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Dealing with Rejection and Negative Feedback as an Author

And Using it to Make Yourself a Better Writer

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One of the toughest things about being an author is dealing with negative feedback. Mostly, these come in the form of the dreaded one-star reviews, but however they end up in your life, it’s crucial you learn how to deal with them.

And it’s tough. You’ve just bared your soul to the public, and now some anonymous stranger can rip you to shreds in thirty seconds.

The good news is, everyone gets bad reviews. Everyone will get the occasional damning email (I was once accused of being a sociopath by someone I’ve never met – that was a fun day).

So, you’re not alone. Dealing with rejection, negative comments, and bad reviews is an essential skill. At first, you’ll take everything personally. One bad review will negate dozens of great ones. It’ll make you doubt yourself. It might even make you want to give up.

But, like any other skill, dealing with bad reviews, criticism, and negative feedback can be taught and it can be learned. And, eventually, you’ll see how it can actually help you become a better writer.

Today, we’re hearing from Thomas Behr with three actionable tips you can use to arm yourself against that unavoidable downside of being an author.

Enjoy…

Dealing with Rejection and Negative Feedback as a Writer

By Thomas Behr, Ph.D.

Author of The Tao of Sales: The Easy Way to Sell in Tough Tones, Blood Brothers: Courage and Treachery on the Shores of Tripoli, The Life and Times of Miller Bugliari (America’s Most Successful H.S. Soccer Coach), and The Most Bold and Daring Act of the Age.

Here’s the good news:

The continuously expanding, evolving market of self-publishing, combined with the emergence of easily-accessible expert resources like “Your First 10,000 Readers,” has dramatically and irrevocably changed the book business.

A world of people who only dreamed of becoming authors can now get published.

What’s the bad news? If you want to become a published author, you’re going to have to learn to live with rejection and negative feedback. And that’s especially true if your goal is to use your writing to launch a profitable, growing, and sustainable business. If you’re selling, rejection comes with the territory.

In this article I’ll share 3 critical skills about how to deal with inevitable rejection and negative feedback.

 

 

Let’s Face It:

Negative feedback and rejection hurts. It’s not “just business.” Criticism is personal. Deeply personal. It’s like someone looks at your kid and says, “Wow! What an ugly, badly-behaved child! It must be terribly embarrassing to take him out in public!”

I ran my own very successful sales, marketing, and leadership consulting practice for 35 years. Our clients included Fortune 500 global corporations and small entrepreneurial companies at all stages of the business enterprise life cycle. That’s decades of pitches and sales calls.

I can’t imagine trying to count up the number of times potential clients said “No thanks” – if they bothered to respond at all.

I’ve published four well-reviewed books to date – two conventionally published, two self-published –am finishing my fifth and planning my sixth. My first book, published in 1997, The Tao of Sales, was rejected by over 30 literary agents before it finally got picked up and sold to Penguin Books. One of the first Amazon reader reviewers gave the book a single star and wrote: “Another variation on the same old theme. Has this man ever spoken to a customer?”

“The rejection slip is very hard to take on an empty stomach and there are times when I would sit at that old wooden table and read one of those cold slips that had been attached to a story I had loved and worked on very hard and believed in, and I couldn’t help crying.” Ernest Hemingway

So how do you build the inner strength to need as a published author/entrepreneur?

 

 

1. Don’t run from rejection or pretend you don’t care. Embrace it.

It’s counterintuitive — or just plain weird — to embrace what you fear. It’s also essential. “Fear” is the subconscious mind’s underhanded trick to keep us from exposing ourselves to emotional hurt. It shows up in our conscious minds as “reasonable” excuses to procrastinate, to spend time on safer, non-essential “busy work” (“I’m really busy today; I’ll get back to writing tomorrow”), to defer tough decisions (“I need to think more about this”), and especially, to give up (“Maybe I’m just not cut out to be a writer”).

The best alternative to fear is disciplined work. “OK. I’m feeling a little frustrated and unloved right now. But my job today is to write another 1,000 words.”

When it comes to discipline, there’s no need to re-invent the wheel. There are lots of good strategies available on lIne–for example, right here on this blog.

Sometimes, subconscious fear works really hard to keep us from stepping outside our comfort zone. If this is an issue for you, Daniel Goleman’s Emotional Intelligence still provides the best complex answer for mastering irrational fear. For simpler, easier, and very helpful insights, Cody Smith has a new book coming out shortly, Getting COMFY: Your Morning Guide to Daily Happiness. Look for it when it comes out. For a deeper dive, try The Principle of Onness, by Russell Gibbs.

Bottom line: Writing is like running a marathon. You know before you start that you will run into pain. You will hit the wall. But you keep running anyway.

 

 

2. Never stop working to become a better writer.

The antidote to rejection is approval. But real approval has to be earned. If your writing is amateurishly sloppy, disorganized, self-indulgent, or just plain trivial, people aren’t going to like it. If they comment at all on your writing–if they even read your book — they’ll let you know they don’t like it.

There’s a huge payoff to developing the skills of a good writer: more readers, more sales, accelerated business growth, and increased self-confidence. The self-confidence that comes from becoming a competent writer is your best defense against the fear of rejection.

Becoming the best writer you can be is a lifelong commitment towards a goal you’ll never reach. Writing is both a craft and an art. My favorite resource on writing tips is Donald Maass: http://maassagency.com/books-on-writing/ and also the free tips over at the blog of NY Book Editors.

Also, if you’re writing genre fiction, like Nick does, his approach and guidelines are as good as you’ll ever need. Follow their recommendations. Here are mine:

Learn how to write concise declarative sentences. Write what you know about ( and keep learning so you always have more to write about). Write what you care passionately about. Keep it conversational and simple. Keep it honest: a writer’s job is to communicate his or her truth. Write with a flowing pen; edit with a scalpel.

No matter what kind of book you write, plan it out before you start writing. The sources I’ve listed above lay out ways to do that.

Start with yourself. Before you write each day, edit what you’ve done previously–at least the past two to three day’s work. Every week, I run each manuscript I’m working on through the free version of Grammerly.com. Every two weeks I go back to the beginning with fresh eyes, read word by word, and tighten, tighten, tighten.

Invest money in a good editor. The longer you work on a book, the more blind you will become to its flaws.

Assemble a small team of beta readers. They should be people you trust. Empower them to be explicitly, relentlessly truthful. But wait to engage beta readers until you have written something worth the effort and love you expect from them.

Join and contribute to networks of writers. Your network can include experts in related fields. If you go that route, remember that being a valued member of a community is all about sharing. Give more to the people whose support you seek — that has value to them — than you ask for in return. Always.

 

 

3. Treat feedback as feedback, not personal criticism

Some of us are born and grow up with a strong sense of self-confidence; others with more destructive self-doubt and subconscious fear. Wherever you are is where you start. But confidence is a learnable skill. How do you know you need to get tough with your own lack of self-confidence? When you get angry — or discouraged — about negative feedback. “How can they say that about me?” That’s the wrong question.

Do you have a little voice inside you that whispers, “I want people to like me?” That thought, by itself, is poison to a writer.

Replace it with “I want to create as much value for readers as possible.” Shift the focus from yourself to your readers.

Feedback is a statement by one person about your writing; it’s not a character assessment of you unless you make it that. Use the feedback you think helpful; discard the feedback that isn’t helpful. Key question: not “What did he or she say about my writing?” but “How can I use this insight to make myself a better writer?”

And notice the really cool paradox. The more skill you develop and the better writer you become, the easier it is to ask “What can I change to make this even better writing?”

Some people just won’t respond to what you write. Some people are just “haters.” That’s OK. That’s who they are; not who you are. Remember the wisdom of Dr. Seuss: “The people who mind (who you are and what you do) don’t matter. The people who matter don’t mind.”

Tom Behr is the Author of The Tao of Sales: The Easy Way to Sell in Tough Times, Blood Brothers: Courage and Treachery on the Shores of Tripoli, The Life and Times of Miller Bugliari (America’s Most Successful H.S. Soccer Coach), and The Most Bold and Daring Act of the Age. Find out more here.

 

 

 

And now we want to hear from you: Have you ever had to deal with rejection? Do you have any tips for getting past it? Leave a comment!

 

 

214 Comments
  1. Christine Brooks says:

    Great post. In fact, the one I’ve enjoyed most so far. I’m away from my laptop right now, but I’ll be following up on those recommend resources

    1. Nick Stephenson says:

      Thanks, Christine!

  2. Christine Brooks says:

    Great post. In fact, the one I’ve enjoyed most so far. I’m away from my laptop right now, but I’ll be following up on those recommend resources

  3. Walt Socha says:

    I got my first “one star” a couple months ago.

    I decided to think that this person did me a great favor. In this one star reveiw, the reader said my book was good, but that she didn’t like the language my ex-military secondary character uses.

    I couldn’t buy this kind of advertising!

