SciFi and Fantasy Book Club discussion
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Bad reviews from non-readers? And what to do?
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A.T. wrote: "I'm glad that I wasn't made fun of for pouring my heart out like that."Nah, anxiety is a beast of its own. No judgement there at all.
With anything you put out into the world, whether that's your work or just your presence, there will be criticism and people will react in ways that don't always make a lot of sense. You can't let the anonymous strangers of the world affect you. If you're wrong or make a mistake, own it, learn from it, and keep moving forward.
As a plus, you posted this in the right place for this group, so kudos for that! :)
Just going to chime in my two cents (and I’m sorry for the long post, I hope something here is helpful).People who review books regularly tend to get a lot of requests from indie/self pub’d authors specifically. I have a policy up on my site right now that says I’m not taking requests and I still get them. Some just like to let me know about their book with no pressure attached- which is fine and I do invite them to do so.
But I still get authors requesting. One even sent me a blank form letter that said: I saw you liked {BLANK} you’ll probably like my book too!....
I respect that indie and self published authors have to work a lot harder to sell their books. Really I do.
But the best way to go about it by becoming a part of the community I think. There are authors and writer networks on twitter- it’s hard to get noticed but they are pretty supportive if you pay attention. Try to contribute to the community rather than making it all about yourself and your book. Connect with other indie authors and like/retweet their posts in support of their books. Offer support and advice where you can. Join a writer group on Facebook or something. With everything going on there are probably more virtual resources than ever.
Look for bloggers who support indie titles specifically. There aren’t many out there but they do exist.
There are places like NetGalley and Edelweiss that can help you get your book out to reviewers. I don’t know what the cost or benefit is but they may be worth looking into. Just chiming in as a reader and saying connecting with others will get you a lot farther I think than blanket requests, but its also probably more work.
As for the harmful reviews- unfortunately as others said it just comes with putting your work into the world for critique. Personally I think it’s a very brave thing to do. Good luck with it!
Andy,Kudos to you for braving the onslaught. Putting oneself in the firing line is not easy.
The advice here so far is first rate. All I can do is second their wise counsel.
Get used to it. Bad reviews come with the territory. However hurtful they are now, it gets worse. You have to develop thick skin. Otherwise you'll be miserable. If you think a few retribution reviews are bad, wait until people you've never met start making personal attacks. From my perspective, a bad review as revenge for spamming would be less hurtful than one raking my work across the coals. It's easier to dismiss someone being a bu**hole than it is criticism of something into which I've poured my heart and soul.
The important thing to remember going forward is NEVER RESPOND. No matter what. You cannot defend your book. A reader likes it or they don't. Nothing you can say will do anything to change their mind. Furthermore, people will see your reaction and pile on at a level you can't imagine.
Being a writer, like any profession where you put your talent on public display, is brutal to your ego and self-esteem. If it's too much for you emotionally, I suggest not reading reviews at all. I know plenty of authors who don't.
Hi AT.Welcome to Goodreads. While a social media site, it's really important to keep in mind that Goodreads is primarily for readers. With that in mind, have fun and enjoy getting to know other readers, and enjoy talking about books, and of course, lots of other stuff. Being part of the Goodreads community can be a lot of fun.
I've had the experience of making friends on Goodreads, who I've now met face to face and count as actual friends in real life.
As an author, as others have said, it's about not worrying too much about what the reviews say, or how the reviewers rate your work. It's pretty easy to get bent out of shape that way. However, if you do have a consistent theme running through reviews, it can be a useful learning experience. (But generally painful.)
So many people (unfortunately) come onto Goodreads and spam people with their books. It's a bit like walking into a room of strangers and yelling loudly 'BUY MY BOOKS.' And of course, if you've been on Goodreads for a while, you've probably been spammed multiple times. That sometimes leads to people not being very gracious.
But here you are, posting in the right place, and doing the right things. You've already learned, and acted upon what you've learned. Good luck with the writing gig!
There is lots of good advice here already. The only thing I would add is since you've already asked the question in a good place, don't go around posting the question in other places. What happens is that eventually it gets back to the reviewer and their friends may not like it, and then someone defends someone else, and etc., etc., and it escalates. I've seen this happen. Good luck with your writing!
