When you run a book blog, the more it grows, the more authors may come across it. If you have a decent following then they’re going to want you to review their work.
Everyone likes different genres, some more than others. If you love mystery novels and can’t stand historical fiction, then what do you do if an author asks you to review their historical fiction book?
A lot of reviewers don’t like saying no to authors when they ask such a request. I’m one of those reviewers. Sometimes it’s hard to say no.
When an author, a publisher, or a publicist contacts you, you feel flattered. How could they have possibly come across a blog such as your own? And your blog looked good enough to them to make them want to contact you. It makes you feel good so of course, you want to please them.
However, saying no to a review request will please them better rather than reviewing a book you won’t enjoy and therefore won’t give a good review.
A book review is nothing more than your opinion on the book. We all like different things and read books from different perspectives.
There are no bad books, but if there’s a book I don’t particularly care for, I’m not going to give it five stars.
When writing a book review, be sure to make it clear that you’re just stating your own opinion. Authors obviously don’t want anything 1- or 2-star ratings on their books, but you can’t please everyone.
That’s why, if there’s a genre or even a summary of a book that you don’t seem into, be honest with the author and say no to the request. Being honest and not wanting to risk a bad review will be much better than not enjoying the book.
The author will appreciate it.
Have you ever said no to a review request before? Let me know in the comments below!
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