Know Your Critics

A movie releasing soon
looks like it might be
a Romantic Comedy.
The heroine and hero might have
a romantic happy ending.
They might stay together.

Then I read critics’ reviews.
They all raved
about the ending,
which told me
it was likely to be sad.
Someone would likely die.
The couple definitely
wasn’t staying together.

A reading buddy contacted me,
telling me
she loved my latest book
and was giving it 5 stars.

She gives all my books
5 stars.
I love this
and I really appreciate her
but I know
not to judge my books
based on her reviews.

Know the critics
you are interacting with.

They all have biases.
They’re human.

Take those biases
into consideration
when interpreting their reviews.

Tricking Your Customers

Publishers and publicists
often email me sales sheets
for their upcoming releases.
If I’m interested in the romance novel,
they’ll send it to me
and I review it.

Sometimes the sales sheet is designed to trick.
I say I don’t review paranormals
so it will neglect to mention the hero is a vampire
(although it is obvious first page
that he is).

That’s fine.
Usually I’ll review the novel.
Then I never, ever accept a book
from that contact again.

Customers aren’t dumb
and no one likes being lied to.
Save the tricks for Halloween.