Reviews: to Hear or Not to Hear

Actually... that should be to listen or not to listen... but that doesn't have the right cadence, does it? (and I DO like cadence) I remember a conversation once with my friend and neighbor from Colombia who asked be the difference. She said, “You say listen, I say hear. What is the difference?”

Well, my friends. Hearing just happens. It is a sense, and you do it whether you are trying or not. Listening is ACTIVE and requires attention on the part of the listener. So while we might HEAR all reviews, whether we want to or not, our decision is whether to LISTEN.

Why am I on about this?

My reviews were posted yesterday afternoon for my excerpt.

Now is when I decide what to listen to.

First note: My reviews seem sparse. This is a reviewer by reviewer thing, I think. A couple people shared theirs and some are really long. But each person had several to do, so I don't really begrudge 'short'.

I am going to share them, and as I go, in purple ink will note my thoughts...

ABNA Expert Reviewer 1

Designed by Joris Ammerlaan

What is the strongest aspect of this excerpt?
The plot is really interesting. I just want to see what that girl is going to do next. Athena seems like a capable and responsible girl, struggling against the world to survive.YAY!  Thank you!
What aspect needs the most work?
It needs some editing for misspellings and grammar mistakes - minor work. The very first scene might be rewritten to be a bit less explicit in case school libraries object to it. On typos: Erm... a little. I went through and found 3 actual typos--one in the pitch, two in the excerpt... As far as explicit?  I don't actually believe this. I have already toned it down a lot. I think it's necessary for setting up the desperation of the situation.
What is your overall opinion of this excerpt?
It is very promising and I hope someday to read the whole book.Thank you!

ABNA Expert Reviewer 2
What is the strongest aspect of this excerpt?
The writing is very good--suspenseful and evocative. The pacing is good.Thank you!
What aspect needs the most work?
Athena's situation is pretty grim and not exactly an appealing read. I don't know if it can be toned down a bit without diluting her reason for taking to the streets, but from the first pages, I wasn't keen on reading about it. Others may feel differently.  See... I see this as entirely preference. And I see the PREFERENCE as contrary to what a lot of teens want to read. YES, it's grim. THAT is what makes OVERCOMING it so BIG.
What is your overall opinion of this excerpt?
Well-written and promising. I'd keep reading unless things get really gruesome.


General thoughts:

I was a little surprised, with sort of luke-warm reviews, to pass. But I think (and respect the reviewers for recognizing) that their problems with it were sort of taste issues.  A person who read a lot of YA would know a lot of it is sort of explicit--and my explicitness is, I feel, necessary, to set up the situation so a girl has no choice but to leave home. If it wasn't horrible, she wouldn't need to GO, now, would she?

I DO though, really appreciate that both seemed to recognize that. I clearly must have had adequate scores to pass me through, so what they actually rated me on was fine.

On the other hand, I reread it last night and think it could actually be trimmed by about 20%. I have a tendency to write EVERYTHING that happens, when the story only needs the important points. It's been pared a little, but not as much as it could be.

You should be able to read it here (top entry, page 4) SOON. And looking over it... In spite of the overshare,  I think it moves along pretty well anyway.  The lists can be found here.

Whatever the case... How do YOU feel about reviews? When do you listen and when do you smile and say thank you, but ignore?