The First Time I read a Bad Review

If you want to be a writer, you’d better be thick-skinned.

Bad, or negative, reviews are part of the deal. Books are subjective and sometimes readers just don’t relate to the characters for whatever reason.

I’ve had friends recommend books to me, singing praise for the story and how it was the best book they’d read in a long time…and I couldn’t even finish reading the same book.

Does that make the book bad?

No, I just personally didn’t enjoy it.

And sometimes books are polarising. Take Gone Girl for example. A few years ago (I don’t know if this statistic is still true) but Gone Girl had the highest number of one-star reviews and five-star reviews. Readers either hated it or loved it (I was part of the latter).

But regardless of that, I don’t think any writer can honestly say that reading a bad review doesn’t hurt.

It does.

You spend months of your life (and thousands of dollars) creating a book and then someone posts a crucifying review.

Yeah, it hurts.

It stings.

It makes you want to cry for a few minutes.

It makes you question if you should keep writing (I lost confidence to write for a few weeks after reading my first bad review).

But negative reviews will always happen and Escanta has quite a few actually…most of them relate to the story being unfinished…

I probably need a blog post dedicated to this issue because I have a lot to say about it, but to put it nicely: if a book is part of a series and it clearly says that in the title and book description, don’t crucify the author because the story continues over multiple books. If you want the story wrapped up in one book, read a standalone. Sermon over :)

So, what should an author do with a bad review?

Nothing.

Make a cup of coffee, take a deep breath, and focus on the MANY more positive reviews.

And just stop reading the reviews completely if it really gets to you.

B.

P.S. LANA (Christian Romantic Suspense / Serial Killer Murder Mystery) releases tomorrow! It is discounted to $2.99 but it will go up to $5.99 after release day. Click here to get your copy today!