A Question

I think I’m quite a fragile individual. I go to great lengths to avoid negativity. I think that’s one of the reasons why I spend a lot of time alone; I just hate bad vibes and would rather avoid them.

Anyway, that is relevant to today’s post, in which I want to ask for your advice. Do you think it would be wise to read reviews of my books on Amazon and other retailer websites? I know that my books are quite controversial. I have enough trouble moderating the comments on this blog because what I write stirs up the passions of a lot of people. I suppose faith is a very personal and important matter, so people understandably get quite defensive at times (not least, me!).

I have never read reviews of my books on Amazon. I go to great lengths to avoid scrolling down the product pages in case my eyes latch onto something nasty. I don’t know why I’m so sensitive about it — I really believe in my books, and that should be enough, no? I just don’t want to suck in someone’s anger and negativity because it will make me feel depressed.

On the other hand, I do feel that if I read the reviews I might be able to benefit from some constructive criticism. And because of that, the idea of reading my reviews kind of excites me. But will it just feel similar to a visit to Facebook or Twitter these days? Utterly face-palm depressing?

On the whole, my books do get decent star ratings, although they polarise opinion quite starkly. I anticipate that there will be some angry one-star reviews in the mix. But maybe I’m being a big baby about it and I should just be brave, read the reviews, and be done with it.

What do you think?