    1. Venessa Knizley says:

      I usually only check amazon for reviews, but the other day, I went over to goodreads and found that I had a one star review. It was because I used a swear word in the prologue…or rather, my character did, lol. I understand though. I write Christian fiction and this took her off guard. She said she’d been looking forward to the book but she read books to escape the garbage of the world not to get into it. I completely get that. So, I took a deep breath, and reminded myself that my book was a coming of age book about a girl making it through the 14th century Black Plague in England… lots of “garbage.” Realistically, it may have been too heavy a topic for her anyway. At least she said why she gave it three stars. People who don’t have an issue with it may read it anyway…others may be curious just what kind of profanity a Christian author might work into her book. I guess, I’m ok with this.

    2. Kate Findley says:

      Totally! Many 1-star reviews can actually be reframed as positive reviews.

  4. Walt Socha says:

    I got my first “one star” a couple months ago.

    I decided to think that this person did me a great favor. In this one star reveiw, the reader said my book was good, but that she didn’t like the language my ex-military secondary character uses.

    I couldn’t buy this kind of advertising!

  5. Chad V. Holtkamp says:

    I don’t reply to reviews, so I just let them go, good or bad. I’ve had some head-scratchers over the years when it comes to one-star reviews. Most were from people who didn’t bother to read the book and only skimmed it. One was so out-there, though, that I wasn’t sure if the review was even about my book. It didn’t make any sense.

    One was particularly cruel, but it was a two-star review. “Continuing to eat like he does will lead to a death at an age similar to his mothers.”

    Really, you had the gall to go there? I thought that crossed the line of decency but I let it go. I dissed him as a keyboard warrior in my next book, but that was about it.

  6. Chad V. Holtkamp says:

    I don’t reply to reviews, so I just let them go, good or bad. I’ve had some head-scratchers over the years when it comes to one-star reviews. Most were from people who didn’t bother to read the book and only skimmed it. One was so out-there, though, that I wasn’t sure if the review was even about my book. It didn’t make any sense.

    One was particularly cruel, but it was a two-star review. “Continuing to eat like he does will lead to a death at an age similar to his mothers.”

    Really, you had the gall to go there? I thought that crossed the line of decency but I let it go. I dissed him as a keyboard warrior in my next book, but that was about it.

  7. Philippe M says:

    I had my first one star review a month ago. It is saying everything I do, story, style, dialogues, characters is crap. I had a real hard time dealing with this. I managed to get over it, but only because four and five stars reviews are the majority of what I get (so far)… I still hurts when I think of it. 🙁

    1. Charlsie Russell says:

      Now that sounds like what I call a “boiler-plate” review where some review “troll” trashes each writing skill: plot, characterization, pacing, editing, etc. without any explanation to support his/her negative feedback. I’ve had those and it’s so obvious what the individual has done, just by the tactics used in the attack. Why this being does that? Who knows, but I imagine he/she makes a habit of it. Ignore it.

      1. Philippe M says:

        Thanks. You are right, ignore it is the only thing to do. I cannot even make something of it anyway: I wrote action/adventure sci fi and that reader also complained because my main character (a woman) is capable of piloting a spaceship on her own…

  8. Philippe M says:

    I had my first one star review a month ago. It is saying everything I do, story, style, dialogues, characters is crap. I had a real hard time dealing with this. I managed to get over it, but only because four and five stars reviews are the majority of what I get (so far)… I still hurts when I think of it. 🙁

  9. Louise says:

    Most people liked the free Christmas Quiz Book I wrote under a pen name. After all, it was – well – free. And Christmasy. And not meant to be taken seriously. One person took it very seriously, and didn’t like it. My first ever one star review. It hurt.

  10. Louise says:

    Most people liked the free Christmas Quiz Book I wrote under a pen name. After all, it was – well – free. And Christmasy. And not meant to be taken seriously. One person took it very seriously, and didn’t like it. My first ever one star review. It hurt.

  11. Sophie says:

    I write steamy sci-fi (not the short, quick kind, but the long, fully-developed world kind). I was accused of writing bad “alien porn”. Once I got over the shock, I actually used that phrase, along with a wink, in my advertising, and people loved it!

  12. Sophie says:

    I write steamy sci-fi (not the short, quick kind, but the long, fully-developed world kind). I was accused of writing bad “alien porn”. Once I got over the shock, I actually used that phrase, along with a wink, in my advertising, and people loved it!

  13. Ken Haedrich says:

    Nice job, Tom, and thanks Nick for posting this. Rejection can come from several directions, from both readers and editors. From within, too. Of course you need solid writing skills; that’s a given. Beyond that, a good editor can often save you from yourself. No matter the source, I always take it personally, for about half a day, then I put on my big boy boxers and try to process the criticism/rejection with an open mind. It’s worked pretty well for the last 30 years, 15 books and hundreds of magazine articles.

  14. Ken Haedrich says:

    Nice job, Tom, and thanks Nick for posting this. Rejection can come from several directions, from both readers and editors. From within, too. Of course you need solid writing skills; that’s a given. Beyond that, a good editor can often save you from yourself. No matter the source, I always take it personally, for about half a day, then I put on my big boy boxers and try to process the criticism/rejection with an open mind. It’s worked pretty well for the last 30 years, 15 books and hundreds of magazine articles.

  15. Douglas D Kelly says:

    ‘At least some of you have had a review, and that’s better than not having one at all. I’ve had my book on Amazon for more than a year with not one sale and not one review. It’s as if my book was invisible or not there. Wierd. I wonder if I need a new title and cover design. Other than that, I cannot imagine why I’ve had no activity. My book is non-fiction, about marketing. I’ve been deeply involved in marketing for more than 35 years, had my own successful AAAA advertising agency. I know so much about marketing and advertising and sales that I would think my book would be helpful to anyone trying to sell anything. And I’m a good writer. It’s nearly impossible to be in the advertising business without being a good writer of both advertising copy and informational content for white papers and so on. I’m currently revising it hoping to improve it, and I’m renaming it and using a new cover. I’ll see if this will help. If not, I’m completely puzzled.

    1. Nick Stephenson says:

      Douglas – email me, I’ll see what I can do to help. If nothing else, I’ll lend an objective ear.

      PS – your quest is to find my actual email address. Twitter, FB, and blog comments don’t count. Put the subject line as “nick said this should go to him” just in case you end up in my support queue.

      (PPS – this is what we have to go through to avoid spam, come find me).

      1. Venessa Knizley says:

        That was super kind of you 🙂
        I know it’s part of what you do…but it’s still great to see. God bless you and your business.

  16. Douglas D Kelly says:

    ‘At least some of you have had a review, and that’s better than not having one at all. I’ve had my book on Amazon for more than a year with not one sale and not one review. It’s as if my book was invisible or not there. Wierd. I wonder if I need a new title and cover design. Other than that, I cannot imagine why I’ve had no activity. My book is non-fiction, about marketing. I’ve been deeply involved in marketing for more than 35 years, had my own successful AAAA advertising agency. I know so much about marketing and advertising and sales that I would think my book would be helpful to anyone trying to sell anything. And I’m a good writer. It’s nearly impossible to be in the advertising business without being a good writer of both advertising copy and informational content for white papers and so on. I’m currently revising it hoping to improve it, and I’m renaming it and using a new cover. I’ll see if this will help. If not, I’m completely puzzled.

  17. Dana Lyons says:

    I’m Dana Lyons, my first romance book did fairly well but there was this one savaging review. It broke my heart. I ended up contacting the reader and actually paid her back for the book. I know. Newbie mistake. She never took down the review, and tried to tell me how to write even though she was unpublished. I learned. I learned you turn your back on those reviews, and you walk away and you write your next book.

    1. Nick Stephenson says:

      Dana – I actually LOVE that response. Generally, I stick to the rule “don’t reply to reviews”. But there’s a difference between “replying” and “making a difference”. Circumstances play a huge role here, but I love what you did. Good on you.

  18. Dana Lyons says:

    I’m Dana Lyons, my first romance book did fairly well but there was this one savaging review. It broke my heart. I ended up contacting the reader and actually paid her back for the book. I know. Newbie mistake. She never took down the review, and tried to tell me how to write even though she was unpublished. I learned. I learned you turn your back on those reviews, and you walk away and you write your next book.

  19. Barbara says:

    As has been said, rejection is part of being a writer. Not everyone will like what you have written. I was rejected by upwards of ten publishers for various works I had written. They all said the same thing. I love your characters, they are vibrant and interesting but the story isn’t the type we are looking for at this time. Okay. I got it. I’m not a clone of the biker gang stories, or the typical romance novel. My bikers were ordinary people who happened to ride a motorcycle. My romance books actually had a plot other than the romance. Go figure. So I decided to self publish, aware there was an audience out there, but I needed to find them.

    The other problem was being a new author, I still have a lot of learning to do. I looked as one review and realized I needed to improve what I was writing. They had a good point in their review. It wasn’t exciting. One of my main characters wasn’t exactly wonderful at the beginning of the book, etc. So, yes, you can learn from those reviews and improve what you are doing. They only hurt for a while until you put them in perspective and do what you can to make what you are doing better.

