Chick Lit Plus by Samantha March
For Writers

Guest Post by Samantha March – The Book Reviewer Gets Reviewed

The Book Reviewer Gets Reviewed

I did not realize how much pressure I was going to feel after publishing Destined to Fail. Sure, I felt the usual pressures I’m sure many authors have – will the book sell, will I get any good reviews, etc – but I had an added pressure. I was the book blogger turned author. I’m the one who critiques other books on a weekly basis. I tell authors when I don’t like the character development, the way the story lagged in the middle, or the ending seemed too rushed. I’m also an editor, and I don’t hesitate to point out in my reviews that I couldn’t find commas or there were too many commas or what was with all the misspelled words? And now everything was going to be flipped – I was going to have read reviewer’s words about my story, my characters. It was….daunting. Terrifying. I had multiple beta readers, I hired an editor and a proofreader, and I was making tweaks to the story just hours before publishing. My publishing experience might be a bit different from other authors because of all this added pressure. But who wants to be the book blogger who can’t write a decent book?
Luckily, everything has been going smoothly since publishing in October. The reviews from fellow book bloggers mean so much to me. I can appreciate bloggers on a whole new level now. I respected them before because I knew what went in to maintaining a blog – the hours you must put into reading, writing the reviews, keeping your website up to date, etc. – and all without a paycheck. But now, the appreciation is at an all time high. It was really surreal to read the words about Jasmine and her friends and how readers could get into their world and the emotions they felt. Some reviews are glowing, some have some excellent constructive criticism, and each and every one makes me very thankful for this special community I belong to. I think with each book I publish I will feel that twinge of pressure as the book reviewer gets reviewed, but will also be thankful for the support of these hardworking bloggers. Cheers!