Modern Good Reads discussion
AUTHOR ZONE
>
Dealing with bad reviews (from JA Konrath's blog)
date
newest »
newest »
For me, a bad review usually means that someone outside my target audience has stumbled across one of my books. Konrath is right, ignore them and stay away from getting into pissing contests with the individual who has written it. I've seen first hand authors who agonize over them and try to come up with schemes to get even. If you're going to put anything or your own creation out in public, whether it's a book, music, artwork, or whatever, you're going to attract some criticism. If it makes anyone feel better, Hemingway's, The Sun Also Rises, has 77 one star reviews on Amazon.
Mod
Because I set my first novel to permafree status, and I give it away to everyone, everywhere, 24/7, it does end up in the wrong hands, and it does get some disrespect. But I know when I hit on the right one when I see that 5 star gusher. (Have quite a good number of those).
You make a good point on the target audience.
Constructive criticism is always good, personal attacks not so good. My advice would be to take it on the chin and keep going. You'll never please everybody, so don't waste your time trying :)
Authors need to also have a good, hard look at their own work if they receive many negative reviews, or if there is a pattern in negative reviews. Nobody is perfect. See what advice you can take from it (if there is any) and use it to improve your craft. If it's a personal attack, disregard it. It means less than nothing. And if it was the 'wrong' reader that read your book (if they were expecting something else) then perhaps double-check how your book is being marketed. As long as a review isn't a personal attack, there's often something we can learn from them.
Travis wrote: "This is a blog posting from one of my self-publishing idols, JA Konrath.http://jakonrath.blogspot.com/2013/04...
Dealing with Bad Reviews
It happens to every writer.
..."
Pipe eh?
On it.
You can borrow mine, Dean. I just need to clean it up a little first.
Travis wrote: "This is a blog posting from one of my self-publishing idols, JA Konrath.http://jakonrath.blogspot.com/2013/04...
Dealing with Bad Reviews
It happens to every writer.
..."
Love it! That's a great article!
Nice job Travis! I enjoyed that. But I'm still keeping my pipe handy. :)
Mod
Gotta have a pipe.
Konrath is like, my hero.
I bet he swings a mean pipe.
Great fun with that, thanks.As for bad reviews, I think there are things we can learn from them. Even if it is that we cannot control who reads our work. We cannot control how they approach and ingest what we've written. We even learn we are not the best writer to appear on the scene since Leon Uris. I've personally read books by my favorite authors that are just terrible, which tells me that even if a reader likes one of my books he may hate three of them.
The real problem with bad reviews is what Mr. Konrath touches on regarding online comments. Online, people are growing more and more emboldened to say things they would never say in person. It is like everyone has been named the chief editor of a national newspaper, and they are drunk with new power. (Or so they think. In the great scheme of things, very few people read all these little reviews.) My wife, who is also a writer, always reminds me that the review says more about the reviewer, which is also what Mr. Konrath says here. That's the best lesson to take from this.
Of course, we have to apply this to the good reviews too. But we'd rather not. For every good review, we believe that the reader is a genius, and everyone should listen to his wisdom!
I only slightly disagree as to the idea that we should not be reading our reviews. We should. We can learn from them, but we need to be mature enough to handle reading them. Ah, but there's the rub...
As I've said before on other forums, people can say what they want about my work as long as they've paid for it first!:)
Bad reviews don't bother me I just don't like them bothering my readers, especially when I'm a new author. I wouldn't want my first novel to go down in the trash just because of one bad review on Amazon. I had one old French Lady who had a picture of herself with a cat quote the first paragraph from my book, heavily criticizing it and discouraging many from purchasing the novel. I found her on facebook and sent her a kind message to delete her mean review and to write her own book if she was so dissatisfied. I also looked at her other reviews and found them to carry the same harsh tone.I found out about the review from my readers, so it's a good thing they warned me about it. At least Kirkus, Clarion and BlueInk gave me some really helpful reviews. I posted them on my website under Reviews and Extras at katherinenader.com
One of them did say that my main character was selfish and one-dimensional. The selfish part is true because I like writing about characters who are flawed and how they change at the end, so I'm guessing the reviewer didn't read my book till the end to find out how much my character's had developed.