  20. Barbara says:

    As has been said, rejection is part of being a writer. Not everyone will like what you have written. I was rejected by upwards of ten publishers for various works I had written. They all said the same thing. I love your characters, they are vibrant and interesting but the story isn’t the type we are looking for at this time. Okay. I got it. I’m not a clone of the biker gang stories, or the typical romance novel. My bikers were ordinary people who happened to ride a motorcycle. My romance books actually had a plot other than the romance. Go figure. So I decided to self publish, aware there was an audience out there, but I needed to find them.

    The other problem was being a new author, I still have a lot of learning to do. I looked as one review and realized I needed to improve what I was writing. They had a good point in their review. It wasn’t exciting. One of my main characters wasn’t exactly wonderful at the beginning of the book, etc. So, yes, you can learn from those reviews and improve what you are doing. They only hurt for a while until you put them in perspective and do what you can to make what you are doing better.

  21. Angelina says:

    Thank you for a great article. I’ve had the honour of receiving two one star reviews for my first novel. The first was left by a gentleman who changed his review nearly daily for several months though the one star remained. His words were vicious and it was a thoroughly horrible experience. I became genuinely afraid, wondering who could possibly hate me that much. But when he wrote: “if you liked fifty shades of grey, you’ll love this,” I could have kissed him. Sadly, he continued to change his review, so unfortunately, I lost that gem. The other one star review was from a lady who complained about the fact that the novel was too English. It’s set in London and all the characters are British. I took it as a compliment. The best revenge is to keep on writing and doing it even better. I’d like to add that I use my experience from a previous life as an operatic soprano, and it might be useful to mention here. I learned early on that negative criticism can come from strange places – it might be jealousy, or irritation that your interpretation of an idea doesn’t match theirs, or you may push one of their buttons without intending to or even knowing it. I don’t want to make light of negative criticism because it hurts. But it is a very good idea to divorce yourself from the words used. As long as you focus on doing the best you can and understanding that it’s just one person’s opinion, the criticism doesn’t have to sting too badly. Let’s face it, it is just one person’s opinion, isn’t it?

    1. Nick Stephenson says:

      Oh man… here’s just a soupcon of my bad reviews: https://www.amazon.com/Wanted-Private-Investigator-Suspense-Thrillers-ebook/product-reviews/B00FYW9VHC/ref=cm_cr_dp_d_hist_1?ie=UTF8&filterByStar=one_star&reviewerType=all_reviews#reviews-filter-bar

      Featured: In edits, I was told I should refer to an “oyster card” as a “prepaid tube card” (it’s a card that lets you travel the underground in London). Actual reviews = “why doesn’t he just call it an Oyster Card?”

      Can’t Win.

      Don’t Try.

      Write from your heart 😀

    2. Julie says:

      Angelina. That is very bizarre from your one star reviewer. I wonder what made him stop?

  22. Angelina says:

    Thank you for a great article. I’ve had the honour of receiving two one star reviews for my first novel. The first was left by a gentleman who changed his review nearly daily for several months though the one star remained. His words were vicious and it was a thoroughly horrible experience. I became genuinely afraid, wondering who could possibly hate me that much. But when he wrote: “if you liked fifty shades of grey, you’ll love this,” I could have kissed him. Sadly, he continued to change his review, so unfortunately, I lost that gem. The other one star review was from a lady who complained about the fact that the novel was too English. It’s set in London and all the characters are British. I took it as a compliment. The best revenge is to keep on writing and doing it even better. I’d like to add that I use my experience from a previous life as an operatic soprano, and it might be useful to mention here. I learned early on that negative criticism can come from strange places – it might be jealousy, or irritation that your interpretation of an idea doesn’t match theirs, or you may push one of their buttons without intending to or even knowing it. I don’t want to make light of negative criticism because it hurts. But it is a very good idea to divorce yourself from the words used. As long as you focus on doing the best you can and understanding that it’s just one person’s opinion, the criticism doesn’t have to sting too badly. Let’s face it, it is just one person’s opinion, isn’t it?

  23. IreAnne says:

    This article is perfect timing for me. I’m getting ready to publish my first book and I have to say I’m a little terrified at what the reviews might show, but at the same time I realize that every author starts somewhere and first book writing improves over time with each new release. Here’s hoping there aren’t too many 1 star reviews. I think I’ve decided I won’t look to intensely on them and I will try REALLY hard not to respond because I know my gut reaction will be to respond.

    1. Venessa Knizley says:

      I thought for a second about responding to my one star review on Goodreads, but there was this little message bubble at the bottom that said, we really, really (really!) advice against responding to these reviews. Then it gave me advice how to handle it. It made me laugh and helped me to rethink that one second urge to respond and apologize for offending that one person. I guess, it’s a no-no! I hope your book rocks!

  24. IreAnne says:

    This article is perfect timing for me. I’m getting ready to publish my first book and I have to say I’m a little terrified at what the reviews might show, but at the same time I realize that every author starts somewhere and first book writing improves over time with each new release. Here’s hoping there aren’t too many 1 star reviews. I think I’ve decided I won’t look to intensely on them and I will try REALLY hard not to respond because I know my gut reaction will be to respond.

  25. Douglas Phillips says:

    1-star. Dumbest article I’ve ever read. This guy knows nothing about writing.
    (just kidding!!)
    In reality, you provide exactly the pep talk I need. Thanks. I’m about to self-publish my second book. The first was happily successful, and 20K readers later I feel like I have an audience. But the second book terrifies me. Those readers now have expectations – gads! How does anyone meet them? I’m doomed.

  26. Douglas Phillips says:

    1-star. Dumbest article I’ve ever read. This guy knows nothing about writing.
    (just kidding!!)
    In reality, you provide exactly the pep talk I need. Thanks. I’m about to self-publish my second book. The first was happily successful, and 20K readers later I feel like I have an audience. But the second book terrifies me. Those readers now have expectations – gads! How does anyone meet them? I’m doomed.

    1. tom behr says:

      Hi Doug: You already know the answer :-). 20K readers is wonderful. That tells you a lot about yourself that is actually important. Readers’ expectations, however, are their business, not yours. Yours is to write as well as you can and then say .”The heck with it” (or some more pungent alternative.) Cheers and good lock- Tom Behr

  27. Kate Findley says:

    I’d be lying if I said bad reviews didn’t sting, but one 1-star review said essentially the same thing that a 5-star review said, describing my book as “very strange”–which was my intention all along! It just goes to show, different strokes for different folks. I do tailor the book description to fans of “unconventional horror,” but I should probably take it a step farther and say “NOT for fans of conventional horror.” In the end, I’d rather polarize people than have a bunch of lukewarm reviews.

  28. Kate Findley says:

    I’d be lying if I said bad reviews didn’t sting, but one 1-star review said essentially the same thing that a 5-star review said, describing my book as “very strange”–which was my intention all along! It just goes to show, different strokes for different folks. I do tailor the book description to fans of “unconventional horror,” but I should probably take it a step farther and say “NOT for fans of conventional horror.” In the end, I’d rather polarize people than have a bunch of lukewarm reviews.

  29. W. M. Raebeck says:

    Thanks for this. I really like blogs that address any type of writer hurdle. I’ve got 4 books out now, with 43 x 5-star reviews and 2 x 4-star reviews. That’s all, and sounds okay I guess, though not many reviews for 4 books…. But I think back to when I was starting out and how elated I would’ve been to get good ratings. However, I’ve also heard that Amazon is suspicious of only high-star reviews (did you pay someone?), and also that when strangers review your books, you’re generally going to get lower marks. In other words, your friends are good friends. On Goodreads, I have a 3-star from a stranger, so there you go.
    I did post a response regarding my recent (long) 4-star review, pointing out something the reader apparently misunderstood. Probably shouldn’t have responded, hope it doesn’t look like sour grapes, but he seemed to miss the point that the character redeemed herself with time.
    Anyway, supposedly it’s bad to look too good. So treasure those miserable reviews.

  30. W. M. Raebeck says:

    Thanks for this. I really like blogs that address any type of writer hurdle. I’ve got 4 books out now, with 43 x 5-star reviews and 2 x 4-star reviews. That’s all, and sounds okay I guess, though not many reviews for 4 books…. But I think back to when I was starting out and how elated I would’ve been to get good ratings. However, I’ve also heard that Amazon is suspicious of only high-star reviews (did you pay someone?), and also that when strangers review your books, you’re generally going to get lower marks. In other words, your friends are good friends. On Goodreads, I have a 3-star from a stranger, so there you go.
    I did post a response regarding my recent (long) 4-star review, pointing out something the reader apparently misunderstood. Probably shouldn’t have responded, hope it doesn’t look like sour grapes, but he seemed to miss the point that the character redeemed herself with time.
    Anyway, supposedly it’s bad to look too good. So treasure those miserable reviews.

