This week’s timely meme:
I receive a lot of review books, but I have never once told lies about the book just because I got a free copy of it. However, some authors seem to feel that if they send you a copy of their book for free, you should give it a positive review.
Do you think reviewers are obligated to put up a good review of a book, even if they don’t like it? Have we come to a point where reviewers *need* to put up disclaimers to (hopefully) save themselves from being harassed by unhappy authors who get negative reviews?
Ah. The question of the day. I have been harassed by two blog tour authors (and their families) to whom I gave negative reviews. Though the harassment is far from fun, it doesn’t change the fact that I didn’t like the books. I tried to be fair. I noted positive aspects of the books. When available, I listed other reviews of the same work. But I owe it to myself and my readers to give an honest review.
I think disclaimers are unnecessary. I know the authors sometimes think: I give you a free book; you give me a good review. However, the more accurate exchange is: you give me a free book; I spend several hours reading it, preparing an honest review, and giving you time on my website to publicize your book. I’m happy to receive review books – though I’ve become more and more selective – but I’m going to give my honest opinion of them without any apologies.
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Wow. It seems a lot of us have had this problem recently. I actually had to report an author’s IP address due to the comments he was leaving.
It is completely shameful for someone to be demanding and ungrateful. Authors (or anyone hocking anything for that matter) have no right to demand you give a review you don’t believe. Shame, shame.
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