Here is the deal on reviewers at publishing houses

From: "Michael Fitzgerald" <[email protected]>

Okay, so here is the deal, as explained to me by Janet Staiger and others,
as to how reviews work at book publishers nowadays. Contrary to logic and
common sense, publishers are generally NOT seeking balance in their reviews.
I would have thought the purpose of seeking multiple reviewers was to
balance out extreme or politically motivated reviews. But no: what
publishers are looking for is two positive reviews in a row-for the second
one to confirm, not balance, the first. 

If one looks at this logically, this implies that a bad review carries twice
as much weight than a good one. A single bad review will get your project
quashed. A bad review is literally worth two reviews. One glowing review in
the face of a bad one, however, is worth nothing, apparently. 

This does not make much sense to me, but there it is.

Michael Ray Fitzgerald

www.michaerayfitzgerald.com