although apparently it will be available in bookstores and libraries as well

So, did it get picked up by a publisher?

This is really tough, and I don’t think I’m all that qualified to give advise on this. If this were an unpublished draft that you were reading for Christine, I would say to give her your honest constructive criticism, but since she’s already published it, that kind of signals that she’s done with this particular book, so she probably isn’t looking to improve on this story specifically. I might ask her if she would like that sort of feedback about this book or what sort of feedback she does want.

When you do have to give your opinion of this book, maybe you could tell her the good things about it and then explain what you think she could improve on in any future projects (or, again, ask if she would like to know what you think she could improve on). I don’t know if tact or honesty would be more important in this situation. Depending on how many people buy her book, Christine is likely to get a lot of the feedback that you have for her from other readers in the form of things like Amazon reviews (even though there is currently only one, glowing review).

Also, do you often trade drafts with Christine to get each other’s feedback? Because if she has criticized your work, it may be easier to criticize hers without seeming bitchy. If you haven’t read each other’s stuff before, you may want to hold back more just because this situation doesn’t seem like she’s seeking out your feedback (unless she has said something to the contrary). Expressing admiration for her commitment to writing regularly could also help to soften the blow of criticism if you do give any.

Anyway, I really hope someone else has something more helpful to say on the subject and honestly don’t know what’d I’d do in your situation.

So, did it get picked up by a publisher?

I don’t know, she just said that it’d be available in those places on Facebook. It’s easy enough to get a book into the library, I guess, and maybe stores are more open to selling self-published works now. 200 people like the book’s Facebook page, but I think that most of those people are her friends and acquaintances who are showing their support. If the book gets big, then she’ll definitely get the criticism from a more unbiased source, but if it just stays within that circle, then it might never happen.

Christine never showed this draft to me, which is something I was a bit disappointed about. However, we’re not as close as we used to be, so it’s not surprising she went to someone else for her feedback. I wasn’t even aware that she was writing at all, let alone writing a novel seriously, before she got published. She has not read my work in the past five years, and even if she had, I know that of the two of us, I’m the much pickier editor.

I told her that I bought her novel, and she seemed really excited about it, but I’m not sure whether she wants to hear my unvarnished opinion. I just don’t know whether I have that obligation to her, as a critical reader towards a writer. Of course if I did give my opinion, I would include some more positive aspects (I hope that I’ve never been mean about that), but I do have criticisms of very fundamental aspects of the book.

I’m also not sure whether she plans on writing another book. If she does, then it’s probably for the best that she learns from her previous shortcomings. If it’s just something she did for fun as a one-shot, then maybe I’m the person who’s overthinking things. On the other hand, if it’s in bookstores and libraries, she’s clearly ambitious.

GRAH. Thanks for your input though, NP.

EDIT: Yeah, maybe I should clarify with her exactly what she’s looking for. Even that’s tricky to bring up, but at least it’s honest. :P

Has she asked for feedback? I’ll be honest, if she didn’t ask you what you thought and you dumped this huge list of faults on her, that might not come across very well. But if she has asked you your opinion, then maybe not an enormous laundry list, but I think frankness would be better than just acting like everything is fine. I’m sure there’s a middle ground to be found between “everything is wrong” and “everything is wonderful!!!1!”

Even if she didn’t directly ask for feedback, though, I think a more general critique would still be appropriate (not specifically this scene was wrong and that piece of dialogue was awful, but general stuff about theme and characters and whatnot). I don’t think pretending everything is great is a good idea, but if she’s not looking for that kind of feedback, then maybe just start with general stuff and see if she’s open to more.

Is this making sense here? I have no idea. :P What I mean is if you say something like “I liked Anna, but I have to admit Beth came across as kind of whiny at times”, then that might open things up so you could talk about more specific things.

For however much or little my perspective is worth, avoid critiques unless she asks for one. Really, it’s a pointless exercise as you can’t unpublish the book. If she does ask for a detailed opinion, maintain balance and keep the emphasis on the future.

I’d heartily agree with this one. Since she didn’t ask for critiques prior to publishing, it’s safe to say that she doesn’t want workshopping or a second opinion. Encourage her to write more, and maybe say thinks that you liked about it, and how you’d like other books to focus more on them, thus de-emphasizing the things that you think are the weak points in the story. Also, encourage her to read all of her reviews, even the negative ones that will eventually come. As unpleasant as the experience may be.

I think I have to agree with everyone else. And even though you don have to give a detailed critique, you can sandwich it it there. For example – I liked A, B, and how you did C. I think if you did D a little better that would make it even better. But you did a good job . . . Etc.