Blogher07: The Art of Writing Reviews

BlogHer07 in Chicago - Day One: Breakout #3 Session Art of Life: Art of Writing Reviews.

Many, many bloggers write reviews for fun and for money. Some traditional journalists think the art of criticism is dying, and deplore its demise, but studies show that people put as much stock in what their neighbors think of a product, service or piece of entertainment as they do in what a "professional" thinks. Whether just-the-facts-ma'am new product reviews or more subjective and artful entertainment reviews, bloggers are telling you what they think.

Maria Niles - moderator (who blogs at Fizz from Consumer Pop)
Barb Dybwad (who blogs at Weblogs, Inc. at AOL, Joystiq, geeked., and Engadget)
Claire Zulkey (who blogs at Zukley.com and is a L.A. Times TV reviewer/blogger at Show Tracker)
Eugenia Williamson (who blogs at Literago - Literate Chicago and writes at Time Out Chicago)

If you attended the session and want to provide a link to your review blog, please do so in the comments below.

Q: What makes a review? Do you have to be a pro or trained? Can bloggers be reviewers? Is there a standard for legit criticism?

Barb - At Engadget, we give "opinions as a friend" but do have standards as to what is covered and how it's formatted. We're not afraid to tell it like it is.

Eugenia - She writes professionally as a reviewer, but on Literago - Literate Chicago they do reviews of literary events which is kind of different.

Claire: LA Times editors didn't want to do recaps, but a little more - a "piece" and a review. She tries to take it seriously and wants to report more than just the facts.

Metromix.com - reviewers are readers, reader driven content. Good place for practice. Sharing your opinion in an articulate, non-inflammatory way.

Q: (Audience - Heidi O'Connor) What else are you injecting into your reviews to make it more personal?

Claire - Interviews with the contestants, comparisions between similar shows, adding little stories from the show to add to opinion. The LA Times wants to make the content interesting even to people who don't watch the show.

Barb - Engadget compares their review products to similar products, subjective analysis, how the device fits into her life, then zoom out and show how the product would be used in other situations that make it more general.

Q: (Liz Rizzo - Everyday Goddess - she is trying book reviews and tv shows. However, she feels like a poseur because of a need to summarize the book/show. It seems boring and too much work. How should she handle this?

Eugenia - Plot summaries are boring, keep them short, read big reviewers and see how they handle this, don't give away the plot, no spoilers, good writing

Claire - in TV you have to summarize and give spoilers. Imagine how you would tell your friend about this show and write it that way.

Maria - Television without Pity - recaps/summaries and TV Squad - reviews - look at what other's are doing.

Commentary - Reviewer from Literary Mama - either make the review personal or political. Take the theme and take it to a personal level and relate it to you. Tell your story or make a political/societal point.

Claire - Take it personal.

Eugenia - Look at who you are writing for.

Q: How to handle negative reviews?

Barb - You can shill a product you don't believe in. Our readers know we're not afraid of giving negative reviews.

Claire - You don't want to mean, but you don't want to be condescending. When I cover something negatively - ER last season - a certain level of snark is o.k., too much is terrible. You wanted something to be good, but it wasn't, you are disappointed, and how it could be better.

Eugenia - Our goal is to foster community, so we don't want to publish negative reviews of literary readings. Instead we want people to be interested in Chicago about readings. If it wasn't good, we probably won't publish it.

Claire - Instant publication like blogs - sleep on it and read it over and rewrite. Believe what you say so you don't have to say, "I didn't mean it that way."

Barb - Constructive criticism and point out flaws. It should have been done this way to make it better like gadget X.

Eugenia - Do some of the companies get offended by a negative review?

Barb - Yes, but we won't change the post. We stand by what we write even if a company freak out. Now the companies feel that there is no bad PR, they're still talking about their product, especially since it is increasing brand awareness. Getting a negative review isn't the end of the world.

Q: Maria: The citizen reviews at TravelAdvisor.com, Amazon.com - word of mouth reviews are more trustworthy than professional reviews. What are the elements of a good review and what are the subjective areas of a review?

