In his delightful autobiography, Victorian novelist Anthony Trollope reports his pledge that he would "have no dealings with any critic on my own behalf, I would neither ask for nor deplore criticism, nor would I ever thank a critic for praise, or quarrel with him, even in my own heart, for censure." In his view, solicited praise of any kind "must be an injustice to the public, for whose instruction . . . such notices are intended." Even a "mild suggestion" that one would welcome a review can too easily descend into "crawling at the critic's feet" - compromising the integrity of the review process itself.
What would Anthony Trollope, who died in 1882, have to say about the dogged efforts today's authors make to secure attention from prominent bloggers or rack up an impressive total of glowing reviews on internet sites like Amazon and Goodreads?
This is the question I'm pondering as I decide how best to promote my new book child, The Lost Language, which I love with the doting affection older parents lavish on their late-life children.
Cozying up to prominent children's literature bloggers does seem very similar to cozying up to reviewers at the key journals for children's books, a tainting of reviewing integrity of the kind Trollope decries. But reader reviews are just . . . reader reviews. Some authors (not me!) receive thousands of them. And most authors nowadays make some effort to coax friends to post a few reviews early on to start a trend of adulation, in the same way that playwrights and directors might plant a few audibly appreciative chums in the audience on opening night.
All I want is for everyone in the world to read my book and love it! And I want everyone in the world to shout its praises from the cyber-rooftops! I want to remind everyone I know that the single nicest thing one can do for an author - even more so than buying their latest book - is to go online and post how wonderful the book is. The review doesn't have to be long or elaborate, it just has to be gushing. Oh, please gush about my book! And please accompany that gushing with a rating of it as five stars on Amazon and Goodreads!
Does this count as "crawling at the critic's feet"? Well, I guess it kind of sort of does. Maybe it's more like begging than crawling, the way my little dog just STARES at me until I go and get him his doggie treat. I'm staring at you, universe! I'm staring at you with huge pleading eyes and panting tongue hanging out!
I've been doing a lot of gushing myself during the past year for friends' recent books. I've set myself the goal of spending a few minutes to dash off a review on Amazon and Goodreads as soon as I finish reading a friend's book. For a while I was posting a review every single week. Does this compromise the integrity of the review process in the way Trollope feared? Well, I can say truthfully that I do this only for books I really truly love. I don't lie in my reviews. But part of my love for a book undeniably has to do with my love for its author. I'm also someone who just finds it easy to love things. Still, if I say I loved it, then I really truly did. And I've been making a special effort to declare that love publicly.
So, friends, if you love a book, really, truly love it, consider taking the time to review it online. The author will leap up with an ecstatically wagging tail and slobber all over you the next time she sees you.
I think - at least for now - this is the extent of my begging and crawling for reviews!
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