommend the book for purchasing. Only if the quality is exceptional will I give it a glowing review.
With this in mind, a recent lawsuit (http://www.switched.com/2007/08/22/blogger-sued-for-negative-book-reviews/) has gained attention. In this case, a very negative review has led to a libel lawsuit. At this point the outcome is yet to be determined, but it does offer food for thought. Must reviewers sugarcoat the truth in order to save themselves from the wrath of authors?
I've never been threatened to this extreme, but I did once have an author demand I take a review down for pointing out errors made in the storyline. I was threatened with the atypical "If you don't take the review down, I will tell all of my writing groups and publisher to blacklist you." In the end, it wasn't worth the barrage of emails I got so I took it down, but the authors who emailed me defending the original author and the author herself were added to my list of authors I would never review again.
Another time, I had an author (he was a retired cop) make a comment that I better hope I was never in his former jurisdiction because he'd told his friends my name. A quick note to that publisher guaranteed he would never talk to me again and that I would never review his books again.
In all of my 7 years reviewing, two incidents really isn't surprising. However, I now wonder how many emails someone like Mrs. Giggles receives. Her book and music reviews are usually very honest, and refreshingly funny.
At what point do negative reviews become libel? It's hard to say, what's hurtful to the author may never have been intended that way. It all makes me wonder how far this lawsuit will go.
Wednesday, August 22, 2007
Tuesday, August 14, 2007
Previous discussion of Associated Content
I have posted raves over the is website in the past. Unfortunately, now I have to revise my statement. The winds are changing at AC, which in itself is not a bad thing, but it became apparent to me that they are not reading the articles they are rejecting.
I have been writing for them since April, usually just posting my rants or restaurant reviews for places in the area. My latest restaurant review was rejected after three weeks of it being pending. They rejected it with a note saying I should resubmit it after adding the name of the restaurant, city, and state. The problem is that all of this information was in the review to start.
I opted to hit their forums and see if others had the same problem. Apparently, I am not alone with the frequent rejections. On top of this, if you resubmit an article without editing it too many times, they will ban you from the site. So it is a lose lose situation now.
In the end, I'd really love to promote this neat Vietnamese Restaurant in St. Albans, VT. The newspaper in the area would not take content from a reader, so AC was my second choice. It's not going to happen there either unless their editors wake up and read the articles.
I have been writing for them since April, usually just posting my rants or restaurant reviews for places in the area. My latest restaurant review was rejected after three weeks of it being pending. They rejected it with a note saying I should resubmit it after adding the name of the restaurant, city, and state. The problem is that all of this information was in the review to start.
I opted to hit their forums and see if others had the same problem. Apparently, I am not alone with the frequent rejections. On top of this, if you resubmit an article without editing it too many times, they will ban you from the site. So it is a lose lose situation now.
In the end, I'd really love to promote this neat Vietnamese Restaurant in St. Albans, VT. The newspaper in the area would not take content from a reader, so AC was my second choice. It's not going to happen there either unless their editors wake up and read the articles.
Monday, August 06, 2007
Skipping to the End
How many of you are guilty of skipping to the last couple of pages of a book, peeking at the ending, and then going back and reading where you left off? I'm notorious for it, especially when reading mysteries.
I read a lot of mysteries and find that usually by the time I'm halfway through the book I have a strong suspicion on the culprit. Most of the time, if I reach this point, I'll go see if I'm right. Don't get me wrong, I still finish the book, but that sleuth in me loves to know if I'm right.
I have friends who do the same thing while others ask if it spoils the book. For me, it really doesn't. If I know the ending, I feel glee at having solved the case in advance. I still will go back and read it just to find out how long it takes the real sleuth in the novel to figure it out. Half the time I find myself annoyed that the hero/heroine isn't as perceptive.
I know others who will read the end of a romance to make sure it ends as they like it, otherwise they'll forgo reading the book and move onto something else.
Over the weekend, my mom informed me that she finished reading one mystery and was horrified with the ending. I'm not going to give the title or author away, but the book ends with the main character dying instead of the criminal. Now truthfully this is a stroke of brillance on the author's part because he/she is going against the norm and introducing a strong dose of reality. However, it also ticked off readers who are now certain they will not read a book by this author ever again. So in the end, I wonder if the author has done him/herself a favor or giving all future books a kiss of death? Only time will tell...
I read a lot of mysteries and find that usually by the time I'm halfway through the book I have a strong suspicion on the culprit. Most of the time, if I reach this point, I'll go see if I'm right. Don't get me wrong, I still finish the book, but that sleuth in me loves to know if I'm right.
I have friends who do the same thing while others ask if it spoils the book. For me, it really doesn't. If I know the ending, I feel glee at having solved the case in advance. I still will go back and read it just to find out how long it takes the real sleuth in the novel to figure it out. Half the time I find myself annoyed that the hero/heroine isn't as perceptive.
