Changes to AWW - and a better way to post reviews

For some time, it has been obvious that the AWW challenge has been a victim of its own success. Signing up and adding reviews has become so impractical that some challenge participants have stopped adding their reviews. Even so, the challenge has generated nearly 1100 reviews.

In anticipation of continuing the AWW challenge into 2013, a group of book bloggers has been discussing how to create a better system. As a result of these discussions, the AWW challenge will shift to WordPress for 2013. A better way of signing up, linking to reviews, and indicating completion of the challenge will be implemented: instead of the awkward Mr Linky, Google forms will be adopted.

New Google form for uploading links to reviews

Apart from making it much easier to find and upload reviews, the new forms will automatically enter relevant data on spreadsheets on the new AWW site. (The WordPress site is still in draft form, but you can see what it looks like here.)

The team of bookbloggers who have agreed to help with next year's challenge will be able to sort the reviews into genres and special interest areas, and post monthly "round-ups" of reviews. Subscribers will be able to subscribe to the new blog, if they wish, via specific categories, such as "literary", "crime", "YA" etc. (If you like, you can start subscribing to the new site straightaway, as all posts here will be cross-posted there. You might just need to be patient while we bring the different components of the site together. The subscription via category will be available once the domain name is sorted.)

In 2013, the challenge will have all the features of this year's challenge, and it will also include a "read only" component. This will enable people who don't have blogs or GoodReads pages to join in the conversation. It will also encourage book groups to sign up to the challenge - pledging to have at least a few books by Australian women on their 2013 reading lists. (If you have an existing book group you want to promote, or would like to join a book group, see here.)

With the new improved site, we hope to continue with the mission to "support and promote" books by Australian women, and to contribute to the excitement surrounding writing by Australian women in the lead up to next year's inaugural Stella Prize.

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If you're a regular AWW challenge participant still uploading reviews, you'll notice that the AWW Blogger Challenge page now incorporates a Google form for linking your reviews. If you're happy to start using this form straightaway to upload your review, please go ahead. It will mean one less data entry for the archive.

If you strike any problems with the new system, please let me know. Comments on the challenge page have been reopened for that purpose.

Is Book Reviewing Broken? Guest Post by Annabel Smith

This is the second piece on reviewing by author Annabel Smith, whose book Whisky Charlie Foxtrot will be published by Fremantle Press in November 2012.

Annabel writes:
 
In 2011 John Locke became the first self-published author to sell more than a million copies of his books on Amazon Kindle. He then wrote How I Sold 1 Million eBooks in 5 Months, a ‘how-to’ marketing guide for other self-published authors. However, he neglected to mention one of his key marketing strategies - paying for five-star reviews.

(Image in public domain)

Few people would argue that by providing a forum for ordinary readers to publicly express their opinions about what they read, the internet is having a significant impact on the world of books. But what happens when the systems that allow ordinary readers to review books are abused? Recently there has been a spate of scandals exposing reviews which flout Amazon’s guidelines stating that reviews should not be posted by users with either a financial interest or a competing book.

In a New York Times article outing the disingenuous practice of paying for reviews, it was revealed that reviewers who work for services such as Todd Rutherford’s (now defunct) GettingBookReviews.com are so poorly paid that they don’t even read the books in question and are further discouraged from being truly critical by having their fee reduced for a less than five-star review.

Perhaps even more shameful than paying for rave reviews is the practice known as ‘sock puppeting,’ in which writers create fake online identities to praise their own books and rubbish those of competitors. British crime writer RJ Ellory recently prompted outrage in the literary world when he was caught writing ecstatic five-star reviews of his own works, and low-rated pannings of his rivals’.

Some readers and writers are calling for sites like Amazon to tighten up their reviewing systems; others believe it is a case of ‘caveat emptor’, or buyer beware. Australian blogger Bernadette calls for real consequences for authors engaging in ‘morally bankrupt’ practices, in her post on Reaction to Reading titled ‘Hit ‘em where it hurts’: 

…what if it wasn’t worth the risk for authors to engage in such practices? What if the cost was more than a fake apology or a few public tears? What if there were real and material consequences?

