One Star…

Lately, I’ve been reading one-star reviews of popular books on Goodreads. It makes me hope that someday, somebody out there will find a book of mine worthy of a thorough, scathing one-star review. How satisfying to find that theoretical reader and think, “Wow, this person HATED my book. I must be doing something right.” A one-star review signals a good book just as clearly as a five star review does. Hopefully, I’ll pass quickly through the murky waters of polite two and three star reviews to the place where readers have opinions they itch to share.

Granted, from a practical perspective, a sprinkling of one-star reviews wouldn’t be great for ratings, but the day I start receiving them will be the day I’ll know I’ve succeeded as an author. I’ll have achieved that elusive emotional connection with my readers (a few of them, at any rate.) It doesn’t matter if the story made them cry, or laugh, or throw the book across the room—if a reader is going to slam a single star on a story, that story touched a nerve. And in the end, isn’t that exactly what we authors want to do?