Book Reviews: The good, the bad, and the downright ugly!

Every now and again, I pick a topic that I think a lot of you may have experience in… and this should be a prime example. Let’s face it, whether you are an author (which a lot of my circles of social friends are), reviewer, or any other person… we all share something in common, we have opinions. Whether or not we realise it, we provide reviews of things regularly in conversation. It may be as simple as, “Hey, I tried that coffee and it’s fantastic,” or, “Oh my god, have you seen that book? 50 shades of grey? Seriously… I mentally projectile vomit at how horribly bad it is.”

Today, I am going to discuss this topic in-depth (Coming from the angle of book reviews). As an author, I have had nightmares experiences on this from all angles, and there is a lot to cover, so strap yourself in, and let’s get started!

Why are book reviews so important?

For authors, reviews help us in so many ways.

1) It provides us with invaluable feedback about things that you liked in the book, so we can do more of that

2) It provides us with invaluable feedback about things that you hated did not liked in the book, so we can take that into consideration, and if there’s merit… do less of that, or improve it

3) They gives us thoughts on how the book is perceived. It is said that the book that is written can be completely different in the mind of a reader when it is read

For readers, reviews are important for:

1) Giving us a great idea of what reading experience to expect, before we invest a lot of time and money. Let’s face it, a movie takes on average, 2 hours of your life. A book, well… you get the idea.

2) Aiding us in making purchasing decisions

Asking for and receiving honest reviews

I have seen and heard of all kinds of dodgy practices such as:

1) Authors reviewing their own books via various accounts

2) Reviewers being paid to provide 5 star, glowing reviews

3) Review swaps for 5 star reviews (not honest reviews)

To all of you that practice such things, I say:

[image error]Let me make this clear… if you are not asking for and receiving honest reviews, you are cheating your readers, and more importantly… yourself. What do you think will happen when a reader buys a book on fake reviews, only to find out that there are seriously problems with it, or the reviews are grossly incorrect? They get on there, after wasting their time and money, and vent in their review. What would hurt you and your books more?

I have never, and I mean never asked anyone to write a fake review, or influenced their review. Absolutely every one of my reviews of my Legends of Marithia series are legitimate, and I strongly suggest all authors do the same.

If you can’t handle the heat, get out of the kitchen! People have opinions… you may not like them, but you can’t please everyone. Learn that, accept that, built a bridge, and get over it. Speaking of…

Not being able to please everyone

My books have had a lot of reviews, and I am proud to say that they are all honest. However, I have learned through the many reviews I have read (Yes, I do actually read every single review of my books), that you simply cannot please everyone. There is a simple thing called taste. Everyone has different likes and dislikes, and your book may just hit the wrong chord with them.

Feedback is important, but it’s important that you don’t take every single word of criticism and run back to your manuscript, screaming, “Mother of god!”

I am assuming that you have done the right things and have created a manuscript that is actually publishable, right? I mean, you haven’t just got a first draft… given it to your mother/friend/relative to “proofread”, and then published it, have you?

Let’s face it, we can never achieve perfection.. there is the likelihood that your published book will contain errors, grammatical mistakes, and so on… but that is not an excuse to do nothing about it.

Assuming that you have taken the right steps, let me give you some examples of things I have personally dealt with, that I can really do nothing about, and are prime examples of being unable to please everyone.

Most of my readers love my writing style, some don’t. It’s not a case of grammatical errors, some just don’t like the delivery
A few of my readers found that some of my adult themes offended them, touched a personal nerve, etc
Some readers had already read too many books of one genre, and picked mine up already feeling stale
Some readers loved the art in the books, some don’t

You get the idea… Realistically, there is absolutely nothing you can do about that. Some people will just not like your book, and it’s something that you can’t “fix”.

When criticism has merit and is useful

Do not use the “I can’t please everyone” as an excuse to be ignorant to actual critical feedback that you can use. To do so, would be doing yourself a massive disservice. Feedback is important and you should listen to your readers. Feedback in areas like these are incredibly useful:

Things that they enjoyed about your book’s characters, plot, twists
Things that they did not enjoy about your book’s characters, plot, twists
Spelling, Grammar, and other mistakes
Feedback on your writing style, in ways that you can actually find, measure, research, and improve
Suggestions of what they would like to see happen in future installments

Basically, anything at all that you can measure, learn from, and use… cherish it! It does not matter if it’s from a 1 star or a 5 star review, give your readers the respect they deserve by listening.

If the review is a personal blast of your book and has no merit, then feel free to move on LOL but I certainly hope we don’t get many of those reviews, if any.

When things go bad… really bad

Okay, let me make this clear… if anyone asks me for an honest review… that is exactly what they will get. And I expect the same for my readers. You will get some ratings that are lower than what you expect, and not everyone will like the books.

The problem is… some authors seem to think that this is a declaration of war, or they take it upon themselves to do things that they should never do.

Regardless of what is said in the review, never… ever, ever should you do any of the following:



Argue with the reviewer
Defame the reviewer
Attack the reviewer
Write a “revenge” review

You get the idea? Some people just go a bit crazy…

The insanity problem with this, is that you are damaging yourself, your reputation, and any credibility you had/have as an author. Don’t do it!

What do I do when I get a low rating review? Or a reader states that they didn’t enjoy my book? I send them a nice, polite message, thanking them for their time… after all, let’s not forget that they invested their time and likely, their money, to read your book. I then ask them nicely if they can share any insights into why they didn’t enjoy the book, or what they didn’t like about it. And I then wish them well and to have a great day

If a reviewer has been particularly critical, I may send them a polite email and give them insights, a reply, and further questions on what I can do to improve, where I can.

Why? Because of something everyone should know… Manners!

They are giving you the respect of sharing their honest opinion, even if their delivery may contain some words that you may not like, you have absolutely no right to be rude to them. Be thankful that they are sharing their true feelings.

If someone is writing a review that is defamatory, abusive, or otherwise wrong, then report it to the site it is on! That is as far as you should go.

I am sure that many of you have stories, opinions, and experiences to share… please do!