REALLY Bad reviews - how do you cope?

[[deleted user]]

Te he he he he. It's a free for all once you hit the big time. (Until then I'll be nice to you.)

[Lillian]

I have had one person leave a message on my blog saying they loved my book but to date no one has reviewed it. I'm not sure how I would cope but the way things are going in regards to people reading and reviewing it maybe I never will. Every cloud has a silver lining:)

[[deleted user]]

Jacqueline wrote: ""I have 'pulled' my grandaughter up a couple of times & explained the difference between American & Australian, certain phrases or words."

Unless your granddaughter is impossibly sweet and obedien..."

Yep, mate, she is 'sweet as' & obedient as much as a 7 year old can be, but, she does listen to grandad, then goes off merrily singing word for word Taylor Swift & co. do I get through? I can only hope so LOL!!

[Shelleyrae]

Nicely said Stephanie..

[Mandapanda]

I saw that this book was reviewed in the Australian last week. It's been out OS for a while but being published in Australia in January. It's a hilariously evil book about literary one-upmanship and should give heart to any aspiring authors that bad reviews can happen to anyone!

Poisoned Pens: Literary Invective from Amis to Zola

[Joanne]

Mandy wrote: "I saw that this book was reviewed in the Australian last week. It's been out OS for a while but being published in Australia in January. It's a hilariously evil book about literary one-upmanship an..."

"Poison Pen" should be mandatory reading for every newly published writer! If Twain can lambast Austen, and Shaw despise Shakespeare, then all bets are off. Who cares what any other reviewer could ever say after reading what this eminent lot have to say about each other!!

[Geoff]

I can not remember any critic being remember with a commemorative statue - but consider the number of statues commemorating a writer.

[[deleted user]]

Ha ha well said Geoff.

[Laura]

Seriously, as if this whole writing thing isn't hard enough there are people out there deliberately posting rotten reviews? I never thought becoming an author would mean I was running the risk of being the target of this kind of shenanigans. I guess it's not only politics that's a dirty biz these days.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/artic...

[Mandapanda]

Laura wrote: "Seriously, as if this whole writing thing isn't hard enough there are people out there deliberately posting rotten reviews? I never thought becoming an author would mean I was running the risk of b..."

I really enjoyed that article Laura. Thanks for posting it. I often check the reviews on Amazon. The difference between Amazon and Goodreads is that Goodreads allows readers to just give a star rating but with Amazon you actually have to write a review. So there are usually lots more ratings on Goodreads (especially for mid-range and lesser-known authors) which cancels out any one-off malicious ratings.

You sometimes see a one star review on Amazon as opposed to several 4 or 5 star reviews. I always click on the reviewer's name and see if they've done other reviews. If not it's pretty obvious there's something fishy going on. LOL

[Jacqueline]

Amazon reivews and other online bookshops reviews cannot be trusted. If they are not attacked by trolls, they are probably packed by author's friends. Look for reviews on the dedicated review sites (Like Coffee Time Romance) which are probably honest. However, they are not professional and I have had a couple of strange people review my books.

A good reviewer should be able to express an opinion regardless of their personal reaction to a book.

[Tracey]

I rather enjoy the reviews I get here at Goodreads - it seems that here people aren't afraid of being honest and upfront about what they really thought and they represent the 'general reading public' for the most part. I've had far more reviews here than at Amazon, although I do ask those here if they'll also post at Amazon for me, and I truly value them because they seem so genuine. Honest feedback for a writer is critical to becoming a better writer in my opinion.