Katherine wrote: "Bad reviews don't bother me I just don't like them bothering my readers, especially when I'm a new author. I wouldn't want my first novel to go down in the trash just because of one bad review on A..."I'm in the same boat. At the moment, my debut novel has a 2.67 star rating on Goodreads. Why? Because a one person decided to give it a 1-star rating for really no apparent reason other than, "It wasn't for me."
Like your bad reviewer, she seems to be in the habit of giving one-star ratings with little justification. I haven't asked her to take it down on Goodreads. But if she posted her one-sentence "review" to Amazon where my paying customers are, I would politely ask.
What does one do if you do review the book but have a relationship with the author, but found a lot of errors? :0
Guinevere wrote: "What does one do if you do review the book but have a relationship with the author, but found a lot of errors? :0"I'm friends with a lot of authors who reviewed my book, and the reason why we are still friends is because they were very honest about any mistakes they found. You just have to be kind to them and tell them nicely what the mistakes are and how they can be fixed. I'm sure they will thank you for it.
Mod
Says it all:
With Bad reviews you just have to move on. I had been given a one star review on one of my books, where the reviewer stated he hadn't even read the whole book, only the beginning. I thanked him for his honesty and that's that.
Thanks for that post, Travis, it's hilarious! (And, you know, educational.)
Guinevere wrote: "What does one do if you do review the book but have a relationship with the author, but found a lot of errors? :0"I glad for the feedback on errors and it's easy to correct them and re-launch the book, especially on kindle.
Haha, I loved this advice! Thank you so much. I'm going to implement tip number 4 right now...Watch out Grandma!
Hey, kids,Why is everyone so touchy? If you produce art, you have to be able to take critique. If this critique is well-founded, just swallow it and learn from it (or quit writing and start painting which you may be more talented for). If this critique is NOT well-founded and simply unfair, that's a different story. In such case I suggest you have your spouse, or significant other, or dog, or cat, or canary comfort you; or grab a bottle and get drunk; or write a review of a book crummier than yours for a revenge (like pay it forward); and if none of this helps, get a pipe ...
But before you get a pipe, you may try to remind yourself that bad reviews can even boost the sale of a book. While a review that says that your book is dead boring might really be a sales death sentence, a humorous, acid review can make potential readers curious. In any case, they will tell other potential readers about this amusing, acid review, and this ... you guessed right ... gives your book publicity. And publicity sells books. -- There are countless stories where acid reviews of stage plays have resulted in sold out performances. -- So, have a little humor, and take an acid review like a man (if you are male) and don't allow yourself a nervous breakdown (if you are a woman).
And watch out! Don't dare to reply in a nasty way to this comment, or I'll hit back with a review.
You are absolutely spot on. One of my books was a struggle, and I was required to make certain changes I didn't agree with. The negative comments I received reflected the changes, and I will not make that mistake again. Another of my books received nothing but praise, and then a reader gave it a one star, calling it "Depraved". I laughed so hard I thought I'd have kittens. What did she expect? I write BDSM. (I"m giggling even now) and after I composed myself I thought, wow, well this should create more sales.
Bottom line, you can't please everyone all the time. I am always grateful that someone actually even took the time to read my books, and then even more time to write a review. I take all reviews in stride.
My mother once told me, if you believe the great reviews, then you also have to believe the bad ones, because everyone has their P.O.V. Just do your best, and as long as you're happy with it, you can sleep at night.
Maggie Carpenter.
Lilo wrote: "Hey, kids,Why is everyone so touchy? If you produce art, you have to be able to take critique. If this critique is well-founded, just swallow it and learn from it (or quit writing and start paint..."
Exactly. To paraphrase a British politician: An artist who complains about criticism is like a ship's captain complaining about stormy seas.
Mod
Why is everyone so touchy? If you produce art, you have to be able to take critique. If this critique is well-founded, just swallow it and learn from it (or quit writing an..."
