Advice on handling bad reviews

Erica here today. Just over a month ago, The Lost Lieutenant, the first book in the Serendipity & Secrets series released. Before long, reviews began coming in at the various retail sites. And as is inevitable, the first one-star review posted. 
Blah.
Reviews are a part of an author's life. They come in all forms. Raves, evaluations, recaps, spoiler-loaded, rants, and everything in between. While we love hearing from readers, sometimes those reviews and opinions can sting. So I asked some of my writing buddies how they deal with one-star or less than rave reviews.

Jan Drexler

Here's a one-star that I got for Hannah's Choice:

This book milks the tragic death of little babies for dramatic effect right from the beginning. Unexpected and traumatizing in a book you expect to be romantic and restful. I'm actually getting tired of Amish books because they all exploit a sincere and genuine religion and culture for fun and profit, and that's just wrong. I think this is my last stop with the Amish. I have too much respect for their sincerity and right to privacy.



Jan's advice:

Bad reviews are the pits. But they don’t have to rule your life. The first thing I do is to identify exactly what the reviewer didn’t like about the story (sometimes it’s hard to determine!) Then I decide if I need to consider the criticism seriously. Most of the bad reviews are written by people who have a beef with something that has nothing to do with my writing, so I go on with my day and try to forget about it. I also have advice for new authors: I never respond to a review. I want people to feel free to leave reviews without being afraid that I will argue some point with them!




Mary Connealy – In Too Deep

I think the reader should be warned when a book is pornographic. A good story was ruined by graphic sex scenes that went on and on and on. Each of the books in this series had the same thing - even used the same words. Seemed like she just transferred the pages to the next book, so I skipped a large part of the book. I will not be buying this author again. I wouldn’t even give it one star but you had no minus available.




Mary’s advice: Time. That's my advice.

They used to hurt a lot. Now I look back on the PORN review and have some affection for it.

I can smile now. So give yourself a day to mourn if you must. Also you can actually dig through the cruelty and see if there is any merit there. What did they object to, was there any validity to it, and can I do better next time?



Ruthy from Back in the Saddle

"Not my type of story."

Ruthy will give you her advice in the comments section! :) 



Amanda Barratt

1 star review for My Dearest Dietrich: A Novel of Dietrich Bonhoeffer's Lost Love

After all the praise and 5-star ratings in the reviews here on Amazon, I was shocked at how boring this was. I adore this couple and revere this man, but this book was trite. Embarrassingly trite. "Nein" and "danke" and other common German words everywhere We get it, they're German. This set the tone for the whole book. I admit, I skimmed after the first few chapters. The characters had no life in them. Read Love Letters From Cell 92 instead--it contains their letters. No silly made-up conversations. Read Eric Metaxas biography of Bonhoeffer instead.





When it comes to reviews, I've heard many authors suggest not to read them, except when a reader sends one to them directly or after a family member vets the reviews first. This is great advice! As Mrs. Patmore from Downton Abbey sagely said, "What the eye can't see, the heart won't grieve over." However, I've never been able to follow that advice. I tell myself I won't check reviews, and then invariably, when a new book releases, I always do. When I come across 1 star reviews, despite the mental pep talk I give myself along the lines of "art is subjective," there are times when the words sting and doubt rears its pesky head. After reading a negative review, I've found it helpful to do three things.

1. Give myself a moment to feel sad and discouraged. To eat ice cream, vent to a family member, or just acknowledge the feelings those words produced. But the key word is "only a moment." Staying mired in discouragement because of a negative review isn't healthy, both personally or as an author.

2. Ask myself if there's anything I can learn from that review. Negative reviews are written for a variety of reasons. Sometimes a book stirs painful emotions in a reader and the review is written out of those raw places. Sometimes the reviewer is just angry, and vents their anger by writing a vitriolic review. But sometimes there's a nugget of truth in a critical review--insight into an aspect of the book that could have been strengthened. This is especially true if multiple reviews point out the same problem areas. Tuck those nuggets away. Though you may not be able to rewrite that book, you can focus on improving the next one.

3. 1 star reviews can provide a good perspective shift, reminding me, ultimately, WHY I'm writing. Not to receive earthly praise, but to honor and glorify Christ. If I'm penning the stories He places on my heart, being faithful to grow in the craft of writing, and seeking God above all else, then it doesn't matter how many 1 star reviews a book receives. It only matters that I'm serving Him with the words He's given me.




