What do you expect from a review?

RainbowCat 2021-02-16 15:56:46 UTC #1

I've been really unmotivated to write lately and got some free time. I'm thinking about starting to do reviews for stories on Tapas, probably mostly novels, maybe comics as well.
Now I want to make reviews that actually help people, so I'd like to know what you expect from a review. Share your thoughts with me, please!
E.g. would you want to be able to choose what the review focuses on (characters, grammar, plot,...)?
Or would you also want feedback on your cover, title and description?
If the reviews go over several chapters, would you prefer a general review of the story or feedback to every chapter individually?

For those who make comics:
Is feedback from someone who has no idea about art and how to make comics, useful for you or not?
What do you want to get feedback on in a review?

It'd also be great if you could say what you're willing to give in exchange for a review that gets posted on a website for writing, so it'd be a review with promotion! I'm not just thinking about money here, there're many options, but if you don't want to get creative, just write down an amount of money you'd pay. I'm just not sure how much a good review is worth for you.
Would you even be willing to give something in exchange for a review?

Just answer these questions and add everything else that comes to your mind concerning reviews!

DualDragons 2021-02-16 16:06:00 UTC #2

Depends on the feedback.

Feedback from a reader perspective can be useful in pointing out readibility errors. After all, if the reader can't make out what is going on how are they supposed to get invested into a story?
Having a reader's thoughts on a plot and grammar help out too.

Just generally how a reader perceives a comic or novel is different from how the author perceives it, because we go over the same line or panel multiple times.

As for compensation for a review you could always ask for a drawing, if you reviewed a comic atleast. I can't really say how much money a review should cost because I'm not really experienced in that regard.

domisotto 2021-02-16 16:15:52 UTC #3

Usually, I want to know only one thing: did the story really make you want to keep reading, and, if possible, at which point it occurred. Any personal review that has clear reflections is valuable to me, talking about the emotions that the characters caused etc.

Conversely, anything stiff and in the vein of teaching/lecturing or trying to squeeze out some commentary when the story left the reviewer unmoved is generally useless.

So, tbh, imo it's always better when the reviewer find the stories they want to review themselves and runs with their gut feeling on them.

The only thing I would pay money for, is someone offering an advice/rework that would turn my story into a bestseller and only AFTER it turned out into a confirmed bestseller, lol

BreakingChalk 2021-02-16 16:16:41 UTC #4

I appreciate any review on any aspects of the story/plot/comic, as long as it is from someone who did read the chapters.

Regarding to have a review posted on a site, I think money and sharing the review on my blog, an announcement at the end of a chapter and sharing with friends and my comic's social media would be good for it, more so if I promote the post that links the review.

therosesword 2021-02-16 16:19:07 UTC #5

It depends if you're reviewing or critiquing.

For a review generally all I'd want is your overall feel about the piece.

A critique would go into the depth you're suggesting.

(P.S. I reviewed books professionally for a magazine years ago, it took a few slaps on the wrist from my editor to get the difference straight.)

IndigoShirtProd 2021-02-16 16:23:00 UTC #6

Hoping the person knows the difference between a critique and a review, because they're not particularly the same.
I recently received a "critique" that wasn't very helpful, because it was a review of my comic. Reviews are for readers, critiques are for content creators (in my own opinion). Now there was some critiques in that review, but it wasn't anything I hadn't heard before so... And also to give the benefit of the doubt to the person, they did say they would specifically review my comic, but, at least in the forums, reviews and critiques get conflated with one another so it was my fault for making an incorrect assumption.

They can com from the perspective of an average reader and give feed back on clarity, which can be helpful.

Like @DualDragons said, probably artwork.

Generally what I look for in a critique is feedback on dialogue (does it sound good?), artwork (does it look good?), readability (are the words readable?), and plot (does it make sense?). What can be changed here for future pages.

For a review, whether or not there's enough intrigue (is it interesting enough to keep people reading), good characterization (do or would people like the characters), clarity (can people follow along?).

RainbowCat 2021-02-16 16:58:30 UTC #7

I knew there was a difference between review and critique but I never really figured out what the difference is, so thanks everyone! This is super helpful!

miss.almuete 2021-02-17 03:53:14 UTC #8

that is sooo nice that you want to make reviews to help people!! props to you, honestly!

I think what Brandon Sanderson has to say about writing groups is super helpful! He talks about it in his intro to creative writing lectures at BYU, and its worth watching bc he is a really good speaker, but I will summarize:

be sure to say what is good!
- say what is working up front, so the writer doesn't change what is working.

share your natural reaction
- saying I was bored is completely valid, saying I was confused is completely valid. say where you were excited!
this gives feedback to the writer like, oh that's what i wanted! or I was totally surprised by that reaction!

(I would definitely say this also works for comics, like saying you were confused at a certain point can prompt the artist to check if they didn't include establishing shots, crossed the 180 line, hid the action bc its hard to draw, etc)

appreciate the story the author wants to make and don't try to turn it into something else!
- don't try to make someones story into the story you would write - instead you want to help this person write a better version of the story they want to write.

I think giving reviews will also help with your own writing, and hopefully rejuvenate your creativity! :> hope you'll be able to get your motivation back soon!

Pony_wearing_a_hat 2021-02-17 05:56:19 UTC #9

I've been pretty lucky as far as quality goes in the reviews that I've gotten. One thing that I think is important is that a reviewer talk about more than one thing, and not just focus on one thing that they liked or didn't like for the entirety/most of the review.

RainbowCat 2021-02-20 22:30:43 UTC #10

For everyone interested in a review by me, I've got a thread about it now:

WillowTree 2021-02-20 22:41:40 UTC #11

I'll start with the pay part - I wouldn't pay anything for a review. I would provide a free copy in exchange for a review, but to actually pay wouldn't feel right to me. Though since this is just Tapas and it's already available for free then I definitely wouldn't be paying anything. When I self-published my short story, I paid for a promotion from a website that got me way more than enough purchases to cover the cost of the promotion, but for my ARC reviews, the only thing offered was a free copy of the story in exchange for a review.

I would pay for beta reading/editing/etc and I do pay my beta reader. Based on your other post, it feels more like a beta reading service you're attempting to offer, but to be a beta reader, you don't publicly post the issues with a novel. It's a service for the writer to see where they can improve before what they've written starts getting real reviews.

When it comes to a promotion that you're offering - how many people are signed up for your newsletter? What are you site traffic stats? How many unique visitors do you get in a week/month/etc? These are all things I would be looking at before reaching out and paying for a promotion.

For the reviews - I would try to get your own set up going in how you review things. That way people can see and know what to expect if they request a review from you instead of focusing on what the writer wants you focus on, focus on what sticks out to you. Have sections to rate each part - cover, summery, story

If it was beta reading service, like mentioned before, that's why you listen to what the writer wants you to focus on. Some beta readers want just over arching story cohesiveness where as others want something more in depth.

It really sounds to me like you should offer a review section and a beta reading section, but that's just how the post/wording comes across to me!