Just wanted to shout that I finally got my first 1 star!

[Jacqueline]

That's right! Took almost a year, but I did it! I finally got a 1 star rating! I feel like I finally made it. Woohoo! Forget all those 5 stars, it's that first 1 star that you hem and haw over. When, Lord, when will it happen???? When will it appear on Goodreads???? I can't take it anymore!!!!

ARGH!

Finally I can stop wondering.

It's finally here!

Yes!

My first 1 star.

Life is good.

Anyone want some cake?

[Howard]

I've gotten a 2, but that was on the first, unedited edition.

All better now.

[Jacqueline]

Yes exactly! Time to move on.

[Amy, Queen of Time]

It's like bowling for the lowest score, right? (Okay, maybe I'm the only one that has to do that... carry on.)

Too bad she couldn't have bothered to say WHY she gave you just 1 star. That would have been helpful ... or not.

[Jacqueline]

Amy wrote: "It's like bowling for the lowest score, right? (Okay, maybe I'm the only one that has to do that... carry on.)

Too bad she couldn't have bothered to say WHY she gave you just 1 star. That would h..."


LOL, I wish!

That would've be nice, but without giving too much away, I have a good suspicion as to why.

My book was chosen for a book club a few months back, but you know how that goes. Members' tastes are mixed bags, and you can't possibly please everyone. Through a private source, I heard back about the main gripe. It doesn't surprise me.

Queen is a mature book with intense scenes written to support the plot and character arcs, not just to shock and titillate. I knew I was taking a chance when I wrote that direction. But I also believe very strongly in writing the story as it needs to be told. Sometimes it's graphic, sometimes it's not. I write in many genres at many levels from tame to full on.

Queen required full on. And it works. But not everyone can handle that much intensity. Hence my 18+ warning. There's one chapter in particular that cuts back and forth between scenes good/bad/good/bad... I wrote that very deliberately and it ends... well lets just say when I finished it:

1) even I didn't expect it to go that direction
2) I had chills and wondered... should I go that far?

George RR Martin once said: 'Never horde your silver bullet.' I totally agree and strive to write that way.

Art is supposed to evoke strong emotions, positive or negative. If a piece of art has failed to do that, then the art has failed. So that fact that she hated that part... that's a win in my book. hehe.

[Amy, Queen of Time]

You know, the last book I gave a 2- star rating to was because the subject matter made me mad. So there are definitely more reasons than one for stars. And you like what you like.

[Art]

I don't think I've ever given only one star. I couldn't find the review, Jacqueline, but did (he, she, it) give a reason why?
For me to be that critical, the plot would have been almost nonexistent, the spelling, punctuation and grammar at first grade level, and the action totally disjointed. They must have really been in a bad mood.

[Garrett]

As my Grandmother used to say when I'd fall down and skin my knee, Get up girl, you're not hurt!.

You've done well and we're proud of you.

[Jacqueline]

@Art... There's no review, just a star. Don't worry about finding it. I don't want to point any fingers. That's not important. The fact that it finally happened and is no big deal... that's what's important. :o)

I can't remember ever giving out one star before either. Two stars, yes, and if I can't finish a book I either don't rate/review or I don't leave a rating and review (if I've been asked to review for NetGalley or similar) I don't believe in rating something I haven't finished. But I think some people rate based on emotional feelings and Queen is very... intense. It's rated mature for a reason. I don't believe in censorship at all, but I do believe in rating things according to age level. I can't have children, but I would want to be able to make an informed decision about a product (without spoilers), so as an artist I feel it's my responsibility to at least give out a scale of information for adults to research. I can't control if teens buy my book, but I can give parents the ability to research the information.

@Garrett --Your grandmother was a wise woman! Exactly! What doesn't kill us makes us stronger. We can't expect life not to have bumps and scrapes along the way, but we can expect to learn from them. *blushes* thanks! It's been a hellavu year. Sometimes an uphill battle. And Indie publishing is both wonderful and just as hard in its own way and trad. publishing. You can't be lazy or unprofessional. It's like having multiple full time jobs. Writer, publisher, marketer, graphic arts designer, formatter... I'm just glad I'm multi-talented. Except for Queen's cover and my betas, I've done everything else myself this year.