  31. Laura says:

    Thanks for the advice, Tom. This article was exactly what I needed right now. I was almost like Douglas: book available for almost five months and only 5 copies sold, but when I changed the book price to free I saw some results. Anyway, before that I gave away some samples of my book and yesterday one of the readers who got my book from this giveaway sent me an email saying that my book was full of typos and that she will give it a bad review. That would be my first review and a bad one! I ran my book through Grammarly twice and send t to an editor and it’s full of typos? I was heartbroken, thinking that the editor took advantage of me and immediately removed the book from Amazon and the other retailers. I don’t want something like that around the web with my name on it. Anyway. In the meantime I emailed this reader to thank her for her help, or I would never find out about my book problems. You need to understand that English is not my native language, and after seeing the results I was having in five months, I’ve been looking for everything that could turn readers off. This reader made me think that I had finally found the problem. Well, she answered my email with a few suggestions where she thinks the book has typos. She edited the first scene for me. Turns out she has a problem with my voice. She actually found two typos. That’s right. But most of her suggestions where about how I write, and that’s not something I think I can change.

    1. tom behr says:

      Hi Laura
      Tanks – glad it helped. Feedback is both essential and at times brutally hard. I remind myself that we live in a world in which 13-yer-old kids send out maliciously destructive Facebook posts, YouTube videos and other forms of anti-social media with no thought of the harm they are creating. If the reader has a problem with your voice, she has an easy answer: stop listening. How many books has she written? (And the corollary is don’t listen to her!) You’re right. Your voice is your voice. That said, feedback is always a gift because we can and should aim at continuously strengthening our ability to do what, as writers, we should be compelled to do: ttell our truth as powerfully and deeply as possible.

  32. Laura says:

    Thanks for the advice, Tom. This article was exactly what I needed right now. I was almost like Douglas: book available for almost five months and only 5 copies sold, but when I changed the book price to free I saw some results. Anyway, before that I gave away some samples of my book and yesterday one of the readers who got my book from this giveaway sent me an email saying that my book was full of typos and that she will give it a bad review. That would be my first review and a bad one! I ran my book through Grammarly twice and send t to an editor and it’s full of typos? I was heartbroken, thinking that the editor took advantage of me and immediately removed the book from Amazon and the other retailers. I don’t want something like that around the web with my name on it. Anyway. In the meantime I emailed this reader to thank her for her help, or I would never find out about my book problems. You need to understand that English is not my native language, and after seeing the results I was having in five months, I’ve been looking for everything that could turn readers off. This reader made me think that I had finally found the problem. Well, she answered my email with a few suggestions where she thinks the book has typos. She edited the first scene for me. Turns out she has a problem with my voice. She actually found two typos. That’s right. But most of her suggestions where about how I write, and that’s not something I think I can change.

  33. Linda says:

    I’m about to self-publish. I’ve held back for a specific reason, partly to do with ‘friendly reviews’ – the ones where you invite people to comment, because you’re a total newbie and are worrying your writing isn’t ‘good enough’….

    I have a series of 3 books about a gentleman in Uganda and the ‘work’ he does for children. His comment – ‘it’s as if you’ve known me for years and been at my side’.

    Review – your character isn’t believable; no-one could do what you say he’s done.
    Review – the story line isn’t realistic. Someone would stand in and help. There are organisations that help children like these.

    Hmmm….so probably won’t sell!

    The other reason I’ve not published yet..I’m talking with Hollywood film producers. We’ll see what they have to say. They invited me to pitch to them……

  34. Linda says:

    I’m about to self-publish. I’ve held back for a specific reason, partly to do with ‘friendly reviews’ – the ones where you invite people to comment, because you’re a total newbie and are worrying your writing isn’t ‘good enough’….

    I have a series of 3 books about a gentleman in Uganda and the ‘work’ he does for children. His comment – ‘it’s as if you’ve known me for years and been at my side’.

    Review – your character isn’t believable; no-one could do what you say he’s done.
    Review – the story line isn’t realistic. Someone would stand in and help. There are organisations that help children like these.

    Hmmm….so probably won’t sell!

    The other reason I’ve not published yet..I’m talking with Hollywood film producers. We’ll see what they have to say. They invited me to pitch to them……

  35. Helen Wilkie says:

    Here’s a comment from the other side of the picture. I recently read a novel in a well-loved series by an author who died a couple of years ago. This one was finished by a well established author who writes great books under her own name. But this one was terrible. I hated it, hated the way she treated the characters I loved, hated that she got the voice wrong, didn’t even like the story. I was so tempted to write a scathing one-star review, but then I put on my author’s hat and thought about how I would feel reading this. So I simply wrote it on paper to get it out of my system and then destroyed it without posting. I think many of those unkind reviews are just rants that people put up without thinking. Thanks for these tips on how to deal with them.

    1. Kate Findley says:

      Helen–Yes, I’ve done the same thing! Scathing reviews can be fun to write, but then I ask myself, who do they benefit besides me? Sure, I guess these reviews save readers time and money by telling them to stay away from that book, but there’s no need to be mean-spirited about it.

  36. Helen Wilkie says:

    Here’s a comment from the other side of the picture. I recently read a novel in a well-loved series by an author who died a couple of years ago. This one was finished by a well established author who writes great books under her own name. But this one was terrible. I hated it, hated the way she treated the characters I loved, hated that she got the voice wrong, didn’t even like the story. I was so tempted to write a scathing one-star review, but then I put on my author’s hat and thought about how I would feel reading this. So I simply wrote it on paper to get it out of my system and then destroyed it without posting. I think many of those unkind reviews are just rants that people put up without thinking. Thanks for these tips on how to deal with them.

    1. tom behr says:

      Hi Helen
      I review a lot of books. But I only publish 4-5 star reviews. For books that fall below that (recognizing that my evaluation of 199% subjective) I send an email to the author saying “Here’s why I’ve chosen not to review your book and what, as a reader, I enjoyed, and would have liked you to hve done.
      Cheers
      Tom

  37. Keith D Guernsey says:

    Would love your opinion on this;

    Thanks, Keith

  38. Keith D Guernsey says:

    Would love your opinion on this;

    Thanks, Keith

  39. Corinne Asch says:

    I write non-fiction occupational books. One of my books is on microblading the eyebrows, which is a form of permanent makeup.
    One reviewer told me I was disgusting for writing a book where a hands-on class was necessary. She told me I was irresponsible and disgusting.
    I responded by saying that according to her logic, we should eliminate all medical books.

  40. Corinne Asch says:

    I write non-fiction occupational books. One of my books is on microblading the eyebrows, which is a form of permanent makeup.
    One reviewer told me I was disgusting for writing a book where a hands-on class was necessary. She told me I was irresponsible and disgusting.
    I responded by saying that according to her logic, we should eliminate all medical books.

  41. Buddy Thornton says:

    A very successful sales friend of mine once told me, “No is the beginning of every successful sales call. You are selling to those who say ‘No’ and delivering to the low-lying fruit that bought instantly.” His advice was to enjoy the low-lying easy targets but not think of them as work.
    Writing is the same thing. You write to accomplish the target task and to give value where there was none before. Some people won’t embrace your vision, so absorb the reason why and adapt or move on. Either way, you keep moving.

  42. Buddy Thornton says:

    A very successful sales friend of mine once told me, “No is the beginning of every successful sales call. You are selling to those who say ‘No’ and delivering to the low-lying fruit that bought instantly.” His advice was to enjoy the low-lying easy targets but not think of them as work.
    Writing is the same thing. You write to accomplish the target task and to give value where there was none before. Some people won’t embrace your vision, so absorb the reason why and adapt or move on. Either way, you keep moving.

  43. Nichelle Rae says:

    I got a 2 star review from a woman who went on a rant about my cliffhanger ending of the 2nd book in my series. That was literally her issue. I got a whole paragraph about it. At first it stung, until a thought occurred to me, which was, “Well…I must have done SOMETHING right to get her to read to the end of my SECOND book.” 🙂 So that helped a lot in getting over it. And the first book in that series is a fat one. 🙂

  44. Nichelle Rae says:

    I got a 2 star review from a woman who went on a rant about my cliffhanger ending of the 2nd book in my series. That was literally her issue. I got a whole paragraph about it. At first it stung, until a thought occurred to me, which was, “Well…I must have done SOMETHING right to get her to read to the end of my SECOND book.” 🙂 So that helped a lot in getting over it. And the first book in that series is a fat one. 🙂

  45. David P Perlmutter says:

    I received a fantastic 1* for my book to movie BESTSELLER #WrongPlaceWrongTime about my nightmare trip to #Marbella, it read…
    “I was expecting a Hemingway travel log and what I got was Austin Powers on holiday.”

  46. David P Perlmutter says:

    I received a fantastic 1* for my book to movie BESTSELLER #WrongPlaceWrongTime about my nightmare trip to #Marbella, it read…
    “I was expecting a Hemingway travel log and what I got was Austin Powers on holiday.”

