Tuesday 30 October 2012

Reviews - Love Them Or Leave Them



I like to say reviews are written by readers, for readers, and there is no place for the author in this part of the business. I also like to not read reviews of my books. I’m as successful at that as someone not looking while they drive by a car accident. But I’m getting better.  

The reason I’m talking about reviews is I have responded to comments readers have made about my novella, Out of Control, by adding an epilogue. Although the book is a novella, and I think I have that right in the title, people seem to want more. Which is a good thing, except some (enough) found the ending too abrupt. The interesting thing is my editor, my experienced and multi-published critique partners and a handful of writer friends didn’t have a problem with the ending at all. This is why I believe authors (me) shouldn’t read reviews - it’s hard to interpret what readers really mean.

So I’m looking at this as an experiment. Will readers appreciate the new ending more than the old one or will they still want more? It takes a while for ebook stores to list new or amended books. One or two of the stores have the newer edition up already, I imagine. I’d be interested in hearing what people think of the new edition of Out of Control. I’m also curious to know if readers read reviews. You can leave a comment here if you like. If you write a review, well, I may be able to avoid it for at least, say, two weeks tops?