Reviewing / Blogging can be daunting!
I have been reviewing books, mostly YA titles for almost 4 years
now and I am by no means a professional in any way, it’s purely a hobby and
something I do in the hopes of sharing my thoughts and opinions with like-minded
readers, we won’t always like the same title but it’s always great to get
another perspective.
Each reviewer is different and I try at times to mix things up with
my structure but I always revert to same format for some reason, I suppose it
is what I am now comfortable with and also the fact I’m hopeless when it comes
to change. Every time I write a review, unless I’m on a strict schedule I find
myself reading, re-reading (x10+) to make sure it makes some semblance of sense, is
anyone else like this?
When I schedule a post or check my blog to ensure it has gone live
I still get flutters and worry it doesn’t make sense – I always wonder if I
will upset an author if I didn’t like something they have put so much time into
or a reader that absolutely loved a book I despised, I like readers to make up
their own minds and don’t like to discourage anyone hence why I try to put in
my likes for a book, no matter how small as well as my dislikes in my posts.
It’s even more daunting when a blogging friend buys a book based on
my recommendation; it scares the bejeezes out of me at times but then we can’t
all love the same book and author can we? I have to admit, I base a lot of my
purchases on other bloggers reviews or I hate to admit it, the GoodReads rating
– I don’t want to be the person to discourage someone from trying a book, what
I hate someone else most definitely loves.
Does anyone else feel this way? I find the whole process at times daunting but I'm also quite an anxious person - trying to decide what to read, putting my thoughts in order, formatting and scheduling a post etc, etc, etc, reviewing is scary at
times but I suppose it's an essential part of blogging!
What are your thoughts?
I really loved your post...I rely on goodreads reviews, because unlike amazon, I trust those that I am friends with and have talked books with. When I do my reviews, I try to be honest, but still have some positive elements in them too. I feel like when I do a review, I always wonder if I included enough or written too much. Loved reading your thoughts on this, I can easily relate to it.
ReplyDeleteA perspective from an author and a reader: we respect book bloggers immensely for their integrity, and we know it takes a certain courage to share an opinion publicly. Perhaps think of it this way: when you write what's in your heart to write in your review, then whatever the content, you're hugely helping the book-loving community.
ReplyDeleteAh Sharon, let it go. Your reviews are wonderful and after following you I have a sense of what you like and don't like and can judge whether or not I would like the book. I am coming up on 4 years and still check and double check my reviews (mostly for spelling which I truly suck at) but we are all different and I don't panic if someone doesn't like a book they bought on my recommendation since I was honest. As for authors I am always fair and occasionally I will get feedback from them about why wasn't it a 4 etc, but it is rare.
ReplyDeleteI try not to worry about it. It can be scary when people get books because of your review (or dont get it) but everyone has such different taste. Blogging can be hard thought, I totally agree!
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