Saturday, May 1, 2021

Rhys has a weekend gripe!

RHYS BOWEN:  A writer’s life does not always run smoothly, as I can attest at this very moment. We work hard to write the best book possible and then everyone else works equally hard to make us feel it is the worst thing we have ever written!

I am thinking this because I am in the middle of copy-edits. This is the stage of the book when the story is in place and it is up to one person to find any flaws or inconsistencies in the storytelling—which they always do. In this book my copy-editor is obsessed with the depth of the snow.  “You said it was a light dusting of snow.  How wet do her feet become? And here it’s a layer of snow. Is that more than a dusting?

And obsessed with the fact that the house doesn’t have a phone.

“How will they be able to summon a taxi with no phone?  Wouldn’t it be easier to have a phone?  They could call the police easily if they had a phone etc etc.

The point being that not many ordinary people had a phone in the 1930s and if they wanted to make a call they would send a servant over to the big house on his bike.

And obsessed with the fact that the older woman should be Darcy’s great aunt and not aunt. Every aunt is highlighted. I am a patient person, but I did ask my editor if I could title my next book “How to murder a copy-editor.”

I have to add, in her defense, that she has been really thorough on anachronisms. Not allowed to use scenario or a dozen other really useful words.

So that is one of our little trials before the book comes out. And when it is published the next trial is reviews. Every review is only one person’s opinion, right? It shouldn’t matter that they hated the book. But it does. In the past reviewers were professionals like Hallie who knew what they were talking about. Now, with Amazon providing anonymity, anyone can write a rotten review. I get lots of reviews of Amazon so among several thousand there will be some really bad ones. There are the crazy one star reviews:

I ordered this on Kindle and it hasn’t arrived yet. One star.

As if that was the author’s fault?

For In Farleigh Field I had men who were angry that it was described as a WWII novel and nobody got blown up on every page.

But my favorite awful review for In Farleigh Field was from a person who said I knew nothing about England, nothing about British aristocracy or how they spoke. Actually I’m married to a member of the British upper class. I stay with his family in large country houses. We have a favorite relative called Puff and a cousin called Sir Ferrers Vyvyan.   When I showed John the review he was so angry he was going to find the person and hunt them down!

But that’s the trouble. The writer is powerless. And I have to remind myself about all those bestselling books that got rotten reviews, or worse still, were turned down by umpteen publishers. 17 rejections for J K Rowling. More than that for Mary Higgins Clark. And Walt Disney was fired because he lacked creativity. And Einstein was told he was hopeless and would never amount to anything.

So it’s reassuring to know that critics are often wrong, isn’t it?

On the other end of the spectrum are the wonderful writers who give up their time to read and blurb other writers books. They make generous comments and help sales. I am often asked to blurb these days. I will only blurb a book I really like and have turned down books that I thought might offend my fans (one took place in a S&M scene in a bordello. Uh--no thank you)

Occasionally I have agreed to blurb a book I don't reeeeely love. That's hard, isn't it?  "A brand new take on Victorian England?  A fresh approach? The story leaves one thinking? or just "Wow. What a book!"

meaning

what a book. Thank God there isn't another one like it. And it leaves one thinking thank God it's over.

So I thought I'd close on a positive note by sharing this list of blurb terms with you:


Authors; what is your favorite publishing gripe? Readers: do other writers' blurbs make you pick up a book?

43 comments:

  1. Sorry this post was late up. We're driving back from Arizona to California and I thought I had the weekend all set up--only with the wrong time!

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    1. Rhys, this is why I stopped writing book reviews for the SF Chronicle. Finding the words to say "this is not a book I recommend" without actually saying it became too stressful. And blurbs? Only if I truly love the book.
      I'm editing a mystery novel now, and working with a dream writer. No egos involved, just a mutual desire to deliver the best story and writing possible.

      As an aside...years ago, I edited a woman's essay. It was 3,000 words over the maximum (dictated by the publisher). When I explained that I needed to cut it by half, she came back with, "But every word is a poem!"

