Feature: The Slippery Art of Book Reviewing

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Mayra Calvani

Articles in this feature

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• Interview with Gail Pool, Author of Faint Praise - The Plight of Book Reviewing in America

  "I think that good reviews have always been an endangered species," states Pool.

  Interview by Mayra Calvani — on Jun 30, 2008

• Interview with Judi Clark of MostlyFiction.com

  "If someone just wants free books, I recommend that they visit their local library," states Clark.

  Interview by Mayra Calvani — on Jun 29, 2008

• Interview with Hilary Williamson of BookLoons

  "We do write negative reviews when called for, but try to always end on a positive note," says Williamson.

  Interview by Mayra Calvani — on Jun 29, 2008

• Interview with Rachel Riebeling Durfor of Rebecca's Reads

  "To most authors, their book is like their baby, and you never tell a mother her newborn baby is kind of, well, unattractive."

  Interview by Mayra Calvani — on Jun 27, 2008

• Interview with Lea Schizas of Muse Book Reviews

  "Unfortunately, I do believe that many ‘writer friends’ who are reviewers do help fellow writers," states Schizas.

  Interview by Mayra Calvani — on Jun 26, 2008

• Interview with Andrea Sisco of Armchair Interviews

  "We'd like authors to remember: A review is one person's opinion," states Sisco.

  Interview by Mayra Calvani — on Jun 25, 2008

• Interview with Kevin Eagan of Blogcritics Magazine and There There Kid

  "The Internet is a great place to find some excellent review sites, but it's also rife with gushy fan forums that hold no weight," states Eagan.

  Interview by Mayra Calvani — on Jun 24, 2008

• Interview with Rachel Smith of Bitten by Books

  "Honest, subjective reviews garner the trust of your readers and endear them to actually listen and act upon your advice," states Smith.

  Interview by Mayra Calvani — on Jun 24, 2008

• Interview with Eveline Soors of Euro-Reviews

  "It is unprofessional of an author (or publisher) to directly attack a reviewer for just giving his or her opinion," states Soors.

  Interview by Mayra Calvani — on Jun 20, 2008

• Interview with Cheryl C. Malandrinos of The Book Connection

  "Give readers some credit; they don’t need biting marks from a reviewer to learn the areas where the book failed to meet a person’s expectations."

  Interview by Mayra Calvani — on Jun 19, 2008

• Interview with Katie McNeill of Blogcritics and Katie's Reading

  "I think that if you have a book to review, good or bad, you should review it," says Trattner.

  Interview by Mayra Calvani — on Jun 17, 2008

• Interview with Sharyn McGinty of In The Library Reviews

  "We don’t review to stroke an author’s ego," states McGinty.

  Interview by Mayra Calvani — on Jun 16, 2008

• Interview with Stephanie Padilla, New Mystery Reader

  "I've had my reviews critiqued just as closely as I've critiqued the book and it's always an eye opener," states Padilla.

  Interview by Mayra Calvani — on Jun 14, 2008

• Interview with Alex Moore, Book Review Editor of ForeWord Magazine

  "Some reviewers don't have the breadth of background to be aware of what has already been written - what's bad and what's good."

  Interview by Mayra Calvani — on Jun 13, 2008

• Interview with Lesa Holstine of Blogcritics Magazine and Lesa's Book Critiques

  "To be truly objective, we should probably only read books by authors we don’t know," says Holstine.

  Interview by Mayra Calvani — on Jun 12, 2008

• Interview with Bev Walton-Porter of Scribe & Quill

  "I don't believe advance review copies should be sold or donated under any circumstance," says Porter.

  Interview by Mayra Calvani — on Jun 12, 2008

• Interview with Ron Kavanaugh of Mosaic Literary Magazine

  "Some authors should never be published and I think it's a reviewer's responsibility to critique to that extent," states Kavanaugh.

  Interview by Mayra Calvani — on Jun 09, 2008

• Interview with Carolyn Howard-Johnson of The New Book Review

  "Paying for something undermines its credibility. And, yes, that even applies to the paid reviews that Kirkus does."

  Interview by Mayra Calvani — on Jun 07, 2008

• Interview with Magdalena Ball of The Compulsive Reader and Blogcritics Magazine

  "I think that the term 'legitimate' is full of emotion and fraught with danger!" states Ball.

  Interview by Mayra Calvani — on Jun 05, 2008

• Interview with Irene Watson, Managing Editor of Reader Views

  "It takes a lot of time, effort, and funds to have a book review site," says Watson.

  Interview by Mayra Calvani — on Jun 03, 2008