I hear you.
We all put our work out there in the public forum to be scoured, picked, prodded, and torn to shreds. Or adored, as may be the case.
I think Konrath's points were written as much for reviewers as reviewees.
* Author's should not respond to reviews.
* Reviewers should have some sense of basic human dignity in their remarks.
And personally, I know there will never be a shortage of hate on the internet. I know my books are not written for everyone, and can potentially be offensive to some. I can live with that.
Authors need to come to grips with this fact, and learn to live with it, without starting Jerry Springerish shouting matches over a nasty review.
Hello Everyone,My book "The Deadly Mark" got tagged on June 12, 2013 by the "badly behaving authors" community on GR. Authors on twitter warned me about their GR accounts getting deleted by this GR community. They basically comment negatively about your book without even purchasing it, and give it very low reviews. I'm currently trying to get support from other targeted authors.
Make sure your name isn't on their list. I had to go to stopthegrbullies.com who told me what to do. They said to ask friends and anyone I know on goodreads to help raise good comments and reviews on my book so it can all be balanced. Placing the book on the "to-read-shelf" is just as good, so I won't pressure you into buying the book or anything at all.
Much help and support is appreciated. I will gladly do the same for anyone else. Thanks!
Katherine
here is the link http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/16...If you scroll down you can see the list it has been tagged with. You definitely want to avoid them, or they might tag your book for no reason at all. Under Community reviews you can see what they have done to my book :(
Mod
You have no ratings Katherine. Go find some reviewers, give them your book. The way to "raise good comments and reviews on my book" is to submit that book to readers of your genre for review.
And here's the question: What did you do to rile up the entire gang? I have seen one of these ladies get angry and place a book on their retarded little list, but I have rarely seen them all together. And this list is meaningless. Readers don't use this list to find books, and it has shite rankings in listopia.
Got yourself all worked up over what amounts to no big deal.
Perhaps this is a sign that you, the author, should evaluate what you are doing, consider you may not be handling your book the right way.
Did you pull a Jerry Springer? Getting into public arguments with a reviewer?
I found Anne Rice on FB the other day, my fave author, she was told she has no talent. uhm. If she can ignore ignorant reviewers then I shall too. When I look for a book I grab the preview. never look at reviews. it isn't a table after all. I can make my own thoughts based on a preview. Anyway that is how I chose not read 50 shades o terrible writing b/c of the preview. Although as a writer I would like some more reviews. The ones I have gotten of late were not on GR or anywhere (cry) but the blog. so I added them to my daughterofares.com site :)
Mod
You have no ratings Katherine. Go find some reviewers, give them your book..."
I just read the article you posted from The Atlantic Wire.
You will notice, in that article, the thing that started all this, was an author's husband, who ranted and raved about an online review.
I am finished with this particular debate, because this will veer off into Jerry Springer world if it continues:
1. Do not respond to negative reviews, unless you are brave enough to ask the reviewer privately, what they felt would improve your work (some authors have actually learned from doing this).
2. Never, ever get friends/family involved with a negative review. Why? Because that reviewer has friends and family too, and you will start a war that you cannot win.
Want good reviews? Find your target audience and give them your book to read for review. They may not all love and rave about it, but there's a good chance many of them will (if its any good).
Its that simple.
Travis wrote: "Katherine wrote: "Travis wrote: "Katherine, These ladies have shelved your book, but few if any have rated it. They put you on "the list".You have no ratings Katherine. Go find some reviewers, g..."
Yes you're right. Emily Giffin has had a history of these things even long before her husband's comments. I never responded to a negative review before, which is why the "badly behaving authors" community target randomly. I've been warned, so I only want to offer the same to others who are not aware of them. I haven't really done anything on GR, I hardly even use the account except for visiting this group.
The community tagged me to their list on June 12, 2013. I've been on vacation the entire time, I didn't even get internet until yesterday. Now I have 29 people who added my book to the "never-to-read" list. So it's really such a shame.