      Take a deep breath...your novel will be brilliant.

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  2. Amazon reviews generally make me laugh . . . Those petty complaint "reviews" have nothing to do with the quality of the book. I hardly ever read the reviews just because of this.

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    1. I once read a one-star Amazon review of a film that I love. The reviewer was furious that one character was played by an actor with dark hair, when the character in the book had red hair. Clearly, to this person, it made the whole film rubbish. Such piffle.

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  3. Rhys, no worries! My favorite is the list of blurb terms and what they really mean--a blurb of a book by a favorite author might get me to pick up a book, but the only thing that will get me to read it is the writing itself. And I really hate mean-spirited reviews! If you're going to be critical, then make the comments helpful for both the author and other potential readers. Or just don't say anything, right? What one person loves, another will hate. P.S. Go get 'em, John!

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  4. Unless I've read solid reviews or blog posts, or seen an author interview on Zoom, I read the first chapter and make up my own mind about a book.

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  5. Rhys, what a wonderful post this morning! I am currently battling a nasty cold and it looks like I am on my way to recovery. I just finished rereading your Her Royal Spyness novel and I was reminded of why I love the series so much. Love your blurb terms. I noticed that our friend Jacqueline Winspear gave a blurb for Her Royal Spyness.

    And I hate these mean-spirited reviews! I agree with Flora Church that if the reviewer is going to be critical, then make the comments helpful for both the author and other potential readers.

    Diana

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  6. Rhys, your list of blurb terms makes me laugh out loud. I always put a lot of time into writing blurbs, because one wants them to encourage the reader to buy, without referring too much of the plot, which is obviously on the book jacket anyway. But there are only so many ways you can say brilliant, thrilling, or moving!

    As to copy editors, I've always been fortunate in mine. My late editor, the legendary Ruth Cavin, had a story about working on a historical novel set during the Chinese Communist revolution. It came back with multiple notes from the copy editor, wondering why on earth the characters kept going to see a doctor in the middle of the action. It was Dr Sun Yat-sen...

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  7. That was a great post! Sometimes I wonder if the “reviewers” actually read the book. These are probably the same same people who demand to see the manager.
    I’m going to have to see how many of the blurb terms I can use in a review.

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  8. Rhys, I laughed out loud when you mentioned your possible next book title to your editor.
    I don’t rely on reviews to choose my books and usually don’t read them.
    A blurb from a popular author won’t catch my attention but one from a favourite author, like yourself, can influence my choice.
    An author or a book presented on this blog is more likely to be chosen by me.

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  9. I'm always glad when they find repeated words. Especially multi-syllabic ones. My last copy editor kept telling me that the river I had in the book didn't exist. IT'S FICTION, I wanted to shout.

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  10. That list of terms is the BEST! LOL. I stoped reading reviews a loooong time ago when I realized it was pointless as I wasn’t going to rewrite the book, it was dusted and done, and do I really care what Ellen, bitter unpublished writer with no sense of humor, has to say about me anyway? No, I do not. My biggest publishing gripe is definitely how much time it takes to get everything done and then BAM! The book is out. It’s like traveling. You’re in a million lines trying to get here and there and through security and then POOF! You’re on a beach in Tahiti but you need three days to recover from the travel.

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    1. In a beach in Tahiti sounds worth any amount of inconvenience right now!

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  11. Great list of terms, which remind me of real estate terms. "Charming" actually means "Needs a shitload of work."

    For my Country Store mysteries, set in southern Indiana, I had a copyeditor for a couple of books who kept trying to make regionalisms in DIALOG be grammatical. Just...no! Luckily I have my editor's support, who now sends along instructions to Production like "Very light editing - the book is in good shape. Don't touch dialect."

    Not a review, but today I got a lovely email objecting to my use of the term "wheelchair-bound" for a character (in a book I wrote ten years ago). She set me straight on more correct terminology and I thanked her.

