Michelle Knudsen, who happens to be our next tour author with her middle grade fantasy, The Dragon of Trelian, recently put up a blog post that got me thinking.

In it she says:

I’m not usually comfortable responding directly to reviewers; the etiquette rules are fuzzy on this, I think. As far as I know, it is rarely if ever considered appropriate for authors to respond to print reviews, but some authors do seem to feel okay about responding to online reviews. I still feel odd about that, though…

I had never thought about this before. I have been used to seeing authors thanking bloggers for reviews and interviews and I had not idea that this was considered by some to be problematic.

In the comments section of the post, Michelle says:

Part of it is concern about impacting a reviewer’s objectivity (or even just creating the perception of that happening). It just seems like interaction between the reviewer and the reviewee would complicate the whole system, somehow.

I have to admit, it’s harder for me to add in the negatives when someone has been hanging out at my blog than it is if I’ve never had any contact with someone. It’s even harder still for me to make negative comments when I’ve met the author in person at conferences.

But what are we going to do in this world where we are so connected? I’ve either met or I’m likely to meet almost every author I’ve reviewed. Don’t paid print reviewers meet authors are BEA and ALA parties just like blogger reviewers do? Does that compromise the reviews? Are reviewers never to go to wine and cheese meet and greets paid for by publishers?

Here’s what I think about reviews, whether the reviewer is paid or an amateur or a bookstore clerk hand-selling a book to customers who come into the store: We all have reputations at stake. We can’t lie for an author no matter how much we  like him. We need our readers/customers to trust us. We are working for the reader, not the author.

If I have a really good friend who has written a book I don’t like, I won’t review the book at all. But for every book I do review, I look for positives and negatives that I can tell my readers about.

If authors don’t want me scouring the books looking for negatives to talk about, they shouldn’t send their books to me. I have had authors write unhappy emails to me because they didn’t get the kind of review they wanted. I have had authors send me gifts thanking me for the wonderful reviews I gave. None of that is going to change my next review.

But what do you think? Have you heard that authors shouldn’t thank reviewers for reviews and interviews and promotion efforts? Do you think that if an author thanks a reviewer in the comments section of a blog it looks bad? Do you blogger reviewers have a “no gift” policy? If an author asks for your address because they want to send you a signed copy of their book or a signed cover art print, do you explain that you don’t accept gratuities?

I’m willing to be educated on this.  I had never even considered that it might be a problem.