Going back to why I actually posted about this in the first place, I really do need all the help I can get. If anyone can add The Deadly Mark to their "to-read" shelf, or anything else to drop this community's negative responses to the bottom, it will be really great. There's a petition going on to delete this GR community because it is going out of control, but I'm not sure of the link.
I never thought GR could be such a pain.
Thanks Bern! That's hilarious! But I needed to hear that! B.R. wrote: "For me, a bad review usually means that someone outside my target audience has stumbled across one of my books. Konrath is right, ignore them and stay away from getting into pissing contests with t..."
I agree! Katherine wrote: "Bad reviews don't bother me I just don't like them bothering my readers, especially when I'm a new author. I wouldn't want my first novel to go down in the trash just because of one bad review on A..."
I was really upset by one bad review I received because this person was gifted a copy of my book and never even told me she posted a review. I just saw it one day when I was copying the link to Amazon. I felt this was rude because she and I had several exchanges in coversation and I thought we had build up a level of common respect for one another. I was not brownnosing her or asking her to be dishonest in her review, but if you feel like someone has become your author friend, they can at least shoot you an email or message to say, "Hey Joe, I just wanted you to know I posted a review." If they choose to, they can explain why they reviewed your book the way they did. I felt like the reviewer was a backstabber! Things would have been different had she simply communicated with me. Now we don't even speak anymore.
PS- I feel like she was only my friend to get something "free." When I checked her other reviews, she never gave anyone a 5-star rating. She seems to be very critical of others. I should add that she seems to care more about review ranking numbers than being being fair.
Selena wrote: "I was really upset by one bad review I received because this person was gifted a copy of my book and never even told me she posted a review. I just saw it one day when I was copying the link to Ama..."That's terrible. You should really be aware of people who turn on you. I had a comment on my fb page from someone who said they loved the book, and that they couldn't wait for more. When I replied to say thanks, he said "I was only kidding, it sucked."
What I don't understand however, is that he gave my page a like, and he hasn't un-liked it since.
Mod
This thread has been edited, some posts removed, in relation to GR bullying.
I know Bullies suck. And there are Bullies on both sides of this highly controversial issue.
I know people feel passionate about this subject, but Modern Good Reads is not the forum for it.
Its just too sticky, way too much US & THEM going on between AUTHORS & READERS.
Can't we all just get along?
Mod
Wow that is crazy! Katherine wrote: "Selena wrote: "I was really upset by one bad review I received because this person was gifted a copy of my book and never even told me she posted a review. I just saw it one day when I was copying ..."
Travis, I think you kind of jumped the gun a bit. I don't think this was bullying. I was just sharing my own opinion and how some people really can have a personal vindetta. I also think Katherine was just saying that sometimes people just honestly do things out of spite. On the other hand, a bad reviews can in fact have valid points. I have since moved on from it, and like Chris mentioned, in spite of the bad review I received, I still thanked the reviewer, and I have moved on. Notice, this was my first time even mentioning it, and this was because of the subject at hand. I have totally moved on, trust me. Travis wrote: "Katherine wrote: "Selena wrote: "I was really upset by one bad review I received because this person was gifted a copy of my book and never even told me she posted a review. I just saw it one day w..."
I agree, and I have done that.Christopher wrote: "Here's the bottom line: if you've experienced a bad review, read it carefully. Determine whether there is truth in the review, if there is any worthwhile criticism that you can glean, and consider..."
Mod
Selena: I was not referring to you or Katherine bullying, I was talking about the subject of GR bullies.
It is a highly sensitive subject, and there is a lot of bad behavior on both sides of that fence.
Its a subject that breeds discontent and escalated conflict.
So, I edited the post to cut down on the conversational focus on bullying, and to edit out a certain insane website that has a disturbing program.
So, no hard feelings.
Cool. Thanks Travis! I understand babes!
