Do you think it’s okay for reviewers to resell the books they review?

Yes. Though most people I know (including myself) like to hold onto the good books, so it is not really an issue. Selling books online doesn’t actually make money, but it does pay for shipping the book to the new owner. Also, selling books to brick and mortar bookstores is usually for credit and it often takes three to five books to get enough credit to buy one book (and even then you have to pay some cash). Selling books is usually more of a way to manage the book piles that are getting out of control in the house. For me, I have found that it is much easier to just gather up the books and drop them off at my local library, as I suspect is true for most people who are getting ten or more unsolicited books a week.

Advance review copies (ARCs) are not supposed to be sold and I do not know of any bookstores that will take these. It is a complete mystery to me as to how someone rids themselves of an ARC for money. That said, I have purchased ARCs in used bookstores. This fact only further exacerbates the mystery.

Anyway, my agreement with the reviewers is that when I send them a book it is theirs to keep as it is the only “pay” that I can give them. They can do anything that they want with it, which means they can add it to their bookshelf, donate it to the library, sell it or leave it for someone to find by chance at the Laundromat.

When everyone has an e-reader and ARCs and review copies are sent vie e-mail, then we will not have to worry about managing our paper books. I think this will be a sad day for me, but a happy day for my husband.

What are the most common mistakes amateur reviewers make?

Writing a book report instead of a book review is one thing. But there is also a lot of careless bad writing. Some people do not rewrite and reorganize. They seem to think that the way the words fall out of their heads is perfectly good. They just rattle off their thoughts.

Also, people need to think about what they read. Answer questions like, how does the title relate to the book, if there an unusual chapter structure, how does this affect the book. In other words, answer questions on “how” as well as “what” and “who” and “when.” I am always surprised when a reviewer does not mention a thing about “where” the story is located. If the location is not important, well that is something worth mentioning too but location is often intricately a part of a book. If the reviewer does not like a character, does that make the book good or bad? More readable or less readable? Do you need to relate to this character to be able to enjoy the book? If there is a structural issue, think about how it affects the book, assume that the author chose to do this on purpose, then consider the purpose and its affect on reading the book. No review should just jump to a conclusion that it is faulty without an exploration of the author’s motives. Does the chosen point of view help or hurt the story’s purpose? Usually exploring these deeper questions results in a better reading of the book and better review writing.