I'm a writer that has published books so I'm supposed to have thick skin like a rhinocerous. Right?
I'm trying to keep my head held high, to keep a smile on my face although I just found a review of one of my new books by my alter ego where someone said about my book "ick ick ick".
Ouch!
I'm cringing. It hurts. It feels personal, just like when someone insults one of my kids or my personality.
But I know it's just a review - by a very popular review site so lots of readers are climbing on the "ick ick ick" bus.
Well, it's much more than just a review. I'll reread it, study it, learn from the reviewer's constructive comments, just like the American Idol contestants learn from Simon, even when his comments hurt.
Fortunately, the book has had positive reviews as well, or I'd feel worse.
I know there will be readers who dislike books, even my books. I think it was the "ick ick ick - thanks for saving me from a horrible book" comments from her audience that depressed me.
Still, I'm grateful for the time and effort the reviewer took to review my book. She could have used her time and energy for other things. She did so at my request.
I could crawl into my shell and never submit another book for review. But I'll throw myself into a vat of chocolate, soak in a bubble bath, get wild and crazy, and shake it off - eventually.
This is all part of being a writer.
Recent posts you might like to read:
What Do You Want in a Romance Hero & What Do You Want in a Real Life Husband?
Rejection: Where Do You Go Next?
Procrastination
Cliche or Coincidence?
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You'll also want to see what Amarinda Jones, Anika Hamilton, Anny Cook, Barbara Huffert, Brynn Paulin, Bronwyn Green, Dakota Rebel, Kelly Kirch, Molly Daniels, Sandra Cox, Regina Carlysle, and Cindy Spencer Pape are up to, so make sure to visit them also. :)
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9 comments:
Oh Ashley I feel for you. I had one of my books thoroughly trashed on a public site not that long ago. After sulking for a day I went back and did some research. It turned out that this particular reader hates just about everything she reads and seems to entertain herself by posting scathing reviews. I felt much better after learning I wasn't the only one on her hate list.
Sorry you got a cruddy review. Poo on the reviewer! ;-)
Aw . . . that's so disappointing. What's worse, I think, are the people who immediately hop on the criticism bandwagon instead of reading the book and making up their own mind about it. Almost always when a book gets a bad review, I'm so curious about it I have to read it for myself.
(((hugs))) Ashley. I don't care who you are, a bad review hurts. Sometimes a bad review will drive readers to the book to find out why the reviewer didn't like it. So maybe this will have a positive effect.
Hugs honey! Oddly, I'm blogging about the same thing today.
Thanks everybody. I know I was reacting poorly but I couldn't get online yesterday. I knew when I submitted my book that it could garner low reviews. Any review can - they're subjective - and I also know some reviewers are famous for being snarky. It's not so much the review as the other people who jumped on the bandwagon to diss it with comments like "ick ick ick" when they hadn't read it.
I'll be back later to visit all of you individually. Now, my girls are trying to pull me out the door to go the beach. We live 15 miles from it (maybe less) and we hardly ever visit.
Feeling your pain Ashley. It still feels like taking a punch when someone rips apart something you pour your soul into.
I too am an author and as an engineer I get good and bad reviews to. My cure, smile - I smile after reading one and say to myself, "Not everyone's gonna like it" and recall that the only reason I picked up Harry Potter was because of all the bad things that the news media was saying about it. Of course I picked up the book, and loved it. So when you get a bad review, remember there are going to be people that will pick it up or read inside to see what's so terribly awful about it, and who knows...they just may fall in love with it like I did with Harry Potter :-D
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