Interview with book reviewer Gary Presley

Dear authors, readers, bloggers and book reviewers, today we have brought you a wonderful and gripping interview with Gary Presley, regular contributor and book reviewer at Kirkus Reviews, one of the most important literary magazines in the USA.   Gary Presley is also the author of Seven Wheelchairs: A Life beyond Polio, a 2008 publication of The University of Iowa Press. His essays have also appeared in The Washington Post. Many self-published authors and not only, dream to get reviewed on Kirkus Reviews or on other important literay newspapers. Thanks to his useful answers, Gary Presley replied many questions,  about, for instance,  who is a book reviewer, how to get a book review, if  it is ethical to pay for a review and so on. After reading, it is possible you'll find out how to get reviewed on the Kirkus magazine.  But now, without further ado, I leave you along with this interview coming from the same keyboard of Gary Presley. As usual, the questions have been written by Rosalba Mancuso,  blogger, book reviewer and literary translator of Advicesbooks.com. Gary, can you explain briefly what is a book review and what does a reviewer? I can speak only of fiction, although I have occasionally reviewed nonfiction books when I’m familiar with the subject. Fiction is composed of Character, Setting, Plot (of which there are tropes which are evident individually or combined: Overcoming the Monster, Rags to Riches, The Quest, Voyage and Return, Comedy, Tragedy, Rebirth), Conflict, and Theme. Of course, there are genre works (mysteries, historical, action-adventure, etc.) and literary works, but essentially the points above are those examined by the reviewer. As a reviewer, my overriding interest is story -- a compelling narrative that demands I turn the next page. Then of course there is language, not only vocabulary but also the use of language in an artistic and unique manner. Many genre writers are skillful and appealing writers who pen novels of literary quality. James Lee Burke’s mysteries are quite literary, as an example. According to you, who is a reviewer: a journalist, a critic, a reader or a writer? A reviewer can be anyone. Many major "reviewers" are perceived as "literary critics," and at heart while they are reviewers, they perhaps can be very well educated in the arts and its place in society. I would place literary critics at a level beyond that of a professional book reviewer. I think a perceptive and literate reader without formal training in criticism can be a reviewer, perhaps the best kind. While a literary critic might dissect a novel for its psychological and social meaning, a perceptive reader might write a review in which the quality of the story and the author’s writing skills are analyzed. I consider myself that sort of reviewer: a reader with a distinct perception who can express thoughts in writing. What are the rules to write a perfect and useful review? A good review would cover the points laid out in my reply to the first question, but the final judgment should be an opinion of "story." I believe the human condition requires story, perhaps a need that originated in the beginning of human history. We tell stories to others (and certainly to ourselves) to define and explain our lives and the human condition. We share our humanity through story. The elements mentioned in my first reply are the framework and the foundation, but unless an author writes a story with which a reader is entertained, the novel isn’t a success. At best a novel should encompass a story with which a reader can emphasize, or a story that expands the reader’s reality, or a story that reexplains the human condition in a unique fashion, the novel has no value. Secondly, I think any good review focuses only on the work and refrains from personal judgment about the author. I think a review should never be framed in a way that attacks an author. A reviewer might say, for example, that there is an anachronism in a historical novel that makes the narrative stumble and keeps the reader from immersing himself into the story. The reviewer might say the author should have done more research. The reviewer should never, however, attack the author as lazy or ignorant. And what are the steps to become a professional reviewer? I know of no formal educational course. I suppose becoming a reviewer is as simple -- and as difficult -- as becoming a novelist. Write a review. Attempt to get it published, in print or online. Or write a review and publish it on your own website or blog. Do that. Attract a readership. You’ve become a reviewer. It’s a darwinian process, certainly. Good reviewers (like good novelists) get readers, and the better the review, the more likely the reviewer is to get attention from writer -- magazines, and from newspapers, or other venues to publish reviews. I compare reviewing to freelance writing. Relatively few freelance writers make a living wage from writing, very few at least in comparison to the number of people who call themselves freelance writers. I do know, however, if a person reviews regularly -- and fairly -- and gets those reviews published, publishers and press agents will be contacting that person offering to send Advance Reader Copies (ARCs) of new works for review. Can you tell about your career as a reviewer? Much as above, although I first found myself looking for work as a freelance writer, and I saw an advertisement for work as a reviewer. I thought to myself, I can do that, and so I applied, was asked to write a sample review, and then began receiving books regularly from that publisher. That venue quit business. I later found Foreword/Clarion, and then shortly thereafter Kirkus, and I applied at both those venues, going through the process of vetting by sending sample reviews, and thereafter becoming a regular reviewer. Overall, I have probably reviewed 300 or more books, and I rarely find myself bored with the work. But I love to read. I would read even if I didn’t review books. Perhaps that’s the key: a person who loves to read, and is a competent writer, can be a book reviewer. It will