Kidlit authors read their bad reviews, UK edition?

Well, not quite. But ONE UK author, Jonathan Emmett, did follow our lead and share a particularly critical review.

Here's hoping his mates will join in; it looked like it would happen soon after ours launched in 2014, but then it fizzled. I'd love to finally see this series presented in a British accent. 

Children’s authors read reviews of their own books: the encore!

A month ago today, I posted videos of 53 kidlit authors/illustrators being good sports and reading aloud a particularly critical excerpt from a particularly harsh online review.

Those are episodes 1-3.

Turns out a lot of people agree that a bad review can equal a good laugh.

Thirty more authors have since enlisted in the cause.

Welcome to episodes 4-6.

All-new line-up! All-new beat downs!

(Disclaimer: We lurve kids, of course, but this is for teens and adults only.)

The cast (not in order of appearance, so that you will watch all three):

Kathi Appelt	David Lubar
Gene Barretta	Eric Luper
Michael Buckley	Maryann Macdonald
Shana Corey	Marissa Moss
Sharon Creech	Gae Polisner
Doreen Cronin	Nora Raleigh Baskin
Katie Davis	Olugbemisola Rhuday-Perkovich
Sue Fliess	Dan Santat
Liz Garton Scanlon	Tammi Sauer
Chris Grabenstein	Judy Schachner
Alan Katz	Andrew Smith
Laurie Keller	Elizabeth Rose Stanton
Jarrett J. Krosoczka	David Ezra Stein
Tara Lazar	Deborah Underwood
Loren Long	Emma Walton Hamilton

episode 4

episode 5

episode 6

“If you’re going to be able to look back on something and laugh about it, you might as well laugh about it now.” —Marie Osmond

Kidlit authors reading bad reviews on Dear Author

Dear Author made nice mention of my video series of kidlit authors performing bad reviews of their own books:

Has anyone does this for romance authors? It’s genius. 53 children’s and YA authors read their harshest or most critical reviews out loud, for “comic relief/catharsis.” Watch the videos, captured by author Marc Nobleman, here. And the “It’s All Right to Cry” song during the title sequence is hilarious, too.

A similar series but with romance writers? Yes! Yes! A thousand times yes!

Kidlit authors reading bad reviews on Librarian’s Quest

Thank you, Librarian’s Quest, for including my funny/healing/chilling video series in a roundup. I particularly liked this comment:

This has to be one of the best series of author videos you will see this year. Your love and admiration for authors and illustrators will only increase after watching these.

Kidlit authors reading bad reviews on "School Library Journal" and Fuse #8

I put together a series of videos in which authors of books for young people confront their demons by reading aloud their worst reviews posted online.

The Fuse #8 blog at School Library Journal mentioned our misery.

Thank you, Betsy! Join us, Betsy!

And School Library Journal itself also covered this:

Kidlit authors reading bad reviews...in the UK

Four days after I posted a series of short videos in which 53 kidlit/YA authors/illustrators read aloud cruel or absurd reviews of their own books, I saw on Twitter that a version with UK authors is in the works. 

Australia, you're next.

Kidlit authors reading bad reviews in "Horn Book"

What happens when more than 50 authors of books for young readers conduct a bad review slam? This.

Thank you for the plug, Roger! Love the spin you put on it.

Kidlit authors reading bad reviews in Huffington Post

Thank you, Monica Edinger, for writing about my series of three short videos in which 52 beloved authors of books for young people (plus me) read aloud a harsh or absurd review for one of our books.

The social media response in general has been heartening and deafening; hundreds if not thousands of tweets/posts/shares/comments/likes. I am so grateful that so many have found something worthwhile in this cathartic/comical experiment.

Children’s authors read reviews of their own books

A bad review can equal a good laugh.

Therefore, please enjoy episodes 1-3 of “Children’s Authors Read Online Reviews of Their Own Books.” (Disclaimer: We lurve kids, of course, but this is for teens and adults only.)

Why three instead of a single episode? Not because binge-viewing is the new normal but rather because I received more submissions than I could’ve hoped for: 53. (This includes not one, not two, but five kidlit couples, two of whom appear together on camera.) While I’m not proficient enough to know if formatting at a resolution of 720p (HD) is ideal, I do know that I should not post a 15-minute video.

The cast (not in order of appearance):

Tony Abbott	Katherine Marsh
Paul Acampora	Wendy Mass
Selina Alko	Meghan McCarthy
Tom Angleberger	Richard Michelson
Sudipta Bardhan-Quallen	Marc Tyler Nobleman
Mac Barnett	Erica Perl
Chris Barton	Susanna Reich
Cece Bell	Adam Rex
Samantha Berger	John Rocco
David Biedrzycki	Dave Roman
Lisa Brown	Adam Rubin
Peter Brown	Steve Sheinkin
Nick Bruel	Mark Shulman
Matthew Cordell	Lemony Snicket
Bruce Coville	Michael P. Spradlin
Sarah Darer Littman	Tanya Lee Stone
Drew Daywalt	Don Tate
Julia DeVillers	Matt Tavares
Marla Frazee	Chris Tebbetts
Gary Golio	Raina Telgemeier
Tad Hills	Terry Trueman
Daniel Kirk	Audrey Vernick
Jo Knowles	Melissa Walker
Michelle Knudsen	Hans Wilhelm
Gordon Korman	Lisa Yee
Jeff Mack	Jennifer Ziegler
Scott Magoon

The series (so far):

episode 1

episode 2

episode 3

 

2/6/14 addendum: episodes 4-6.

The backstory:

At a kidlit festival in September 2013, while a group of authors/illustrators talked shop after hours, an idea came to me: a variation on a poetry slam at which kidlit/YA authors read aloud their most critical or absurd user reviews (from Amazon or Good Reads) for comic relief/catharsis.

Then I discovered something similar: a recurring segment on Jimmy Kimmel Live! in which celebs read a mean tweet about themselves.

I find this entertaining and endearing.

The last two times I rounded up authors for non-regularly scheduled programming, the results were, respectively, hilarious and humbling.

This time, I put out a call for short videos of authors embracing the reality that not everyone likes every book.

This was not about reciprocating with mean-spiritedness. It’s simply a self-deprecating nod to a universal author experience that is already public anyway.

(I would love to get the band back together at BEA or ALA to “perform” this for a live audience, maybe as some kind of fundraiser.)

As Rosey Grier sang, it’s all right to cry. But, as my kind compatriots have demonstrated, it’s sure fun to laugh afterward.

2/6/14 addendum: episodes 4-6.