I know others who will read the end of a romance to make sure it ends as they like it, otherwise they'll forgo reading the book and move onto something else.
Over the weekend, my mom informed me that she finished reading one mystery and was horrified with the ending. I'm not going to give the title or author away, but the book ends with the main character dying instead of the criminal. Now truthfully this is a stroke of brillance on the author's part because he/she is going against the norm and introducing a strong dose of reality. However, it also ticked off readers who are now certain they will not read a book by this author ever again. So in the end, I wonder if the author has done him/herself a favor or giving all future books a kiss of death? Only time will tell...
Wednesday, August 01, 2007
Changes to the RTR Site
I was starting to feel tha the website was getting too cluttered, so I've done away with some of the pages (particularly the Welcome page) that few visited anyway. Instead, everyone is welcome to come in and read about my current "ramble." I love to talk, I'm an excellent gossip (I guess that depends on who you are), and I think far too many people sit back and keep their mouths shut in today's world. Sitting and ignoring an issue doesn't make it go away. I'm far happier witching about it and hoping that maybe one person might listen and take something away from the conversation.
Those who know me well generally know all about my neighbors. In a nutshell, they are the most predictable family known to man. There are certain things that the kids have done or said that signaled impending doom. When the daughter turned up pregnant this winter around six months after graduating, I can't say I was surprised. The daughter's motivationally-challenged boyfriend had been allowed to move into the house with them during the daughter's senior year. To me that was a sure signal that the daughter would start to lose any responsibility she had towards sex. My heart broke, however, when I soon learned that her almost 16 year old brother, a kid I tried to set on the right path from the time he was 8, was also entering impending fatherhood. Part of me feels bad that I gave up hope on him two years ago, maybe he might have been spared...he's never been a good student and now that he's about to become a dad, I honestly can't see him motivated to stay in school.
This has weighed heavily on my mind for most of the summer. The lack of protection used by both of these teens isn't a great thing. So now a family of five is about to become a family of seven, plus the on-again, off-again boyfriend/father of the daughter's baby. They all must fit into one tiny house that can't be more than 1100 square feet.
Then in the news this past week have been two tragic stories regarding women who had babies, killed them, and went on to have other babies. The woman in Maryland obviously hid her pregnancies well, but how can she put her body through the birthing process time and time again. You can go to any Planned Parenthood and get on the pill and then follow this with the use of condoms. I can think of many men and women who would have given both arms and a leg for these babies. Instead, they were tossed aside like last week's garbage. It horrifies me.
Today, I woke up and read the headlines. A woman out in California was having babies and dumping them in various locations. I don't get the mentality. How can you have a baby and just dump it? Again, has this woman heard of birth control? I'm sickened. I know there are those who say this is inhumane, but perhaps people who have been convicted of crimes this horrendous should undergo mandatory sterilization to prevent another innocent newborn from death.
Those who know me well generally know all about my neighbors. In a nutshell, they are the most predictable family known to man. There are certain things that the kids have done or said that signaled impending doom. When the daughter turned up pregnant this winter around six months after graduating, I can't say I was surprised. The daughter's motivationally-challenged boyfriend had been allowed to move into the house with them during the daughter's senior year. To me that was a sure signal that the daughter would start to lose any responsibility she had towards sex. My heart broke, however, when I soon learned that her almost 16 year old brother, a kid I tried to set on the right path from the time he was 8, was also entering impending fatherhood. Part of me feels bad that I gave up hope on him two years ago, maybe he might have been spared...he's never been a good student and now that he's about to become a dad, I honestly can't see him motivated to stay in school.
This has weighed heavily on my mind for most of the summer. The lack of protection used by both of these teens isn't a great thing. So now a family of five is about to become a family of seven, plus the on-again, off-again boyfriend/father of the daughter's baby. They all must fit into one tiny house that can't be more than 1100 square feet.
Then in the news this past week have been two tragic stories regarding women who had babies, killed them, and went on to have other babies. The woman in Maryland obviously hid her pregnancies well, but how can she put her body through the birthing process time and time again. You can go to any Planned Parenthood and get on the pill and then follow this with the use of condoms. I can think of many men and women who would have given both arms and a leg for these babies. Instead, they were tossed aside like last week's garbage. It horrifies me.
Today, I woke up and read the headlines. A woman out in California was having babies and dumping them in various locations. I don't get the mentality. How can you have a baby and just dump it? Again, has this woman heard of birth control? I'm sickened. I know there are those who say this is inhumane, but perhaps people who have been convicted of crimes this horrendous should undergo mandatory sterilization to prevent another innocent newborn from death.
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