Let’s talk bookish is a weekly meme, created and hosted by Rukky @Eternity Books and Dani @Literary Lion, here different topics will be discussed.
This week’s topic is ‘Should reviewers go easier on self-published authors’, this is quite a difficult topic for me.. Since I don’t think I’ve actually read any self-published books..
But I will still try and answer the example questions given:
- When you’re reviewing self-published does it affect how harsh you are with your ratings?
- Do you think reviewers in general should critique self-published authors less then traditionally published authors?
- Do you think self-published authors should be held to the same standard as traditional publishing?
Honestly I think I would rate self-published and traditionally published books in the same way! Just because I would not be really thinking about the difference.
But thinking about it, traditionally published books did (most probably) get more help from other people before publishing. So more ‘polishing’ in the plot and writing. So looking at it that way it is probably more fair to be a bit more lenient towards self-published books!
I don’t really know what else to say haha! I think it is a bit hard to have a strong opinion about this without actually reading self-published books!
As aside note, I do need to read more self-published books! I keep hearing amazing things about self-published books, especially fantasy, and I keep not reading them!
It’s so easy to never read self-published books I can’t even blame you! I think I’ve only read one so far this year. I used to read quite a few more…I really want to branch out more since self-published books can do a lot of things that publishers still push back against. I hope I do better in 2021!
I do want to read them actually! I should put in more effort to try and read them!
I treat all books the same as well. I know there’s probably a higher chance of a self-published author reading my review, but I don’t let that affect what I’m going to write because I feel like that wouldn’t be fair to anyone involved. 🙂
Ooh that is also true! But it would be unfair to not give an honest review, just because the author might read it!
This is a great topic and one I’ve never think before, since I don’t read many self-published books too. I agree with the point that traditionally published authors have more help to polish their stories, but in the end I always rate them with the same standard because even traditional publishings have some bad books and self-published authors have released some gems 🙂
Exactly! I feel like it is fair to rate the same, it would also otherwise be impossible to compare ratings!
I rate by the same system regardless of the publishing way. I don’t see a point in rating one differently because sometimes even traditional publishing books can be bad. ♀️
True! Would also be confusing if you would use multiple systems!
I also rate self-published books the same way as traditionally published ones. I want my rating to reflect the quality of the finished book, and yes, I suppose traditionally published authors might be at an advantage because more people looked at their work beforehand. However, if the quality is lacking, I just won’t enjoy the book as much and won’t give a great rating just to support a self-published book. And there are great self-published books out there, too!
Yes exactly!
It would also be confusing if you would rate self published books differently, because then you can´t really compare books!
If you’re looking to read more self-pub fantasy I recommend checking out the finalists from the Self-Published Fantasy Blog Off. I loved Orconomics by J Zachary Pike, a satire, We Ride the Storm by Devin Madson (since traditionally published) & Fortune’s Fool by Angela Boord, a mix of politics and romantic
Ooh thanks! I will look that up!
I actually think the same way you do. I’ve read maybe one self-published book so far and it was pretty great, so following that experience, I would rate them with the same system!
Good to hear!