Supremely Partisan: How Raw Politics Tips the Scales in the United States Supreme Court | 
I have a question for everyone--has an author ever replied to any of your reviews and, if so, how do you respond? I don't know, I find this highly inappropriate, especially considering that I gave the book 4 stars and because I'm the only one who has even read and reviewed the book. Now, I feel like replying and revising my original rating. I'd appreciate any advice. Apparently the author even created a profile just to reply to my review.
KrisConstantReader Here's a link to my original review and to his comment: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/1721714631 8y
Notafraidofwords Wow. Interesting. If I can be honest, I wish authors wouldn't do that. It makes me uncomfortable. However, if the book is non fiction and she/he wants to shed more light on something; I guess I can try to understand. 8y
Michelle_mck An author negatively commented on a review I did, it wasn't an ARC already released, I didn't respond in the end I didn't want to get into it 8y
See All 44 Comments
Godmotherx5 I know this has come up for readers & forced them to stop leaving reviews. An author did explain reviews get the word out & help circulate their work. Sometimes I feel safest leaving a review if the author is deceased. You didn't say anything negative. I'd be more interested in the book if he hadn't commented. 8y
ReadingEnvy You know what I would do... You got it from Netgalley which means you have some contact with the publisher. I'd ask them if this is their expectation and express your discomfort... You will not be the last, I'm guessing. He may need to be taught what is appropriate, honestly... But maybe not you you! 8y
TheNextBook I've had that happen with an indie author. She refused to understand why I gave her a low rating, even though I explained it thoroughly in my review and in the comments to her. In the end I simply stopped responding to her. This author's tone isn't hostile but he seemed almost negative about your comment. I would ignore. 8y
TheNextBook Moments like this make me cautious. http://www.bbc.com/news/uk-scotland-edinburgh-east-fife-34775814 and this http://review.gawker.com/author-stalks-blogger-joins-long-tradition-of-terrible-... 8y
JenP I've had authors respond but only to positive reviews with appreciation. I have yet to have one respond to one of my negative reviews. I found this example kind of obnoxious on the author's part. It's one thing to clarify some misinterpretation in a helpful way but there was implied judgment in his comment. Personally, I think it makes them look bad when they argue with reviewers 8y
intothehallofbooks I do not like it when this happens! It feels tacky and uncomfortable to me when I encounter situations like this. If it were me, I would not engage him. Also I would like to encourage you to leave your rating as is! Your review is good and there is nothing there that warranted a response from the author. 8y
Notafraidofwords @intothehallofbooks totally agree 🙌🏼 8y
mauveandrosysky Since this is a non-fiction book, I can understand his desire to clarify. And I can also understand him wanting to explain his rationale. He probably should have been more tactful about it. A simple, "Thanks for your review! Just wanted to clarify...etc etc" would have been a better approach. 8y
NerdyRev I stopped reviewing books for a long time because an author wrote two blog posts about my negative review of his book (I had 15-20 readers, he had thousand). The reason I stopped was because I started receiving death threats at work and things in the mail from his followers. I am a pastor who reviews for fun. He was the head of Answers in Gen. (The guy who debated Bill Nye) 8y
mauveandrosysky Also, I've had a handful of authors comment on my Goodreads reviews and it's always been a positive experience — even when I haven't given a very high rating. It seems like most authors are pretty good about it! 8y
NerdyRev It was terrifying and I didn't know what to do. If you google my name, it is one of the first hits for me where I was outed, my address shared, and where people could find me. This was a guy calling himself a Christian who led other Christians to attack a pastor. This year is my first year back reviewing and you will barely see Christian books reviewed by me. 8y
BookishMarginalia I'm with @ReadingEnvy -- if it made you uncomfortable, I would go on NetGalley and contact the publisher. 8y
jpmcwisemorgan I think online behavior leaves a lot to be desired. I believe that for you've left a review that accurately reflects what you think/feel, then that's fair. Authors and reviewers alike can be rude, etc. and I know there have been some very scary cases that need to be taken seriously. Reviewers need to feel they can say what they think and authors need to learn that not everyone is going to like their work. 8y
tpixie @ReadingEnvy I like your idea. 8y
annahenke #awkward 8y
KrisConstantReader @ReadingEnvy yes, I'm definitely going to do that! 8y
tpixie @intothehallofbooks good points! 8y
KrisConstantReader Wow, some of your stories have me stunned! Thank you to each one of you for your excellent advice. I couldn't help myself, I had to respond, it left such a bad taste in my mouth. I'm definitely going to send the publisher a note via Netgalley. 8y
KrisConstantReader @jpmcwisemorgan I agree with you wholeheartedly. I felt that it was inappropriate and in bad taste for him to even comment on my review. 8y
KrisConstantReader @NerdyRev I can't believe that happened to you! That's terrifying, I'm glad you are okay now and nothing really worse happened to you. 8y
