WHEN FICTION READING IS WORK

 For the most part, I enjoyed my reading assignments in High School. But I remember a Room 222 episode when I was in 6th grade where the students wanted to read Catch 22 instead of Silas Marner. 

Plus, I said for the most part. I had a class on Sci-Fi/Literature Of The West in High School. I enjoyed reading the assigned short stories from the Science Fiction Hall of Fame anthology (and also read the unassigned ones). I struggled more with the two novels from the Western side of the semester. Both of them were deep in themes, and I found the latter pretty depressing.

I am sure being a professional book reviewer would not always be fun. I'd probably be expected to read books that don't interest me or that make my blood pressure boil.

For the most part, being a book influencer is fun. (A book influencer receives free books for the purpose of reading and then posting an unbiased review.) Yes, I put a priority on that novel so I can get the review posted early enough. But the authors that I am regularly an influencer for are ones I'd read if I wasn't doing that job.

But then there's reading for research. Most of the time, one thinks that research takes place in the non-fiction section of the library. 

However, this year I read a trio of Hercule Poirot novels back to back to back. I have seen the David Suchet adaptations of all the Poirot novels (as well as the six by Peter Ustinov and the Murder On The Orient Express adaptions featuring Albert Finney and Kenneth Branagh, but those aren't relevant to the topic). As I was thinking about part 2 of a mystery trilogy I'm writing, I realized there were some slight similarities to three of the Poirot stories. So I read the original to see what Agatha Christy did, noting the similarities and differences between what I'm doing and giving me food for thought.

In submitting book proposals, one item is a comparative analysis, where you mention what books are similar to yours and why yours is unique. I struggled with my first novel's proposals because mine is unique in theme. But it leaves me wondering if I should read two books that I never believed was worth my time reading: Dan Brown's The DaVinci Code and Jonathan Cahn's The Harbringer. Personally, I have no interest in either. But will reading them help me get my novel published?

Yes, I did have a different mindset on reading the Poirot trio I mentioned, but more often than not, I enjoy the reading that does more closely resemble work than fiction reading normally is.

Have you ever read fiction where it was to some degree a chore rather than just fun? How has that benefitted you?

More on the method of encouraging others known as writing reviews -

 

As I'm writing this, I am in the process of being an influencer for one author, and when I'm finished, I'll be doing the same for another writer.

What is an influencer? My job is to read a novel by an author and then write a review and promote the book. I've been writing reviews on Amazon for years, and recently expanded to Good Reads, which I'm able to share on Facebook. This past year, the Indianapolis Public Library revamped their website so I can leave reviews there as well.

I now have a new tool - this blog.

I've been writing reviews before I ever served as an influencer (let alone knowing such a creature existed). I've had some people comment that my review helped them in their decision to purchase a book (including one who said my review - which was a positive one - convinced him not to buy that book).

In fact, I have a confession. For a couple of years I haven't been writing as many reviews. Yes, I do when I'm an influencer, but I don't make it a time priority. Shame. On. Me. Can I ask you to help me get back into that good habit?

Some reviewers have a policy of writing only 5 star reviews. One is a writer friend who knows first hand the benefit of reading a positive review has on an author and the discouragement of a negative one. Others come across as non-authors who are using that promise to get free books to review.

In practice, at least 95% of my fiction reviews are 5 star, because the authors earn it. There are times I read a book that isn't my favorite genre (I enjoy romantic suspense, but not romance; I like sci-fi but I'm not into dystopian). That doesn't effect my rating - I consider that a fan of that genre might enjoy that well-written book more than I did, so I want to encourage that person to try that book.

There are rare instances I don't feel the writer deserves 5 stars. For example, I read one book where they mentioned the government officials on the board, including the Senators of California, Massachusetts, and New England. Uh, New England is a region of a half dozen states and as a region doesn't have a Senator. The same author wrongly identified the singer of a pop song. My job is then to point out both the good and bad, so an unsuspecting reader won't want to throw a book against the wall.

I find similarities between writing reviews and serving as an evaluator at the Toastmaster clubs I've been in. The purpose of joining Toastmasters is to improve speaking, and the evaluator helps in pointing out what the speaker is doing right and what needs improvement.

If I ever become a published author, I would want to know the whys of the review. They loved the book? That's nice, but be more specific. Why did you love my book? Was it the plot? The characters? The use of the setting? My writing voice? The theme? The book cover? 

Have you written any reviews? Or for that matter, served as a Toastmaster evaluator? What can you do to help promote your favorite author?