  47. Keith D Guernsey says:

    I feel very fortunate to have never had less than a 4 star review.
    Keith
    https://amzn.com/153338763X

  48. Keith D Guernsey says:

    I feel very fortunate to have never had less than a 4 star review.
    Keith
    https://amzn.com/153338763X

  49. Tracy Krauss says:

    I got a couple of one star reviews for a novella that said they liked the book but it was too short. DUH! It said right in the product description it was a novella!

  50. Tracy Krauss says:

    I got a couple of one star reviews for a novella that said they liked the book but it was too short. DUH! It said right in the product description it was a novella!

  51. Jennie Kew says:

    I’ve had a few 1 star ratings with no review attached, which at times bugs me more than a bad review because… WHY? Then I shrug and imagine how lonely it must be, being a keyboard warrior imprisoned in their mother’s basement with nothing to amuse them but trolling Goodreads.
    But I did get a 2 star review on Amazon for one of my erotic short stories:
    “No charter development. Sketchy sex scene. No plot or even a conflict. There could have been a good story in there but it was all summarized and glazed over. Very short.”
    Yeah, okay “Amazon Customer”. I’ll take that under advisement.

  52. Jennie Kew says:

    I’ve had a few 1 star ratings with no review attached, which at times bugs me more than a bad review because… WHY? Then I shrug and imagine how lonely it must be, being a keyboard warrior imprisoned in their mother’s basement with nothing to amuse them but trolling Goodreads.
    But I did get a 2 star review on Amazon for one of my erotic short stories:
    “No charter development. Sketchy sex scene. No plot or even a conflict. There could have been a good story in there but it was all summarized and glazed over. Very short.”
    Yeah, okay “Amazon Customer”. I’ll take that under advisement.

  53. Ann Albers says:

    Rejection just means you stirred up some strong emotion and someone discovered that you are not for them. I evaluate it to see if it is useful and if not I bless it and release it.

    My all time worse review was in response to a blog article. I had written about life and death which included a paragraph about how, in spite of my attempts at intervention, my dog at a bird. An angry reader wrote to tell me, that I “allowed the poor bird to die in torment because I was too cowardly to kill myself,” and suggested various therapies for me after strong admonishing me I had no right to be teaching.”

    I prayed for her. My angels told me it was her childhood abuse that necessitated her lashing out like this. When people dump their anger on you with such vitriol, it is almost certain that the anger started brewing way before you wrote your work.

    My all tie best worst review was one that started out telling me that the reader “had no idea why he was reading about a spoiled, disgruntled woman,” but then went on to say that as he got into the book he realized I was “showing readers the way out of a life that doesn’t seem to fit and feels without purpose.” I liked that one!

  54. Ann Albers says:

    Rejection just means you stirred up some strong emotion and someone discovered that you are not for them. I evaluate it to see if it is useful and if not I bless it and release it.

    My all time worse review was in response to a blog article. I had written about life and death which included a paragraph about how, in spite of my attempts at intervention, my dog at a bird. An angry reader wrote to tell me, that I “allowed the poor bird to die in torment because I was too cowardly to kill myself,” and suggested various therapies for me after strong admonishing me I had no right to be teaching.”

    I prayed for her. My angels told me it was her childhood abuse that necessitated her lashing out like this. When people dump their anger on you with such vitriol, it is almost certain that the anger started brewing way before you wrote your work.

    My all tie best worst review was one that started out telling me that the reader “had no idea why he was reading about a spoiled, disgruntled woman,” but then went on to say that as he got into the book he realized I was “showing readers the way out of a life that doesn’t seem to fit and feels without purpose.” I liked that one!

  55. Whit McClendon says:

    I’ve gotten two one-star reviews, one of which complained about the occasional sound effects I described in the book. That one ended the review by saying that the story was decent and it was _almost_ well-written, so I guess I had that going for me. My favorite was the guy who said that my first book ‘hurts to read’ and that it was ‘like dragging my mind through broken glass.’ That’s become my favorite comment, actually, just because it’s so over-the-top! It hurt at first, but I went to check out the most critical reviews received by my favorite authors, and found that they all had similar, incredibly negative and potentially hurtful comments. After seeing that, I pumped my fist and said, “YES! I’ve joined the club!” You can never please everyone, so just write what you write, clean it up as best you possibly can with an editor, and understand that trolls are out there. They’re bored, mean, and apparently enjoy trashing the hard work of authors everywhere. Reviews like that say far more about the reviewer than the book they reviewed, IMHO, so I’ll just keep on writing.

  56. Whit McClendon says:

    I’ve gotten two one-star reviews, one of which complained about the occasional sound effects I described in the book. That one ended the review by saying that the story was decent and it was _almost_ well-written, so I guess I had that going for me. My favorite was the guy who said that my first book ‘hurts to read’ and that it was ‘like dragging my mind through broken glass.’ That’s become my favorite comment, actually, just because it’s so over-the-top! It hurt at first, but I went to check out the most critical reviews received by my favorite authors, and found that they all had similar, incredibly negative and potentially hurtful comments. After seeing that, I pumped my fist and said, “YES! I’ve joined the club!” You can never please everyone, so just write what you write, clean it up as best you possibly can with an editor, and understand that trolls are out there. They’re bored, mean, and apparently enjoy trashing the hard work of authors everywhere. Reviews like that say far more about the reviewer than the book they reviewed, IMHO, so I’ll just keep on writing.

  57. Brandy Miller says:

    My first one-star review was for my book, How to Write an eBook in 40 Days (or less). I’d specifically targeted beginning writers. The reviewer told me there was “nothing new” in my book. At first, I was astonished. Of course there was nothing new here! It was targeted for beginners. Then I thought about it and decided that maybe what she was telling me was that there was not enough step-by-step for our beginning writer and I went back and am in the process of writing the best book for beginners ever written, stuff that I’ve tested on people who don’t know me and have gotten rave reviews for. I have to thank her for her review because if she hadn’t left it, I never would have gone down the path I have now.

  58. Brandy Miller says:

    My first one-star review was for my book, How to Write an eBook in 40 Days (or less). I’d specifically targeted beginning writers. The reviewer told me there was “nothing new” in my book. At first, I was astonished. Of course there was nothing new here! It was targeted for beginners. Then I thought about it and decided that maybe what she was telling me was that there was not enough step-by-step for our beginning writer and I went back and am in the process of writing the best book for beginners ever written, stuff that I’ve tested on people who don’t know me and have gotten rave reviews for. I have to thank her for her review because if she hadn’t left it, I never would have gone down the path I have now.

  59. Charlene A. Wilson says:

    I’ve had a few, but one by far stands out. It was the most thorough review I’ve had, on any star level. She praised my writing, but she hated the charactrs. She proceeded to tell in detail why. It was as if she were talking about real people and what they did that pissed her off. Of course at the time the sting to my heart over her beating up my beloved cast hit me hard. I laughed about it, because it was so obvious she’d read every word and gave me that one star for great writing, but I read and reread that review to see where I could improve the story. She had won a contest for the book, and I had announced her as the winner on my blog. A month later, she contacted me asking to take her name down or to use an alias for her. She had fled an abusive husband and was trying to hide anything that would lead him to her from the web. I took it down, with a new view of her. True or not, she needed an outlet. She read my book–the good and the bad (which from her perspective was very bad since it triggered a lot of hurt-it’s a dark Fantasy Romance)–from cover to cover, vented her thoughts and feelings about it on Goodreads, and escaped for a while. I’m proud of that review.

  60. Charlene A. Wilson says:

    I’ve had a few, but one by far stands out. It was the most thorough review I’ve had, on any star level. She praised my writing, but she hated the charactrs. She proceeded to tell in detail why. It was as if she were talking about real people and what they did that pissed her off. Of course at the time the sting to my heart over her beating up my beloved cast hit me hard. I laughed about it, because it was so obvious she’d read every word and gave me that one star for great writing, but I read and reread that review to see where I could improve the story. She had won a contest for the book, and I had announced her as the winner on my blog. A month later, she contacted me asking to take her name down or to use an alias for her. She had fled an abusive husband and was trying to hide anything that would lead him to her from the web. I took it down, with a new view of her. True or not, she needed an outlet. She read my book–the good and the bad (which from her perspective was very bad since it triggered a lot of hurt-it’s a dark Fantasy Romance)–from cover to cover, vented her thoughts and feelings about it on Goodreads, and escaped for a while. I’m proud of that review.

  61. Lisa Shiroff says:

    On the same day, 2 of my books received a one-star review by the same reviewer on Amazon, who took enough time out of his/her life to write: “Not worthy of my time.” Perhaps I’m a bit masochistic, because I clicked on that reviewer’s profile to see what he/she finds worthy. I still don’t know what that is, because the only other review that was there was identical to mine, done on the same day as mine, and for a book by an author who writes in the same genre as I do. Does that sound like trolling to anyone else? On both books, I have fewer than 10 reviews, so those one-star ones really hurt my averages. While I appreciate the advice in this article on how to deal with the rejection, I’d love some on dealing with trolls like this.

