I'd like feedback on my article: Top Books to Read at the End of the Year

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   Clayton Coombsposted 5 years ago

   Hi Hubbers,
   
   I'd like some help with passing the Quality Assessment Process. Will you please give feedback on my article? What can I do to improve? Thanks!
   Here is my article: Top Books to Read at the End of the Year (must be signed in to view)

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      theraggededgeposted 5 years agoin reply to this

      A lot of copy and pasting. You can't republish other people's reviews. Have you read them? Your reader wants to know why you think these are the best books.
      
      The article is also missing an intro -- why the end of the year? I don't understand.
      
      This needs more personal content. You have to give us the 'whys'.

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         Clayton Coombsposted 5 years agoin reply to this

         Thank you theraggededge, I have created and intro as to why I chose the end of the year.
         I also added the reviews of professionals in many different fields to try to diversify my list a little better.
         After hearing your advise I think I will add my opinion on the books listed.
         Thank you again.

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            theraggededgeposted 5 years agoin reply to this

            The whole article should be only your own words with maybe a very short quote from each author. HubPages will not allow you to publish work from others which is already on the web.
            
            So you need at least 300 words per book, plus an introduction and a conclusion.

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2. 90

   Natalie Frankposted 5 years ago

   Hi Clayton.  There are still problems with your article that will prevent it from passing QA&P. 
   
   Your intro is a single run-on sentence. You need a proper intro which gives a better explanation of why specifically at the end of the year and why you chose the books you did to review.  Also, what experts are you talking about?  You don't cite any experts in your article.  Plus, you didn't actually reach out to experts who provided you with recommendations about the books, did you?  Reach out usually suggests you contacted them personally.
   
   You still have a copying problem.  You can't take other peoples text, paste it into a document and call it your own.  For example the entire paragraph starting with, "At age 50" is practically word for word.
   
   The biggest problem though is that when writing a book review you need to write it from your point of view based on your personal reading of the book(s).  What do you see as the strengths and weaknesses?  What specifically about the book caught YOUR attention.  If seems like you've just taken others summaries viewpoints of the book and either copied or spun them.  If you didn't read the book(s), and the feel from this is that you haven't, you shouldn't try to review them.
   
   Instead, take one book you read and review it.  Pick something you really liked, that you feel has been underrated or that is perhaps controversial in some way.  You can give a brief summary at the beginning but the majority of it should be a critical analysis and your own opinion of the book, not anyone else's.   People can find other people's ideas on the book already - they don't need you to regurgitate them.  Give the reader your unique views and ideas.  One way you can ensure you do this is to not read any other reviews or summaries of the book until after you've written it.  Then if you feel it would help to add a brief quote or opinion from someone else and you have a reason for incorporating it, you can do so then.  For example, if the book is controversial in some way and you disagree with a respected critics viewpoint you can include the critics opinion, with proper citation, then refute it.
   
   There are a lot of good articles on writing book reviews with examples online that you can take a look at.  This one is a good basic intro with some short examples.
   
   Hope this will help you write something that will pass QA&P.  Good luck

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   theraggededgeposted 5 years ago

   I can see you've made some changes, but there is still way too much quoted content. You need to think about providing around 1,000 words of original (written by you) writing. If the topic doesn't lend itself to that, then it's the wrong topic for you.

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