chipper1. I don't link to every positive review I find.
Yes, good is good, and everybody likes a little good news, but some reviews are very brief, or don't say anything especially new. I appreciate and am honored by every review that I receive. That doesn't mean I want to subject people to the all-reviews, all-the-time channel. That's a good way to get myself hit.
2. I don't go looking for reviews.
I'm way past the point of ego-surfing looking for reviews of my books, and I've found that, on the whole, I'm happier if I only read the things people email me links to, or that are found by my Google spiders. So if I don't post about your awesome review full of witty comments and deep thoughts, it may be because I never saw it. Or it may be because, as now, I'm three books behind in the file. Both things can happen.
3. I don't read Amazon or Goodreads reviews at all.
This is a hard rule. For serious. Some of the reviews posted on those sites seem to have been written by people who think authors don't have feelings, and while I try to say "judging the work, not judging me," it's really hard when people get personal. So I just don't go there, and everyone stays happier.
4. I don't generally link to negative reviews unless they have something really interesting to say.
I've had a few people say, somewhat sharply, that I'm a Pollyanna when it comes to reviews; I just post the good ones. This is largely true. There are two reasons for this: one is selfish, and one is altruistic. Selfishly...this is my journal. Why should I link to people saying bad things about my stories? I love those stories. They're my babies. Altruistically, most of the people who read this journal are here because they love those stories, too. I don't want to unleash a swarm of flying monkeys on some blogger who was just having an honest opinion, and then found themselves unexpectedly linked to by the author. It's not nice, it's not fair, and I'm not that kind of a girl.
5. I make no promises as to the timeliness of my links.
I have had one reviewer—just one—email and yell at me because their long, thoughtful review hadn't been linked to three weeks after it was posted. It's August, and I'm posting reviews from October. I love linking to reviews. It makes me happy. But wow, are there no guarantees as to when it's going to happen.
A vague disclaimer is nobody's friend!
August 5 2011, 17:41:45 UTC 5 years ago
vs.
"This author can't write her way out of a paper bag."
"The emotional responses of character X were unbelievable to me..."
vs.
"The author has clearly never experienced grief, and shouldn't try to write about it."
"I did not care for this book."
vs.
"This dumb bitch can't write, and should stop pretending she can."
All "personal" examples paraphrased from real reviews. The "dumb bitch" is a direct quote.
August 6 2011, 14:51:48 UTC 5 years ago