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The Slippery Art of Book Reviewing

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"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

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!
----
Carolyn Howard-Johnson is the author of the award-winning HowToDoIt series of books for writers.

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.

This book deals in depth with all possible aspects of book reviews and reviewers.

In Part One, The Art of Reviewing, the authors examine what a book review is, comparing it to book reports, critiques, etc. There are sections on how to write a book review, including examples of published reviews by the two authors, on types of reviews, on "the absolute don'ts (or signs of an amateur), on "What's in it for You, the Reviewer", on how to start your own book review site, etc. etc.

Part Two deals with the influence of book reviewers and Part Three is entitled "Resources". This latter part includes advice on how and where to get started posting reviews, and provides useful information on online review sites and publications. I found this the most valuable part of the book.

I would have regarded this as quite a good book, had it not contained so many irritating instances of loose writing, including faulty grammar and sentence structure, lack of necessary prepositions, and so on, primarily in the first part of the book. I hadn't expected poor language in a book of this sort, written by experienced reviewers, particularly since the authors stress that such errors should not occur in the work of reviewers (they shouldn't occur in the work of authors, either!).

For example (on page 69): " ... you will state a little of the plot of each - or some - stories" - you can't say "each stories"! If this were just an isolated occurrence, it wouldn't matter, obviously, as we can all make mistakes, but unfortunately there are several such instances of sloppy language.

In one chapter the author concerned uses the word "readers" when she means "reader-reviewers", and "reviewer" when she means "professional reviewers", while on a later page the terms are correctly used. (This is perhaps due to problems co-ordinating the authors' individual contributions to the book.)

A sentence that annoys me is, for instance, "Reader reviews can be of any length, ... and say things a reviewer wouldn't." Firstly, a "reader review" is a review too, and, secondly, I find it a bit sloppy to juxtapose "reader reviews" in the first part of the sentence with "reviewer" in the second part. Further on, she writes " a reader who enjoys writing reviews may graduate into becoming a reviewer". But, again, a reader who writes reviews is by definition a reviewer, perhaps not a good one or a professional one, but still a REVIEWER.

We are advised to use words that all readers can understand. Firstly, it might inhibit one's writing style somewhat, should one attempt to do this, and anyone how could one tell? And, secondly, I feel the author's statement to be somewhat condescending, to try to follow her advice would be to "look down" on the reader and belittle his or her abilities. If anyone should fail to understand any of the words in the text he is reading, surely he could look up the words in a dictionary, or, in this day and age, check on-line? Of course we should write clearly and reasonably simply, but I feel that the authors' advice would tend to make for a puerile style that deprives the review of its individuality and richness.

There is a section on the importance of objectivity when writing a review, i.e. that we should not be influenced by personal feelings "but should be 'unbiased'. However, in a later section comparing the characteristics of various types of literary output, we read under the heading "Review" - "it is subjective". And of course a review is subjective, as each person has his own views, and when expressing his evaluation of the book must base this on his own, necessarily subjective views. How else could one appraise the book if not through one's own value system? To my mind, the very essence or rationale of a review is the principle of subjectivity. (Again, in this section we come across the statement "A review is ... and may be written by readers as well as reviewers"!! )

A section pertains to the subject of the books sent without cost to potential reviewers. I fail to see the relevance of discussing the ethics of whether or not a reviewer may sell these books. They've been freely sent to them, of course they can sell them. How can they be prevented from doing so, anyway, since once the books are in their possession they are theirs to dispose of as they will.

But I really can't understand how receipt of a boring or uninteresting book you haven't yourself chosen but are obliged to review can be regarded as fair payment, as the authors argue. For firstly you're wasting your time simply reading such a/an misplaced/unwanted book, and then perhaps wasting it again writing the review, so how could the book be regarded as "fair payment"? And why would you value a personal library of such, for yourself, boring, uninteresting or badly written books?

To sum up, to my mind, and I freely admit my subjectivity, the book is significantly marred by its content of these errors and such illogical reasoning as I have exemplified, though I'm sure many readers will find the book as a whole informative and useful.

Reviewing can be tricky. For ten years I've had to learn the rules of the game myself. Ever since I first started reviewing I've wished for a book specifically about the subject of modern reviewing, especially about online reviewing. "The Slippery Art of Book Reviewing" is exactly what I needed to read when I first posted reviews at Amazon.

Not only does this book show you how to come across as a professional writer, it explains all the mistakes a reviewer can make. As I read this book I felt like the authors had somehow gotten inside my head and answered all the questions I've had about reviewing for years.

