Authors: What is the best compliment(s) you've ever gotten on your work?

[Eric]

Many indie authors have a hard time finding a reason to sit down at the keyboard and keep plugging away...especially after that first/second book is in the can and you still aren't getting much beyond praise from friends and family and a collective "meh" from the rest of the world.

In my experience once in a while the world decides to give you a reason to keep writing, in the form of a random reader who says something that makes you want to stay in the game.

I've got two.

Now, I write a series of private eye novels starring a female investigator working out of Seattle. Two compliments I've gotten have been a source of strength in times where I've thought "aw, fuck this writing-books thing, who cares anyway".

1: A male reader who identified as being in the military remarked about my protagonist that "if she were real, I'd love to have a beer with her. You know just kick it, shoot the shit."

2: A female reader who used to teach women's self-defense had this to say: "I would definitely point most teenage girls towards your books. I can't think of many better ways of showing what a realistic female hero can look like, as well as the costs involved in trying to be one. And I'm not kissing your ass here, I really mean it."

Both were very touching to me. The first, because I've always thought it is possible for men to connect to female protagonists in ways other than wanting to "bang" them. The second, because it is one thing for somebody to like a character and quite another for them to think said character is a good role model for impressionable youth.

I tacked both comments up on my wall, and yes they serve as inspiration whenever I want to quit.

So authors; what are your two favorite compliments, where/who did they come from and why did they stick with you? What words of encouragement have really spurred you along?

[Andrew]

"They are written with the skill and sureness of a born storyteller. Lawston's prose does not call attention to itself in any fancy manner, but it's smooth and graceful and evocative and funny. It has a way of poking like an acupuncture needle exactly the cluster of nerve endings that send a tickle of electricity up your spine.

Lawston's collection of short stories is good. The stories are half an inch deep, yes, but entirely engaging. I'm withholding one star for this reason alone: Lawston is going to write something, hopefully in the near future, that will blow our socks off. At the least, another Hitchhiker's Guide. At the most... I can't even guess. I'm saving my five-star review for that work."

This was an Amazon review from a fellow writer I really respect, who had stumbled across my work because I'd amused him in some forum posts. I think the spurring along happened because of the writer's apparent confidence in my potential and belief that there's better work to come from me. I've been working hard to produce some work to validate that confidence, for him and all my other readers.

[Hank]

A review of an anthology I contributed to complimented me with this:

[...]Hank Kirton's graceful "Armless," another seemingly simple story revealing its profoundness in the last paragraph [...]

Which was nice. So, I got that going for me. On the "I Read Odd Books", website, this was said about my book, The Membranous Lounge:

"[...] by the second story, I was hooked. These stories have a gritty, dusty desperation. They evoke a smell redolent of smoke, from both cigarettes and raging fires. They are deceptively simple, several packing a punch in the gut using the most basic of prose. These stories are about situations that I have never experienced yet somehow they seemed familiar to me. They are stories about hallucinations achieved through illness and drugs, and in this book there is little peace even as the writing is hypnotic and calm."

Not bad. And finally, here's a piece of hate mail I received:

"You think just because you come from the same place as Stephen King you are the next horror literary sensation, well I have news for you, you are chronically mistaken. No one wants to read your wretched stories about people eating maggots - unless they are mentally ill, like you. No one gives a damn for your self loathing, or your literary pretensions, no one wants to read stuff by people who think the world owes them plaudits of genius just cos they work in some lousy factory or whatever menial thing you do - it isn't punishment enough for someone with self delusions of adequacy as far as I can see. Your derivative dreary 'aesthetic' offers no inspiration to anyone, but please bear in mind that Stephen King nor Edgar Allan Poe ever resorted to self publication or paying to have their stuff put into print, nor did they ever indulge in on line magazines (which inevitably fold due to delusional grandeur of participants self evident at inception), no such things were around in their day indeed, but even if they had been they would have had the wherewithal not to have participated thus, unlike yours truly, do not write back, your 'literary skills' if you had (probably) been too complacent to consider by now, are not appreciated on this side, I only am writing as I don't see why I ought to take any of your rubbish, yours or any of your arse wipe of an ex - on line garbage magazine participants. I will delete any messages sent from you without reading, be assured."

You can't win `em all!

[S.W.]

Wow, Hank, what an awful thing for someone to send! I always wonder what on earth motivates someone to send something like that! It certainly says a lot more about the person who wrote it than the author they sent it to.

I think the best compliment I ever had was when someone called me her new favourite author. I was floating with that one!

[Andrew]

Hank wrote: "You think just because you come from the same place as Stephen King you are the next horror literary sensation, well I have news for you, you are chronically mistaken. No one wants to read your wretched stories about people eating maggots - unless they are mentally ill, like you. No one gives a damn for your self loathing, or your literary pretensions, no one wants to read stuff by people who think the world owes them plaudits of genius just cos they work in some lousy factory or whatever menial thing you do - it isn't punishment enough for someone with self delusions of adequacy as far as I can see. Your derivative dreary 'aesthetic' offers no inspiration to anyone, but please bear in mind that Stephen King nor Edgar Allan Poe ever resorted to self publication or paying to have their stuff put into print, nor did they ever indulge in on line magazines (which inevitably fold due to delusional grandeur of participants self evident at inception), no such things were around in their day indeed, but even if they had been they would have had the wherewithal not to have participated thus, unlike yours truly, do not write back, your 'literary skills' if you had (probably) been too complacent to consider by now, are not appreciated on this side, I only am writing as I don't see why I ought to take any of your rubbish, yours or any of your arse wipe of an ex - on line garbage magazine participants. I will delete any messages sent from you without reading, be assured."


