Reviewers and You

I really want to bring this up on the blog. This has been bugging me from some time and I want to get something straight:

Negative reviews are not personal attacks. They are insulting the book, not you.

It's just a different opinion. Really, people. Stop getting hurt because someone didn't say their thoughts in a "nice and right" way, or had a different view. Pardon my language, but it's fucking ridiculous. Is this what our community has come to? Soon, we'll all be fighting because a reviewer spelled a character's name wrong.

Everyone has their own opinion and has the right to post about it. What happened to freedom of speech? Not everyone will love your book and every author gets a bad review. Sites like Goodreads and Amazon are not promotion sites. This brings me to...

Reviewers are not all supposed to be nice. Reviewers are not being paid to promote your book or write a review. Reviewers are critics. Every reviewer has their own style, just like every author.

Insulting a reviewer, even if without confronting them or mentioning a name, is still wrong. Like I said, it is just their opinion about the book. Don’t insult them for having the so-called “wrong” one. They are still your readers.

A bad reputation is worse than a bad review. Wow, talk about unprofessional behavior! If you respond back negatively to that review, then you are embarrassing your book, fans, publisher, friends, agent, and most of all, yourself. Why are you insulting one of your readers that not-to-mention paid for your book?

Authors can choose whether or not to read the review. Reviewers don’t write a review thinking that the author is going to read it. Reviewers don’t write a review thinking that they might break a heart. Most reviewers think that reviews are for readers; writers already had critique partners, beta readers, and editors. If you read a negative review, it is at your own cost.

Don’t misunderstand ratings. To one reviewer, two stars are okay, while to an author, two stars might mean the book sucked. Not all ratings are based on percentages.

You published a book and you are an author! Be happy about that. One-star reviews are just a small price to pay. Suck it up, and take them as advice to improve. At least the reviewer had read it! If someone says that they didn't finish it, read on to figure out why they stopped.

This doesn't just apply to Authors. Readers, agents, publishers, and even other reviewers need to put on their Big Girl panties and deal with it.