So, you’ve published your masterpiece, put yourself out there no matter what anybody thinks…or so you think. No matter how many glowing, gushing reviews you have received that have you walking on air, there will be that one person that just doesn’t like it and feels compelled to tell the world. The bad ones hurt, regardless of how thick skinned you think you are. They are a punch to the gut that will shake your confidence in your craft.
Some places make reviewers write a blurb before they post, others allow anonymous star ratings. I’m not sure what I prefer, is it better to hear what someone thinks is wrong with your story or wonder what it is you did to incur their negative evaluation. Sometimes you can trace the person’s library and find out they aren’t actually into the genre you’re wading in and feel better--it was an unfair assessment and shouldn’t be taken into consideration. I received one 1-star rating with a blurb ‘not a good book’ on Goodreads (of all places)posted by a fellow writer. I don’t think it’s a good idea for authors to negatively comment on the work of others. It makes them look bad, what will make you look bad is firing back. Never respond! One of my loyal Betas saw it and became irate. He posted his personal thoughts regarding the scribe’s actions. The rating remains but the man pulled his jibe. I had to be stern with my test reader, but couldn’t be prouder. I did reward him by making him a character in book 3 of Life Among the Dead.
Use the bad comments as a way of becoming a stronger writer (the constructive ones) If the person mentions that you accidentally used ‘to’ when you mean ‘too’ too many times, or you wrote ‘then’ when you meant ‘than’ then go back in a fix it, make them look like the dumbass. If they point out a plot hole, fill ‘er up! The beauty of self-publishing is the ease of revising. Above all, never give up.
The negative comments will still bother you. Develop a mantra. I always paraphrase the immortal words of Cypress Hill and consider them to be ‘punks just jealous cuz they can’t out-write me’.
I hope this helps fledgling writers and encourages all of you to take the plunge. Now I invite any who may
be reading this to play reviewer, how am I doing with this whole blog thing? Let me know.
Some places make reviewers write a blurb before they post, others allow anonymous star ratings. I’m not sure what I prefer, is it better to hear what someone thinks is wrong with your story or wonder what it is you did to incur their negative evaluation. Sometimes you can trace the person’s library and find out they aren’t actually into the genre you’re wading in and feel better--it was an unfair assessment and shouldn’t be taken into consideration. I received one 1-star rating with a blurb ‘not a good book’ on Goodreads (of all places)posted by a fellow writer. I don’t think it’s a good idea for authors to negatively comment on the work of others. It makes them look bad, what will make you look bad is firing back. Never respond! One of my loyal Betas saw it and became irate. He posted his personal thoughts regarding the scribe’s actions. The rating remains but the man pulled his jibe. I had to be stern with my test reader, but couldn’t be prouder. I did reward him by making him a character in book 3 of Life Among the Dead.
Use the bad comments as a way of becoming a stronger writer (the constructive ones) If the person mentions that you accidentally used ‘to’ when you mean ‘too’ too many times, or you wrote ‘then’ when you meant ‘than’ then go back in a fix it, make them look like the dumbass. If they point out a plot hole, fill ‘er up! The beauty of self-publishing is the ease of revising. Above all, never give up.
The negative comments will still bother you. Develop a mantra. I always paraphrase the immortal words of Cypress Hill and consider them to be ‘punks just jealous cuz they can’t out-write me’.
I hope this helps fledgling writers and encourages all of you to take the plunge. Now I invite any who may
be reading this to play reviewer, how am I doing with this whole blog thing? Let me know.