Please tell me you replied: "Thanks, Dad."

[Lily]

Whenever a reader or reviewer shares that they had an emotional connection with my writing. Feeling connected with readers using my form of communication, fiction, to me, is the best feeling in the world and the highest compliment.

[Tabitha]

"So...this author has officially ruined me for other writers."

Best compliment ever :0)

[Hákon]

Hank wrote: "Your derivative dreary 'aesthetic' offers no inspiration to anyone, but please bear in mind that Stephen King nor Edgar Allan Poe ever resorted to self publication or paying to have their stuff put into print, nor did they ever indulge in on line magazines (which inevitably fold due to delusional grandeur of participants self evident at inception), no such things were around in their day indeed, but even if they had been they would have had the wherewithal not to have participated thus, unlike yours truly, do not write back, your 'literary skills' if you had (probably) been too complacent to consider by now, are not appreciated on this side, I only am writing as I don't see why I ought to take any of your rubbish, yours or any of your arse wipe of an ex - on line garbage magazine participants."

That is one angry reader. I have never got this strong reaction to anything I have ever written. If I had got it I would have pointed Tamerlane and Other Poems by Edgar Allan Poe out to him. Poe self published it. King did also self publish books, but he was fifteen, sixteen at the time so that probably doesn't count.

[Virginia]

In response to the OP: one of my readers (and a total stranger) wrote to tell me that he hoped his daughters would grow up to be like my main characters. In the same message he also said that he hoped I would be writing a sequel to that book. That has kept me going through low moments.

Thanks for starting this thread! It's a lovely thing to share with others and to read about.

[Dina]

S.W. wrote: "Wow, Hank, what an awful thing for someone to send! I always wonder what on earth motivates someone to send something like that! It certainly says a lot more about the person who wrote it than the ..."

I definitely agree. An insult like that definitely reveals more about the person doing the insulting than the target of their insult.

And I love Andrew's response. Funny and brilliant. Also...kind of sad.

I haven't really gotten any compliments about my recent novel that have moved the earth for me. But for one of my older novels, it was about neurofibromatosis. I got emails from people who actually have NF, and they thought the novel was a true story. They talked about how they could relate to what I had gone through. It gave me the idea that I managed to be believable.

I really love the compliment that Eric received about a reader wanting to hang out with a character.

[Nathan]

I've had a lot. One that always sticks out in my mind is someone called my work "X-men meets Game of Thrones."

[Tabitha]

Andrew wrote: "Please tell me you replied: "Thanks, Dad." ..."

Ha! Freaking brilliant.

[A.B.]

I appreciated being told by an editor, "The author has a gift for writing extremely powerful and deeply honest prose."

In the insult category, I was once told by a 4.0 GPA college student (whose favorite book was "War and Peace") that my sentences were too short.

[Tiger]

I think it has to be this one:

"First, the author is probably one of the better world smiths in the market today. Bar none. Sometimes, you get the feeling an author is rushing through a book and uses fast food patchwork to get through scenes. Not in this book. The dialogue is always on point, the imagery seems to be chiseled out of fine mahogany, and the character actions never have you re-reading a part to understand it. Words are used to describe this world in such incredible ways that I was left saying “Damn.”

[Hank]

S.W. wrote: "Wow, Hank, what an awful thing for someone to send! I always wonder what on earth motivates someone to send something like that! It certainly says a lot more about the person who wrote it than the ..."

Thanks. I don't mind a hostile reaction, my work isn't for everyone, but he got so much wrong, I couldn't take it too seriously.

[Hank]

Hákon wrote: "Hank wrote: "Your derivative dreary 'aesthetic' offers no inspiration to anyone, but please bear in mind that Stephen King nor Edgar Allan Poe ever resorted to self publication or paying to have th..."
Thanks. I learned that about Poe. The guy who wrote me the letter got a lot of things wrong. I did write a story about people eating maggots after I got his letter. Hope he appreciated it!

[Hank]

Andrew wrote: "Hank wrote: "You think just because you come from the same place as Stephen King you are the next horror literary sensation, well I have news for you, you are chronically mistaken. No one wants to ..."

Heh, Indeed. Actually, you're not far off. Nobody in my family has been able to get through my novel (too gross and disturbing.

[Andrew]

I know the feeling, Hank. I named my first short story collection after my mother's repeated insistence that I stop with my messed up fiction and write "something nice".

[Eva]

My favorite compliments are:

1. When a mom reads my book within 24 hours
2. When people can quote my characters verbatim years after they have read the book

In both cases I am more at awe at the "fan" than I am at myself. But I totally love it.

[Justin]

Its funny, one of the best compliments I've ever received was also the opposite as well. Someone compared my horror poetry and said I was similar and channeled Edgar Allan Poe. In another review someone calls me "Far from Poe", so I guess it's based on preference.

[Katheryn]

Best compliment I ever received was on my description of gore, though that's not what I normally write. Person said I made her want to gag lol

[Michael]

I think anytime someone takes the time to read one of my stories, I consider it a compliment. However, one time someone told my daughter they put my book on their phone because every time they get in a bad mood at work, they read a few pages from A Beautiful Song and it puts them back in a good mood. For my daughter to hear that from someone else and then have her tell me, made my month.

[Ed]

When a reader told me she cried for almost an hour after I killed off a semi-main character. She said the initial death shocked her and then the entire scene just brought on the crying jag.
I think anytime you can move people to extreme emotion from a few words, you've done your job right. To me, that was the greatest compliment I could have gotten...way better than a 5-star review.

[Jason]

From a video review I received recently:

RE the main character: "I could BE Sam!"
RE the villain: "I could BE the villain!"

Same guy :)