Carrie Booth Schmidt:

I think I've maybe given 2 one-star reviews my whole life. And I've hated doing it both times. I constantly preach KINDNESS to other bloggers & our JustRead reviewers. Not every book will work for every reader but there's never a reason to be ugly about it or question the author's soul or talent. My advice to authors would be - if there is no constructive criticism to be had from the review, just move on. Don't waste time stressing over it because, let's face it, some people on Amazon & Goodreads just like to give one star to be mean and feel empowered. Unfortunately, the trolls & the pearl clutchers will always be with us. :-/





Jaime Jo Wright

Review: Great book to read at bedtime as it is so boring it will bore you to sleep! Seriously, just couldn't wait to finish this book. Such a slow, stupid story set in the past and present. Ho-hum...zzzzzzz.


Getting a review that indicates your book has a better medicinal effect that prescription sleep aids could spiral me into a self-doubting pile of mush. But to cope with reviews like this, I try to step back and find the funny it. For real. They hated The House of Foster Hill so much they went so far as to include complimentary "zzzzzzz's"! Frankly, I balance reviews like this with other reviews that indicate the readers couldn't sleep because the book was so intense. Every reader is different and no book will resonate with every reader at 100% 4 or 5 star ratings. If that were the case, then The Great Gatsby would be high on my list . . . ahem.



Rachel McMillan

The entire publishing trajectory sets you up so by the time you get negative reviews, you should have developed at least an expectation of them. For one, we query agents who reject us, for another, we submit our proposals to publishers who turn us down. Then, once you do have an editor, the rejection continues: your editorial memo might ask you to slice large pieces of a story you loved, or ask you to switch the narrative tense. And, when you go to pitch subsequent books in hopes of another contract, there is a chance that your idea will be rejected. It is all part of the process.

As much as possible, I don’t read my reviews: because reviews are not for writers, rather for readers. Once we publish a book, we relinquish ownership. ANY opinion is valid because it is at the discretion and privilege of a reader’s perspective. But it is their prerogative. They could interpret your Amish historical thriller as a metaphor for purple elephants, but that is their right. Thus, I stay out of the dialogue between readers to readers regarding my work and get uncomfortable when I am tagged in dialogue about my book ---positive or negative. Because I want readers to feel free to share without having the author peek over their shoulder. I am especially sensitive to this because while I write and publish, I am a voracious reader and was a reviewer long before I published my own work. I am still a voracious reader and I don’t love every book I read so how can I expect everyone to like every book I write? I think it is imperative to remember that a well-written review that takes the time to dive into the nuance of the story and the balance of good and bad, even if negative, is so much more helpful to readers than a slew of five star one sentence reviews that could look like they were written by your family. For example, often, what the reviewer didn’t like about the book, is EXACTLY what my catnip is. Just showing us, again, how subjective the entire thing is. So, I never share negative reviews or positive non-trade reviews sent by my publicist without reader permission. Everyone has a different take on this and I am certainly not the authority, but as a reader, I cherish the honoured tradition of being able to share my opinions with other readers and for me to share negative reviews of my own books makes me feel like I am breaking the trust I most love finding in online bookish dialogue.


 Erica Vetsch:
Wasn't interested enough to finish it.

I have a couple of approaches to receiving a one-star review. 
a) walk away. Don't obsess, let it go, it's one person's opinion. Realize that in the grand scheme of things...it doesn't really matter. 
b) celebrate it. You're a real author now. I belong to a FB group of authors where when one of us gets a first one-star review of a new book, we serve "One Star Cake." We find a picture of a cake decorated with stars, and we post it. (Bonus, no calories in one-star cake!) 
Today, we'd love you to join us in having some one-star cake. Please let us know your thoughts as a reader, an author, a reviewer. 

Order your copy of The Lost Lieutenant today!https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0851RR29T 
Best-selling, award-winning author Erica Vetsch loves Jesus, history, romance, and sports. She’s a transplanted Kansan now living in Minnesota, and she is married to her total opposite and soul mate! When she’s not writing fiction, she’s planning her next trip to a history museum and cheering on her Kansas Jayhawks and New Zealand All Blacks.

You can connect with her at her website, www.ericavetsch.com where you can read about her books and sign up for her newsletter, and you can find her online at https://www.facebook.com/EricaVetschAuthor/ where she spends way too much time!