BrooksBlog: When Bad Reviews Strike
I just finished reading a really bad review of my next book, Witch Wraith.
The reviewer didn’t like it. Hated it, in fact. Made snide comments. Went out of the way to say gratuitously nasty things about it, even going so far as to say I was treading on sacred Tolkien ground.
Oh, that again.
I admit I was upset. After all these years and hundreds – maybe thousands – of reviews later, I still feel bad when someone publicly announces they don’t like one of my books. Or even all of them. I thought I...
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Jennifer Lea
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Jul 13, 2013 04:17AM
Some people need to take their reading a bit less seriously. Reading is about the journey ... a trip to a mythical and magical world far removed from our own. Anyone who writes is inspired by other writers and sometimes our writing is influenced by such other sources, but that doesn't make it, in whole, good or bad. I personally love your writing and am greatly looking forward to reading 'Witch Wraith' and any other future endeavors you wish to tackle. Best of luck, favorite writer number three. :P
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Thank you for posting this. I'm new to the being-published world and am hit a little hard when a one- or two-star review pops up with some comment that stabs in just the right spot. Glad I'm not alone.I haven't gotten to Witch Wraith yet but Sword of Shannara is one of many that I love going back to and reading again. Tolkien-like? Yes, but so are a lot of other well-read fantasy novels.
As for the snide comments, I never see the point. I've always considered reviews a method for helping others decide whether or not they would like to read the book. Nasty accusations are, in my opinion, the reviewer taking advantage of the anonymity of the internet.
dear mr brooks some people use reviews just to be nasty. I always try to point out good as well as bad if any.best of luck with book sales
I'll take Sword of Shannara over The Hobbit any day of the week and twice on Monday :D Although I prefer Running with the Demon trilogy... and I have yet to read your more recent work but I'm sure it's good :D
Mr. Brooks, I'm sorry to hear this. In contrast to you, I'm new to this and it's just as much a problem for me as it is for seasoned pros like you. So far, I've gotten positive reviews for my first book - but at a recent event I attended in Pittsburgh, I was actually accused of forging my good reviews.I really don't know what it is with people who give bad reviews and load them up with personal insults. Maybe it's tall poppy syndrome at work.
Mr. Brooks, you've sold tons of books and wrote many titles; that's more than any of those morons can claim. You can't let this derail you.
Jennifer Lea wrote: "Some people need to take their reading a bit less seriously. Reading is about the journey ... a trip to a mythical and magical world far removed from our own. Anyone who writes is inspired by other..."Well said.
