OBC Review Editing
Moderator: Official Reviewer Representatives
- gali
- Previous Member of the Month
- Posts: 53653
- Joined: 22 Oct 2013, 07:12
- Currently Reading: Pride and Prejudice in Space
- Bookshelf Size: 2288
- Reviewer Page: onlinebookclub.org/reviews/by-gali.html
- Reading Device: B00I15SB16
- Publishing Contest Votes: 0
Re: OBC Review Editing
Pronouns: She/Her
"In the case of good books, the point is not to see how many of them you can get through, but rather how many can get through to you." (Mortimer J. Adler)
- bookowlie
- Special Discussion Leader
- Posts: 9071
- Joined: 25 Oct 2014, 09:52
- Favorite Book: The Lost Continent
- Currently Reading: The Night She Went Missing
- Bookshelf Size: 442
- Reviewer Page: onlinebookclub.org/reviews/by-bookowlie.html
- Latest Review: To Paint A Murder by E. J. Gandolfo
- amybo82
- Posts: 651
- Joined: 07 Sep 2014, 17:27
- Favorite Book: cannot pick just one
- Currently Reading: Calypso
- Bookshelf Size: 1517
- Reviewer Page: onlinebookclub.org/reviews/by-amybo82.html
- Latest Review: The Adventures of The Gorilla Billies by Mark J Stopford
- Reading Device: B00TA9FD2M
- Publishing Contest Votes: 17
- bookowlie
- Special Discussion Leader
- Posts: 9071
- Joined: 25 Oct 2014, 09:52
- Favorite Book: The Lost Continent
- Currently Reading: The Night She Went Missing
- Bookshelf Size: 442
- Reviewer Page: onlinebookclub.org/reviews/by-bookowlie.html
- Latest Review: To Paint A Murder by E. J. Gandolfo
- bluemel4
- Previous Member of the Month
- Posts: 5222
- Joined: 01 Mar 2015, 14:43
- Currently Reading: The Dark Tower, Books 1-3
- Bookshelf Size: 466
- Reviewer Page: onlinebookclub.org/reviews/by-bluemel4.html
- Latest Review: "Severed Threads" by Kaylin McFarren
- Reading Device: B00JG8GOWU
-
- Posts: 208
- Joined: 01 Feb 2015, 14:36
- Currently Reading: Too lazy to update this every day
- Bookshelf Size: 19
- Reviewer Page: onlinebookclub.org/reviews/by-duende-knocking.html
- Latest Review: "A World Within Our World" by J. M. Parker
My most recent review was not my best in terms of grammar/awkward sentences, and I fully understand that part of the commentary I received. However, I also was critiqued on some things that I found to peculiar. For example, I lost points for having my rating at the beginning of the review. I often do this, and have never been penalized for it before. I don't see anything anywhere declaring that it must be at the end, so I found this to be rather subjective.
This was the first of many problems regarding subjectivity with it. I won't list them all here because I'm not sure if this is the right place for it (I can PM them to Scott or start a new thread if necessary!). I understand that one mediocre review isn't the end of the world, and I'm not concerned about my score, but I just felt that the editorial comments were rather unfair and the person seemed to be basing my score off of rules they made up.
- Cyril Connolly
- gali
- Previous Member of the Month
- Posts: 53653
- Joined: 22 Oct 2013, 07:12
- Currently Reading: Pride and Prejudice in Space
- Bookshelf Size: 2288
- Reviewer Page: onlinebookclub.org/reviews/by-gali.html
- Reading Device: B00I15SB16
- Publishing Contest Votes: 0
You are right, it doesn't really matter where you place the rate. I don't know what other issues there are, but I suggest you pm Scott about it.Duende Knocking wrote:I had a general question in regards to the comments I received about my most recent review and am not sure if it warrants a new thread. This one seems to be along a similar vein, so I thought I'd mention it here...
My most recent review was not my best in terms of grammar/awkward sentences, and I fully understand that part of the commentary I received. However, I also was critiqued on some things that I found to peculiar. For example, I lost points for having my rating at the beginning of the review. I often do this, and have never been penalized for it before. I don't see anything anywhere declaring that it must be at the end, so I found this to be rather subjective.
This was the first of many problems regarding subjectivity with it. I won't list them all here because I'm not sure if this is the right place for it (I can PM them to Scott or start a new thread if necessary!). I understand that one mediocre review isn't the end of the world, and I'm not concerned about my score, but I just felt that the editorial comments were rather unfair and the person seemed to be basing my score off of rules they made up.
Pronouns: She/Her
"In the case of good books, the point is not to see how many of them you can get through, but rather how many can get through to you." (Mortimer J. Adler)
- amybo82
- Posts: 651
- Joined: 07 Sep 2014, 17:27
- Favorite Book: cannot pick just one
- Currently Reading: Calypso
- Bookshelf Size: 1517
- Reviewer Page: onlinebookclub.org/reviews/by-amybo82.html
- Latest Review: The Adventures of The Gorilla Billies by Mark J Stopford
- Reading Device: B00TA9FD2M
- Publishing Contest Votes: 17
- bookowlie
- Special Discussion Leader
- Posts: 9071
- Joined: 25 Oct 2014, 09:52
- Favorite Book: The Lost Continent
- Currently Reading: The Night She Went Missing
- Bookshelf Size: 442
- Reviewer Page: onlinebookclub.org/reviews/by-bookowlie.html
- Latest Review: To Paint A Murder by E. J. Gandolfo
Duende Knocking, I am not trying to say that's what happened in the case.
