In Defense of Authors Perceived as Behaving Badly

The Guardian published a piece on How not to handle bad reviews, and quoted science fiction author Isaac Asimov who said authors fall into two groups: “Those who bleed copiously and visibly at any bad review, and those who bleed copiously and secretly at any bad review.”

Then Dog Star Media says, of fighting negative reviews online, that, “There are harsh rules in opinion-making. One bad review can really hurt you. There is no way to fight opinion with opinion. The only safe answer for control is to be positive all the time, frequently and in great volume. … If the conversation is going on and you are not part of it, it is more than likely that you will be painted inaccurately. By being part of the conversation, you can keep it accurate and begin to control the conversation by putting a greater emphasis on your opinion. … There is a saying about the basics of Public Relations. It goes like this: You can fight fact with fact but you cannot fight opinion with opinion.”

But before an author can fight opinions with facts that support the quality of his or her work, he or she must go out and find facts from reputable sources—not from anonymous reviewers, friends or family.

With review space in the traditional media shrinking, where does an author find reputable sources that do not charge to review?

The Midwest Book Review is one but Midwest reviews less than a third of the books submitted to them. The other option is to find Blogs that review books and do not charge a dollar price to do it. I suggest finding Blogs with an Alexa ranking in the top 1%—or near it, but Blogs that review books must also earn a credible reputation, which is why I suggest only submitting to Blogs that are ranked in the top 1% by Alexa.

But how do you come up with that one percent?

Royal Pingdom.com reported December 2011 that there were 555 million Websites; 800+ million users on Facebook; 39 million Tumbler Blogs; 70 million WordPress Blogs and that there were 2.4 billion social networking accounts worldwide.

To come up with a 1% number, I use the total number of Websites, which means a Book Review Blog should have an Alexa ranking of at least 5.5 million or lower. I also look for the number of people that subscribe to that Blog as members and/or followers.

For two examples:

Peeking Between the Pages had a 1.7 million Alexa traffic rank when I checked with 384 sites linked in and 1,363 members in addition to 253 followers. The Review Policy says, “Due to the overwhelming number of requests I do get I am selective about what I pick to read and review. I will only choose to review those books which I feel I will have an interest in.”

Another Blog that reviews books is So Many Precious Books, So Little Time and it had a 4.9 million Alexa ranking with 305 sites linked in. This Book Blog has 708 members and 127 followers. The review policy says, “… I am not able to accept all review requests as I get so many. I am not able to reply to all requests …”

Where do you find Blogs that review self-published books? Well, Book Reviewer Yellow Pages is a good place to start, and this site also has an excellent Alexa ranking.

In addition, I also submit my work to the Writer’s Digest Self-Published Book Awards. Yes, it costs money to enter this contest but all entrants will receive a brief commentary from the judges that is similar to a review—that is as long as Writer’s Digest keeps this policy.

I have posted two judges’ commentaries on my Websites and you may see them by clicking on the following links.

My Splendid Concubine and Our Hart

Everyone has an opinion and that opinion should be treated with respect, but that does not mean an author has to lie down and take a beating when there is evidence from reputable sources such as The Midwest Book Review, a Writer’s Digest Judge, or Book Blogs like Peeking Between the Pages and So Many Precious Books, So Little Time that may offer a positive review building an author’s credibility to counter negative reviews.

Continued on January 22, 2013 in Part 3 of In Defense of Authors Perceived as Behaving Badly or return to Part 1

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Lloyd Lofthouse, a former U.S. Marine and Vietnam Veteran, is the award winning author of The Concubine Saga.

His latest novel is Running with the Enemy. Blamed for a crime he did not commit while serving in Vietnam, his country considers him a traitor. Ethan Card is a loyal U.S. Marine desperate to prove his innocence or he will never go home again.

And the woman he loves and wants to save was trained to hate and kill Americans.

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