For Authors: How to Deal with Bad Reviews
I’m happy to say that The Paradise Prophecy is getting the best reader reviews of my career. Not all of them are raves, of course—no writer expects that—but a good many of them are and that makes me proud and happy. Why wouldn’t it? I worked my butt off on this book.
But sometimes we get negative reviews, and Paradise has had a few. One in particular says I’m pretty much the worst writer who ever put words to paper, and those are the kind of comments that tend to stick in a writer’s craw. Another calls the book a cheap thriller—which I, personally, don't think is a bad thing, since that's the type of book I happen to love.
But such reviews tend to poke at us. Why, we wonder, can’t the reviewers see how brilliant we are?
Okay, maybe not brilliant. But does the book really deserve such scorn? When we read reviews like these we tend to feel the sudden need to lash out at the reviewer. To defend ourselves or even write a nasty comment here on Goodreads or on their blog. Some authors have gone so far as to create false Internet identities and go on the attack, only to be discovered and publicly embarrassed by their behavior.
Yikes.
Maybe it’s because of my roots in Hollywood, but over the years I’ve developed a pretty thick skin. When you sit in a room with five people criticizing your screenplay with no regard for your feelings, you learn very quickly that it’s nothing personal. So when I read negative reviews of my books, I just remind myself that, as much as I’d like it to, what I write is not going to please everyone. And unless he or she has some sort of agenda against you—which is rare—the reviewer is simply offering an honest opinion.
And Lord knows I can be fairly critical myself.
So, here’s a piece of advice to all of the writers out there who are about to publish a book: when you get that inevitable bad review, mumble a few obscenities to yourself, quietly curse the reviewer, then forget about it. Don’t dwell. Just put it out of your mind.
And for godsakes, don’t respond. No matter how tempted you might be.
Stay classy, and sooner or later you’ll learn to simply laugh about it.
Really. I promise.
But sometimes we get negative reviews, and Paradise has had a few. One in particular says I’m pretty much the worst writer who ever put words to paper, and those are the kind of comments that tend to stick in a writer’s craw. Another calls the book a cheap thriller—which I, personally, don't think is a bad thing, since that's the type of book I happen to love.
But such reviews tend to poke at us. Why, we wonder, can’t the reviewers see how brilliant we are?
Okay, maybe not brilliant. But does the book really deserve such scorn? When we read reviews like these we tend to feel the sudden need to lash out at the reviewer. To defend ourselves or even write a nasty comment here on Goodreads or on their blog. Some authors have gone so far as to create false Internet identities and go on the attack, only to be discovered and publicly embarrassed by their behavior.
Yikes.
Maybe it’s because of my roots in Hollywood, but over the years I’ve developed a pretty thick skin. When you sit in a room with five people criticizing your screenplay with no regard for your feelings, you learn very quickly that it’s nothing personal. So when I read negative reviews of my books, I just remind myself that, as much as I’d like it to, what I write is not going to please everyone. And unless he or she has some sort of agenda against you—which is rare—the reviewer is simply offering an honest opinion.
And Lord knows I can be fairly critical myself.
So, here’s a piece of advice to all of the writers out there who are about to publish a book: when you get that inevitable bad review, mumble a few obscenities to yourself, quietly curse the reviewer, then forget about it. Don’t dwell. Just put it out of your mind.
And for godsakes, don’t respond. No matter how tempted you might be.
Stay classy, and sooner or later you’ll learn to simply laugh about it.
Really. I promise.
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Melissa
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Apr 18, 2012 09:07AM
True words of wisdom and great advice!
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I absolutely loved this book. It was a little hard to follow in the beginning, trying to keep the characters straight but as the book progressed I was able to put it all together and figure out the demon concept. It pushed me to the computer to look up the book written by John Milton, "Paradise Lost". Now I want to read his book and try to become familiar with his works.
I give this book 5 stars, I actually want to read it again. Thanks for a great thriller.
Thank you, Annette. I appreciate the kind words.A word of warning, however. Paradise Lost is not an easy read. Bernadette Callahan wasn't lying when she said Milton was tough to slog through. Although I had to study the work in order to write the book, I found that I most enjoyed Paradise Lost when I listened to it, rather than read it. Hearing the language the way it's supposed to be read is a thing of beauty.
