Friday, November 12, 2010

What Do You Want To Know?

I am going to switch things around today.

I have shared quite a few things that I felt were relevant to writing reviews and I'm thrilled with the comments I've received.

But now I ask, "What do you want to know? What would you ask a reviewer if you could?"

This is your turn to quiz me. Ask me anything about reviews that you want. If I don't know the answer, I'll have the great folks at LASR/Whipped Cream Reviews come by and help out.

Anyone can ask from fellow reviewers, authors or readers thinking about becoming reviewers.
I've said my piece and I've had fun but now I'm ready to find out:

What do YOU want to know about reviewing or being a reviewer? 


Thursday, November 11, 2010

What Else Do You Say Once You've Said It?

That's what I'd like to know.
I've covered the basics and even provided examples.
Other than reviewers re-visiting to refresh their understanding of
reviews, what else is there to say?

What should this blog focus on now? I don't want to be a broken record - remember those? LOL - someday, most people won't.

How about if you ask me some questions? What would you like to see on this blog? What opinions have I stated that you'd like clarification on?

I'm game for a Q & A session.

I could also use this blog as a glorified self-promotion of the reviews that I do for LASR and Whipped Cream Reviews but it'd be so one-sided, where's the fun in that?

I know.

How about the subject of reviewing anthologies!
I really would enjoy a discussion on the best way to approach reviewing them.

I don't know if it's this way for all review sites but anthologies tend to scare the bejeebies out of reviewers. Reading them is all fine and dandy. I found a lot of the authors I read now via anthologies - Nancy Warren and Lori Foster come to mind.

But reviewing them? Yikes. Those are the types of books that tend to languish the longest. I think they can be overwhelming. I once read an erotic anthology of twenty-one stories. And no, I did not review it. Even I was wary of doing it. Where to start and how do you rate a book when perhaps six out of them tanked while some were stellar and some were mediocre reading? How can a reviewer do justice to each individual story within the anthology without ending up writing their own book about the book?

And how many is too many to expect a reviewer to review? Two? Three?

What should the format look like? What has worked for other reviewers?

And get this. Since anthologies have limited blurb space as well, a reviewer actually has to allude to a brief synopsis to explain the story within the book. How crazy is that! I've said NO SYNOPSIS for all reviews and I'm admitting that there is a loophole.

I think it's the only time a small, and I do mean small, bit of synopsistic - is that even a word? -  or synopsised?  - sharing is allowed.

Did you just faint? LOL
Yes, I did say it was alright for a small bit of synopsis to help with an anthology review. But Spoilers are still a major no-no. There are no loopholes for those.

So, again I ask you, what is the successful format for reviewing an anthology. Anyone want to share their thoughts/opinions?

Let me know.