  62. Lisa Shiroff says:

    On the same day, 2 of my books received a one-star review by the same reviewer on Amazon, who took enough time out of his/her life to write: “Not worthy of my time.” Perhaps I’m a bit masochistic, because I clicked on that reviewer’s profile to see what he/she finds worthy. I still don’t know what that is, because the only other review that was there was identical to mine, done on the same day as mine, and for a book by an author who writes in the same genre as I do. Does that sound like trolling to anyone else? On both books, I have fewer than 10 reviews, so those one-star ones really hurt my averages. While I appreciate the advice in this article on how to deal with the rejection, I’d love some on dealing with trolls like this.

  63. Heather says:

    My worst review appeared on Goodreads and sat there for almost a month before I discovered it (I try not to check reviews very often). What I found was not really a book review, but a scathing personal attack on my character. I’m still at a loss to understand how she came to some of her conclusions as they could not be further from reality.

    After I picked my jaw up off the floor, I collapsed in a pool of hurt and self-doubt. What if other people thought of me like that? What if the way I write gives people the totally wrong impression of me? Maybe I should just stop work on my next book right now!

    It took about a week to get over it. Every time I thought about what she had said I went through it all over again. And the urge to write a scathing response was strong in me. My soul had been wounded. But every time, I remembered the 5 most valuable words I’ve ever learned – DON’T RESPOND TO CRITICS – EVER!

    Despite the emotional tear-down, this young woman actually gave me a 3-star review. Apparently she liked my writing; she just didn’t like me. Now, I find that hilarious – and gratifying. My writing inspired her to respond so graphically. Plus, she may have done me a favour by encouraging others to find out what all the fuss was about since sales spiked right after her “review”.

  64. Heather says:

    My worst review appeared on Goodreads and sat there for almost a month before I discovered it (I try not to check reviews very often). What I found was not really a book review, but a scathing personal attack on my character. I’m still at a loss to understand how she came to some of her conclusions as they could not be further from reality.

    After I picked my jaw up off the floor, I collapsed in a pool of hurt and self-doubt. What if other people thought of me like that? What if the way I write gives people the totally wrong impression of me? Maybe I should just stop work on my next book right now!

    It took about a week to get over it. Every time I thought about what she had said I went through it all over again. And the urge to write a scathing response was strong in me. My soul had been wounded. But every time, I remembered the 5 most valuable words I’ve ever learned – DON’T RESPOND TO CRITICS – EVER!

    Despite the emotional tear-down, this young woman actually gave me a 3-star review. Apparently she liked my writing; she just didn’t like me. Now, I find that hilarious – and gratifying. My writing inspired her to respond so graphically. Plus, she may have done me a favour by encouraging others to find out what all the fuss was about since sales spiked right after her “review”.

  65. Tom Icon says:

    I got nailed by some- keep it simple critics- at Lousy Covers site for according to them, my book cover was too complex…Really! Dumb them down huh…izzofzia.com Tom Icon

  66. Tom Icon says:

    I got nailed by some- keep it simple critics- at Lousy Covers site for according to them, my book cover was too complex…Really! Dumb them down huh…izzofzia.com Tom Icon

  67. Sharon says:

    Thank you for this post! It came at a very good time as I received my one star review a couple of weeks ago. It hurt and it really didn’t match my book, as my novel is not a ‘bodice ripper’ novel. Miles from it. But reading the comment really hurt. Your article helped me see it in a new light and my second book has a 4.5 star rating, so I have improved. I wonder if I should go back and rewrite the first book as it can be improved but I have new books in the series that need to be written. Any thoughts?

  68. Sharon says:

    Thank you for this post! It came at a very good time as I received my one star review a couple of weeks ago. It hurt and it really didn’t match my book, as my novel is not a ‘bodice ripper’ novel. Miles from it. But reading the comment really hurt. Your article helped me see it in a new light and my second book has a 4.5 star rating, so I have improved. I wonder if I should go back and rewrite the first book as it can be improved but I have new books in the series that need to be written. Any thoughts?

  69. Emma Calin says:

    OOH I”m gonna have a field day! I have a favorite 1 star review… I say ‘favorite’ because this same review is posted on 13 of my books in Amazon USA – across steamy romance, short stories, a cookery book for heaven’s sake and all 3 of my kids books. To add insult to injury it’s also been copied to the same 13 books in the UK …. and the same again on several of the books in France and Germany. Yes this reviewer was on a real hate mission…. she apparently read and reviewed all my books on one day, along with 50 other books by other authors. If she dislikes an author she writes a damning 1 star review and then slams every book they have with the same review. She gets through about 80 books a day. Mostly her reviews are on unverified purchases. I complained to Amazon that you cannot really use the same review on books across different genres/titles but they said they have looked into it and will not accept any further discussion on the matter. I lose genuine verified reviews all the time but this one is just stuck like the stickiest brown stuff that she claims are the content of my stories. Here’s the review so you can judge her eloquent use of the English language:

    “Don’t know if it’s kindle unlimited or not and not bothering to look it up nor anything else she’s written, got this somehow as an ARC and have no idea why and wished had never read it; wordy and unnecessary sexual and violent situations, too much going on, just a mish mash of ideas that definitely did not rise to ‘book’. Giving it a 2 is ‘kind’ and not going in to further detail is even kinder, in several ways, but truthful is 1. Don’t even care when book has sexual situations or ‘language’ if it has decent plot, decent characters, and makes decent sense and reasoning to put those in to story. This did not”

    So there you have it. I was devastated when I first saw it – a 1 star early after book launch is so disheartening. Then when I saw it copied to all my books I was just dumbfounded. I still cannot work out what agenda she’s on. Even more so cannot understand why Amazon allow this sort of scammy behaviour. Luckily it’s been buried below lots of kinder reviews now….

    1. Julie says:

      Emma that is strange and over the top and yes annoying Amazon won’t remove

  70. Emma Calin says:

    OOH I”m gonna have a field day! I have a favorite 1 star review… I say ‘favorite’ because this same review is posted on 13 of my books in Amazon USA – across steamy romance, short stories, a cookery book for heaven’s sake and all 3 of my kids books. To add insult to injury it’s also been copied to the same 13 books in the UK …. and the same again on several of the books in France and Germany. Yes this reviewer was on a real hate mission…. she apparently read and reviewed all my books on one day, along with 50 other books by other authors. If she dislikes an author she writes a damning 1 star review and then slams every book they have with the same review. She gets through about 80 books a day. Mostly her reviews are on unverified purchases. I complained to Amazon that you cannot really use the same review on books across different genres/titles but they said they have looked into it and will not accept any further discussion on the matter. I lose genuine verified reviews all the time but this one is just stuck like the stickiest brown stuff that she claims are the content of my stories. Here’s the review so you can judge her eloquent use of the English language:

    “Don’t know if it’s kindle unlimited or not and not bothering to look it up nor anything else she’s written, got this somehow as an ARC and have no idea why and wished had never read it; wordy and unnecessary sexual and violent situations, too much going on, just a mish mash of ideas that definitely did not rise to ‘book’. Giving it a 2 is ‘kind’ and not going in to further detail is even kinder, in several ways, but truthful is 1. Don’t even care when book has sexual situations or ‘language’ if it has decent plot, decent characters, and makes decent sense and reasoning to put those in to story. This did not”

    So there you have it. I was devastated when I first saw it – a 1 star early after book launch is so disheartening. Then when I saw it copied to all my books I was just dumbfounded. I still cannot work out what agenda she’s on. Even more so cannot understand why Amazon allow this sort of scammy behaviour. Luckily it’s been buried below lots of kinder reviews now….

  71. Kenneth R. McClelland says:

    My first book was The Pandemic Preparedness Guide, a prepper book in which my first review was 5 stars, and from a Doctor who teaches medicine in college. I was truly blessed by that, and then I went on to get more 5 star reviews from others in the medical field as well as people who teach survival or prepping. It was going great until a couple of knot-heads gave my book a 1 star and a 3 star review, because one couldn’t get it to download properly from amazon.com onto his kindle, and the other said that it would not work on his kindle… neither reviewer had actually gotten to read the book, yet they each took the time to blemish my writing due to faulty kindles or issues with amazon.com’s download format.
    ————————————————————————————————
    For my first novel: The Slave’s Diary, a work of historical fiction, I was excited because I’d received 14 reviews that were all 5 star reviews… and then suddenly the bubble-buster came with amazon review #15, when I got this one which was only 1 star out of 5. Apparently the reader expected a documentary instead of historical fiction.
    ————————————————————-
    1.0 out of 5 stars: “Some parts of the book were interesting and historically accurate, other parts gave in to negative stereotypical narratives about african americans. i didn’t not like the book for that reason.”

    .

