Good News About Bad Reviews

I never read a book before reviewing it – it prejudices a man so. – Sydney Smith

I’ve been pleased with the reviews I received on The Ride. Yes, I paused here to knock on wood. OK…it was the side of my head, but let’s not worry about details.

Recently I read about an interesting study, Positive Effects of Negative Publicity: Can Negative Reviews Increase Sales? Don’t get me wrong, I am not asking for someone to write a bad review. In fact, I’m hoping that doesn’t happen. I’m only saying the results of the study were intriguing.

The report scrutinized the effects of a New York Times review on the sales of 244 fiction hardcover books. A negative review for established authors led to a 15% decrease in sales. A negative review for unknown authors increased sales by 45%. That’s quite an increase.

For unknown writers, I’m wondering if the increased sales have more to do with being reviewed by the New York Times than the actual content of the review.

Honestly I think a bad review would make me think more like Steve Lehto in his article, “When an Author Meets His Critics.” After receiving positive reviews in the New York Times, Vanity Fair and The Wall Street Journal, he talks about how bad a one-star review on Amazon made him feel.

He went on to check the reviews on some classics. He says:

“To Kill a Mockingbird was called "A BORING, WORTHLESS WRECK OF A BOOK" -- yes, in ALL CAPS -- by one reader, and "one of the most overrated and hyped books of our time," by another. I don't know about you, but I'm feeling better already.”

I suggest reading the entire article, especially if you need a few chuckles after receiving a bad review.

Have you ever given a book a one-star review? How do you handle negative reviews? Would a positive or negative review in the New York Times influence your decision to purchase a book.

Tags: Sydney Smith, negative reviews, New York Times review, Steve Lehto, Amazon, To Kill a Mockingbird

Buzzwords

"It's a strange world of language in which skating on thin ice can get you into hot water." - Franklin P. Jones

The New York Times ran a fun article called “The Buzzwords of 2009.” According to the article,

“Catchphrases and buzzwords can tell us much about a year past — what resonated, what stuck, what the year revealed about the sensibility of the nation, whether you’re a wise Latina woman, a mini-Madoff, a teabagger or Balloon Boy.”

The article finished with Grant Barrett’s buzzwords for 2009. Octomom and birther made the list. However, there were others I haven’t heard but liked such as:

aporkalypse
Undue worry in response to swine flu. Includes unnecessary acts like removing nonessential kisses from Mexican telenovelas and the mass slaughter of pigs in Egypt.

Chimerica
The intertwined economies of China and the United States, which together dominate the world economy. Popularized by Niall Ferguson in his book “The Ascent of Money.”

crash blossom
A headline that can be misconstrued, like “Shark Attacks Puzzle Experts.” Will Shortz is not in jeopardy; the sharks are just confounding scientists.

Dracula sneeze
Covering the mouth with the crook of the elbow when sneezing, like Dracula hiding his face with a cape.

green shoots
Signs of an economic recovery or of a company’s financial turnaround.

heinie
A pronunciation of H1N1, the swine flu virus.

mancession
A recession that affects men more than women. Also hecession.

vook
A digital book that includes some video in its text.

ununbium
The temporary name of a newly found element, Uub for short. It comes from the Latin for the element’s number, 112.

Click here to see the complete list or to read the entire article.

Do you have any favorite words from 2009? Can you predict what some of the 2010 buzz words might be?

Thanks for stopping by.

Tags: Franklin Jones, buzzwords, Grant Barrett, New York Times,

Cellphone Novels

Two weeks ago, I wrote that I was worried computers and cell phones were changing the English language (http://janekennedysutton.blogspot.com/2008/01/language-of-internet.html). A few days ago, Kim pointed out an article in the The New York Times that not only reinforced this fear but also increased my anxiety level by at least a gazillion.

According to the article, the youth of Japan are using cellphones to write novels and to read them. Some say this is a new literary genre for a generation who reads mostly comics, spurring a debate as to whether these novels will lead to the decline of Japanese literature. Written mostly by women, these love stories use short sentences, have little plot or character development and still hit the bestseller list when turned into hardcover books. In fact, out of last year’s ten best-selling novels, five were originally cellphone novels.

A quote from the article reads, “They punched out text messages with their thumbs at blinding speed, and used expressions and emoticons, like smilies and musical notes, whose nuances were lost on anyone over the age of 25.”

The article should send chills down every author’s spine because I am sure it is only a matter of time before this latest rage hits America.

Click here to read the full article http://www.nytimes.com/2008/01/20/world/asia/20japan.html?ref=technology.

Now, before you all race to your cellphone to begin your novel, I’d like to thank all of you who submitted entries to the “when will The Ride be published contest,” which is now closed. Your entries ranged in dates from 14th of January to the 18th of July. We’ll have to wait and see who the winner will be because the manuscript is still sitting untouched (I assume) on the editor’s desk. It is safe to say that those of you who guessed January dates will not win. I am truly sorry and I genuinely appreciated your optimism.

Thanks for stopping by and please come back again next week.


Jane Kennedy Sutton
Author of The Ride (to be released by ArcheBooks Publishing)
janekennedysutton@gmail.com
http://janekennedysutton.googlepages.com/
http://www.authorsden.com/janesutton

Tags: The Ride, Archebooks, contest, cellphone novel, New York Times, cell phone