The Power of One

Recently I've gotten my first 1-star review. I think I handled it pretty well. I was too stunned at first to respond or even feel anything. Then the next day, I woke up, and did what any other rational writer would do. I deleted myself from every single writing related group, unfriended some writer friends, hung up my hat, and vowed to call it quits with this writing shite.

Let me explain how I suddenly came to this very VERY reasonable conclusion. The time, effort, and everything else that went into these books, isn't what mattered the most, but the fact that I really thought I had a good book to share with people. I don't want to sell anything subpar, so if I've come this far and this is the best I can do, then there would be no reason to go on. From the get-go, I've second guessed, worried about my work. Maybe all compliments were just flukes, and boom, finally a 1-star review to shed light on it all, I'm a hack after all. So call it a day. Only... here's the thing, it's all about the power of one.

Namely, one 4-star review from a very reputable and well-established review site compared to a very strangely worded 1-star review from someone who not only finished the book, but called the premiss wonderful.

The best part about getting this 1-star review was that I signed up for MANY more review sites, because hey, it's not like I have anything to fear now that I've already been punched in the proverbial nuts. I've said vet your betas, vet your editors, now vet your reviews to see which give you the feedback you need (even the bad ones might teach you a lot) because some people have their personal hang-ups that they might bring to the table. Sometimes it could just be a bad fit.

I've since emailed the reviewer to thank her, and she told me that if there were revisions in the book then she'd want to read it again. Apparently, her view of a 1-star review differs greatly from my own.

Bottomline, don't let good reviews or bad reviews go to your head. The thing that matters the most is to look within for the validation you need. Leaving something as fragile as your confidence to the mercy of others is careless and ill-advised.

While I will continue to make some tweaks and changes here and there for In Liam's Wake until its final publication, I have now learned that I need to have more faith in my own work. Because the only 'one' with the true power to make any of that matter, is me.