As a reader, I read books for pleasure and I write reviews to inform other readers with similar taste to my own about how *I* perceived a book. I am honest, and try my best to discern the difference between a flaw in the quality, and/or execution of the book and my own personal reaction to the content. It is possible for me to not enjoy a great book, likewise it's possible for me to overlook errors and flaws to love a not so well written story because I loved the idea or character(s). A person's enjoyment of art is subjective and highly dependent upon their own experiences and perspective. Knowing this, a bad review or low star rating does not always put me off a book. Likewise a high or five star review doesn't automatically get me to buy the book.
A well written review that clearly articulates the flaws and strengths of a book are far more helpful, but I also take into account whether I have similar taste, to the reviewer, in that particular genre. Even then an intriguing book blurb can entice me to read a book anyway.
However, nothing turns me off a book faster than when I see an author (in their own words) lash out or complain about bad reviews. It shows a lack of professionalism, and is a strong indication that the author isn't secure in the quality of their product. Not to mention it shows poor prioritizing of time and energy to waste time complaining and fighting with reviewers on the internet, when it could be better used writing and/or improving your product.
I'm your customer and all I want to know about is your book. I don't care about negative reviews or people bulling you on the internet. I want to know and trust you're doing everything you can to put out a quality product in a timely manner.
In this business, an author's readership is their customer base. Strengthening that base should be an author's highest priority, second only to producing a quality product. You strengthen your reader base by creating and reenforcing positive consumer experiences by focusing on your positive reviewers and fans. Each one of these people who already like the book, so half the work is done, are a potential marketing ally who, on their own, could promote and sell countless copies of a book.
I've had these experiences myself with authors. Many of them have been as small as seeing the author retweet my review on Twitter, to interacting with them in a fan group where they took the time to answer questions and interact with fans. These are the authors that engaged me not only as a reader, but as a person and made me into a fan. I buy all their books, as well as related products (t-shirts, pins, etc) and I join fan communities dedicated to them and their work. More importantly, I promote their books to other readers I know will love their work. I spread positive word of mouth, not because they asked me too, but because they gave me a great experience with the author of a book I already loved, and I want to share that experience with others. Through sharing this book I love with someone new it extends that experience.
This is how fandoms are born. You can see all over the internet, especially social networks (Twitter, Tumblr, etc.) where the marketing teams for tv shows, and movies recognize and utilize the power of these shared fan experiences to strengthen and increase the fanbase for their product.
It is my suggestion that whenever an author gets a bad review or have a negative interaction with a critic, they should turn around and give a positive experience to a reader/fan. Retweet their tweets or interact with them directly. Thank them for taking the time to read. Give readers a special gift related to the book(s) be it sneak previews of upcoming books or a just a glimpse into the writing process. Even holding contests to give away prizes that have a subtle connection to a book will get a fanbase/readerbase buzzing with excitement.
Recently, one of my favorite authors did this with a rubber duck, that related to one used in her most recent book. I've seen another author hold fan art contests and even saw on do regular fan spotlight where they asked fans to submit pictures they'd taken with her at signings so she post them on her blog.
These are simple ways to engage and inspire your existing fanbase and hopefully increase their numbers so their positive voices outshout the negative ones.
Just my rather wordy $0.02
Katherine wrote: "Hello Everyone,My book "The Deadly Mark" got tagged on June 12, 2013 by the "badly behaving authors" community on GR. Authors on twitter warned me about their GR accounts getting deleted by this ..."
I've added your book to my TBR pile. And I have to confess that I've been guilty of not letting an author know that I've reviewed their book. Primarily because I hadn't been tracking where the book came from...and my pile is too big. I've since been working on a tracking system, so I'm trying to improve that!
Christopher wrote: "Here's the bottom line: if you've experienced a bad review, read it carefully. Determine whether there is truth in the review, if there is any worthwhile criticism that you can glean, and consider..."I appreciate your post. So wise and exactly the way I would act to a bad review. There's always a lesson to be learnt from criticism.
http://jakonrath.blogspot.com/2013/04...
Dealing with Bad Reviews
It happens to every writer.
Makes no difference if you won the Pulitzer, or are taught in high school English classes around the world, or have sold ten gazillion copies.
