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[bookishone]

My book is finally getting some reviews. Not having gotten book reviews before, I have some questions about them and I know the Fora has vast experience on these matters. So:

First, is it ever appropriate to thank someone who's written a great review of your book? I just saw a review of my book where it is not only a good, positive review but also the reviewer really 'got' what I was doing in the book. I don't know the author personally, so it's not like it could come up in conversation, but I am certainly very appreciative of her work on the review.

There's another review, which is mostly good with one or two minor quibbles, published where authors have the option of responding to the review. This author is a fairly well-known person in the field, whom I know somewhat from conferences. Is there ever a good reason to respond to a review like this? I am tempted to let it be.

And -- just to vent -- while I've gotten half-a-dozen reviews so far and almost all of them have been either very positive or generally positive, my most mixed review is unfortunately also the one written by a very-well-known professor. It's really kind of an odd review, seen in context with the others. She starts off saying that I don't discuss X, when X is the subject of 4 chapters (I think she and I may not agree on terms, but I spend a whole chapter establishing the terms of X -- did she read it?). She doesn't hone in on what I think are the major things I'm arguing, and when she does, she takes the argument strangely. If I'm arguing that Medieval Baskets advertise their affiliation with A but they're also interestingly B-like, and I have a chapter establishing A and a chapter establishing B, this reviewer assumes that I think Medieval Baskets are only about A. Then, she really likes exactly those parts that a previous reviewer quibbled about (see above). She has a valid critique re: my last chapter, which I acknowledge; but she also says that the book needs a lot more attention to the subject she just published a book on (a subfield of my topic), and the fact that I didn't shows that I bit off more than I could chew here (not her phrasing!). Maybe this is just a good lesson about how a complicated book presents different aspects to different reviewers, and of course I'm not going to email HER about the review, but it's frustrating nonetheless.

Finally, when you submit your annual review packet, do you include all the reviews of your book, or just the mostly-pretty-good ones?

[cranefly]

First, is it ever appropriate to thank someone who's written a great review of your book?

Sure, but I wouldn't make a huge deal about it. A simple "thanks for the kind review--you seem to know a lot about the topic, maybe we can meet up at a conference some time and chat" would suffice.

Is there ever a good reason to respond to a review like this? I am tempted to let it be.

No. Let it go. I've NEVER read an author's response to a review that didn't come across sounding like a whiney "you didn't like me, but I'm just misunderstood" response.

Finally, when you submit your annual review packet, do you include all the reviews of your book, or just the mostly-pretty-good ones?

I put them all in. Even the bad reviews usually have something good to say.
And don't worry about big-shot reviewer. She read your book! That's great. Remember to go back to that review later and I bet you'll find it's not as harsh as you think it is now. You might even learn something from it. If not, well, understand that the big shots are just as insecure as everyone else, and some insecure academics need to push others down in an effort to make themselves taller. So if there's really no merit to her comments, feel pity, not anger! And be better than her when you're the big shot.

[bookishone]

Thanks for the advice. Of course as soon as the Modify period was over I wanted to go back into my post and erase my whiny, frustrated vent about the big-name reviewer, but too late! It really isn't a bad review, just sort of condescending and odd. Anyway. I would love to hear more "reviews of your book" stories.

[highway61]

My book came out in late 2010 and I've now seen seven reviews (five in print, two I've seen in pre-publication form). I'm fascinated to see what people get out of the book, what particulars they decide to foreground, how they represent my arguments. On that last issue, a lot of people get some basic stuff wrong. I really think it's quite clear in the book, but that's OK, I hope readers of the reviews will turn to the book itself to see what I actually say.

I'd never even think about replying in public to a negative review. Yes, as stated above, it always makes the author look like a wounded soul who wants more attention.

The other thing I've learned is how networking really does get one's work noticed. When I was on leave last year, I met big shot x, who invited me to lunch, wondered aloud to himself whether he should get the review copy sent to a major publication you've heard of, and bingo! nice big review.

Overall, a few gripes ("oh come on! DON'T YOU SEE?"--uttered only to myself, natch) but it's really great seeing one's work discussed, even if negatively. That's why we write, no?

[larryc]

Cranefly is exactly right about everything. A quick thank you emailed to the positive reviewers and no action towards anyone else.

My book got mostly great reviews (in that tiny obscure part of the world in which I work) and one decidedly mixed review where I thought the reviewer missed the point of what I was doing. It hurt that the reviewer was a new professor where I earned my PhD--though he came after my coursework and I had never met him. I grimaced and thought about shooting off a reply, but did not.

Later I met him at a conference and he said how much he liked my book and how we should do something together. We got to hanging out a bit at conferences and I decided he was OK. A couple years later and I get an email from his department chair--would I serve as the outside reviewer on this guy's tenure committee? I did it and it was an interesting experience--and I strongly recommended tenure based on his publications. We still see each other at conferences and I don't think he has any idea I was his outside tenure reviewer.

And you know what? His review of my book was fine. Not a thing wrong with it. Don't sweat the small stuff.

[highway61]

Oh, and let me clarify, when I said I would never reply in public to a negative review, I meant only that I'd certainly feel happy griping to my partner and one or two close friends in the field, NOT that I'd ever write the author of the review. Ditto cranefly and larryc in other words: silence on that front.

[bookishone]

Just to clarify, the review that I could reply to isn't negative --  it's actually pretty good, with one or two 'minor quibbles.' I don't particularly want to reply to it, but I notice that a good number of authors have replied to reviews of their books in this venue. It's hard for me to see the upside of a reply under these circumstances, but I wanted to be sure my instincts were correct.

Glad to hear it's okay to send a quick thank-you to a reviewer -- I'll send off a few now! I do feel so grateful to them not only for reading the book generously but also for "getting" it. I'm still kind of amazed when that happens.