She applauds the stance of Jon Page, President of the Australian Bookseller’s Association, who has stated he will no longer stock books by authors found guilty of sock puppeting. She advocates an agreement between booksellers and bloggers not to support the works of any writer proven to have engaged in anonymously criticising their rivals’ works. Furthermore, she suggests such writers should be denied consideration for awards.

The New York Times exposé of GettingBookReviews.com quotes a data-mining expert at the University of Illinois, Chicago, who estimates that one-third of consumer reviews on the internet are fake. However, on the Guardian blog, Paul Laity suggests that due to the incredible volume of reviews on the internet ‘only a tiny fraction of them can be corrupted’. What the real figure is we may never know. But on Twitter and in the blogosphere, readers are expressing their loss of faith in the system: ‘[Reading] samples via my kindle and just being downright suspicious is my future, I guess,’ said a crime fan on Stuart Neville’s blog.)

On Twitter, @bkclb, whose mission is ‘linking independent writers and publishers to adventurous readers,’ asked ‘Is book reviewing broken? If so how do we fix it’? Certainly, readers may be more choosy about where they read their reviews in future.

What makes a good review? Guest post by Annabel Smith

Recently, a group of volunteer bookbloggers started discussing how to build on the momentum of the AWW challenge. The result is we now have a draft website up on WordPress which we're using to iron out a few issues that have beset this year's challenge. (Not so sadly, Mr Linky will have to go.) The plan is to hold another challenge next year, and to allow people to subscribe to posts which related to specific genres and interest areas, covering as broad a range of Australian women's writing as possible. The mission will be "to support and promote" writing by Australian women throughout 2013.

One issue that cropped up in our discussion is "What makes a good review?" Some bloggers have expressed concern about the quality of their reviews. Others have said they like to write "responses", rather than critiques. One asked if AWW could do a "How to" post. As a result, author and reviewer, Annabel Smith kindly agreed to give her tips on reviewing.

Over to Annabel:

Book reviews are personal; they reflect the reviewer as well as the book being reviewed, and for that reason there is no right way to write them. However, bearing in mind that their purpose is to guide other readers in their choices, there are a few guidelines to follow if you want your reviews to be useful to others, as well as interesting to read.

Perhaps the most important thing to remember is that a book review is an evaluation, not a summary. Essentially, it should examine whether the author has successfully achieved what they set out to achieve. The analysis may consider the quality and significance of the book in terms of its literary merits and/or its ideas. For example:

• Does the novel fit its genre or does it play with the conventions of its genre in fresh and stimulating ways?
• Does it convincingly depict a certain time and place?
• Were you persuaded by the narrative point of view?  
• Do the characters feel real and relatable?
• Does it stimulate you emotionally or intellectually?
• Is the plot compelling?
• How does it compare to other books in its genre, or other books which tackle the same themes/issues?

Would you recommend this book to others? Your readers will be interested in your personal response to the book. For example:

• How did it make you feel?
• Did you relate to the characters? Why/why not?
• Were the themes or issues relevant to your own life? In what ways?
• Did any of your views change as a result of the ideas explored?

Whether your review is positive or negative, your opinion should be supported by evidence and a balanced review will consider both the strengths and weaknesses of a book. In a thought-provoking article entitled ‘The Ethics of the Negative Review,’ Jan Zwicky asks us to

Look at the word itself: re-view…To look again. But to what purpose? … to further “appreciation.” The reviewer who understands their task in these terms, then, would be one who has taken the trouble to listen again, to listen with care, curiosity, and respect, in an attempt to give genuine attention to what is being said. And who can help the rest of us begin to listen attentively, too. (Read more here.)

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Note: Scribe has offered to give away a number of books for the best AWW reviews. Look out for details in an upcoming post. 

What do you think makes a great review?

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Annabel Smith’s latest novel, Whisky Charlie Foxtrot will be published by Fremantle Press on November 1st. Her first novel, A New Map of the Universe, was shortlisted for the WA Premier’s Prize for Fiction. She has had short fiction and reviews published in Westerly and Southerly, been a writer-in-residence at Katherine Susannah Prichard Writers’ Centre and holds a PhD in writing from Edith Cowan University. Connect with her on Twitter @annabelsmithAUS and Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/AnnabelSmithAUS

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This post will be cross-posted to the test AWW site on Wordpress.

