![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
what you can learn from a bad review
Aug. 28th, 2006 06:01 pmTom Beauchamp at Front Street Reviews didn't like my book The Mars Run. He had a number of complaints (too short, for one) and, unlike most of my reviewers, he didn't like my characters.
Most importantly, though, it gave me a valuable clue. Like Ernest Lilley, who gave me my other bad review, he compared it unfavorably to a Heinlein juvenile. And to a certain extent, it does have similarities. My protagonist is 18, on her first mission, and the first few chapters start with her training. The story detours from the Heinlein juvenile when the space pirates show up.
During the writing of this book, I was worried about that. I (vaguely) remember watching a movie in which the first half was "young kid meets friendly man that lives in the woods." Then, the man proved to be a Vietnam war vet, and the last half of the movie was a bloody shoot-em-up. I really didn't want to do that, so I tried to put hints (like the "ship security seminar") early on. Apparently they weren't enough for Mr. Beauchamp.
If you walk into a restaurant expecting to get ice cream, chocolate cake might not be very tasty. To be fair, he has a bunch of other complaints, so that's not all there is.
Speaking of complaints, I have one too. At most of these review sites, if you get a good review, they send you an email notice. If you get a bad one, the only way you find out is by checking the site. Granted, sending an email saying "you got panned" isn't the most pleasant thing, but still, doesn't professional courtesy mean you should get something?
On an unrelated note, the review site I signed up with, TCM Reviews is apparently read by somebody. Kate Atkinson's publicist is supposed to be sending me a copy of her latest novel, coming out in October. Free books! Yeah!
Most importantly, though, it gave me a valuable clue. Like Ernest Lilley, who gave me my other bad review, he compared it unfavorably to a Heinlein juvenile. And to a certain extent, it does have similarities. My protagonist is 18, on her first mission, and the first few chapters start with her training. The story detours from the Heinlein juvenile when the space pirates show up.
During the writing of this book, I was worried about that. I (vaguely) remember watching a movie in which the first half was "young kid meets friendly man that lives in the woods." Then, the man proved to be a Vietnam war vet, and the last half of the movie was a bloody shoot-em-up. I really didn't want to do that, so I tried to put hints (like the "ship security seminar") early on. Apparently they weren't enough for Mr. Beauchamp.
If you walk into a restaurant expecting to get ice cream, chocolate cake might not be very tasty. To be fair, he has a bunch of other complaints, so that's not all there is.
Speaking of complaints, I have one too. At most of these review sites, if you get a good review, they send you an email notice. If you get a bad one, the only way you find out is by checking the site. Granted, sending an email saying "you got panned" isn't the most pleasant thing, but still, doesn't professional courtesy mean you should get something?
On an unrelated note, the review site I signed up with, TCM Reviews is apparently read by somebody. Kate Atkinson's publicist is supposed to be sending me a copy of her latest novel, coming out in October. Free books! Yeah!
