Magic Thursday: Authors on Reviewing

Reviewing is in the spotlight again after Goodreads kicked off a fun shemozzle by deleting reviews (this was their original post. If you google "Goodreads Change of Review Policy" you'll get a sense of the range of reactions). Following on from this, Sarah Wendell at Smart Bitches wrote an interesting and reassuring post on reviews and their impact on readers (be sure to scroll down and read readers' responses to it). And here at the Dark Side, we also have opinions on reviews and reviewing.

Keri Arthur: I love reading reviews because it's a good way of discovering what did--and didn't--work for readers.

Sandra Harris:  Low and mid-star reviews are not always a bad thing. They can lend authenticity to the four and five star reviews you have received. Also, the reviewer sometimes mentions something that you as the author might not consider a bad thing. I have one 3 star review that called my novel a "Star-Trek like romance". I mean, what's bad about that?

Eleni Konstantine: The Australian Women Writers Challenge site gives me Aussie author names which I may not have come across.

The Australian Women Writers Challenge is a great way to read most of the Dark Siders. You can find our books listed on our individual pages, listed by genre, or check out the fabulous gallery of covers.

Nicola E Sheridan: I love reviews that tell me how the reader related to the characters in my book. I'm always fascinated to learn how well (or even badly) a character affects the reader. There's one thing for certain, no two reviewers ever seem to have the same reaction to the characters... It's a wonderful affirmation of my writing, because if you felt moved enough to write about my characters and explain how they made you feel, then... well, my job is done :)

Mel Teshco: Reviews are important to help potential readers decide if your book appeals to them in any way. I have one book out there with no Amazon reviews at all and consequently its sales aren't great. On this note, if anyone reads a book and loves it (or even not) please leave a review, it's the biggest gift that a reader can give an author :)

Jenny Schwartz: With the Goodreads uproar, some reviewers and readers are testing the waters in alternative sites like LibraryThing (which has an established community), Riffle and BookLikes. I've recently joined BookLikes and the Tumblr-esque look of it appeals to me.

Shona Husk: I love talking about books that I enjoyed and I greatly appreciate it when readers take the time to write a few words about mine. Online reviews are the word of mouth of the internet age.

How about you? Do you have anything to say on reviews and reviewing? Any pet hates or unrealised dreams?