[Rick Mullin]

Especially if the book is shot down.

[Julie Steiner]

It's never inappropriate to thank someone for their time and thought. Reviews certainly take time and thought. And the fact that a thank-you isn't obligatory or expected--especially if the review was negative--just makes the gesture that much more appreciated.

I also think it's appropriate to take the opportunity of a thank-you note to address negative aspects of the review in a professional and non-confrontational way...and certainly to draw errors to the reviewer's attention. One of the authors of a book I reviewed sent me an immediate (and sincere) email thanking me for presenting my negative comments as matters of taste with which other readers might disagree, and then politely mentioned two minor errors I'd made--one in my transcription of a poem excerpt, the other more complicated. Since the review was published in an online venue, I was able to contact the editor and perform damage control within a few hours of the review's appearance--a win-win-win situation for reviewer, reviewee, and readers.

On the other hand, a vindictive little tantrum disguised as a thank-you note would not have gone over as well.

[Rick Mullin]

Julie says it all.

A painter friend of mine (with a career) has been reviewed in The New York Times and other prominent publications for years. He never thanked the reviewers, or at least not until late in his career, thinking it was somehow inappropriate to do so. He says he regrets this because he really was thankful. He also realized it helps build important connections. The second consideration, like the dirty money, is not a bad thing.

[R. Nemo Hill]

"In short, any competent critic."

Yuck. I think it is precisely that self-confident critical apparatus that is far too often the bulk of what Rick is saying falls out of the frame of the poems themselves and is only a screen for the reviewer's own inevitable subjectivity. Such a critical view without honest subjective experience is dead in the water for many readers. The reverse can be a problem as well, but feeling one's way into the poems of another can be accomplished by an adroit essayist.

Nemo

[Rory Waterman]

Yes: yuck, indeed.

[Quincy Lehr]

There is, of course, another problem with the sample of poems. Let's say that one has a collection with four or five good poems and some insipid stuff for the remaining fifty pages. A publisher's instinct is to go for the "best" poems as he/she sees it, which a review should indicate the spread and try to capture the book holistically. The reprint option is generally pretty bad at that.

[Janice D. Soderling]

Let's say that one has a collection with four or five good poems and some insipid stuff for the remaining fifty pages.

Pls sms me immediately the name of publisher(s) willing to issue such a book. I may just have four or five good ones! I am sure I can dredge up 45 insipid pages. Thanking you in advance, I remain,
Hopeful

[Rory Waterman]

I've been contacted a few times about reviews I've written, and a few more about reviews I've published - most recently from Andrew McNeillie, which was a delight. His last book (In Mortal Memory, Carcanet, 2010) is excellent, by the way. I'd love to hear from some others, and I think my own tendency will be to try to thank my reviewers for their time, if it seems appropriate. But once you make contacting reviewers a protocol you're immediately back in Smallville, Backscratcher Territory.

[Rory Waterman]

And I should have said that, as an occasional reviewer for Raintown, I can vouch for what Q says. I'm fairly sure I was actually asked whether I knew the authors in question before books were assigned. And if you don't subscribe to TRR, why not, eh? It's gold.

[Rick Mullin]

Rory: But once you make contacting reviewers a protocol you're immediately back in Smallville, Backscratcher Territory.

Well, whether or not Thank You becomes de rigueur, it's the thing to do. But, I'll admit it's much a classier thing to do now that hardly anybody seems to do it.

Rory: And if you don't subscribe to TRR, why not, eh? It's gold.

I love the smell of dirty money. It smells like Victory.~,:^)