Leonie's already made the main point I was going to make - which is that GR is a forum for readers. Writers are welcome but are expected to interact more as readers than writers (for the most part).The very best way to develop interest in your work on GR is rate and review a lot of books and get involved in discussions. That way you will slowly develop networks of people interested in similar things / books / ideas and if they are interested in the way you express yourself they may well take a look at your work.
There a few good rules to follow also:
- never rate your own book. I saw someone recently give their own book a 5 (no-one else had) but also give a measly 2 to one of the greatest sci-fi books ever written and bag it with a terrible review. What that said to me was that the writer didn't get the amazing work of genius. So what did that say to me about his own work?
- never respond to a bad review (or stalk bad raters). I've never had a bad review until recently, and even that wasn't all bad, but it said something incredibly ignorant and just plain wrong which made me want to scream with frustration. It was like reading a review of Waiting for Godot where the reviewer praised the performance of Godot!!! I so wanted to (at least gently) respond to the review but nope. I let it go, even though it could quite feasibly put readers off my work. Getting into a puerile argument would put off even more readers.
- some say don't even respond to a good review! I often thank reviewers for good reviews, especially those that put in a lot of time and thought and clearly got the deeper levels of my books, but I read recently that some reviewers will feel stalked and creeped out if an author responds. I choose to disagree with that as GR is a fantastic place for readers and writers to connect for a mutually deeper experience...but I understand the point being made
- never solicit reviews except though the acceptable threads on some sites that allow giveaways etc
- never talk about your own book except on threads where you are invited to do so - some groups have dedicated threads to any author who puts their hand up. It's also OK to talk about your work when responding to a direct question about your work, but even then I would be circumspect. Respect the fact that most forumites don't want their groups/discussions hijacked by authors even if they are fairly discreet
- above all, NEVER set up fake accounts or get friends to ask about your work so you can answer etc. This is appalling behaviour and if you do get found out you'll never live it down.
Apart from that, GR is an absolutely brilliant place to find your community and talk about books and ideas. Enjoy it, and as long as you respect it, and are here for the long haul, you might just find it cam help you as an author also.
Adrian wrote: "Leonie's already made the main point I was going to make - which is that GR is a forum for readers. Writers are welcome but are expected to interact more as readers than writers (for the most part)..."Soliciting reviews is important in the beginning. Approaching bloggers and BookTubers is perfectly acceptable and most expect it. 95% will say no, and when they do you shouldn't persist. But it's an important tool for new authors. Now, if they specifically say they are not accepting new review requests or your book doesn't fit into the parameters they've set, steer clear. All you'll do is piss them off. Ultimately soliciting reviews helps to establish a relationship with the literary community so that perhaps the next time you have a release your chance for reviews increases.
I don't recommend soliciting reviews from readers directly. You come off as desperate. But you can suggest it as a general behavior - tell them leaving reviews is important to authors - so long as it's a broad statement not meant for someone specifically.
That said, reviews will not sell your book, good or bad. They are a result of sales not the impetus. You can expect a very small sales to review ratio - less than 1%. This applies mostly to indies. A large publisher will do most of this for you. They'll send your book to new outlets and influencers. But indies can use site such as NetGalley and Eidleweiss. The readers aren't required to review the books they download, but it is expected that many will.
Yes soliciting reviews is important for new writers/new books.But not on GR except through the accepted avenues, was my point.
I recently received a request from someone I had no connection with on GR to be my friend and also to review his book 'because based on my reading history it would be something I would like.' The novel description was like NOTHING that I read, it sounded like experimental meta lit-fic. I waffled about how to answer this: scathing reply RE spamming, polite rejection, etc. I finally just didn't respond--he had obviously taken no time or thought in contacting me, so I took no time or thought to answer.
Unless they were personally attacking you (and they weren't), they are allowed to add/rate/review books as they like, regardless of whether they have read the book. This reader has decided that they don't want to read your book, and the reason is because they felt spammed.
As far as what you should do about this rating... Nothing. There's nothing you can do except let it go. As it doesn't violate TOS, it's unlikely to be removed.
You can move forward and make sure that you are following GR and group rules (which are not always the same - each group sets their own rules regarding what is permitted as far as author involvement and advertising), and otherwise let your work speak for itself. If it's good, people will read it, and the ratings will reflect that, and one 1-star rating will be buried and forgotten about.