Queensland Literary Award winners and Melbourne Prize finalists

Queensland Literary Award winners

Congratulations to the winners of the Queensland Literary Fiction Awards, including:

• Siv Parker, Story: David Unaipon Award for Unpublished Indigenous Writer
• Janette Turner Hospital, Turbulence: Steele Rudd Award for Short Stories 
• Robin de Crespiny, The People Smuggler: Nonfiction Award
• Catherine Titasey, Island of the Unexpected: QLD Emerging Author 
• Sue Smith, Mabo: Television Script Award 
• Angela Betzien, War Crimes: Drama Script Award
• Briony Stewart Kumiko and the Shadow Catchers: Children's Book Award 
• Louise Fox, Dead Europe (adapted from the novel by Christos Tsiolkas): Film Script Award - screen writer

See full list here.

In other news, finalists for the Melbourne Prize have been announced. Winners will be announced November 7th. The finalists include:

Melbourne Prize for Literature 2012

• Alison Lester
• Joanna Murray-Smith

Best Writing Award 2012

• Anna Goldsworthy, Piano Lessons 
• Sonya Hartnett, The Children of the King 
• Favel Parrett, Past the Shallows 
• Carrie Tiffany, Mateship with Birds

More information here.

Has anyone reviewed the books by De Crespigny, Goldsworthy or Hartnett for the challenge?

NB: This post will be cross-posted to the AWW test website on WordPress. Plans are underway for the challenge to continue into 2013 at that site. 

Update from AWW Facebook page: Emma Perry reviewed The Children of the King for the challenge on My Book Corner.

And the winners are... 2012 Davitt Awards

Guest Blogger Bernadette announces the winners of the 2012 Davitt Awards for Australian women's crime writing. This post is a slightly edited version of one first posted at Fair Dinkum Crime.
 
The Davitt Awards are sponsored by Sisters in Crime Australia and are named in honour of Ellen Davitt (1812-1879) who wrote Australia’s first full length mystery novel, FORCE AND FRAUD in 1865. Awards are given annually to celebrate the best Australian crime writing by women.
This year's winners were announced at a gala dinner last night (1 September) in Melbourne. Special guest for the evening was one of Sweden's most highly respected crime writers, Åsa Larsson, who was, according to the interview carried out on the night by Sue Turnbull, inspired to take the Sisters in Crime concept home to Sweden!


The first award of the night was for Best True Crime and it went to journalist and author Liz Porter for COLD CASE FILES in which old cases from Australia, the UK and the US are re-opened in the light of new forensic techniques.

Next came the award for Best Young Fiction book which was apparently fiercely contested. Ursula Dubosarsky's THE GOLDEN DAY was highly commended by the judges but the winner of this category was Meg McKinlay for SURFACE TENSION
 
The next award was for Best Adult Novel. Carolyn Morwood's DEATH AND THE SPANISH LADY was highly commended by judges but the award went to Sulari Gentill for A DECLINE IN PROPHETS. It is historical crime fiction set in 1930's Australia (and beyond) and it is a delight to read, combining thoughtfully drawn characters, a wonderful sense of time and place and a ripper of a story.

The new category for this year of Best Debut Novel went to Jaye Ford for her novel BEYOND FEAR. Ford is yet another journalist-turned-crime-writer and penned a book with loads of strong female characters and snappy pace which I liked a lot.

The final award of the night was the Reader's Choice Award. All the books in all the other categories are eligible for this award and all members of Sisters in Crime Australia are able to vote for it (and apparently 550 of us did). This year the award was shared by Jaye Ford's BEYOND FEAR and Y.A. Erskine's THE BROTHERHOOD!. Both great books.

Congratulations to all the winners and all the writers of the eligible books. Even from my limited reading of the books in these categories I can attest to the fact that Australian women's crime writing is in great form and it is especially pleasing to see that even within the constraints of the crime genre there is such a wide variety of stories being told with many of these titles crossing over into historical, romance, speculative fiction and other genres.

