23 of 24 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A Must for Aspiring Reviewers, December 1, 2008
This review is from: The Slippery Art of Book Reviewing (Perfect Paperback)
"Are you passionate about books? Do you have a talent for easily capturing the essence of a book after reading it? Do you often feel the desire to share your thoughts about a book with readers? If you answered `yes' to these questions, then book reviewing can be one of the most satisfying, rewarding activities you'll ever undertake." - From The Slippery Art of Book Reviewing (Preface)
As an Amazon.com Top Reviewer, I often get emails from readers asking me how I became a reviewer, as well as requests for tips on getting started. I even had an independent publisher ask me to write an instructional book on how to write a great review.
Alas, my passion is actually writing reviews--not writing about reviews, or coaching others on how to create them (or enter the vocation/business of reviewing). Thankfully, I can now point aspiring writers to an excellent book called The Slippery Art of Book Reviewing by Mayra Calvani and Anne K. Edwards.
When Ms Calvani approached me about her book, I was intrigued and excited. Finally, I thought, someone has taken the time to explain the necessary mechanics of a quality review!
From grammar skills to critical reading, ethical considerations to honest (but tactful) reviewing, the authors reveal the secrets of what separates amateurs from the pros. A few of the informative, helpful areas include:
* Reviewing a book for what it is, not what the reviewer wishes it was
* Signs of an amateur
* Five keys to being a good reviewer
* The harmful practices of both sugarcoated and caustic reviews
* A reviewer's responsibility to the reader, author and publisher
* The difference between book reviews, reports and press releases
* How to handle backlash resulting from a negative review
* Pre-publication versus post-publication reviews
* Dozens of print and online venues for getting started as a reviewer
The only (minor) qualm I have with in this book is the section on ascertaining readership. The authors write, "For instance, a mystery by Agatha Christie would be slanted towards the reader in their thirties or older. This can be judged by the age of the main character or detective, for example. If the character or detective solving the crime is under thirty-five, this is a book that would appeal to the younger set."
Their subsequent logic didn't ring true with my own reading experience. For example, by the time I graduated High School, I had read just about every book by Agatha Christie (not to mention those by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, Mary Higgins Clark, Robin Cook, Stephen King, and Dean Koontz--as well as many of the classics). Now, as a 38-year-old lover of books, juvenile and Young Adult fiction are two of my favorite genres. Personally, I feel that identifying readership is, indeed, important--but not necessarily based on the age of characters.
The Slippery Art of Book Reviewing also deconstructs actual reviews, explaining why certain elements are needed and work well or, in the case of poorly written reviews, why certain elements must be eliminated altogether for a professional, objective presentation.
For reviewers who want to hone their skills and discover additional reviewing opportunities, this book is an engaging, useful read. (I wish this book had been available when I started. Instead, I had to master the art of reviewing on my own!)
For those who are considering book reviewing as a hobby or career, reading (and owning) The Slippery Art of Book Reviewing is an absolute must--especially for those who want to be taken seriously and garner a reputation as a quality reviewer.
-- Janet Boyer, author of The Back in Time Tarot Book
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16 of 17 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Review Advice and Resources: The Perfect Combination, July 25, 2008
This review is from: The Slippery Art of Book Reviewing (Perfect Paperback)
I have long advocated reviewing as a way for freelance writers to begin a career and for the authors of books to network with other authors and lots of editors. The trouble is there are few books that approach the subject from any but the most traditional, literary and academic point of view.
The world has turned, and turned...and turned. We now have Amazon and other online bookstores. We have online review sites that specialize in the quick and easy (for screen-tired eyes and busy people) to those who prefer edgy or esoteric. There is room for all and Calvani and Edwards address that.
What I like best, though, is the lists of publications in their last chapters. Those pages are a veritable storehouse of helpful information for any would-be reviewer but also for any author who would like to get reviewed!
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Carolyn Howard-Johnson is the author of the award-winning HowToDoIt series of books for writers.
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7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
A wealth of information in a concise format, January 12, 2009
This review is from: The Slippery Art of Book Reviewing (Perfect Paperback)
Mayra Calvari and Anne K Edwards do an outstanding job relaying important information about the art of reviewing books. Calvari and Edwards provide several examples of reviews based on your target audience. Calvari and Edwards also discuss writing style for different types of reviews i.e. reviewing for an online service such as Amazon versus reviewing for a newspaper or magazine. The only draw back that I see to this book is that Calvari and Edwards didn't really cover much about writing reviews for technical books.
The Calvary and Edwards also talk about writing overly positive reviews or overly negative reviews and how to write a negative review or positive review. There are several review examples based on the same story, long reviews, short reviews, positive and negative so that the reader gets a good idea how to structure their review. There is a section that talks about various writing pitfalls to avoid that make you look like a novice which was helpful to me.
In The slippery art of reviewing Clavari and Edwards also discuss various online sites that accept reviews like Amazon versus other online sites that you have to pay to post your reviews. There is a lot site included in this book with the urls.
Calvari and Edwards also cover setting up your own website for reviewing, best practices for getting it started, how to plan the for it, getting your web presence known and how to contact publishers for ARC's (Advance Reading Copy's).
Calvari and Edwards also cover the difference between writing pre release reviews for publishers versus post release reviews for the general public. They discuss what publishers are looking for in a pre release review and how to address issues if you feel that you can't write the review the way they would like it to be written.
I highly recommend this book for the novice to intermediate reviewer, especially if your trying to get your name known and you want to turn your reviewing hobby into a profession. At the back of the book there is an abundance of contact information regarding contacts for various publishers, online and print media. Amazon reviewers will find this book especially interesting because there are several references to Amazon and the impact that reviews on Amazon have on a books sales.
The Slippery art of reviewing is well thought out and very easy to read,understand and very helpful. Five stars for the beginning reviewer, 4 stars for the intermediate reviewer. This is the books intended audience but there is good information even for the experienced reviewer.
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