The comment that cracked me up most was that Mrs. Giggles’s reviews were harsh but never personal, in contrast to the rest of us evil bloggers.

When I first discovered Mrs Giggles I was shocked at how harsh she was to writers–at least, that was my perception, because of how she phrased her reviews.

(…) I suspect it was her sympathetic post on Cassie Edwards that led some authors to champion her as a moderate reviewing voice.

Definitely.

If this is true, Robin, then I wonder what the reason is for that perception, because I suspect that in terms of our grading, DA is not any tougher than Mrs. Giggles or AAR.

I honestly think part of it is a general distrust of the increase in blogging, the perception that we bloggers have some kind of power, and that we’re wielding it against authors. The comment that cracked me up most was that Mrs. Giggles’s reviews were harsh but never personal, in contrast to the rest of us evil bloggers. Now I find many of Mrs. G’s reviews vastly entertaining, but I don’t in any way see her as kinder or gentler than the SBs or DA or most other decently trafficked Romance blogs. Although I suspect it was her sympathetic post on Cassie Edwards that led some authors to champion her as a moderate reviewing voice.

Thoughtful, definitely. That’s where I’m coming from. One of the definitions of “professional” in M-W is: “characterized by or conforming to the technical or ethical standards of a profession” and another is: “exhibiting a courteous, conscientious, and generally businesslike manner in the workplace.” This is what I meant.

And I agree entirely. When I say professional, I’m not just talking business-type aspects. While I know DA is a hobby for the ladies that run it, IMO, it’s one of the more professional review sites out there, and I’m including blogs and reviews sites and magazines in my evaluation. The fact that this site IS run as a hobby/labor of love only adds weight to my opinion.

That they get no compensation for it, yet still work to advocate romance, authors, epublishing, etc, and provide honest, thoughtful reviews, and they do a good job of it.

They maintain standards, the site is professional, they approach books with an open mind even if they love one author or haven’t been impressed with another in the past. They don’t gush unless they feel something is gush-worthy, and that’s something I hold in high regard. Glowing reviews mean nothing if ‘glowing’ is all one sees. The blog stands by what they say, if they screw up, they offer an apology. Even when they don’t particularly care for one author’s behavior and call said author out, I don’t see them bashing/trashing the way I’ve seen on others.

That, to me, is part of why I consider the DA blog a professional site. But professional is a heck of a lot easier to say than all of the above.

Am I maybe holding DA to a high standard? Possibly. But it’s a bar I established in my mind over the past couple years of reading their blog. Their actions have shaped my opinion of them.

;-) So ya see…it’s all their fault *G* I’m not always very easy to impress.

I think that I ascribe alot more to the word “professional” than you are which is, of course, my own problem, but what underlies why I shy away from saying that we are professionals.

Edited to add: yes, as azteclady said, those are excerpts from reviews in professional publications and an example of how it can be a) consistent with the reviewer’s past and b) all about the subject matter but still be offensive.