[Paul]

Welcome to the club! You learn quickly as a writer that you can't please everyone, and the best you can hope for is your writing really pleases someone, or some people.

[Bill]

I'm a psychologist and I've given a lot of talks to large audiences. Often, there were reviews. There was ALWAYS a person who would basically said it was lousy. It must be a law of the universe. Look at movie reviews, you'll see a lot of 9's and 10's and then a 1.

[Jacqueline]

@Paul, thanks! You are so correct. Not being able to please everyone is a lesson a learned a long time ago. It helps keep one sane. You just do your best to strive for improvement and stop worrying about everything else.

@Bill, LOL, yep! There's always that percentage that hates something. Can't worry about it.

[E.B.]

I don't feel right saying congrats, lol. But keep yer chin up. Ah, all I can say is what my motto is anymore:
1) Keep writing
2) Try not to suck
3) Try not to suck

Yeah, that bout sums it up. ;)

[Jacqueline]

LOL, exactly! It was bound to happen. Just glad it finally did.

[Vickie]

I will give a one star review, but if I do, I always explain exactly why I did so. That way, other potential readers can judge for themselves if they are likely to share my opinion, because I know some things that drive me absolutely insane are considered no big deal to some others.

I do reviews in the Amazon Vine program and we no longer have the luxury of not reviewing books we get. Previously, if there was a book that I just didn't like and didn't want to finish, I could toss it in my slush pile and not review it. However, now, if you want to stay in the program, you've got to review 100% of what you take. (Note that I'm not complaining about this, as 100% reviews for free books seems fair to me, I'm just offering it as an explanation of why I don't simply not review books I really dislike.)

[Fletcher]

I am a pretty new author and I'm still awaiting reviews of any kind on my fiction books (have some on my non-fiction stuff I write under a different name), but I like to check out the 1 and 2 star reviews on books I'm considering buying, and sometimes they are hilarious. Generally the more popular the book, the more venomous the negative reviews are. For example, check out the 1 stars for Fifty Shades Of Grey. A few highlights:

"I feel stupid for reading this book and wish I had spent that ten bucks on socks."

"Once upon a time...
I'm Ana. I'm clumsy and naive. I like books. I dig this guy. He couldn't possibly like me. He's rich. I wonder if he's gay? His eyes are gray. Super gray. Intensely gray. Intense AND gray. Serious and gray. Super gray. Dark and gray. [insert 100+ other ways to say "gray eyes" here]
I blush. I gasp. He touches me "down there." I gasp again. He gasps. We both gasp. I blush some more. I gasp some more. I refer to my genitals as "down there" a few more times. I blush some more. Sorry, I mean I "flush" some more. I bite my lip. He gasps a lot more. More gasping. More blushing/flushing. More lip biting. Still more gasping.
The end."

"...the biggest load of crap I've come across since visiting a dairy farm in Wisconsin when I was 7."

" I truly fear that the people who enjoy 50 Shades may be compelled to reproduce (or at least try to) after reading this book; each copy should come with a complimentary tubal ligation."

I can only hope that if and when I do get a 1 star review, it's at least entertaining!

[Nathan, First Tiger]

I have been weighing the different merits of stars in reviews a lot recently. On Amazon a two is the equivalent of the one on GoodReads so I tend to mark a GoodReads book down more. Do you all consider a two star "it's okay" to be a "bad" review? The scale on GoodReads is definitely tilted toward positivity with three ways to express how much you enjoyed it. I feel like that in order really hate a book you would have to give it zero stars or essentially no rating at all on this site. I doubt I would do that. I can't really imagine I could find nothing redeeming at all in someone's work. I could certainly dislike something enough to give it a one if it really aggravated me, but I consider "It's okay" to be a significant step up from that. Maybe I am going to inadvertently hurt a lot of feelings doling out twos at face value. I guess I'll see how it feels when I am on the receiving end and see what the explanations are.