So yesterday I talked about what a reviewer should include in a book review. Today, I’d like to get an author’s perspective of a review.
As an author I know just how much time, effort, sleepless nights, and worry go into writing, editing, and releasing a book into the reading universe.
It’s considerable.
So when a reviewer lovesloveloves your book, 5 stars it, and then makes sure those in her/his realm know about the book, you, as an author, are floating on a success high.
Now, there are always those who won’t love your book. The reasons are varied and include everything from the reader doesn’t like the POV you’ve written in ( happens to me all the time with readers who don’t like first person or won’t read 3rd omniscient), can’t relate to the plotline or characters, or were expecting a sweet story and you had them having steamy sex on every conceivable surface they could find ( also happens to me!)
Your role as writer is to have thick skin.
Just like every single person on the planet won’t like you as a person, every single reader on the same planet won’t like what you’ve written every single time, every single book. Some books just don’t resonate with a reader. That doesn’t make it a bad book, just not for them.
You may think you’re the next Nora Roberts and a reader thinks you write like their third grader.
You may think your book is the next best thing everyone’s been waiting for and a reader thinks your story’s been told before, 1 million times, and yours is just meh.
You may think every review should be a 5 star one, and many a reader is giving you 3 stars – which is still good. I don’t know why we’ve been conditioned to think it’s bad, but we do. It’s just not what you want.
My advice? Get over yourself, move on, and keep writing what you love. Do not – DO NOT – under any circumstances – engage with that reader and try to prove them wrong, or shame them, or call them stupid/illiterate/not worth living – add your own adjective here. Their review is their OPINION. Their opinion is not wrong to them; you just don’t happen to agree with it.
I’m repeating myself here, but get over yourself and move on.
Reviews and ratings are important to writers for not only the ego part of the writing equation – it’s also important for how to get others to read your book – new readers, especially. We fear that a book that has just 3 or 4 star reviews will be passed over by someone looking for a new author to read. I am the type of person who, if I see a bunch of 4/5 stars and a couple 1 stars am intrigued and if I don’t know the author or the book, will dive into learning about it. And every time it comes down to what I’ve already said – that book just didn’t resonate with that reader.
And here’s something I’m not ashamed to admit: I never read the books that are all the rage with 50,000 5 stars and glowing reviews up the wazoo because I’ve found – believe it or not – those books are typically not something I enjoy reading.
Remember Oprah’s book club? I read the first three books she had on her show. Hated everyone of them. Struggled, struggled so hard, to get through them. By book 4 I figured, don’t bother. Her reading type is different from mine. I like lighthearted, upbeat, love stories. She, apparently back then, didn’t. All those books were angsty, overly emotional tomes. It doesn’t mean those books were bad, they were just not for me.
That’s how, as an author, you have to look at those 1,2, and even 3 star reviews. Your book just wasn’t for that reader.
Does it make it hard to see a 1,2, or even 3 star review on Goodreads or Amazon? Sure. I wouldn’t be human if I said it didn’t. But if there are legitimate reasons why the reader rated it that way, then just accept, and move on.
And remember – not everyone is going to like you in real life. Don’t expect it to be any different in your writing one.
Move on, and keep writing what you love.
(P.S. I know I’m gonna get some flack for this piece. That’s okay. My skin is uberthick. As I said, this is my opinion, just like a book review is.)
Peggy Jaeger, Author 