KrisConstantReader @mauveandrosysky excellent point, if he absolutely felt that he had to comment, there was another way he could have gone about it. 8y
LauraBrook I don't know anything about the book or author but this just seems like a nothing statement, like he's clarifying something in your review. Not saying anything bad or good, just clarifying. Did I miss something? Still, having an author comment on a review, aside from a "thank you" is a little awkward & potentially creepy. Haven't had any comments personally aside from one author asking if they could use my review for quotes, so I don't know? 8y
KrisConstantReader @LauraBrook I don't know, to me it felt inappropriate and a little intrusive. I don't feel like it's his place to intrude on reviews like that, even to clarify something. Seems in bad taste, but I could be wrong. I still stand by my original review and don't agree with his comment, by the way. 8y
PenguinInFlight @KrisConstantReader I feel it was in very poor taste by the author...most agents tell their author NOT to comment on a review, because it's someone's opinion, which they are entitled to. (Unless it's a "Hey! Thanks for reading my book, I appreciate the feedback!" type thing.) I would ignore it, and contact NetGalley if it makes you uncomfortable...I'm pretty sure they have guidelines about authors doing just this. Good luck! 8y
PenguinInFlight There was a HUGE thing on GR about "authors behaving badly"...where authors would berate people who read their books and didn't give them 5 stars and an amazing review. It involved death threats and letters and all sorts of crazy stuff. It was scary. And, if this author absolutely felt he needed to clarify, there's definitely a less intrusive way he could have done so. That's just my opinion. 8y
Gezemice It seems to me that he is clarifying something. Probably a new author who does not know the online etiquette well. I would not worry about it. Either ignore it or say something like "Thank you for the clarification" and leave it at that. Show him some manners... 8y
KrisConstantReader @Gezemice ummm, too late, I already responded, lol. Oh well, hopefully I won't hear from him again. @PenguinInFlight thanks, I agree with everything you said! 8y
KrisConstantReader @TheNextBook I just finished reading those articles--wow! Unreal. 8y
Martyn_J_Pass I've usually taken time (as an author) to thank a reviewer with a comment if I thought the person really liked the book I wrote. I've never attacked or been rude to someone and I don't respond to anything less than 4 stars. I'd never thought that this might be considered poor etiquette so thanks for posting this! I never realised that it was considered rude. I'll try not to comment in future. 8y
That-Bookish-Hiker Yikes! I have never had one comment on a review I left but I did have one like my negative review which was really awkward for me. It was just a like and it made me uncomfortable so I could understand why this would make you uncomfortable. 8y
moranadatter I haven't had an author respond to a review, but I made a comment about a comic on Twitter and someone who works for the publisher contacted me. It was unsettling because I have very few followers and I didn't @ them or use a hashtag. The comic's title is a single very common word. He had to work to find that tweet. He said he didn't contact me to argue with me and asked a question. I answered and he proceeded to argue with me. 😡 8y
KrisConstantReader @The_Bear no, don't go only by me. If the author had commented "thank you for your review" or something of that nature I don't think it would have felt intrusive or uncomfortable at all. Just the fact that he created a goodreads profile simply to go onto a 4 star review and critique it a bit seemed a little creepy and inappropriate to me. There's a huge difference than what you're talking about. I think the tone makes all the difference. 8y
Martyn_J_Pass @KrisConstantReader I understand, but from the looks of the other people who have posted on this post, having an author acknowledge the review or even comment on it appears to be creepy and I hadn't realised a reader might feel that way! 8y
tpixie @Gezemice great advice! 8y
Laalaleighh @KrisConstantReader WHAT HAVE YOU DONE TO ME?!?!?! I followed your link and then the link you left in your response and spent the last two hours reading the cached comment thread of THIS http://tidbits.com/article/14696 oh my god. I can't. It's incessant. I'm laughing so hard my sides hurt and my cats think I'm crazy. Like, if any author did that about his book I would side-eye but the book is about DETECTIVE TEDDY BEARS 😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂 8y
Laalaleighh I'm so delirious from laughter that I'm haphazardly using caps lock. Omg. 8y
Laalaleighh "This book about detective teddy bears is a lyrical prose poem to Venice- it's straight out of Fitzgerald and Keats my friend". ????Dying ??? Ok. Ok. I'm done. Thank you for that link. My morning is made. 8y
KrisConstantReader Omg, that's really hilarious! But I don't understand--how did you get the teddy bears from my links? 8y
KrisConstantReader @Laalaleighh 😂😂😂😂 I just looked at it some more, I'm dying from the comments! Now I have my reading material for tonight. I googled the guy and there's tons of articles about his meltdown, there's even a Reddit thread, there's links to everything in this article http://www.dailydot.com/upstream/venice-under-glass-harper-review-meltdown/ Gonna read all this stuff tonight, I can't wait. Thanks for making my day! 😂😂😂 8y
Laalaleighh Omg that article you just linked is everything. I can't. 😂😂😂 thank you. Please give updates as you read. I'm sending this to my English major friends. 8y
Laalaleighh This guy is the Kanye of writers. 8y
44 likes44 comments