    Can I just say how much newbie me appreciated blurbs by Julia and Hank and Rhys (so far)? It meant so much, and still does. I'm paying it forward now that I'm being asked for blurbs. As we do.

    Jenn, publication is kind of like being pregnant for nine months and then, BAM - you're a mother! Except you don't get time to recover.

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    1. And self-publishing is like being pregnant, plus having to raise the baby all the way to college!

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    2. Edith, do you include a glossary page to explain the regionalisms?

      Diana

      p.s. I did not know that about "charming" or was it a joke? I would have thought charming meant lovely story?

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  12. I love your books, Rhys, love them! Your characters are some of my very favorite fictional characters. Period. I totally trust your descriptions of Britain's upper crust. Every story that I have read of yours is complete, no loose ends, no questions unanswered, whether stand alone or series. As for reviews, I only wrote them for books I love. No one needs to see my snark on Amazon.

    The copy editing part of creating a book sounds frustrating, but you have done this many times and know when the editor is onto something and when she's being picky. Your "How to Murder a Copy Editor" could be a short story in one of those crime anthologies you contribute to. Other authors will appreciate it. Just saying;-)

    Thanks for the glossary. I'll never use those terms again!

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  13. People really are entitled, aren't they? They have the opportunity to anonymously review the hard work of an author and chose to be stupid, petty, misinformed, sometimes all three.
    Case in point being giving a super low rating because the ebook didn't arrive in a timely fashion.
    Really, Rhys! Aren't you handling the technical side better than that!!! ;o)
    If I can't give at least a three star out of five rating, I don't post one. There is too much chance that it is me and not the book. I refused to rate a book I got as an ARC once I started reading it. I evidently hadn't paid adequate attention to the book's subject matter. It was something I was just not interested in. There was no way I could properly review it and I told them that.

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  14. When I first opened this blog up, at 7am PDT, I thought might be having issues, only one comment. I didn't stop to read the comment, just closed everything down and came back later...now I know why there was only one comment at 7am. Hope the drive is a pleasant and non eventful.

    Like Danielle-momo, favorite authors name's catch my eye more than popular authors when it comes to blurbs.




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  15. I also don't read reviews (or blurbs, frankly), unless they are for products I want to buy online. Books and reading are so subjective, and even in our book club some people mystifyingly either love or hate books I hated or loved. So how could I possibly trust another's viewpoint on something that depends on taste?

    Editing is a whole other ballgame. Steve and I used to edit one another's work, especially when I was just starting out. He has been writing since college, and has an English degree from an Ivy, and he takes writing very seriously. But he tends to rewrite entire passages into what sounds more like his voice than mine, and I had to stop letting him do that. I take a different approach, and correct his jillions of spelling and punctuation errors, and try to only edit for clarity.

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    1. My sister and I edit and/or critique each others writing, but we have very different voices. She trained in academia, and I grew up in advertising and journalism. The result? She over-explains while I zip on through on a catchy phrase and a smile. I think she's getting tired of me suggesting that, if she wants to cut the work by one-third, she could just do away with the first part, where she takes us through a historical recap via Socratic method, and just start with her thesis sentence. It's a blog post! Criminey!

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    2. Gigi,

      Often when I cannot follow a book, I would jokingly say "Perhaps I need to earn my PhD before I can read that book". LOL

      Diana

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  16. Rhys, I am still snickering over your list of blurb definitions!! That is priceless!
    I don't read reviews of my books, except for the trade ones. I hope people like them, but if they don't, the book is published and I can't change anything even if I wanted to.

    As for Amazon reviews, these days it seems like every book I look up has a really bad review shown first. There may be lots of four and five star reviews after that, and an overall good rating, which makes me wonder why Amazon is leading with the one that discourage people from buying the book... Not that I pay much attention to the reviews anyway. So many of them are mean-spirited and just plain dumb.

