I’m reminded of Shakespeare’s line in Henry VI, “…let’s kill all the lawyers!” except in my mind it’s “…let’s kill all the reviewers!” (Just kidding!) The line in the play is a mockery of what would happen if those who are meant to represent the accused are done away with. Chaos would result, along with the justice system. The writing world without reviewers would also suffer, though perhaps not collapse.
Reviewers present one person’s snapshot of a book, one person’s truth as he or she sees it, at the time they read the book, and so is not the end all, be all for the book or the author. Authors shouldn’t take it as such, either. So here are a few things to remember after you thrown a pillow against the wall (throw only soft, non-breakable stuff!) and cry into said pillow after you retrieve it.
- Reviewers point out things wrong with our books that we can fix in our next book. Characters not cleanly drawn? Descriptions lack depth? Not enough (too much) emotion? Do better next time. Reviewers give us a chance to improve.
- Reviewers aren’t God. They can make mistakes. They can be wrong. They can be totally off their rockers and… Well, let’s leave it there. Read what a reviewer says, evaluate it objectively to see if you feel they’re right, and then move on. Rehashing a criticism does no good.
- Reviewers provide as much joy saying nice things as they do saying negative things. When I reviewed (yes, I’ve spent my time on the Dark Side), I always tried to say something nice even when I wasn’t particularly fond of a book. I also tried to phrase the good comments in a way the author could use it in a snippet for their website.
- Reviewers are people, too. They appreciate being thanked for their work, even if you don’t feel like thanking them. Maybe they were having a bad day when they reviewed your book. A polite word might make all the difference the next one of your books they decide to read. Like chicken soup, it can’t hurt.
- Reviewers are one way to publicize your book, so take everything good from a review that you can and (as my brilliant author friend, Jan Selbourne, says) flog it for all it’s worth!
Reviewers are good for the writing industry. If we are blessed with good reviews, thank goodness! If we are cursed with bad reviews, get the angst out of your system and keep on writing, taking any useful advice from the review that you can. Good luck!
Read the next blog in the blog hop by going here.
Dee
Only a Good Man Will Do: Seriously ambitious man seeks woman to encourage his goals, support his (hopeful) position as Headmaster of Westover Academy, and be purer than Caesar’s wife. Good luck with that!
Naval Maneuvers: When a woman requires an earth-shattering crush of pleasure to carry her away, she can’t do better than to call on the US Navy. Sorry, Marines!
Did I really say ‘flog it for all its worth”? If so,I agree completely.
You are correct Dee, we need reviewers for their, hopefully, honest and constructive comments. Good comments or not so good, its worth remembering they are seeing our story from a reader’s perspective. While submitting my second book to various publishers I received a not so complimentary response from one. It stung because I knew she was right. I edited that book again with her advice in mind and it was eventually accepted. So, its worth the sting and throwing the pillows.
Negative reviews sting. Critical reviews teach. The trick is to separate the invalid, “off their meds” reviewers from those who have valid points from which we can learn.
“Off their med” reviewers! LOL!! I love it. I’ve had a few reviews where I wonder if the reviewer read the right book. Thanks, Holly!
The reality is, especially with Amazon, that without reviews, no one will see our books. Knowing how important reviews are to authors, I review every “smaller” author I read. Reviewing is time consuming, and I don’t usually bother for the bestsellers like Tessa Dare or Nora Roberts, though I do praise their stories on social media, etc.
Ah, but what about the books that just aren’t ready for publication? (Yeah, I know–who made me the arbiter of literary quality?) Yesterday I was judging a writing competition–just the first 20ish pages and a synopsis. One of the entries was so good I wanted my grabby hands on the whole story NOW. But another was so–sigh. Remember watching the old American Idol and thinking, “Who told this person they could sing well enough for a televised competition?” It was like that. And I wondered, has no one ever told her?
There is a benefit to the author in delivering an honest negative review. I don’t like to do it, and I don’t like to receive them, but sometimes we need to digest bad news if we’re to grow.
Golly, Sadira, you have touched a real live wire! I belong to a group where we read and review other members’ books. I just finished the third that I’ve bought and without exception, all three could have used a bunch of editing. In the old days–not that long ago–we didn’t have so much self-publishing. Even the online pubs did SOME editing. But now, with Amazon, I worry a lot about the quality. Not the quality of the storytelling–in some cases it’s great–but the quality of the final product. It’s sad. How does a reviewer handle that?? Thanks so much for your insight!
Yes! A review is one person’s opinion, and we’re all so different. If an author can take something positive away from a bad review, that’s great, but if not, just move on. In most cases, it’s nice that someone took the time to leave a review, regardless of whether they liked the book.
Kate, thanks for your comment. And you’re so right! It’s hard as heck to get a reader to leave a review, so we should be happy either way.