Interviewed by J.B. Scott
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JB
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Hi
Cindy!
Thank
you for joining us at the "E-Literate" interview room.
It is a privilege and pleasure to have you as our guest. Now just
to familiarize our readers with who is Cindy Penn…you have been
writing for over twenty years, including essays, poetry, fiction,
nonfiction, and reviews. Your day job is that of technical writer.
You are the Web Wizard behind Wordweaving,
having designed and built the wonderful site. As senior editor,
you offer a great volunteer service to the e-realm with your
infamous review site. So, share with us a little more about
yourself and how you find the time to review 50-60 manuscripts
each month.
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CP
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Thank
you for inviting me, JB. I should explain that at the moment I'm a
happily unemployed technical writer, and when I'm working at that
job I only review 15-20 books a month. WordWeaving
has benefited from the downward turn in the economy : ) You'll
never find me without a book in my hands, at the grocery, in
restaurants, even my daily walk (I pick quite neighbourhoods where
I don't have to watch where I am going!).
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JB
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How did you get started in the role of
reviewer?
What was your very first review? And was
that when you realized reviewing was something you wanted to do?
How did you go about writing that very first
review?
Do you have a recipe of what makes a
"perfect" review?
In
your opinion, are there any "must not do" when writing a
review?
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CP
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I got started as a reviewer quite by accident.
In December 1999 author/promoter Jan McDaniel sent me a book
entitled BEFORE YOU BUY THAT PUPPY. With a background in English,
I figured I could write something. Read a bunch of reviews at
Amazon, surfed the web, and thought, "I can do that!" I
promptly wrote a few more reviews of things I was reading for
pleasure to gain a bit more experience. Since WordWeaving
was short on content back then, reviews seemed like an obvious
answer. Then I went online and offered my services at the AllAboutMurder
list. Only took a month to be swamped!
The perfect review has a two or three
paragraph synopsis that doesn't give away too much, and then a
concluding paragraph giving a gut reaction. Negative or positive
doesn't matter as long as the reaction is genuine, supported by
facts, and doesn't attack the author. That stated; I vary the
formula a lot!
THOU
SHALT NOT ATTACK THE AUTHOR, no matter how much you hate
the book. So far I've only sent one book back to the publisher,
declining to review it because I found it offensive, rude, and
demeaning. Since it was unsolicited, nonfiction, meant to help
physicians make more money, and cost $72, I figure I was entitled.
It was the only book I've read that I would have attacked the
author in frustration no matter what I wrote.
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JB
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Wordweaving.com
is an impressive site and an invaluable resource for authors and
publishers alike. Share with us now what inspired the creation of
the site?
How
did the infamous spider web logo come about?
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CP
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In April 1999, author Jan McDaniel placed an ad
in the now defunct Inkspot, offering a position of support to
someone willing to start an ezine for writers. She envisioned
something that included columns, features and articles. I was
working as a technical writer, but we were in a holding pattern
while development decided what they were doing. I would show up
for work (for months) with nothing to do. So I answered Jan's ad.
Started WordWeaving at Homesite, because it was free, had a
WYSIWYG editor, and I didn't know HTML.
Over the summer I learned HTML, which helped
with my day job, and took a class in web design. Guess you could
see the professor and I didn't see eye-to-eye. He hated the
spiders! Said the site looks like an occult site, is hard to
navigate, and was unprofessional. Gave me my first B in graduate
studies. HRMPH. Academics. I should have learned my lesson the
first time I was in grad school. So I dropped out of grad school
and listened the daily emails that praised the look and feel of
the site, and said how easy it is to navigate WordWeaving.
I
chose the spider because all writers are weavers of the written
word on the world wide web. Nothing could be more appropriate.
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JB
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How did you plan and organize your day with so
many review requests entering your cybershelf?
Are you overwhelmed at times with the sheer
volume of requests from authors and publishers?
Is the demand exceeding the supply of
reviewers at Wordweaving?
Do
you believe the number of review requests have increased over the
last twelve months? If so, why?
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CP
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The books on my desk and filling my email could
easily fill the rest of this year and half of next! I track review
requests differently, based on the method of publication. Galleys
for traditional publishers get priority because their
"window" is so small. If a Harlequin doesn't sell during
the thirty-day window it is on the shelf, chances are it won't
sell at all. And since authors frequently absorb the cost of
sending me their galleys, I try to be courteous about the turn
around time. The same goes any book mailed in. The turn around is
fairly quick, based on when the book is scheduled for publication,
or the review needed for advance PR.
E-Author David LaGraff recently stated,
"The main reason to buy an e-book is to get your hands on
something unconventional." That statement summarizes why I
love eBooks. And since they don't go out of print, it is to the
author's benefit to have reviews coming out periodically, rather
than all at one time. A buyer must see your book three times to
purchase it. So if it takes WordWeaving eight months to review the
eBook, chances are increased for purchases when they've seen the
book elsewhere as well. I'm way behind on eBooks, but catching up
since I'm reviewing has become my day job as well as my night one.