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    1. I can’t understand Amazon. Debs. I have 1400 reviews, nearly all five star and they start with two critical ones

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  17. I don't read book reviews from readers. We all have different tastes and some reviewers are so hung up about irrelevant details it gets silly. I do pay attention to book recommendations by authors I read, particularly when it is a first time newly published author getting the thumbs up.

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  18. Thank you, Rhys, for blurb definitions. At last what “they” really mean! As for reviews: almost never do I read a review, until after I read the book, and never read reviews that have stars as the first line! With blurbs, unless it is a front cover one, simply because “it isin the way” of getting to the story. Enjoy your time back in CA!

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  19. As one who does reviews, I don't actually write reviews on Amazon anymore. I can't. I haven't bought $50 bucks worth of stuff from them over the last 12 months (actually it is a lot longer than that because I stopped buying from that website when their customer services was as helpful as a dress on a goat).

    But that's okay, I get paid to write some of my reviews so having them in a magazine and online is just fine by me. And I have an awesome editor (Teri Duerr) who helps make sure that my reviews resemble the English language.

    My Goodreads reviews also reflect my opinion on a book whether it was great, middling or on the rare occasion sucks eggs. I give my opinion, without being an ass about it, and move on with my day.

    Along the way, I never allow myself to think that somehow my opinion is the be all, end all either. I've read award-winning books that were as dull as dirt to me. But then I've loved books that would make others question my sanity.

    As for whether a blurb has gotten me to pick up a book before, it's a bit of a yes and no answer for me. A couple times Hank has had a blurb on a book that I bought. It certainly made me consider buying the book but it was still reading the synopsis on the back cover that cinched the deal for me.

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    1. Jay, thanks for my second good laugh of the day--"As helpful as a dress on a goat!!" Wonderful.

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    2. You're my guru, Debs. If you tell me I'll love a book, I do. These days, I find most of my authors through the JRW blog.

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    3. Thank you, Jay! xx And I agree, it's wise to go on to the real writing..xxoo

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    4. I don't usually write bad reviews, Jay, but I will if I think a book is actively toxic and will traumatize sensitive readers. The last time I did that (years ago) it was a book that promised to be a comedic cozy, but included a scene where a dog was treated inhumanely. I have a lot of dog-loving friends who really don't want to read that book, and they should be forewarned. Otherwise, if I hate it, I don't review it.

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    5. Gigi,

      Do you include "Content Warning"? I often do that in my reviews even if I liked a book.

      Diana

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  20. I do read blurbs, though with a jaundiced eye. Still, I recently picked up a perfectly wonderful book that was on sale on BookBub strictly because of a blurb that said, "Reading this novel is like ducking out of a cold rain into a fire-warmed pub filled with laughter." I found that image enchanting and after reading the book, I attest it was totally on target. (The book was A Week in Winter by Maeve Binchy.) So there's at least one example of making a purchase choice from a blurb!

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  21. I love the book blurb glossary, Rhys! Too funny, and so true.

    I wish there was a way to tell your copy editor that, if snow continues to fall, it will move up the scale from a "light dusting" to a "layer" without any logical inconsistency at all. Also, there is a town up near the Red River, in a very sparsely-populated part of Texas, called Telephone because that's where the telephone had been installed. People who grow up with their own personal cell phones surgically attached to their hands have no clear concept of one phone serving a whole household, let alone a whole community.

    As for reviews, I always remind myself of my friend, Andrew Litton, who says, "If you believe the good ones, you have to believe the bad ones. Don't read any of them."

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  22. I ADORE those descriptions. I was about to write a blurb that used the word "complex" and I realized that meant: I have no idea what this all means.

    And yeah, you can tell the mean-spirited ones. I wonder that people have all that time--and use it to be nasty.

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    1. Do you suppose serial killers spend their spare time writing needlessly nasty Amazon reviews?

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    2. That would be a great story in a novel...

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  23. Wow, that was truly the exact thing I needed to read today. (No sarcasm intended). I’m a burgeoning writer and it was so good to hear I’m not alone in some of the thoughts I have. Thank you for being so candid and honest!

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