  72. Kenneth R. McClelland says:

    My first book was The Pandemic Preparedness Guide, a prepper book in which my first review was 5 stars, and from a Doctor who teaches medicine in college. I was truly blessed by that, and then I went on to get more 5 star reviews from others in the medical field as well as people who teach survival or prepping. It was going great until a couple of knot-heads gave my book a 1 star and a 3 star review, because one couldn’t get it to download properly from amazon.com onto his kindle, and the other said that it would not work on his kindle… neither reviewer had actually gotten to read the book, yet they each took the time to blemish my writing due to faulty kindles or issues with amazon.com’s download format.
    ————————————————————————————————
    For my first novel: The Slave’s Diary, a work of historical fiction, I was excited because I’d received 14 reviews that were all 5 star reviews… and then suddenly the bubble-buster came with amazon review #15, when I got this one which was only 1 star out of 5. Apparently the reader expected a documentary instead of historical fiction.
    ————————————————————-
    1.0 out of 5 stars: “Some parts of the book were interesting and historically accurate, other parts gave in to negative stereotypical narratives about african americans. i didn’t not like the book for that reason.”

    .

  73. Peter Darley says:

    The worst review experience I ever had was actually rather disturbing. It was a one star review – from another author. Her contentions were concerned with the ‘unrealistic’ aspects of the book that had been virtually transcribed verbatim – from my own life! Additionally, she also admitted in said review to only having read the first 14 chapters. As an author, she would’ve known how damaging to future promotion prospects a one star review is, but that didn’t stop her from posting the review on Amazon.com, Amazon.co.uk., AND Goodreads. It became some kind of hate campaign from someone I didn’t even know, and I retaliated with an evidence-laden rebuttal to the review. Goodreads, in grand democratic style, then removed my rebuttal statements. To add insult to injury, this author then released a book about what fun it is to write book reviews. To this day, I have no idea what a woman who writes about salsa dancing for the over-50s thinks she’s doing trying to annihilate my action thriller. All in all, it did seem rather sinister.

  74. Peter Darley says:

    The worst review experience I ever had was actually rather disturbing. It was a one star review – from another author. Her contentions were concerned with the ‘unrealistic’ aspects of the book that had been virtually transcribed verbatim – from my own life! Additionally, she also admitted in said review to only having read the first 14 chapters. As an author, she would’ve known how damaging to future promotion prospects a one star review is, but that didn’t stop her from posting the review on Amazon.com, Amazon.co.uk., AND Goodreads. It became some kind of hate campaign from someone I didn’t even know, and I retaliated with an evidence-laden rebuttal to the review. Goodreads, in grand democratic style, then removed my rebuttal statements. To add insult to injury, this author then released a book about what fun it is to write book reviews. To this day, I have no idea what a woman who writes about salsa dancing for the over-50s thinks she’s doing trying to annihilate my action thriller. All in all, it did seem rather sinister.

  75. Dolly Kyle says:

    My latest published book was a political memoir, so I wasn’t surprised to be attacked with one-star reviews from the opposing side. I looked for constructive criticism, but found none. Nevertheless, the experience of reading over 1200 reviews (80% five-stars; 10% four-stars) made me realize that my writing MOVED people to DO something whether good or bad, and that’s an incredible feeling. I’m looking forward to publishing the six novels in my repertoire… and hoping to MOVE people again. What a kick!

  76. Dolly Kyle says:

    My latest published book was a political memoir, so I wasn’t surprised to be attacked with one-star reviews from the opposing side. I looked for constructive criticism, but found none. Nevertheless, the experience of reading over 1200 reviews (80% five-stars; 10% four-stars) made me realize that my writing MOVED people to DO something whether good or bad, and that’s an incredible feeling. I’m looking forward to publishing the six novels in my repertoire… and hoping to MOVE people again. What a kick!

  77. Roger E. Bruner says:

    The Devil and Pastor Gus has received two one-star reviews, although out of fifty-two reviews, it’s managed to maintain a 4.1 star rating. Here’s the worst one I’ve ever seen about anything. Believe it or not, I had to laugh at it because my book describes a similar reaction from the pulpit of ministers about Pastor Gus’s novel. Okay.Here goes…

    Follow me closely as I take you through this plot: Pastor Gus Gospello is going through a mid-life crisis and worried about his legacy. He’s only ever pastored a tiny church and has no kids. Gus longs to make a difference for God and so sets out to craft a novel so rich in spiritual symbolism and truth that even the Devil takes notes. (It’s important to note here that in this novel, Satan goes by the name B.L. ZeBubb.)

    Mr. ZeBubb is indeed enamored with Gus’s novel, and even offers to serve as an informant. It’s through this process we learn that Gus and Satan have a history: Gus had signed his soul over to Satan in exchange for a son. Gus backed out at the last minute and ever since, Satan has been intent on dragging Gus to hell.

    The novel is about…well, why tell you all this when it doesn’t actually ever feature highly in the story?…suffice it to say that things don’t go ZeBubb’s way and he plots his revenge on Gus, seeking to destroy him and everything he holds dear. There are twists and complications and even a mistress of Satan who becomes Gus’s associate pastor and is very popular that gets thrown into the mix. I don’t know. I tried to understand it. I just couldn’t.

    Simply put, this novel’s a mess from cover to cover and everything in between. I get that it tries to be a satire, and that’s its only saving grace. But it’s attempt at satire is too pushy, too overt, and too sloppy to even work as a Christian knockoff of an SNL sketch. I’m not even quite sure what it’s trying to satirize. It’s at its best when it satirizes the church for growing and been swayed by an associate pastor who’s really Satan’s mistress, and if that’s its best….yeah.

    The book has no idea what type of tone it should take, swinging from the ridiculously lighthearted (Heaven’s gatekeeper Simon Peter not knowing who Satan is) to incredibly dark (associate pastor Donna accusing Gus of raping her while Gus’s pregnant wife lay dying in the next room). Seriously. It also has no sense of how to show rather than tell. Gus’s magnum opus? We never so much as read a sentence from it. It jumps from topic to topic so quickly that I’m never quite sure what’s going on and what Bruner writes as satire, I see as borderline offensive and stereotypical.

    I try to find the good in novels, even ones I don’t like. When I write a critical review, I try to be fair and honest and balanced. I’ve never come across a book that I couldn’t say at least one thing good about until now. The Devil and Pastor Gus is a terrible book. It shouldn’t have been written. It shouldn’t have been published. It shouldn’t have been endorsed. I’ll not just be avoiding this author, I’ll avoiding this publisher from now on.

  78. Roger E. Bruner says:

    The Devil and Pastor Gus has received two one-star reviews, although out of fifty-two reviews, it’s managed to maintain a 4.1 star rating. Here’s the worst one I’ve ever seen about anything. Believe it or not, I had to laugh at it because my book describes a similar reaction from the pulpit of ministers about Pastor Gus’s novel. Okay.Here goes…

    Follow me closely as I take you through this plot: Pastor Gus Gospello is going through a mid-life crisis and worried about his legacy. He’s only ever pastored a tiny church and has no kids. Gus longs to make a difference for God and so sets out to craft a novel so rich in spiritual symbolism and truth that even the Devil takes notes. (It’s important to note here that in this novel, Satan goes by the name B.L. ZeBubb.)

    Mr. ZeBubb is indeed enamored with Gus’s novel, and even offers to serve as an informant. It’s through this process we learn that Gus and Satan have a history: Gus had signed his soul over to Satan in exchange for a son. Gus backed out at the last minute and ever since, Satan has been intent on dragging Gus to hell.

    The novel is about…well, why tell you all this when it doesn’t actually ever feature highly in the story?…suffice it to say that things don’t go ZeBubb’s way and he plots his revenge on Gus, seeking to destroy him and everything he holds dear. There are twists and complications and even a mistress of Satan who becomes Gus’s associate pastor and is very popular that gets thrown into the mix. I don’t know. I tried to understand it. I just couldn’t.

    Simply put, this novel’s a mess from cover to cover and everything in between. I get that it tries to be a satire, and that’s its only saving grace. But it’s attempt at satire is too pushy, too overt, and too sloppy to even work as a Christian knockoff of an SNL sketch. I’m not even quite sure what it’s trying to satirize. It’s at its best when it satirizes the church for growing and been swayed by an associate pastor who’s really Satan’s mistress, and if that’s its best….yeah.

    The book has no idea what type of tone it should take, swinging from the ridiculously lighthearted (Heaven’s gatekeeper Simon Peter not knowing who Satan is) to incredibly dark (associate pastor Donna accusing Gus of raping her while Gus’s pregnant wife lay dying in the next room). Seriously. It also has no sense of how to show rather than tell. Gus’s magnum opus? We never so much as read a sentence from it. It jumps from topic to topic so quickly that I’m never quite sure what’s going on and what Bruner writes as satire, I see as borderline offensive and stereotypical.

    I try to find the good in novels, even ones I don’t like. When I write a critical review, I try to be fair and honest and balanced. I’ve never come across a book that I couldn’t say at least one thing good about until now. The Devil and Pastor Gus is a terrible book. It shouldn’t have been written. It shouldn’t have been published. It shouldn’t have been endorsed. I’ll not just be avoiding this author, I’ll avoiding this publisher from now on.

