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A review by lkmreads
Write to Market: How I Write A Book That Will Sell Well In Its Genre by Kate Hall
informative
inspiring
reflective
fast-paced
3.0
I liked it, particularly the distinction of writing to market vs writing to a trend. It's pretty basic, though, and really, really short.
I'm not sure how I feel about some of the quotes in it regarding reviews, though.
Particularly:
"That's not always the case, but I've found that a lot of the people willing to 1-star a book without regard to the author are going to be impossible to please."
I mean, yes, as an author I like to look at reviews to see if there is something everyone brings up that might make me think it's something I need to improve on, or something that particularly hit home, but I also know the review isn't written for ME.
As a reader, my reviews are never meant for the author, but for the fellow reader.
What kind of "regard" does this author think we do or don't have for the author of the books we review, or rather, that we choose to one star? And why should we have that regard? I don't know if it's what she meant, but it makes it sound like she thinks I should not rate a book one star just because it's rude. But maybe I'm reading too much into it.
Then she went on:
"Just because someone left a 1-star review doesn't mean the book is bad or not worth reading, only that the book didn't meet that reader's expectations." And while this is good to remember, she immediately follows it up with "(Or, as I've seen with several Reverse Harem authors, the reader hate-reads the genre just to leave bad reviews, as they know there's no chance of them liking the book.)"
Now, I know there ARE some people who hate read stuff. And I know there are some people who read multiple in an attempt to give it a chance but then the genre doesn't resonate with them after all. But just how often does this happen to this author that she has to bring it up like this?
It feels like she's trying to make excuses for the many one start ratings on her books (I don't know if there are many, but now I am assuming there are and that the author is a bit bitter about them).
Also the assumption that 5 star reviews have nothing to give because the majority are "Omg, it was amazing!" and provide no insight on what they didn't like.
The whole ratings/review section just felt off to me as both reader and writer, I don't know. I could see where she was coming from but it felt off.
The rest was alright though.
I'm not sure how I feel about some of the quotes in it regarding reviews, though.
Particularly:
"That's not always the case, but I've found that a lot of the people willing to 1-star a book without regard to the author are going to be impossible to please."
I mean, yes, as an author I like to look at reviews to see if there is something everyone brings up that might make me think it's something I need to improve on, or something that particularly hit home, but I also know the review isn't written for ME.
As a reader, my reviews are never meant for the author, but for the fellow reader.
What kind of "regard" does this author think we do or don't have for the author of the books we review, or rather, that we choose to one star? And why should we have that regard? I don't know if it's what she meant, but it makes it sound like she thinks I should not rate a book one star just because it's rude. But maybe I'm reading too much into it.
Then she went on:
"Just because someone left a 1-star review doesn't mean the book is bad or not worth reading, only that the book didn't meet that reader's expectations." And while this is good to remember, she immediately follows it up with "(Or, as I've seen with several Reverse Harem authors, the reader hate-reads the genre just to leave bad reviews, as they know there's no chance of them liking the book.)"
Now, I know there ARE some people who hate read stuff. And I know there are some people who read multiple in an attempt to give it a chance but then the genre doesn't resonate with them after all. But just how often does this happen to this author that she has to bring it up like this?
It feels like she's trying to make excuses for the many one start ratings on her books (I don't know if there are many, but now I am assuming there are and that the author is a bit bitter about them).
Also the assumption that 5 star reviews have nothing to give because the majority are "Omg, it was amazing!" and provide no insight on what they didn't like.
The whole ratings/review section just felt off to me as both reader and writer, I don't know. I could see where she was coming from but it felt off.
The rest was alright though.