My favorite part of the book was the section on problems and how to deal with them. What do you do when you receive a book you don't want to review? Or what do you do if you wrote a critical review and an author sends you an irate email? I agree with the authors when they say it might be best to refuse a book you absolutely can't stand. I go as far as to offer to return books I can't review. Mostly I'm a positive lifestyle reviewer so I don't specialize in negative or overly critical reviews.

While the authors don't say you have to always be positive, they do caution against negativity that can make you seem like an amateur reviewer. They also emphasize that the "reviewers duty is to the reader first."

I especially liked the section on how to rate books. This will be helpful if you are reviewing for Amazon. The authors also explain the difference between a review and a book report. Information on how to write a critique and press release is also helpful. You may feel a little overwhelmed when you read about opening a review site but it is not as complex as you may initially suppose.

If you are trying to navigate the complex world of authors, publishers and reviewing websites you simply must read this fascinating book! If "The Slippery Art of Book Reviewing" had been published when I first started reviewing I could have saved myself a lot of headaches! The authors must have done a lot of research and seem well qualified to write a much-needed book! I can recommend this book to authors, publishers, publicists and reviewers. It will really give you an inside look at how the reviewing world works.

~The Rebecca Review

This book first came to my attention on an Amazon thread a few days ago mentioned by one of Amazon's Top Ten Reviewers, Rebecca. As a neophyte Amazon reviewer I wondered about purchasing it for myself. Rebecca recommended it and I bought it. The biggest difficulties I find about online reviewing is summarizing the plot without giving it away (esp fiction) and doing a book review instead of a book report, reminiscent of my high school days. I certainly haven't mastered the art of the Amazon review (as you can tell from here). However, the book is packed full of helpful techniques and tidbits to make you a better "online" reviewer. Fingers crossed it will be only short time before my Amazon reviews will reflect what I have learned in this book. If, by chance, they are not better blame me not this book.


Updated 05-20-10: Since I read this book I have reviewed 3 more books on Amazon trying to keep Slippery's guidelines in mind. I believe I did a more thorough job than previously. See what you think?

Nomad: From Islam to America: A Personal Journey Through the Clash of Civilizations

Winston's War: Churchill, 1940-1945

61 Hours: A Reacher Novel (Jack Reacher Novels)



Happy Reviewing!

Newspapers continue to drop their book review columns and few magazines include them in their issues. What is a reviewer to do to get that much needed visibility? The answer might be in the proliferation of reputable online websites devoted to reviewing books. But where do the reviewers come from? And how can a lover of books break into the reviewing business?

There are numerous answers to these two questions, but an excellent place to start is by reading and studying The Slippery Art of Book Reviewing by Mayra Calvani and Anne K. Edwards. Calvani and Edwards give detailed, practical tips and techniques to help the reader learn how to review books. It also covers information about the review organizations themselves.

As an experienced reviewer I learned that I do not know it all and will keep my copy of The Slippery Art of Book Reviewing for reference. It is not a book I will loan outbecause it won't be returned.

If you want to break into book reviewing, The Slippery Art of Book Reviewing is a must-have reference. Heed the author's advice and you can write reviews that will get you and the books you review noticed.

Armchair Interviews says: You won't get rich, but you'll have a lot of fun.

I was given a copy of this book to review, which was a bit intimidating. Having written both professional reviews for a newspaper and free ones here and on my blog, I still found the book helpful. Besides the basics, it also contains information I didn't already know and would be useful for anyone who reviews, or wants to review books. The many lists and pages of resources make it a keeper to be referred to often.

Okay, so how to proceed with a review of a book about book reviewing? For starters, as the authors of "The Slippery Art of Book Reviewing" quickly point out there is a dearth, paucity, lack (take your pick) of books written on the subject.

Sure, there is E. M Forester's "Aspect of the Novel," and James Woods' "How Fiction Works." But both of those well known and respected resources are really works of literary criticism and deal more with the creative process of writing a book.

Writing in "Critical Mass," the blog of the National Book Critics Circle, one accredited reviewer said she carries "on complete conversations with books in the margins. Everything from "whoa, you're kidding!!!" If something surprises me, to an entire counter argument if I disagree with something."

The late John Updike has helpful, often-reprinted advice for books reviewers in his preface to "Picked-up Pieces." "Try to understand what the author wished to do, and do not blame him for not achieving what he did not attempt."