Claire - Spelling, punctuation, proper writing (no ALL CAPS), seeming like a reasonable writer and not getting off on writing a negative review for the heck of it. Being polite and not screaming and being rude.

Barb - Grammar, punctuation, devices get a scientific analysis: does the product work? Is it a usable device?  What are its features? Photos are important. Historical analysis - how does it rank against other devices in its class. Good and feel of the product is subjective.

Eugenia -  Axe grinding reviews are entertaining reads. If the writer is knowledgeable about the subject historically, part of the conversation, then the review is good. It's important to have taste and know what you like.

Question: Do you write reviews of one topic or more (to the audience)? Audience says multiple things. How do remain focused if you're writing about lots of things?

Claire - If you are comfortable and good at writing reviews, you could write about lots of things as long as you're knowledgeable about that subject. Know what you can and can't write about it. Practice writing reviews about things you're interested/knowledgeable in. Know what you're good at.

Maria - I write reviews about things going on my life - movies, TV shows, etc. - but puts her personal spin on it "Is it worth your time/money?"

Audience comment: It doesn't matter what you're expert at. Instead, you are reviewing from your perspective as a mom blogger, etc. based on your criteria.

Audience comment : I work for a PR agency. We reach out and want your honest opinion. She hopes the product is relevant to their blog.

Question: I'm a publicist. We're concerned about inaccuracies. How do I approach bloggers to correct their posts?

Barb - We will update the post and point out our error.

Claire - My editors catch my errors (misspellings, etc.). Since the posts are open to comments, I make sure that the info is correct.

Maria - Within reason - if it's a factual error, it should be immediately corrected. But others have contacted me because they didn't like the tone. So within reason.

Audience: (Amy, who has a baby/kid product review blog.) I feel that I'm getting too wordy. Will readers stick around for all that information and my personal experience with the product. Can you be too wordy?

Barb - Look at your comments. Are they sticking around to read and make comments? Reviews have two formats - summary review and full review.

Claire - Link to background info. Go with your gut. Would you want to read it? Have someone else give you feedback. Start sparing and fill in later as you write.

Question: (Person is from a company that is trying to build relationships with bloggers) What is the difference between review and advertorial?

Barb - We stay away from advertorial content. We stay away from that and position ourselves against that. Authenticity is important in the blogosphere. Readers appreciate honest info/reviews of products. Companies should permit this, and be open to negative feedback.

Claire - Does author interviews on her personal blog, so she gets a lot of books to review. She doesn't do book reviews and tells publicists that. She's sent books anyway and publicists want to know where the reviews are.

Maria - Be transparent for your readers. Be authentic and clear that you were sent a product to review.

Comment from Audience :Julie Marsh, The Parents Bloggers Network - Formed it to work with PR professionals who want to work with parent bloggers. They have 70+ bloggers on their site who write reviews. PR professionals don't waste time with bloggers who don't want to review their product.

Question: (Gail who has a book blog and does reviews.) She had an author act inappropriately to a review, personally emailing him and being threatening-ish about it. How should should have she handled it?

Eugenia - Had a similar experience. Scary feeling when the person you wrote about came after her and felt offended by her review and attacked her personally via email. Eugenia says to keep it professional.

Claire - Why write a review if you only say good thing? Critique but don't be evil. Don't even engage the author, keep it professional. It's HIS problem, not yours. Don't be discouraged when authors act like a baby.

Barb - Having a personal relationship with a company, publicist, author, etc. doesn't mean a good review.

Question to audience from Maria: What do you write about?

Answer: Kim - Scrambled Cake, restaurant reviews; Props and Pans - group of reviewers on everything from kids products to customer service. Personality rather than review style. Non-traditional career choices. Adult toys and websites.

Comment from publicist in the audience - Deal with publicists not the artist. Don't develop a personal relationship with the artist. They're volative. Publicists will protect from that.

Elise from BlogHer: Power of voice, tell them what you think and don't worry about it.