Tetsuwan Atom © Tezuka Production, cover design © Stone Bridge Press
I’ve just been sent a link to a mini-review of the second edition of The Anime Encyclopedia, which appeared in 2006. The review was posted two days ago – 6 August 2009.
As far as an author is concerned it’s never too late to have a review, especially a positive one that says the first edition “rocked the anime world with its in-depth entries on anime famous and obscure and its superb index/film finder” and concludes that the second edition is “an absolute must-have for every anime shelf”. It even quotes a couple of excellent earlier reviews, by Paul Jacques for Anime on DVD and the late Emru Townsend‘s Frames Per Second magazine.
So thanks, admin at AnimaticTV.com – your kind words brightened up my morning, and will hopefully encourage some of the new fans who have emerged since 2006 to go out and buy a copy, or at least order the book from their local libraries and thereby boost our income from Public Lending Right. (Did you know that every time you borrow a book in copyright from a public library, the author gets some money? Yet another good reason to support your local library.)
I don’t think currency is the most important thing about a book review, at least as far as the reader is concerned. Publishers like early reviews because lots of buzz generates bigger initial sales and can build momentum. Authors like that aspect of it, too. Readers are usually more interested in whether the book is worth buying than whether it’s the latest thing. I hope lots of them will heed the wise words of Messrs. Jacques, Townsend and AnimaticTV’s anonymous admin, and add this indispensable volume to their bookshelves now.
Helen McCarthy: A Face Made for Radio 
I think if you check, you’ll see that this text was written by Stone Bridge for the press release. You can also read it on the Barnes & Noble website, for example.
Although it would be very nice if people *did* write reviews of the AE2 three years on. There are all sorts of gems in there waiting for people to discover.
It’s a new post and the author has not indicated that it’s a quotation, so I’m claiming it as a new review. I doubt Stone Bridge can sue for plagiarism, and I’m just grateful for the extra exposure.
It may provide food for reflection on how lazy reviewers can be, but that’s another issue. I’ve now got quite used to buying review copies in the Book Exchange with a comp slip or note relating to the commission still inside them, indicating the likelihood that they haven’t even been opened, let alone read in depth.
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