Bad reviews - What do you think of them?

Face it, if you're an author, you've most likely had some less than stellar reviews. If you're a book reviewer, you've probably given some less than stellar reviews. As we keep telling each other and ourselves, book reviews are subjective. Thus, we shouldn't worry about a bad review...or two. Like it or not, less than stellar reviews can teach us valuable things when we keep an open mind. If reviews honestly critique the story, they can point out things that can help the author write the next story. They've helped me. This is not to say a reviewer should ever attack a book or an author - there's a huge difference. If you have a personal beef with an author keep it to yourself or at least keep it private between the two of you. Here's an example I pulled off Amazon of a less than helpful review, "I was gullible enough to follow an Amazon recommendation on this one; it turned out to be on of my biggest mistakes. I wish I could give less than a star. Its ridicules that these books get printed while books which are so much better barely make it to e form. Just save your money, effort and time. Just stay away." While this hurts, it also doesn't help. I'd really like to know WHY the reader doesn't like the stories, both as a reader and an author. Perhaps the reader doesn't like erotic romance. Perhaps he doesn't like menages. Perhaps he has a beef about e-books. Perhaps he really doesn't like the writing - but of all three authors involved (this was about an anthology comprised of three authors)? Here's an example of a reviewer that still doesn't like one of my books, but gives me helpful insightful into "why". I took this to heart when writing subsequent stories and I owe this reviewer my thanks (even if it hurts a little). ""Pirate's Booty" was my least favorite. The love scenes were hot, but the story felt forced to me and I think I just had a really cheesy porn movie playing in my head (complete with the chick in animal skin bikini) as I was reading parts of it. But maybe if that is your fantasy the story would work for you, it did not for me." (from the anthology "And Lady Makes Three" published by Ellora's Cave at www.ellorascave.com) Funny thing is, this book is my biggest seller out of all 40+ of my published books. Maybe it's because of my anthology partners' contributions. Anyway, it did give me a tip or two so I've toned down my subsequent stories and I've been getting better reviews. (However, not better sales, so I have to wonder what that's all about...) Just to prove that reviews are subjective, here's a good review of the same story "Pirate's Booty" in the "And Lady Makes Three" anthology. "Pirate's Booty by Ashley Ladd is like a treasure cookie; plain golden temptation on the outside and warm gooey decadence on the inside. At first, I was all prepared for another "rich, useless girl falls for bum" type story and was pleasantly surprised to learn otherwise. Melena is a self-sufficient dynamo of a heroine. Keir and Zarod struggle to accept learning new things about themselves as we learn what wonderful hero material they both really are. All in all, this is a satisfyingly decadent jaunt. Ms. Ladd has created a heroine any woman would be proud to identify with and heroes that turn out to be exactly what they should be. Her way with building sexual tension does not hurt a bit either. " So, which review should I believe? I'd say both of the second two. They're both valid opinions. They both state their reasons "why". The first, doesn't give us a clue. As a reader, do you go by reviews in your book buying decisions? Have you ever bought a book because a review was good...or bad? Honestly, when a book receives a really poor review, I'm more curious than ever to see why and to see if I agree with it. I've read where some authors are tempted to write a really bad review of their book and post it under a different name for promo purposes. I wouldn't do that. I don't hope for a bad review. However, with millions of readers (at least we hope), there are bound to be a million different opinions, good and bad. As I've learned working in customer service, there's no pleasing all of the people all of the time no matter how hard you try. It's impossible. You can only do your best, please yourself, and polish a book for obvious mistakes and then set it free like we do our human children. 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, and Cindy Spencer Pape are up to, so make sure to visit them also. :)