We all get bad reviews.
Sometimes the review has nothing to do with the book. A reader may dislike you, and post a 1 star review to object to something you said on Twitter. They may give you a bad review because your publisher prices your ebook too high. They could be a competitor, and want to disparage the competition (thankfully, Amazon is cracking down on this by randomly deleting every review ever written by any author).
Sometimes you get bad reviews because people don't like your subject matter. Or they were expecting something else. Or they don't think you needed so much sex, or violence, or bad f**king language.
The point is, it happens to all of us. And sometimes it hurts.
So how should writers deal with bad reviews?
These are some tricks I've learned. I've gotten hundreds of bad reviews, and these tips make enduring them a little bit easier.
Here they are, in no particular order.
1. Find out where the reviewer lives, then beat the s**t out of them with a pipe. A brick, crow bar, or baseball bat also works. Remember to wear a ski mask so they don't know it is you, and try not to kill them. If you do, make sure you don't leave any DNA evidence.
2. Respond to their review, explaining why they are an ignorant douchebag. Use a sincere, calm tone when exposing them for the asshats they are. If they respond to your comments, threaten to find out where they live and beat the s**t out of them with a pipe.
3. Post their address online, and encourage your fans to mail them dog s**t. Or horse s**t. Pretty much any kind of excrement will prove your point. You can also sign them up for freaky porn subscriptions, hate group literature, and send them pizzas every hour of every day for a year. Also, arson is easy and cheap.
4. Target someone they love. Why limit your anger to the offending party? Many reviewers have family and friends. When you visit Grandma with your crow bar, make sure she knows it is her douchebag grandchild's fault she's getting kneecapped.
5. Make them retract the review. Some ways include coercion, extortion, blackmail, kidnapping, and torture... I mean enhanced interrogation techniques. You'd be surprised how many people aren't wedded to their opinions when a bit of pressure is applied.
6. Review them. If you're a weeny wimptoast who finds the above methods too extreme, opt for something gentler. Send your reviews of the reviewer to their boss, co-workers, spouse, family, and friends. Something like:
"I'm just writing to let you know that [Reviewers Name Here] is a self-important pinhead who doesn't realize that no one cares about his stupid opinions and he wouldn't know art if it stood on his shoulders and s**t on his head. You should be ashamed of yourself for being associated with this waste of carbon. Just because the Internet provides a buffer is no excuse for making thoughtless, ignorant comments in public. Little bitches who denigrate the hard work of others are the lowest of the low, and your life would be better if you got away from this bitter tool. Also, let him know I'm coming over later to beat the s**t out of him with a pipe."
Conclusion
Remember, just because the Internet allows you to say things about a person you'd never say their face, doesn't mean you should. The cavalier dismissal of art has become one of the low points of our culture, with Joe Average whining his opinions to the world without backing them up with an iota of sense, proof, or logic. Because you dislike apples doesn't mean all apples suck. Because you didn't understand a movie doesn't mean the eight hundred people involved in its production didn't know what they were doing. Because you are a prude with a short attention span doesn't mean the book had no redeeming qualities.
What Peter says about Paul says more about Peter than Paul. Chances are you're the fail, not the thing you're reviewing.
If you want to post reviews, good or bad, make sure they are substantive and well-thought out. Defend your opinions. Know why you feel the way you feel, and explain it in detail. Be deliberate. And if you're going to trash something, remember there is a human being on the other side of that trashing.
A human being with a big ass pipe.
Disclaimer
Of course, I'm kidding. This is satire, specifically aimed at writers.
The best way to deal with bad reviews is to ignore them. If they really hurt, talk about it with your support network, and have a beer. Never have any sort of contact with a reviewer. There's no reason. Everyone has an opinion, and all opinions are valid to the person who has them.
Life is too short to worry about what anyone thinks of you, or your work. In fact, you shouldn't be reading your reviews at all.
Also remember that the pendulum swings both ways. You're a writer, so you know how difficult it is to write a story. Trashing your peers, or their work, shows a staggering lack of empathy. Be above that.