Bark At The Ghouls

Let's talk about the coveted stars for the briefest of moments, shall we?  Why are they given so much importance in this world? Why do people freak out when one doesn't give ALL of them away and why do they take it SO personally when they haven't even written the book? Why can't people see past them and read the words in a review? Why don't we all slap a star on a book and call it a day instead of agonizing over words? WHY ISN'T IT OK TO HAVE A DIFFERENT OPINION? What is wrong with us? Don't answer that. I write reviews. As silly as they may be, I put time into them and I try to share my likes and my dislikes so other readers can make up their own minds about whether or not a book will appeal to them. We're all different. My five star might be your one star and vice-versa, rinse and repeat, blabbedy blah who even cares anymore?! I've said this until my head is ready to explode, even devoted an entire  ranty post about it, and I can't believe I am...

I'm back with another unasked for PSA! This time I tackle how to approach a reviewer. Or, more accurately, how not to approach a reviewer. I've been doing this for a good 85 years or so it seems like, and though people come and go, there are some mistakes things that never seem to change in bloglandia. Mistake #1: Addressing me by "Reviewer", "Mr. Bark" or "Dearest Bark" (though I admit that one warms my heart a little). This tells me that you have not taken 5 minutes to read my review policy of which I agonized over. How do I know? Because I tell you my real name in the first few lines. It's the simplest test ever and you just failed.  I know we are all busy little bees but my policy is pretty brief and to the point and it's there to help you avoid wasting your time with me. Mistake #2: Attempting to personalize an email with the wrong information: I'll never be the kind of person to tell others how to condu...

Guaranteed to Make You Miserable I wrote many of these rules several years ago for my Booklikes blog after a series of annoying and disturbing events happened in Booklandia. A blogger was hit over the head with a wine bottle , another reader was stalked and myriads of people came out of the woodwork to write posts about writing reviews the correct way. Well, that annoyed me a little because I do not like being told what to do. Things have quieted down in recent times, thank Heavens or Cthulu or whatevermakesyouhappy, but there are still folks out there telling others how to live their best bookish life and that is not cool. About once a month I receive a comment or DM over at GR or one in my personal email usually addressed to Dear Mr. Bark telling me that I’m a meanie and/or a dummy (hey, I never claimed otherwise!) or that I'm ignoring the little guy and it reminds me that there is still a certain sector out there who feel that readers exist to give writers free, glowing pr...