- gali
- Previous Member of the Month
- Posts: 53653
- Joined: 22 Oct 2013, 07:12
- Currently Reading: Pride and Prejudice in Space
- Bookshelf Size: 2288
- Reviewer Page: onlinebookclub.org/reviews/by-gali.html
- Reading Device: B00I15SB16
- Publishing Contest Votes: 0
Pronouns: She/Her
"In the case of good books, the point is not to see how many of them you can get through, but rather how many can get through to you." (Mortimer J. Adler)
- Scott
- Site Admin
- Posts: 4068
- Joined: 31 Jul 2006, 23:00
- Currently Reading: The Unbound Soul
- Bookshelf Size: 340
- Reviewer Page: onlinebookclub.org/reviews/by-scott.html
- Reading Device: B00JG8GOWU
- Publishing Contest Votes: 960
I think it is just common because it usually flows a lot better like that. The rating and general level recommendation is essentially the conclusion of the review. Conclusions usually go at the end. That's just my guess.
I do think it is good for the editors to slightly adjust the scores based on their overall subjective opinion of how pleasant the review is to read and how much they like the style of the review and the kind of thing. If editors don't like a certain idiosyncrasy that isn't against the rules, I don't think it's bad for that to affect their score by a point and for the editor to mention it. Such a small thing in and of itself and such a small change in the rating would have little affect on the total score in itself. Sometimes the reviewer can disagree and disregard such minor feedback, especially if the overall editor rating is very good. It's a waste of everyone's time for the editors to not try really hard to provide some constructive criticism no matter how great the review is. For great reviews, this will start to mean the little constructive criticism offered will be very subjective and minor. In a deeper sense, that itself can be regarded as a compliment.
This is also why--in the reviewer scoring formula--the editors do not have to give a reviewer's reviews perfect scores for the reviewer to get a full points for review quality.
Similarly, it is why a reviewer does not need to get 100 out of 100 points to be level 6.
Nothing is perfect. Not me, not the reviews, not the editors, and not the formula.
"Non ignara mali miseris succurrere disco." Virgil, The Aeneid
- TarinaJ
- Posts: 33
- Joined: 20 Jul 2015, 13:19
- Favorite Book: <a href="http://forums.onlinebookclub.org/shelve ... >Ophelia's Muse</a>
- Currently Reading: Counting Stars
- Bookshelf Size: 87
- Reviewer Page: onlinebookclub.org/reviews/by-tarinaj.html
- Latest Review: "People Centricity" by Stephen Hewett
- Reading Device: B00I15SB16
- Publishing Contest Votes: 6
Thank you,
~TJ
- gali
- Previous Member of the Month
- Posts: 53653
- Joined: 22 Oct 2013, 07:12
- Currently Reading: Pride and Prejudice in Space
- Bookshelf Size: 2288
- Reviewer Page: onlinebookclub.org/reviews/by-gali.html
- Reading Device: B00I15SB16
- Publishing Contest Votes: 0
You should contact Scott by pm.tj-avid-reader wrote:I was looking for a forum to ask, "Who do I contact if I disagree with an editor's comments?" and this seems to be the best topic to do so. To whom should I direct the question? HOW do I direct the question?
Thank you,
~TJ
Pronouns: She/Her
"In the case of good books, the point is not to see how many of them you can get through, but rather how many can get through to you." (Mortimer J. Adler)
- amybo82
- Posts: 651
- Joined: 07 Sep 2014, 17:27
- Favorite Book: cannot pick just one
- Currently Reading: Calypso
- Bookshelf Size: 1517
- Reviewer Page: onlinebookclub.org/reviews/by-amybo82.html
- Latest Review: The Adventures of The Gorilla Billies by Mark J Stopford
- Reading Device: B00TA9FD2M
- Publishing Contest Votes: 17
- bookowlie
- Special Discussion Leader
- Posts: 9071
- Joined: 25 Oct 2014, 09:52
- Favorite Book: The Lost Continent
- Currently Reading: The Night She Went Missing
- Bookshelf Size: 442
- Reviewer Page: onlinebookclub.org/reviews/by-bookowlie.html
- Latest Review: To Paint A Murder by E. J. Gandolfo
I agree that there is a respective way to point out errors. As for writing style, there's constructive criticism and then there's just plain picky and patronizing. I once had another editor (I am also an editor) edit one of my reviews and say that it was very well written (yay!). Then at the end of the edit, he/she said it's well written, but I used simple, basic words. Huh? So...as I previously said, there's constructive and then there's patronizing. By the way, the particular review I am referring to became wildly popular with respect to views and comments, so go figure. I guess simple and basic wasn't so bad after all.amybo82 wrote:I'm kind of obsessive about my reviews. I hate it when I get lowered ratings, but I get it. Sometimes the other editors don't like my writing style, and sometimes I miss technical elements in my proofread. One thing I do not get, though, is when editors are pedantic or patronizing. I am a professional freelance writer and editor. I don't need anyone talking down to me like I don't know what I'm doing. I think it's fine to point out mistakes and errors. However, that needs to be done in a polite and respectful way. As Scott mentioned, none of us are perfect, and we're going to make mistakes. I think it's important to remember that, as editors, we are trying to help people get better, not shame them for doing something wrong. TJ-I hope your issue gets resolved. Scott is great to contact with any questions or concerns. He always shows great care for the reviewers and authors!