RABID REVIEWERS!

Yesterday was Thanksgiving here in the United States...a time to gather with family and friends, and to count our blessings. Among the myriad things that I and many other authors have been thankful for this year is the fact that Amazon.com is no longer permitting anonymous reviews to be posted by anybody and everybody.

Why the change---and why should all authors and readers be happy about it?

Well, earlier this year, a computer glitch caused the true names of thousands of anonymous "reviewers" to be revealed on Amazon's Canadian Web site.

What an uproar that provoked! *g* As a result of the glitch, the public at large became aware of what we authors have known for years: Many of the great reviews at online book Web sites such as Amazon.com were actually being written and posted anonymously by the books' authors themselves and all their relatives and friends, while many of the scathing reviews were actually being written and posted anonymously by the books' authors' vindictive ex-spouses and envious colleagues, bitter aspiring writers, and other such persons with axes to grind with the authors.

Why would authors anonymously post great reviews of their books? you may wonder. If you guessed ego, you'd be largely incorrect. In fact, when questioned, most of the authors who were exposed rightly saw it as a matter of business. Writing is how full-time authors earn their livings---so negative reviews affect not only book sales, but also, as a result, authors' bottom lines. Would you want your own annual income potentially drastically reduced because you had a malicious ex-spouse or a jealous colleague, or simply because a handful of disgruntled readers chose to publicly trash your work?

I and all authors I know work long, hard hours, spending weeks, months, and sometimes even years to write a novel. If, in the end, it's not your own cup of tea, most of us truly regret that. However, the realistic among us know we can't please all readers all the time, and especially in genre fiction, where book output per author is relatively high, we authors are bound to disappoint some readers at one time or another. But still, that doesn't mean that your wall-banger won't be another reader's keeper.

So what is the point of posting a tacky review? As both an author and a reader, I've never really known the answer to that question. To "warn" others? I personally wouldn't even begin to presume that my own taste was the same as everyone else's.

That's one of the reasons, in fact, why all reviews ought to be signed---so that readers can know who the reviewer is, what his/her qualifications as a reviewer are (if a "reviewer" can't even spell---much less construct a proper sentence---should we really assume that he/she is a qualified judge of literature?), and whether his/her taste is the same as yours or mine. Every single time one particular movie reviewer sneers at a film, for example, I know it's one I'm going to like---because his wall-bangers are my own keepers. So, obviously, he and I have completely different taste when it comes to the cinema, and I like knowing that. Otherwise, I might have missed seeing a lot of good movies I've thoroughly enjoyed.

The same is true for readers and reviewers of books. Amazon.com's original policy of allowing anonymous reviews did a disservice to both authors and sincere readers. Changing it was a good thing.

PRESERVING THE PAST.

My maternal grandfather was a banty, rollicking man of Irish descent. He loved nothing better than having a pint with his cronies and telling tall tales about a fictional woman he always called the Widow Brown. When he finally retired, he set about building a saloon in his basement, so he could continue these activities at home, rather than dropping by the local watering hole once a week after work.

When he had finished his saloon, called The Horn, it looked just like something straight out of the Wild West, with swinging-shutter doors, a long stand-up bar, and outlaw Wanted posters and pictures of dance-hall girls on the walls. My cousins, my sister, and I all loved the saloon, and we spent many a long hour there, cranking out songs on the player piano and playing cards at the old wooden poker table.

One of the things I always especially loved about the saloon was its two antique mantels, which, as a child, I had proudly helped my grandfather install one summer. So when he died, I very much wanted those mantels to remember him and that summer by; and when, sadly, it came time to tear apart the saloon where we had all whiled away so many happy hours, I was indeed given the two mantels.

For many years, they sat out in my garage, because I had no other place for them. But now, with all the remodeling that my husband, John, and I have done over the past several months, I've at long last been able to move one of the mantels inside, into our living room. There, it has a place of honor against one wall, where we are currently lovingly restoring it to all its former glory, complete with a Victorian tile surround and hearth, and a Victorian stove.

I've always thought that it's important to preserve the past and good memories. So I'm looking forward to sitting in my grandmother's rocker, before the mantel, and to decorating the mantel itself with garlands and stockings this holiday season. I know that both my grandparents would be pleased---and that they'll be with me in spirit.

Update: December 7, 2004...our mantel's finally finished---and I thought you might like to see some before and after photos.

Here's our mantel before:



And here's our mantel after:

BESTSELLER LISTS...?

Nearly twenty-five years ago, my very first book, NO GENTLE LOVE, debuted on its very first bestseller list. The list---compiled by the M-S News Company---had my novel at #1, ahead of books by authors like Howard Fast, Ken Folett, Louis L'Amour, Norman Mailer, and Rosemary Rogers. This was heady stuff for someone who, at the time, had only written one novel, and I remember how excited I was.

Two books later, my novel LOVE, CHERISH ME hit the Los Angeles Times bestseller list, and two books after that, my novel AND GOLD WAS OURS hit the New York Times bestseller list. I cracked open a bottle of Dom Perignon and celebrated!

Now, however, almost thirty years into my career as a writer, I'm a bit more skeptical about bestseller lists. Why? Because I understand a great deal more now about how they really work than I did as a young writer just starting out. I know, for example, that many books that are actually bestsellers may never show up on a single bestseller list.

In fact, in 2001 and 2002, there were 109 hardcover novels that never appeared on the New York Times bestseller list---although they outsold many books that did.

How does that happen? you may wonder. Well, it all has to do with how the various owners of the various bestseller lists compile them and how timely they do so. Ultimately, all lists are a compilation of book sales drawn from sample book outlets, rather than a complete survey of every single such outlet in the U.S.; and one bestseller list, the Library Journal, isn't based on book sales at all, but, rather, the number of times books are checked out from libraries. Further, some book outlets, such as airports and supermarkets, are slower to report sales than bookstores, for instance. So all this leads to great variations in bestseller lists across the country.

In addition, due to the publishing industry's peculiar system of returns, which allows all unsold books to be returned to the publisher, only when a book is actually bought by a customer does it count as a sale for the publisher. This means that real sales figures are never actually known until adjustments for those returns have been made---and returns can be very high, running to 50% or more of the books originally shipped and distributed. So a book that initially seemed to be a bestseller can, in reality, wind up being a huge flop instead.

So, now, when one of my novels makes a bestseller list, while I'm always still delighted, I know that the only sales figures that really count are those that appear on my royalty statements!

For more information on bestseller lists and how they operate, check out this article from Slate and this article from the Washington Post.

AUTUMN LEAVES.

Autumn is one of my favorite times of the year. I love the sight of all the trees turning red and gold, the smell of the rich, damp scent of the earth, and the feel of the misty drizzle that falls at this time of year. Sometimes, a fog settles over the land, too, which is always a little spooky and makes me think of Gothic novels and English moors.

I like to celebrate autumn's arrival by lighting a fire in our fireplace on Halloween. My husband, John, also adores wood-burning fireplaces, especially, so we really enjoyed sitting together before our fire this year---in between trips to the front door to dispense candy to all the little trick-or-treaters.

Halloween and its traditions originated with the Celtic celebration of Samhain, which marked the Celtic New Year, for the Celts believed that darkness (autumn/winter) precedes light (spring/summer). For me, this week also marked some new beginnings.

As some of you may know, I suffer from fibromyalgia, which is a disease currently believed to attack the central nervous system. It causes widespread musculoskeltal pain and fatigue on a daily basis. There is no cure for fibromyalgia, and standard treatments are often ineffective. But fortunately, research into the disease is being undertaken on a number of different fronts, and new drugs are being developed. One of these recently came onto the market, and after a visit to my rheumatologist this week, I'm now giving it a try. It's too soon yet to know whether it will help, but I'm keeping my fingers crossed.

This year, of course, November 2nd also marked a new beginning---not just for me, but for all of us. I've voted in every single presidential election since I was old enough to vote, and this year was no exception. It was, however, fascinating to hear from John (who is a British citizen) all the differences between the American and British election processes. From an Australian colleague, I also learned for the first time that voting is actually compulsory in Australia, which I found very interesting.

This week was also my time for autumn cleaning---although I'm not certain how much good it has done! We have a gorgeous, wonderful Long-haired German Shepherd, who doesn't understand that he's supposed to wipe his paws on the doormat before coming inside. *g* So he tracks in wet leaves constantly, and while I enjoy them outside, I don't think they look nearly as good on my newly vacuumed floors!