Michelle Sagara talks about being a reader (as opposed wearing her writing hat) and not particularly caring about how long it took someone to write something, or if writing’s their career or something they do at night and on weekends:

But confusing my concerns as a writer with my concerns as a reader is something that I don’t do. There are books that feel interchangeable, and I read these for fun and light entertainment, although I admit I often confuse them in the muddle of my brain (and attribute the titles to the wrong authors because I am sometimes stupid like that); there are books that no one but the author could possibly write (anything by John Crowley comes to mind instantly). I am happy for both; I do not privilege one over the other because I don’t have to; as a reader, both are there, and I pick up the one that suits my mood and my needs at the time.

And Elizabeth Barrette talks about ways in which you can support your favourite authors beyond buying their books (because how you buy those books matters, and all the other stuff has an impact too):

Readers love books, and most readers have favorite authors. You wish they would write more. You may also wish for them to be happy and prosperous.

Well, authors have to put beans on the table. For some, that means writing whatever sells. For others, that means squeezing in time to write around a day job doing something else. Maybe they get paid a fair rate for their work, with a decent contract; maybe not. Often the end result is that they don’t put out as much writing as you or they would like.

Here’s the key: YOU can do something about this. You are the audience; you are the consumer. Your choices an individual, and the behavior of you-all collectively, can make a tremendous difference in the livelihood of your favorite authors. The more profitable something is, the more time they can afford to spend doing it. Do you value that reading material they create? Does it teach you things that will save you time and trouble, or things that are just fun to know? Does it give your mind a much-needed vacation to places you love, in the company of characters you enjoy? Does it lift your spirits, rouse your sense of wonder, or at least remind you that your life could suck a whole lot more than it does? If so, consider the following list of things you can do to support your favorite authors. […]

Finally, over at SFNovelists.com Mike Brotherton talks about the common sense steps involved in reviewing books, namely, match the reviewer to the book (although there’s more that follows from that first point):

Guideline 1: Reviewers should stick to reviewing the kinds of books they like.

Look, I think nearly every book published is a good book. Editors and publishers aren’t stupid. There are certainly a lot of books published I think are crap, but some of them have audiences. Large audiences. People LOVE some of the books I HATE. I shouldn’t review those. I’m not the target audience.

And that’s okay.

It’s infuriating as a writer to see someone leave a comment somewhere, or, worse, a complete review, about how much your book sucked when it is clear that they don’t like the kind of book you’re writing. I had this happen with Spider Star. Someone wrote how awful the sample chapters were on a forum, and, when pressed (guilty), admitted that [the books] read like Jack McDevitt and that they didn’t care for McDevitt. Personally, I do. So…

Guideline 2: Reviews should describe what the book is like, and not just represent a visceral reaction of the reviewer. […]

Check them out.