Story v. Book – Things Reviewers Should Consider

I’m writing this because a dear friend and superb writer (and I knew she was a superb writer before we became friends, not the other way around) has gotten a scathing review on Amazon. Bad reviews? Low ratings? Gonna happen. We know that when we put our stuff out there. HOWEVER, there are some things that reviewers should consider before writing a bad review (good ones, too). Forget thinking about the author’s feelings. I’m not going to go to the ‘human being behind the screen’ place. I’m talking about the difference between STORY and BOOK.

To simplify to the point of almost nonsense, the STORY is the candy bar; the BOOK is the wrapper. Say what? OK, let’s complicate this a bit. STORY is what happens, who it happens to, where and when it happens, how it happens, and why it happens. (That will sound familiar if you’ve ever taken…