Writers: what to do when a prominent book reviewer has either clearly misread or did not read your whole book?

Question

To post a rebuttal seems like it would sound like a "angry at the review" writer. Yet, it is clear that the person who reviewed the book had an agenda, took one line from the preface out of context, and either didn't fully read the book, or wilfully ignored text that contradicted his/her (unsigned) criticism. As it is a non-fiction book, I could pull literally pages of text that contradict the reviewer's complaint and point of view. It's one of the primary reviewing companies that you see on Amazon, B&N, etc. A bad review would be an unpleasant experience to contend with but what should you do with an erroneous one? Is there any viable recourse? Is it worth worrying about? In the history of book reviews, has one ever been retracted?

Thank you very much for everyone's perspective. It sounds like I'm not the only one who's been there.

I've since heard that reviewers get paid about $50 for a review, and that many don't read the whole book. While it's aggravating to imagine an underpaid grad student sniping at my book (bad day?)--and the economic consequences to me are real--it's more the fault of Amazon, Barnes & Noble, etc. agreeing to post unsigned reviews. But hey, who said anything about publishing would be "fair"! Happy to have made it this far.

Thanks again, guys.

Answer 1

Hey even with a bad review, it is possible to pull out excerpts that you can use and make it sound like the best review on earth. Just look carefully and see if there isn't something you can pick out. It is always ironic when you can make lemonade out of lemons by turning a review around. Movie reviews do it all the time.

There is not really much you can do. It's kind of like getting an umpire to change a balls and strikes call in baseball. It won't happen. A person is entitled to their opinion - even if it is totally uninformed and even downright wrong. It would be rare indeed to get a retraction or a second review.

Did they spell your name right? Then see what you can extract and move on. Some reviewers just do not get the idea they are supposed to actually READ books. Pax-C

Answer 2

Be glad it got reviewed at all. I believe you can rate the reviewer on Amazon without revealing you are the author. You might ask someone who is really familiar with the book to do another review.

I've had a lot of off-the-wall reviews that told me things I didn't know about my own book. So long as its a good review and reflects well on the book overall, I just let it slide.

Answer 3

In a word, no. The best thing you can do is chalk it up to them having a bad day, forget about it, and move on. Anything you do at that point will be considered bad on your part. And remember, not everyone believes a silly review. There have to be others that have read it and thought it was good, right? Go with those. Learn from what it say and move on.

Answer 4

I always like the rule , kindly pointing out where you see that they made an error in judgment. Treat them as though they were a child getting questions wrong on a math test. View the problems they have from their viewpoint and point out where they went wrong - if you can determine the flaw in their logic.

However, given the political vitriol of some ideologues, you may find problems or enhance their anger toward you or your book. I would however post a rebuttal to their observations.

I for instance got called to the carpet for my review of a book but while the author was clearly ideological in his viewpoint, which is couched as reasoned and attributable.

I took him to task for specific instances where he was clearly false in his assertions or implications or was misrepresenting facts to accord with his political viewpoints.

I specifically cited my evidence to that effect and stand by my commentary. The author may disagree and certainly would however, The number , kind and intention of the errors were pretty consistent,.

Answer 5

through fact this is unpredicted, diverse... and as a rule diverse :) i've got no longer heard of something like what i'm writing until now, and this is something i might choose to envision. wish different individuals sense an identical way in the event that they examine it... BQ: she is particularly perceptive, which makes her understand human beings extra constructive. even though it extremely is a weak point at times, reason it makes her extra emotionally in touch with human beings she shouldn't relate. BQ2: editor. i think of it would be cool to help different individuals with their novels, if i can not be an author myself, why no longer helping others exchange into one? BQ3: it quite is an excerp of the commencing up paragraph of my tale, i've got no longer edited it yet so this is not any longer very good, although this is nevertheless my well-known section. right here it is going: "somebody as quickly as stated that existence is almost a street, you recognize the place it starts, yet the place it ends is as much as you. it quite is the story of a street, the form of a woman and her sister searching for the fact. (...) and that i wish you thank, every time you turn the internet site, no longer being interior the area of this undesirable woman that sometime, by using an unusual accident, took an unpredicted turn interior the path of her existence."

Answer 6

Don't try to analyze bad reviews. Just ignore them. The right reviewer will eventually help you establish your audience.