take trial and error, and practice, and a constant effort to improve and learn, and a bit of luck. Can a negative review destroy the career of a famous author and help the one of an aspiring writer? I don’t know. I would say, "Yes," but there are people who cannot be defeated, who will never quit, and while reviewers and critics may say there work has no value, they will continue to publish. Sometimes as well, popular opinion outweighs negative reviews. There are a number of best-sellers that have received multiple negative reviews, but continue to sell. I know you are a reviewer at Kirkus Reviews, the most important American magazine for established and new authors. How much is it important to get a book review on a literary magazine like Kirkus? Kirkus isn’t the most important, I’d guess. In terms of critical and marketing success, but it is an impressive venue in which to have a review appear for the author. The reviews carry no byline, giving Kirkus an aura of impartiality and seriousness. For prestige, I would think the most impressive place to have a review appear -- a place where a review might be thought of as literary criticism -- might be The New York Review of Books or The New York Times newspaper or one of the more prominent literary magazines. Kirkus, however, has a wide influence in that it is seen by librarians, bookstore owners, and others in that category. There is no certain path to literary success. The Hunt for Red October was published by a minor press and wasn’t a celebrated publication until President Ronald Reagan began mentioning it. Nothing beats that sort of "word of mouth" publicity. The best-selling literary novel decades ago, A Confederacy of Dunces, wasn’t published until the author’s mother relentlessly campaigned to find a publisher after her son committed suicide. Then there’s marketing. Many books of minimal literary value are made best-sellers by marketing. Once, books were traditionally published by publishers, nowadays authors self publish their works on online platforms such as Amazon, Goodreads, Smashwords, Lulu, Createspace (the latter is always Amazon). What do you think about this new way to publish books? It is useful to be successful? There are writers making a living writing and self-publishing genre books without formal reviews supporting the work. (Note the emphasis.) Those authors are "reviewed" (positively) by readers whose opinions come in the form of payments for the written work. I think it is far too soon to make a judgment on what long-term effect this self-publishing movement will have on book reviewing. For one thing, as noted, success in that venue is independent of review. However, I do think nothing important -- by that I mean worthy of literary awards --will be self-published, at least in the foreseeable future. Do you prefer to read traditionally published books or self published e-books? In my opinion, most traditionally published novels are generally superior in general to most self-published novels. I think the difference is editing. Traditionally published works are independently edited by professional editors. Most self-published novels are not. A second factor is that traditional novels also must pass through several gates before they reach the bookstore. An author must find an agent who believes in him; the agent sells the novel to an acquisitions editor, a person who may be required to prove to senior editors the manuscript is worth purchasing; the novel is then edited, and only then is the novel published. A self-published author is "vetted" only by his own opinion of his own work. Always according to you, which is the main difference between a good and a bad book? The simplest reply is "the quality of the story." What do I mean by "quality?" It’s depth. It’s uniqueness. The method it employs to explore the common human condition. It’s empathy, compassion, anger, and passion. I am an American, and so I can point to the myth of the American west. There are no better novels to explain the mythology of the American west to modern people than Little Big Man byThomas Berger and Lonesome Dove by Larry McMurtry. Comparing the average pulp paperback western to those two novels is like comparing pizza to caviar. I know many writers would like to work as reviewers for literary magazines. Is it a paid job? It’s a profitable avocation. It’s not a job at which a person can make a living wage. Literary criticism is a profession, but I suspect few writers make a living as literary critics. I’m retired. I have little better to do in my spare time. If I can read and review six books a month, I can earn enough to pay my utility bill. In that way, it’s a hobby at which I make a few dollars -- money on which I’m taxed. And now, a final and important question relating to authors who want to pay for a book review. Is this an ethical or unethical habitude? I see nothing unethical about the process so long as the review is written independent of payment. By that I mean, the reviewer is not obligated to write a positive review. Magazine and newspaper publishing in the USA is in dire straits. Charging an author for a review, especially of self-published works, is a viable means of sustaining publication. In the process I am familiar with here in the USA, the payment is independent of the review. A publisher takes payment. A publisher guarantees a review. A review receives payment from the publisher’s payment at the completion of the review. However, the publisher is obligated to pay the reviewer even if the review is negative. As with other elements of creative writing, book reviewing is being changed, and there are elements of good and bad in that process. However, there is nothing fundamentally wrong with an author paying for a review of a novel so long as the content of the review is independent of the payment. The question at its fundamental core is the integrity of the publication and the reviewer. Thank you very much Gary for your very interesting and useful interview. To know better about Gary Presley,  visit his website. Photo by Kathleen Purcell Source of the image: http://cluculzwriter.blogspot.it