Here, then, is a manual that adds to the limited resources available to book reviewers. Calvani and Edwards largely succeed in what they wish to do, which is "to offer in a clear manner supported with targeted examples of how to write and publish thoughtful, well-written reviews no matter their length, type or genre, and to examine the essence of reviews within a broader spectrum."

[If reference to above quote, see Updike's third guideline for reviewers, which says: "Confirm your description of the book with quotation from the book, if only phrase-long, rather than proceeding by fuzzy précis."

At times I felt the book might have been stronger if it had been a little less prescriptive or at other times elementary in its advice. When writing a review of a non-fiction book, for example, a reviewer is advised that "If the author graduated from a top school like Harvard or MIT, for instance, it should be mentioned in the review." Really? How does graduating from a state university or community college affect things?

Niggles aside, there is much useful information. The lengthy admonishment to be mindful of author's objectivity when reviewing research findings is helpful. "If there is any hint of emotionalism, arrogance, or guesswork in the writing, it means the author has allowed his ego to creep into the work and lost his objectivity."

A section on finding the "hook" to a review hits the bulls-eye by pointing out that the reviewer's main objective is not to get people to pick up the book. Instead, the reviewer's first responsibility is to engage the reader enough to read the review.

There also is a fairly long and very helpful section on setting up your very own book review blog. Also useful is a chapter that offers resources if you have the itch to review and are looking for a platform.

The authors of "Slippery Art" add a badly needed book of practical, common-sense advice, tools and resources for those who like to read and really like to set down their opinions about what they are reading. Much of the material is new and as a result very valuable. If you're thinking in earnest about book reviewing, consider this book your final read before taking a deep breath and jumping in.

(So, you've read to this point. I guess you should go back and take another look at the headline. Since you've been engaged up to the end, Calvani & Edwards would say the reviewer's primary objective has been achieved.)

Find an easy chair, have an hour or so free, and open the book "The Slippery Art of Book Reviewing" and you're on your way to doing just that.

This short book by Mayra Calvani & Anne K. Edwards is the only book I'm aware of on the subject of writing book reviews. I have been reviewing books for quite a long time but thought I'd like to take a short refresher course. So I bought this book.

I'm not sure why the title was chosen. It doesn't make much sense to me. I would have called it, "How to Write a Great Book Review" or something straightforward. I'm not sure what "slippery art" really means when it comes to book reviewing. I assume it's the fact that many people are less than honest in their reviews or they write amateurish reviews based on their personal likes and dislikes.

I also didn't see anything in the book about the author's qualifications to pen the book. I'm not questioning their credentials. I simply don't know them.

While most of the advice seemed to be written to those who review fiction, some of it did apply to non-fiction, which is my genre of choice. Moreover, the advice pretty much applies to all types of books.

One thing I was glad to see was a basic understanding of the star system and how to apply what you thought of the book to the number of stars you give it. That's a much misused and abused part of reviews on Amazon. As a reviewer, I often get stuck at the stars.

The authors tell us that the reviewer's responsibility is to the reader, not the author or publisher or anyone else. We who review books often forget that.

"The reviewer must be objective and fair in their comments, whether or not t he book is one they would read for pleasure. A reviewer works hard to build a reputation for honesty and integrity and must carefully consider what they write to maintain that reputation," the authors say.

They tell us that ". . . people read reviews to help make up their minds about a book . . ." And, they tell authors to get a top Amazon reviewer to positively review their book and "it's like money in the bank." How true that is!

People do read reviews. And, while not everyone makes his or her buying decision based on one review or several, some people do --- reviews do matter.

The book gives numerous examples of different types of reviews, which I found helpful.

"The Slippery Art of Book Reviewing" is easy to read. It's entertaining and fun if you love to read and would like to write really good reviews of if you're already a reviewer and simply want to be better.

I came away from the book with some fresh ideas and thoughts about how I can improve my reviews and, above all, how I should keep in mind that my reviews are for the reader, not the author or anyone else.

I've had numerous authors terribly angry at me for having written negative reviews of their books. One young man even called me on the phone and begged me to change my review because I was costing him sales. Authors can be children. Fortunately, this little book even tells you how to handle these fragile egos.

If you want to become a top reviewer or, for whatever reason, want to be a good book reviewer, I recommend you get a copy of this book. It has lots of resources as well as all you need to know when it comes to producing a great review. All you need supply is some really good writing and a love for reading. Then it will all come together powerfully and effectively.

Highly recommended.

- Susanna K. Hutcheson