Feeling bad about writing a negative review
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- Rachaelamb1
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Feeling bad about writing a negative review
Also, I'm feeling a bit unsure about sending in my review as I am not a grammar major and I'm not sure if I have comma's all in their correct places. Is it hard to write an acceptable review? I think I'm following all the guidelines.
- gali
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Follow the guidelines and spellchecked/proofread your review and you will do fine. Good luck!
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- ALynnPowers
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- TLGabelman
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- I didn't like the story because I don't like ghosts.
- I like to read short stories; this book was a saga so I hated it.
- This book is a boy meets girl story and I don't like romance books.
- The main character was murdered in the beginning of the book. I hated the book because I don't like violence.
Here's a more objective way of stating the comments I just wrote:
- The ghost appearing in the kitchen was too "over the top" and didn't have any relevance to the plot.
- The pacing of the plot was too slow, particularly in the middle of the story.
- The way the couple met was too contrived. It wasn't believable that the girl fell out of the window into his arms.
- The violence in the beginning of the book was overdone. The murder was just stuck in the plot for no reason other than to shock the reader. There is nothing in the rest of the book that even mentions the murder, much less ties it in with the rest of the storyline.
OK, I think I've had too much coffee this morning.
- Rachaelamb1
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Thanks for the heads up. I will try my best and hope it goes well.TLGabelman wrote:I dont have perfect grammar either. This is the one thing i struggle with the most when writing my reviews, but i have managed to have a few published. Every review i have submitted has been proof read multiple times but still they werent perfect according to the editors comments. Be aware the editors comments can be pretty harsh, i wasnt aware of this and it really struck me after my first review. Im not sure of the rules since they are not written but you are usually not allowed to fix errors in your reviews once it is rejected. Be honest in your review and do your best. I am not trying to discourage just trying to let you know
Thanks everyone else for the advice. It is helpful.
- Scott
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Other than that, I want to reiterate what was said by @ALynnPowers - Don't personally attack the author. Explain what could have been better about the story and book instead of making any negative comments about the author and author's talent.
-- 17 Mar 2015 12:04 pm --
When you are on the Review Team Page, you can click "Guidelines" in the navigation. All the rules for the review team should be there. If any rules or instructions are missing or not there, please let me know and I will adjust the page to be more clear for anyone and everyone reading it.TLGabelman wrote:Im not sure of the rules since they are not written
"Non ignara mali miseris succurrere disco." Virgil, The Aeneid
- TLGabelman
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- Scott
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"Non ignara mali miseris succurrere disco." Virgil, The Aeneid
- TLGabelman
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- bookowlie
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Good advice about sandwiching a negative between positives.Scott wrote:A long time ago I worked as a manager on a canvass. I think part of my training for training was actually common to basic principles of training. I also did a lot of training in a restaurant for serving which was as wonderfully glorious as it sounds. Training is at root really just telling people what they are doing wrong in hopes that you can get them to do it right. The principle we learned and used, and which I have seen used in all sorts of other training environments, is this: You sandwich the negative between two positives. For instance, "You did a great job smiling to the customer. That was perfect. You did forget to ring in his peas, though. It's important to ring in the peas so he pays the right total price. Then you bagged the peas really well!" I think this same principle that is used in professional training environments can be adapted by a reviewer who does not want to be emotionally hurtful to an author (or any reviewer reviewing anybody's product or service).
Other than that, I want to reiterate what was said by @ALynnPowers - Don't personally attack the author. Explain what could have been better about the story and book instead of making any negative comments about the author and author's talent.
-- 17 Mar 2015 12:04 pm --
When you are on the Review Team Page, you can click "Guidelines" in the navigation. All the rules for the review team should be there. If any rules or instructions are missing or not there, please let me know and I will adjust the page to be more clear for anyone and everyone reading it.TLGabelman wrote:Im not sure of the rules since they are not written
- Scott
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Not only was that indeed an exception to my general procedures, but--more in regard to the guidelines--the review you edited had not been rejected. I let you edit it instead of rejecting in the first place due to special circumstances and because I thought it was publishable with some slight changes.TLGabelman wrote:I have been allowed to rewrite a review before. Although things may have changed since my first reviews. I make no assumption as to why or when this is allowed. I hope Rahaelamb1 has great success and a completely pleasant experience.
"Non ignara mali miseris succurrere disco." Virgil, The Aeneid
- TLGabelman
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@Rachaelamb1Rachaelamb1 wrote:So I'm new on here and just finished reading my first book to review. I feel bad because my review is mostly negative. The book has potential but there were too many issues to give it a better rating. How do you handle leaving negative reviews?
Also, I'm feeling a bit unsure about sending in my review as I am not a grammar major and I'm not sure if I have comma's all in their correct places. Is it hard to write an acceptable review? I think I'm following all the guidelines.
You're timing is kind of great. I just had to write a negative review myself! It was the first time I have ever given a rating that low before! I was kind of clueless! But, even though I didn't like the book and had a lot of negative to say about it, I could still find something positive to say. Well... I tried to make it sound positive anyway, but it will still kind of negative...
- bluemel4
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