Discussion Time: Authors on Rewiews, To Comment or Not To Comment?

The Reading Romances Blog has featured a great question for this week for bloggers to weigh in on.  Here it is:

I have seen some discussions about this online and authors get really confused. Inspired by the 3 Stars Rating Event, I decided to create this as an opportunity for us, book bloggers and reviewers, to write our opinion and let the authors know what we expect from the authors when we post a review of their book(s). And don’t forget to answer the following question:

Should Authors Comment On Reviews?

I personally love it when authors comment on my reviews.  Now I admit I think of the authors when I write reviews and if I write something negative, I definitely give a reason to back it up.  I don't take pot shots at authors and I believe most if not all bloggers behave the same way, we are not vindictive and we are caring.  All of the blog reviews I have read from the 1 star to the 5 star have told what they liked and did not like and if they did not like something they gave a valid point.  I also usually caveat a "do not like" with this is my opinion.  One such review was one last year and it was a book a lot of people loved, and it did not click with me.   Did I hate the author?  Nope, in fact since others loved her so much I have her next book on my tbr pile.

So I think I got off of subject, but since I tend to be polite in my reviews, I expect authors to polite in their comments and so far all of the authors that have responded whether in comments or in emails have been wonderful, even when I didn't give them a 5-star review.  One thing I don't want to see is an author talking about me somewhere else.  We all know it does happen, thankfully never to me and like with bloggers I believe 99% of authors would never do this.  So authors if you have a problem with my review email me, let's talk.  If I missed the boat about what you were trying to get across let me know in email or in the comments, but do it in a nice way.  If you feel I have been "not nice" as my kids would say, let me know that too.  I don't want to be this way and trust me I wouldn't mean to be like that.

So authors, comments are appreciated and loved, I love hearing from you.  I have lovely fan-girl moments when I hear from one of you.  It makes me feel special and loved. If you asked me to review your book, it would be nice if you took a moment to at least acknowledge you saw the review.  And almost all of you do, so thank you wonderful authors, I love working with you!

Make sure you check out the other blogs participating by clicking on the banner above and let me know what you think as well.