Nenia Campbell's Blog - Posts Tagged "thoughts"
Why Do You Review?
For me, reviewing is a way of sharing my thoughts about a book I had strong feelings about and connecting with people who share that same passion and drive when it comes to reading and literature. It is also a means of escape. When everything seems to be going to hell in a hand basket, it's nice to have someplace that I can call my own, where I can share my thoughts about the thing I love most with the people I like.
Why do you review? And what made you get started?
Why do you review? And what made you get started?
How to Deal with Negative Reviews
I keep seeing all these articles and blog posts with tips authors can use to cope with negative reviews. People sub-tweet or sub-comment about their terrible experiences. Then everyone hugs it out. And I'm like, Seriously?
It's kind of a peeve of mine, because I feel like this support group approach to negative reviews is making a mountain out of a molehill that really shouldn't exist in the first place.
The fact of the matter is, negative reviews just shouldn't that big a deal.
So somebody didn't like your book. So what? It's not a career-ender. It doesn't even necessarily mean that this particular individual is washing their hands of you for good. It's an isolated incident involving one particular person who did not like a particular book.
Why is that so hard to come to terms with?
When I see people talking about haters and hurt feelings because someone gave their book a less-than-stellar review, I get frustrated. Writing is about creative development and artistic integrity, not friendship bracelets and forget-me-nots.
The best way to cope with a negative review is to ignore it. Or learn from it. Or both. I mean, if hugging it out is the only thing that is keeping you from lashing out at reviewers, then by all means, hug it out. But I think viewing negative reviews as a devastatingly traumatic event that must be overcome is a bad idea in general.
Anyway, those are my thoughts.
It's kind of a peeve of mine, because I feel like this support group approach to negative reviews is making a mountain out of a molehill that really shouldn't exist in the first place.
The fact of the matter is, negative reviews just shouldn't that big a deal.
So somebody didn't like your book. So what? It's not a career-ender. It doesn't even necessarily mean that this particular individual is washing their hands of you for good. It's an isolated incident involving one particular person who did not like a particular book.
Why is that so hard to come to terms with?
When I see people talking about haters and hurt feelings because someone gave their book a less-than-stellar review, I get frustrated. Writing is about creative development and artistic integrity, not friendship bracelets and forget-me-nots.
The best way to cope with a negative review is to ignore it. Or learn from it. Or both. I mean, if hugging it out is the only thing that is keeping you from lashing out at reviewers, then by all means, hug it out. But I think viewing negative reviews as a devastatingly traumatic event that must be overcome is a bad idea in general.
Anyway, those are my thoughts.