(This post has also been cross-posted at the AWW draft website on WordPress)

2012 Davitt Awards: How well do you know your crime?

The 2012 Davitt Awards will be announced tonight at a dinner in Melbourne. The Davitts are a national crime writing award sponsored by Sisters in Crime Australia. They are awarded each year for the best crime books by Australian women. The categories are best Adult Fiction, Children's/YA, True Crime, Debut and Reader's Choice.

"Sisters in Crime Australia named the award The Davitt in honour of Ellen Davitt (1812-1879) who wrote Australia’s first mystery novel, Force and Fraud  in 1865. Her achievement is extraordinary when it is considered that Wilke’s Collins’ The Woman in White, generally regarded as the first full-length mystery novel, was published only in 1860. Force and Fraud was serialised in the Australian Journal, starting with its very first issue. It begins with a murder and ends with its solution, with red herrings, blackmail, and a dramatic court scene in between." (From the Sisters in Crime website.)

The short- and long-listed books are given below, along with links to AWW reviews. What is noticeable is how few of the long-listed books have been reviewed for the challenge. Notable exceptions are when the book is cross-genre, especially with Speculative Fiction. One reason for this may be that these are 2011 titles, rather than new releases. Current AWW crime reviews may be of books that qualify for next year's awards. However this could also indicate that Australian women's crime writing is not as well known in Australia as, for example, romance, or at least not among challenge participants.

How many of the following books have you read?

(If your AWW review of one of the following has been overlooked, or if you reviewed one or more of these books in previous years, please mention your review in the comments below.)

Adult Crime Fiction
Shortlist

• Jaye Ford, Beyond Fear (Bantam/Random) Kevin Rennie,
• Sulari Gentill, Decline in Prophets (Pantera Press) Caroline Sully
• Carolyn Morwood, Death and the Spanish Lady (Pulp Fiction) Crime Pieces, Naturally Dotty#
• Jennifer Rowe, Love Honour & O'Brien (Allen & Unwin)
• Kim Westwood, The Courier’s New Bicycle (Harper Voyager), Mark Webb, David Golding, Annabel Smith, Jason Nahrung, Bookonaut
• Helene Young, Shattered Sky (Hachette Australia), Bookdout, 1girl2manybooks,  

Longlist

• Sydney Bauer, The 3rd Victim (PanMacmillan)
• A.A. Bell, Hindsight  (HarperCollins)
• Claire Corbett, When We Have Wings (Allen & Unwin) Tsana, CAR Torres V, Annabel Smith, Angela @ Literary Minded, Mark Webb, Ann-Marie Sjoberg, Bookonaut
• Sandy Curtis, Fatal Flaw (Clan Destine Press)
• Miranda Darling, The Siren’s Sting (Allen & Unwin)
• Virginia Duigan, The Precipice (Random House), Librarians Adrift, Bernadette,
• Y A Erskine, The Brotherhood (Bantam/Random House): 1girl2manybooks, Brenda, Crime Pieces, Bookdout, Oanh,
• Helen Fitzgerald, The Donor (Allen & Unwin)
• Carol Gibson, Click Click, You’re Dead (Zeus Publications)
• H.M. Goltz, Death by Sugar (Atlas Productions Publishing Company)
• Kerry Greenwood (interviewed by Tara Moss), Cooking the Books (Allen & Unwin) Tenna Miller,
• Judy Johnson, The Secret Fate of Mary Watson (HarperCollins)
• Sylvia Johnson, Watch Out for Me (Allen & Unwin), Helen McKenna, Bernadette,
• Adriana Koulias, The Sixth Key (Random House)
• Phyllis King, ed., Scarlet Stiletto: The Second Cut (Clan Destine Press) [Readers Choice vote by SinC members only] Narelle Harris
• Nicole Watson, The Boundary (University of Queensland Press) Bookdout,
• Tracey O’Hara, Death’s Sweet Embrace (Harper Voyager)

Young Adult/Children’s
Shortlist

• Ursula Dubosarsky, The Golden Day (Allen & Unwin) Suburban Sonnet,
• Nansi Kunze, Dangerously Placed (Random House)
• Meg McKinlay, Surface Tension (Walker Books) Michelle

