03-16-2007, 01:55 PM
I review books a fair amount, and do not review ones with which I have some connection. For example, a member of Comitatus has written a book and though I asked him if the book could be reviewed by the Historical Novel Society (the book is non-fiction, btw), I have arranged for it to be sent to another reviewer. I don't want to be accused of being biased.
All too often in the literary world, books are reviewed by people's friends, or people who are with the same literary agency. Some authors even ask for a specific reviewer, as they know that reviewer will give them a good review (in the Historical Novel Society, the Reviews Editors do not comply with those requests). It all just undermines the authority of the review when I find out that the book author and the reviewer have too close a connection. That said, I am not particularly influenced by the review, only using it to glean some idea of the contents of the book if I can't go and browse it myself :lol:
All too often in the literary world, books are reviewed by people's friends, or people who are with the same literary agency. Some authors even ask for a specific reviewer, as they know that reviewer will give them a good review (in the Historical Novel Society, the Reviews Editors do not comply with those requests). It all just undermines the authority of the review when I find out that the book author and the reviewer have too close a connection. That said, I am not particularly influenced by the review, only using it to glean some idea of the contents of the book if I can't go and browse it myself :lol:
