Long Tale Press

I don't work for Long Tale Press, so my views shouldn't be taken as being cannon, but I do believe I have a strong sense of how things work here, and I am open to criticism if I get anything wrong.

First off, it's a race to 100 points. All positive reviews move toward that goal and all negative ones produce no movement along the line, which means they do nothing to hurt your score. Along the way, readers can offer extra points to help boost an author along, which is what all of us authors hope for, unless we are looking forward to a real slow crawl toward 100 points. With that said, negative reviews sting the ego, but do no harm otherwise.

Which brings us to your average, which DOES take a hit on a negative review. The average (0.0 - 5.0) has NOTHING to do with your race toward 100 points. Instead, it's a feel for how people are reacting to your story. A sad truth ... not everyone will like your story, regardless of how well it's written - some stories just don't resound with certain people. It's a fact of life we all must accept as authors.

The first Harry Potter book sold millions worldwide and was loved by a great majority of readers. I, myself, saw the movie and loved it, but I hated the book. If I saw the excerpt here on Long Tale I wouldn't give it more than a 3.0, but that's due to my individual taste. However, countless other readers would have given it extra points, shooting it up to 100 points quickly, regardless of my dislike for the writing style.

As such, negative reviews shouldn't shatter your view of your own work, so long as you receive more positive than negative reviews. Too many negative reviews is a sign that your novel isn't be well-received at all and is a sign you need to totally rethink your work. As long as you'r average is on the up side of 3.0 then you can assume you are on the right path.

As for 'you suck' reviews, they are lacking as much as help as 'I loved it - don't change a thing'. These are comments made when a reader is uncertain of what to say, and often the best thing to say is nothing in these cases, as neither review helps the author.

To be honest, a negative review should be LOADED with information. To loathe something one must have a reason, and within that reason should be something given for the author to improve upon their story.

If you think a story is perfect it becomes much more difficult. How does one offer criticism where none is to be had? You don't. Instead, pick what you thought the author did really well and share that with them. In this manner you offer something helpful as the author knows where they have struck a good chord.

Another thing I need to mention is that NO reader knows the average of a story UNTIL they review it. As such, it's a blind review, and is offered as that sole reader's opinion, which is not based on the opinions of others. Knowing this to be true, this prevents the 'rate it as others did' issue I see on so many other sites.

Last but not least, there are a few really good reviewers on this side who are strong barometers. I include myself in this group as I always offer something for the author to improve, and my reviews typically come within 1/2 point of the site average on each story I review. By recognizing who these barometers are on the site, you can use their reviews as a better judgment of where your story is headed. These are non-biased readers who look into the mechanics of your story and decide on the merits of the writing how well you did - inevitably hitting the average, because they see what other readers pick up on without ever knowing how their judgment was guided.

These barometers on the site tend to give very verbose reviews and always issue hope. They're here to see you succeed, just as much as they are in it for their own success.

To answer your final question ... why allow people who give paltry reviews to stay on? Well ... they actually serve a really big purpose, though being hit by the sting of their hammer might make us feel otherwise. These are the 'you gotta sell me big to get my vote' readers. They spend hours in the bookstore looking for just the right book, often complaining about this plot being overdone, that story being too wordy, and the other one being just lame. The thing is ... these people DO buy books and if you sell one of these guys (or gals) you've sold to a harsh critique, which is very difficult to do. It's not often that you can wow people in this small guild, but when you do you know you are paving the road to a big breakthrough novel.

That said, don't pander to this breed, as they judge once and walk away - you only get one chance to gather their eye and even less of one to learn why you hadn't. They make up a small portion of the reading audience, but a garnering of their attention is definitely a worhty prize - though an extremely elusive one.

Oh, I forgot ... Though part of the point of all this is to recognize ways to improve upon the opening of your story, that truly shouldn't be your aim - at least, not exactly. Your story is being rated to see if it's ready to be marketed. As such, one can say it is - or one can say it isn't. It's purely subjective, with their eyes telling the powers here to be if they earnestly think you are ready.

It seems unfair at first glance, but consider the bookstore example again ... this time, it's you in the bookstore. You pick up a novel, look at the first few pages, then decide you don't like it and put it down. Now, I ask, do you fire off an email to tell that author why you chose not to but their book and how they could have made it better? Obviously not, as that would be ridiculous. After all, it's a finished product.

Oddly enough, excerpts here are viewed the same way. Readers read them as if they were a finished product. Some are nice enough to offer advice for improvement (which smart authors avidly gobble up and put to use) but others just offer a grade by which you can gauge (for lack of a better phrase) our future sales.

Within that scope, the system functions perfectly, offering a true idea of how ready the beginning of an author's story is for publishing. And seeing as readers typically look at the back cover and the first few pages before deciding to buy a book (choosing to read the rest later) it makes sense that those two things are graded here, giving a fair representation of how well a novel may actually sell in real life.

Long Tale Press has the right idea, but until they get more books on the shelves we'll just have to accept that the model looks good on paper. So long as the process remains untainted and is used properly, final sales should directly model the average given here for each story. This means a 3.0 will have mediocre sales, a 4.0 should do decent, a 4.5 will have a lot of sale, and a 5.0 would be a bestseller. Only time could prove me right or wrong on that one, and I hope to see enough data in the future to check my numbers and know if I was right or wrong.

So, ignore the reviews from 'The Guild' and focus on those that offer room for improvement. Within those you will find the nuggets needed to move up the ladder. Also, remember, each 'guild' member only can vote once. As such, a personal vendetta holds little weight (certainly not any that takes points away).

So, you spent an hour reading me answer and I now suggest you spend the next hour combing through your helpful reviews, improve upon your excerpt, revise your excerpt, and hone it until you wow over the audience ... After all, the quickest way to the top of the ladder is to climb upward and refuse to look down. :)

The spoken lasts but a moment; the written lasts forever.