Longlist

• J.C Burke, Pig Boy (Random House)
• Susan Green, The Truth about Verity Sparks (Walker Books)
• Jacqueline Harvey, Alice-Miranda at Sea (Random House)
• H J Harper, Star League series Book 1: Lights, Camera, Action Hero!; Book 2: Curse of the Werewolf; Book 3: Raising the Dead; Book 4: The Ninja Code (Random House)
• Karen Healey, The Shattering (Allen & Unwin)
• Gabrielle Lord, Conspiracy 365 (Scholastic Australia)
• Sophie Masson, The Understudy’s Revenge (Scholastic Australia)
• Tara Moss, The Spider Goddess (PanMacmillan Australia), Phillip A Ellis, Duke,
• Belinda Murrell, The Ivory Rose (Random House)
• Joanne Van Os, The Secret of the Lonely Isles (Random House)
• Lili Wilkinson, A Pocketful of Eyes (Allen & Unwin)

True Crime  
Shortlist

• Wendy Lewis, The Australian Book of Family Murders (Pier 9/Murdoch Books)
• Liz Porter, Cold Case Files: Past crimes solved by new forensic science (PanMacmillan)

Longlist

• Carol Baxter, Captain Thunderbolt and His Lady: The true story of bushrangers Frederick Ward and Mary Ann Bugg (Allen & Unwin)
• Jo Chandler and Christine Nixon, Fair Cop: Christine Nixon (Melbourne University Press)
• Rachael Jane Chin, Nice Girl: Whatever Happened To Baby Tegan Lane? (Simon & Schuster)
• Helen Cummings, Blood Vows: a haunting memoir of marriage and murder (The Five Mile Press)
• Nichola Garvey, Beating the Odds (Harper Collins)
• Fiona Harari, A Tragedy in Two Acts: Marcus Einfeld and Teresa Brennan (Victory Books)
• Vikki Petraitis, The Frankston Serial Killer (Clan Destine Press)

 NB: This post will be cross-posted with the new, AWW test site on WordPress.
# Inadvertently left off original post (thanks Alex Adsett for noticing)

2012 Queensland Literary Award Shortlist

The shortlists for the crowd-funded 2012 Queensland Literary Award were announced recently. Congratulations to all the writers who made the lists, including the following. A number of the books have been reviewed by AWW challenge participants (links to their reviews appear with their names below). 

For a full list of shortlisted books, including children's books, see here.

Fiction

• Anna Funder, All That I Am: 1girl2manybooks, Jon Page, Janine Rizzetti, Kevin Rennie, Marg Bates, Chris Wolak
• Kate Grenville, Sarah Thornhill: MD Brady
  

Young Adult Book Award

• Kirsty Eagar, Night Beach: Speculatef, Bookdout, VeganYANerds, 1girl2manybooks, Australian Bookshelf
• Judith Clarke, Three Summers:* 
• Margo Lanagan, Sea Hearts (also published as The Brides of Rollrock Island): Lizabelle, Literary Minded, Krissing Kneen, Astrid, Sue Luus, Dark Matter Fanzine, Coleen Kwan, Mark Webb, Jason Nahrung, 
• Vikki Wakefield, All I Ever Wanted: Lia Weston

Australian Short Story collection - Steele Rudd Award

• Marion Halligan, Shooting the Fox*
• Janette Turner Hospital, Forecast: Turbulence: Rebecca Howden, Janine Rizzetti

Non-fiction

• Robin de Crespigny, The People Smuggler:* 
• Jane Gleeson-White, Double Entry: Yvone Perkins
• Alice Pung, Her Father’s Daughter: James Tierney

Science Book Award

• Robyn Arianrhod, Seduced by Logic*

History Book Award

• Robyn Arianrhod, Seduced by Logic*
• Nicole Moore, The Censor’s Library*

Judith Wright Calanthe Poetry Award

• Rhyll McMaster, Late Night Shopping*

(* denotes books yet to be reviewed)


Are you planning to review any of the above books that haven't yet been reviewed? 

NB: This post will be cross-posted to the new, draft AWW site on WordPress.