Interested in some constructive criticism? Want to know what awards I've judged? This is the place where I'm keeping track of informal feedback requests, detailed scoring for awards, full book reviews, and anything else of that nature. If you're int...
Unfortunately, my very first experience with a feedback request was negative, and most of my rules come from that experience. I hope I never have to add anybody else to this list.
1.EdwardEdCahill Explanation: This author, who I had never heard of before, reached out to me requesting me to read their book (Funny Cake), give them feedback, and vote. I read the first chapter and left what I thought was constructive feedback in the comments. The author thanked me for the comment, but was insistent that they wanted me to vote on the chapter. I explained that I only vote on chapters that I like, and unfortunately, I didn't like this chapter. The author said that was okay. But then they sent me a message stating they never reached out to me, they never requested that I read their book, and they didn't appreciate what they perceived to be a negative comment. I explained they did reach out, they did request me to read and comment, and I did my best to write what I thought was constructive criticism in as positive a tone as possible. I advised them that if they choose to reach out to random people for feedback, then they need to be prepared to accept feedback that may not always be what they want to hear. It was at this point that I muted this user, as their tone was getting very negative and there was no point in attempting to continue the conversation. And I still have screenshots of the conversation to prove it. Don't be this person.
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