Reviewers don't seem to stay with me long. I
have a theory about that. Reviewers are swamped with direct
requests within a couple of months of writing their first reviews.
That's why some sites don't allow contact between authors and
reviewers. So I'm shooting myself in the foot, so to speak,
because new reviewers are quickly swamped and can no longer accept
work from WordWeaving. Also, many reviewers want traditional
paperbacks, not electronic submissions. I can't afford to mail
stuff out.
My vision of WordWeaving is to allow
reviewers to maintain ownership of their reviews, to meet authors,
etc. So I'm never going to keep reviewers long. Oh well. As a
result, I can't guarantee every book accepted will be reviewed due
to time constraints. I do guarantee that we'll try.
Yes,
review requests have greatly increased, and if I look at my desk
or in my inbox, I'm very overwhelmed. But I also like being
needed, and providing something necessary to the industry. Unlike
many reviewers, I'm not an author wannabe. I love what I do, and
see myself reviewing forever.
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JB
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Now Wordweaving.com is not a mere review site,
it also offers interviews, columns and articles. Share with us now
your most memorable:
A/ Interview
B/ Article
C/ Column
D/ Review
And why they were memorable
You
also have received some fabulous awards for your site. With so
many other websites out there, share with us your suggestions in
how you go about getting your website noticed.
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CP
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A/ Charlotte Compo-Boyette because of the
way the characters follow her into the shower. Susan Mallery
because of her understanding of how soldiers are affected by their
work; a story that touched my heart because of my brother.
JennaKay Francis introduced me to fantasy. Pat Rasey, who received
inspiration from a television show and hooked me on eBooks.
Children's book author/illustrator Terri Sanders, who just
received an award from us, also is among my favorites.
B/ "Assaulted Online" by
Angela Giles Klocke. I live in fear of hateful email, and my skin
crawled with Angela's account of a vicious reader. It's my
nightmare come true.
C/ Anything by columnist Vicki Hinze
is wonderful. Vicki made a vow two years ago to give back some of
the bounty with which she's been blessed. Thus, Aids4Writers was
born. Last year she gave WordWeaving blanket permission to reprint
her columns with the same generous spirit.
D/ I don't expect authors to respond
when I send a copy of their review. But every time an author says
thank you, the review becomes special. I carry all praise I
receive in my heart, and the emails stay in my "author
correspondence" box forever. Since I don't get paid in money,
that's my reward for a job well done.
E/
Quality. Typos are distracting (and yes, you're bound to find them
at WordWeaving too), dead links drive users crazy, and so does
poor navigation. A search feature is absolutely necessary for
something big as WordWeaving. I can't stand to go look at another
site and I can't find the information I need, even when I know
it's there. The best publicity is word of mouth--translate to list
discussions in the cyberworld. Always put a link to your site in
your byline. If you are an author, ad the name of your book,
publisher, and date of publication.
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JB
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As a reviewer, what has been the most profound
comment an author has made to your review of their work?
It is said that you love to read. Do you
have a genre preference?
Share
with us your favorite author
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CP
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Every author who thanks me and who makes the
comment that I zeroed in on what they wanted to say validates what
I do. I always get a kick out of authors having bad days, who
unexpectedly get a good review in their email. "You made my
day," comments make mine as well.
A recent list discussion of whether authors
should say thank you for reviews made me aware of the distance
between many reviewers and authors. Because I also publish my own
reviews at Midwest
Book Reviews and Amazon.com,
I am very accessible and hear from most authors. And when they
say, "you got it" then I know I'm doing my job.
Occasionally I don't get it, and if I don't, both the author and I
need to know why.
I read everything. I keep the suspense for
day reading and romance for nights I can't sleep. I read eBooks at
night on the reader and beside the pool. I read everything that
comes my way with great pleasure, and like switching genres. I
especially enjoy the non-traditional, which is what eBooks so
appealing.
My
favorite author is contingent on who I happen to be reading at the
time. Several come to mind as spectacular, such as Charlotte
Boyette-Compo, Pat Rasey and Monette Michaels for eBooks. Among
romance authors, I recently fell in love with MAGIC IN A JELLY JAR
by Sally Tyler Hayes (I meant to give her an award but had a
personal crisis that got in the way of work on the site that
month). I love Julie Kenner's THE CAT'S FANCY and purchased six
copies as gifts. Susan Mallery can really touch my heart. Just
finished a great detective novel by Brian Lawrence. If you ask me
next week, I'll have a new list of favorites!
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JB
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You receive many manuscripts and being a senior
editor, you know first hand the importance of editing. Share with
us now your experiences as editor.
What
are your comments for those few brick and mortar publishers that
suggest e-published works are not edited properly?
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CP
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Grrr....pet peeve. Had a book cross my desk
once that infuriated me. I ran the count in Word, and found 719
exclamation points in a 129 page manuscript. It's little things
like missing punctuation, or punctuation in the wrong place that
completely throws the reader out of the story. I won't even begin
to gripe about the deep edits that get missed.
