Book Blogger Confessions: Author interactions

 

Book Blogger Confessions is a meme that posts the 1st Monday of every month, where book bloggers discuss topics that are unique to us. Feel free to share, vent and offer solutions.

Just keep it respectful - no bashing authors or other bloggers! If you want to participate just grab our button and include it in your post with a link to either Midnyte Reader or For What It's Worth. We will be providing a linky at the end of our posts so people can "hop" to see all the participants answers.

Question: Have you ever emailed an author to tell them you loved/disliked their book? As a book reviewer, do you think we should cross that line? 

Do you mind when authors re-tweet or comment on reviews? Does that intimidate you in any way in regards to review writing, knowing that they may be reading it?

Do author interactions - both pro or con - change how you view their work?

******

~ Have you ever emailed an author to tell them you loved/disliked their book? As a book reviewer, do you think we should cross that line?

I have emailed authors about how much I loved their book. In fact that’s how I started blogging. I sent an embarrassingly gushy email to an author and she responded. I was stunned and a book blogger was born because I loved the idea of being able to interact with creative people I admired and help promote something that might not get noticed otherwise.

Since I’ve started blogging I do that less often because I think it muddies the waters a bit. I may absolutely adore one book but not the next and that gets AWKWARD when you communicate with them on a regular basis, whether that’s via email or casually on Twitter. But ya know….I can’t help fangirling when I really love something so whether it’s appropriate or not I still do sometimes. To me – I’m still being honest. Possibly annoying and obnoxious – but honest lol

I would never directly tell an author I didn’t like their book. Just as they shouldn’t try to influence how I interpret the book – I shouldn’t question how they wrote it. It’s their story to tell. My review is my own but that’s just plain rude to direct it to them in an email or tweet/facebook.

~ Do you mind when authors re-tweet or comment on reviews? Does that intimidate you in any way in regards to review writing, knowing that they may be reading it?

I know a lot of bloggers don’t want any author comments or feedback but I don’t mind a thank you for taking the time to read/review my book or maybe thank you for the honest review (which I’ve gotten once on a negative review). Obviously, I don’t think they should get into a debate about my review in the comments section and I don't want to get into a discussion but a quick comment is fine.

I do get a little nervous when I know an author googles themselves or monitors reviews before posting a negative review but hey – I have to post my honest opinion. I feel awful when it’s an author I love and talk to online regularly but it doesn’t stop me. I have waffled about wording thinking it’s too harsh but then I ask myself – would I write the same thing if I didn’t know/talk to them online? If the answer is yes, then I stick with what I’m writing. You shouldn’t have two review writing standards that are harsher to one author because you don’t know them but kind to another because you do.

It doesn’t make me angry but I do feel “monitored” – if that’s the right word – when I’m tweet reading a book and the author pops in with a comment. I’m not talking about if I specifically @ them but just a generic tweet. Then I know they’re reading both my positive…and not so positive tweets. It makes me uncomfortable.

~ Do author interactions - both pro or con - change how you view their work?

I have picked up quite a few books just based on funny author tweets or how they treat myself and other people in social media. Once I pick up the book though, it still comes down to if it’s good or not.

On the other side of the coin, if an author is rude or goes crazy on a blogger, I will avoid their books.
I think the standard should be – Talk and interact away with authors. They are awesome! But if you find yourself censoring your own review for one author over another just based on friendships or interactions then you need to stop or find some way to be more transparent about it on your blog.

Question for August 1st: Vlogging. Have you ever vlogged (video blogging)? Why or why not? What do think makes for an interesting vlog? How does a book review vlog compare to a written review in your opinion? What are few of your favorite book review/author vlogs? (Source: Amy Bookworm)