tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5594341074652821017.post5200045378771186161..comments2023-08-14T10:44:59.007-04:00Comments on Novel Spaces: Review vs. Peer ReviewKeVin K.http://www.blogger.com/profile/14792797517571690942noreply@blogger.comBlogger3125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5594341074652821017.post-21925107250770671132012-10-07T19:17:31.549-04:002012-10-07T19:17:31.549-04:00Student-student peer review has its purpose. It&#...Student-student peer review has its purpose. It's a teaching/learning tool that allows the student to see the strengths and weaknesses of other writing and hence their own.<br /><br />In the professional world (especially scientific journals) peer reviews serve to keep the integrity of the work intact. But writing a review of an author you know is quite different. It can easily be influenced by your desire to help that author or not and that can affect objectivity.<br /><br />If one reviews the book on the merit or the work and not on their feelings toward the author, such a review can be quite objective.Jewel Amethysthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14813773386476356666noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5594341074652821017.post-65709123520093627202012-10-04T11:41:03.437-04:002012-10-04T11:41:03.437-04:00I tend to review "Everything" I read som...I tend to review "Everything" I read somewhere, generally on Goodreads, so I'm not going to simply leave off books by people I know. It becomes problematic if I don't like the book, of course. I can be delicate at times, though. I've been in various peer-review groups over the years. Sometimes comments help, sometimes they are spectacularly wrong. Sometimes they would do damage if I listened to them. I don't. However, I've certainly had non-writers or newer writers catch something in my work that I should have caught myself but missed. The more eyes the better is how I think of it. you don't have to take the advice.Charles Gramlichhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02052592247572253641noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5594341074652821017.post-34233208895958688902012-10-03T18:29:58.336-04:002012-10-03T18:29:58.336-04:00As you know I've had a long-standing principle...As you know I've had a long-standing principle of not reviewing books by people I know. Actually, of the scores of products I've reviewed online over the last six years, only two or three were books.<br /><br />It's interesting that I've recently come to the same conclusion about this rule of thumb, and have more or less decided that knowing the author should not keep me from reviewing a book I've enjoyed. I call it an evolution.<br /><br />As for writers' critique groups and workshopping, I don't have your experience but I've never been a fan for the very reasons you cite. I do see the value of input from fellow professionals, though, once the ego thing is not a factor. Was it Hemmingway and Faulkner who loved to trade insults of each other's work? Pathetic, really. Liane Spicerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05035607144500219524noreply@blogger.com