For self-published authors, I can tell who
self-edited and who found a pro to help. And that's what separates
the professionals from the amateurs. I won't give higher than
"recommend" no matter how good the story, if the
proofing errors make the text unprofessional. I will mention the
flaw of editing in a review after I make sure that the book has
been through a final edit.
That
said, I also see as many mistakes from "brick and mortar
publishers" as some e-Publishers. In fact, as the
e-Publishers increasingly try to improve their reputations, I'm
seeing the quality that distinguish the professionals from the
amateurs. A year ago, I was one of the folks declaiming poor
editing among e-Publishers. In general, I no longer see those
problems because they either went out of business or got better
editors.
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JB
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Looking
at where you are today, are you where you thought you would be
twelve months ago? Where do you see yourself this time next year
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CP
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Whew!
It's been a long twelve months, and I've written another 200
reviews. I wanted to do this full-time, and today I am. Not sure
how long I can afford to work at WordWeaving full time for no pay,
but I'm going to try to make it last! A year from now? I'll have
written 500 more reviews. Move over number one spot at Amazon,
here I come! LOL
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JB
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What are your thoughts on the e-publishing
industry?
How
do you see the future of e-publishing in the text two years?
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CP
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The e-publishing industry has seen a real shake
up with the drop in the economy. I've seen many of my favorite
sites change hands or go out of business since January 2001. Even
some review sites have closed their doors because this is a time
intensive business with little monetary reward for e-Publishers or
e-authors. In time, that will change. Two years from now,
e-Publishing will have gone from book publishing's step-child to
just another way to publish. It has to. We can't afford to kill
all our trees forever.
I've
noticed that my own attitudes toward e-Books are changing. In the
beginning, I was more forgiving of poor editing, for example. As
the very professional sites surviving the economic downtrend have
raised the standards, my own standards have been raised. I now
expect an e-Book to have the same excellence that a paperback does
in order to receive rave reviews.
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JB
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POD
seems to be the new kid on the block within the e-realm - share
with us your thoughts on this new format.
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CP
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POD
is great for dinosaurs like myself that love the look and feel of
a paperback in hand. Of course it increases sales for the
e-industry. But as my teen son reminds me, his generation is
electronic. If they can spend hours playing on the computer or in
front of the TV with video games, then they can read a book the
same way. Twenty years from now, my son tells me, it'll be like
Star Trek, and print books will just be something very special on
the shelf. We'll read new releases on our readers. I agree. |
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JB
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Now you are no stranger in writing a review.
What advice can you offer authors that have the task of getting
their manuscript(s) reviewed?
What role do you believe a reviewer has in
the literary process?
Now
there is a great deal of highly talented authors on the WWW, but
on the rare occasion you receive a manuscript that will receive a
low-rating, how do you tackle that task?
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CP
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The hard part first: low ratings. I cringe
every time I have to do one. I've really struggled with decisions
on how to handle low ratings. And contrary to rumor, WordWeaving
does give low ratings. Worst case: I recently reviewed a book that
I couldn't recommended, no how, no way. Some reviewers refuse to
publish those kinds of reviews, but that violates my vision for
WordWeaving. To me, low ratings indicate a level honesty and risk
on the part of the reviewer (unless they have a reputation for
author bashing). Please note that my statement is not a judgement
of other reviewers, simply an indication of my own beliefs. Since
it was a genre romance, and I reviewed all the releases in that
line that month, I had to run the review, and treat it the same as
any other, including submit it to Midwest and Amazon.
So I wrote the synopsis, and then used three
very detailed points to complete the following statement,
"Sadly, I cannot recommend [book title] because..." It
was one of the hardest things I've ever done, because I know the
author's heart and soul went into that book. She's published over
50 books in the romance genre. But I'm a reviewer, and honor bound
to not gloss the truth. I did not, however, in any way, attack the
author.
And
that's the role reviewers fill: We get the word out about good
books. We inspire interest in a very competitive world. We are
ethically bound as reviewers to offer since praise or criticism
based on the text. We must do so respectfully, with no criticism
of the author as a person. And we are honor bound to treat all
authors alike, from the most famous to the most obscure, with
courtesy and respect even if they attack us. Do we make a
difference? Some days I wonder...
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JB
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Now, this is where you let your hair down, and
offer anything further…yes a free plug is more than okay…
Cindy, I would like to take this opportunity
of thanking you for agreeing to do this interview and I wish you
well for all your future endeavors.
Regards
JB
Scott
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CP
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First, I have some advice for authors seeking
publicity. I'm surprised at how few take the opportunity to get
their name known through sites like WordWeaving. Many sites are
looking for free content, or reviewers, and will offer a resource
box at the bottom where you provide a brief bio and links to your
own books. If you submit your article or review to a place like
Free to Publish in Yours, plenty of folks will publish your work
with that nice link to your book. A reader sees your name a few
times, and they will check it out.
Second, thanks to authors and readers who
have made WordWeaving such a success
(thanks Jan for the early inspiration; Jeramy for web space
and running the server; Hope and Dell for the editing; my love to
KD McIntosh's memory). I'm an insomniac, and often work in the
early morning hours, and it's these folks that keep me going. And
of course, this is an invitation to visit!
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