  79. JT says:

    I wrote a historical fiction set in Ancient Sumer. One reviewer spent four paragraphs complaining that the book had “many words that are not of the language (English) the book is written in”; that there were too many characters for him to keep up with; and that he had never seen a glossary in a work of fiction before.

    I wanted to advise him to definitely stay away from Tolkien, but I bit my tongue instead…

  80. JT says:

    I wrote a historical fiction set in Ancient Sumer. One reviewer spent four paragraphs complaining that the book had “many words that are not of the language (English) the book is written in”; that there were too many characters for him to keep up with; and that he had never seen a glossary in a work of fiction before.

    I wanted to advise him to definitely stay away from Tolkien, but I bit my tongue instead…

  81. Reed Blitzerman says:

    I had a reviewer say my work “read like a first draft”
    Even though I had revised each chapter 7-8 times. I stopped writing for two weeks after that and then gradually picked back up. I don’t read much of the reviews now when I’m creating. I pay more attention to how many versus what they say. I did re-read them when I went back to do a new revision. I was able to significantly improve the manuscript that next time through. It took me one month instead of the initial seven. It’s given me new respect to anyone who creates. What took an artist a year to build, an audience consumes in a weekend. I keep writing, knowing that I’m getting better with each manuscript; and so do you. Keep going.

  82. Reed Blitzerman says:

    I had a reviewer say my work “read like a first draft”
    Even though I had revised each chapter 7-8 times. I stopped writing for two weeks after that and then gradually picked back up. I don’t read much of the reviews now when I’m creating. I pay more attention to how many versus what they say. I did re-read them when I went back to do a new revision. I was able to significantly improve the manuscript that next time through. It took me one month instead of the initial seven. It’s given me new respect to anyone who creates. What took an artist a year to build, an audience consumes in a weekend. I keep writing, knowing that I’m getting better with each manuscript; and so do you. Keep going.

  83. Julie says:

    My first book is on potty training and it’s first one star review said ‘meh, a waste’. I didn’t even have to look it up as it is etched into my brain. However I do have some amazingly awesome 4 and 5 star reviews so the rational side of me knows the one star makes the book look more legitimate.

  84. Julie says:

    My first book is on potty training and it’s first one star review said ‘meh, a waste’. I didn’t even have to look it up as it is etched into my brain. However I do have some amazingly awesome 4 and 5 star reviews so the rational side of me knows the one star makes the book look more legitimate.

  85. Jacqueline Varlotta says:

    Reviewers can tear you to sherds and make you feel as if you do not want to write anymore. But then I think, why should I let one person stop me from doing what I love to do just because she thought my book was too long. Though she loved the characters and the plot as a whole.. A book she won in a giveaway no less…A book that specifically told how many pages it was…Then why did you enter the giveaway if you did not want to read such a ‘long novel’ – I try to learn from the reviews I get. I think it helps me become a better writer. But too long a book?. Then don’t pick it up to read it or enter the giveaway….

  86. Jacqueline Varlotta says:

    Reviewers can tear you to sherds and make you feel as if you do not want to write anymore. But then I think, why should I let one person stop me from doing what I love to do just because she thought my book was too long. Though she loved the characters and the plot as a whole.. A book she won in a giveaway no less…A book that specifically told how many pages it was…Then why did you enter the giveaway if you did not want to read such a ‘long novel’ – I try to learn from the reviews I get. I think it helps me become a better writer. But too long a book?. Then don’t pick it up to read it or enter the giveaway….

  87. Patrick says:

    One should probably write a compilation of 1* reviews and that would make great and fun reading, but it’s true that it hurts, always. I don’t know if it ever goes away. I have had the honor of writing the worst book one of my commentators had ever read. Ever. I don’t know if I should cry or laugh. I think there may be some pride to take in writing a book that surpasses all others in the eyes of one individual. But I still find it hard to believe it was anything but spite for a first novel that has garnered as many accolades and successes mine had, a first self-published novel that is now published by a French publisher due to its sales success. While some negative comments may be truthful, and sometimes useful, I believe the most outlandish ones are only motivated by spite and jealousy. A badge of honor, in effect. After a while and several novels published, one skips over the bad reviews, they are not worth your time. Ever.

    1. Patrick says:

      And let’s not forget that bad critics may have their use to us writers, like the slave who rode behind the Roman emperor during his triumph, whispering in his ear that he was nothing but a mere human.

  88. Patrick says:

    One should probably write a compilation of 1* reviews and that would make great and fun reading, but it’s true that it hurts, always. I don’t know if it ever goes away. I have had the honor of writing the worst book one of my commentators had ever read. Ever. I don’t know if I should cry or laugh. I think there may be some pride to take in writing a book that surpasses all others in the eyes of one individual. But I still find it hard to believe it was anything but spite for a first novel that has garnered as many accolades and successes mine had, a first self-published novel that is now published by a French publisher due to its sales success. While some negative comments may be truthful, and sometimes useful, I believe the most outlandish ones are only motivated by spite and jealousy. A badge of honor, in effect. After a while and several novels published, one skips over the bad reviews, they are not worth your time. Ever.

  89. Tim Vicary says:

    Some reviewers are just confused. I have a one star review from an Australian reader who just wrote ‘Great Book.’ I think he thought 1 was good and 5 was bad. And today I got a three star review with the helpful comment ‘Haven’t read it yet.’

  90. Tim Vicary says:

    Some reviewers are just confused. I have a one star review from an Australian reader who just wrote ‘Great Book.’ I think he thought 1 was good and 5 was bad. And today I got a three star review with the helpful comment ‘Haven’t read it yet.’

  91. Steve Trower says:

    It just happens that I received my first 1 star review a few days ago – because ‘i don’t like giant wabbits’. My favourite one though was a review of The Ballad of Matthew Smith which apparently was about the wrong Matthew Smith. Ho hum.

  92. Steve Trower says:

    It just happens that I received my first 1 star review a few days ago – because ‘i don’t like giant wabbits’. My favourite one though was a review of The Ballad of Matthew Smith which apparently was about the wrong Matthew Smith. Ho hum.

  93. Teagan Kearney says:

    Thanks for such an encouraging post – it always helps to be reminded that lots of writers, self-published or not – receive these kind of reviews. My oddest one (1 star) was where a reviewer stated in her review of my urban fantasy novella (demons etc.,) that I should not dare to tell her it was fiction either, because “It is not.” Yeah, though this one’s on me as I’d sent her the wrong book – I should have sent her the sci-fi YA book – it might have gone down better! Two lessons learned that time.

  94. Teagan Kearney says:

    Thanks for such an encouraging post – it always helps to be reminded that lots of writers, self-published or not – receive these kind of reviews. My oddest one (1 star) was where a reviewer stated in her review of my urban fantasy novella (demons etc.,) that I should not dare to tell her it was fiction either, because “It is not.” Yeah, though this one’s on me as I’d sent her the wrong book – I should have sent her the sci-fi YA book – it might have gone down better! Two lessons learned that time.

  95. Deb McEwan says:

    Thanks for this article, I loved it. I had a horrible one-star review that was personally insulting. After some comments as to why she didn’t like the book she finished with: “…But McEwan, herself a former soldier, is apparently unaware of love for monarch, flag or country and marches on regardless.” I was fuming but decided not to respond as negative people usually get their kicks from winding up others. Having read it again, I think she’s a hater and now realise the review is more about her life experiences than it is about my book.

  96. Deb McEwan says:

    Thanks for this article, I loved it. I had a horrible one-star review that was personally insulting. After some comments as to why she didn’t like the book she finished with: “…But McEwan, herself a former soldier, is apparently unaware of love for monarch, flag or country and marches on regardless.” I was fuming but decided not to respond as negative people usually get their kicks from winding up others. Having read it again, I think she’s a hater and now realise the review is more about her life experiences than it is about my book.

  97. Melanie Robertson-King says:

    My first 1-star rating came on Goodreads four years ago for my debut novel, A Shadow in the Past. Once I got past the stinging, I said “I’ve arrived. I got my first 1-star”. After that, they’re not so much fun.

    I recently got another one for my latest novel, YESTERDAY TODAY ALWAYS, from a reader who got it free (yes, I said free) in a LibraryThing giveaway. The first line of her review was “full of graphic scenes, swear words and too much drinking”. Then she went on to totally rip the book to shreds. This shattered my self-confidence as a writer.

    The book’s description includes the disclaimer “Contains adult content, violence, and strong language. 18+ recommended.”

  98. Melanie Robertson-King says:

    My first 1-star rating came on Goodreads four years ago for my debut novel, A Shadow in the Past. Once I got past the stinging, I said “I’ve arrived. I got my first 1-star”. After that, they’re not so much fun.

    I recently got another one for my latest novel, YESTERDAY TODAY ALWAYS, from a reader who got it free (yes, I said free) in a LibraryThing giveaway. The first line of her review was “full of graphic scenes, swear words and too much drinking”. Then she went on to totally rip the book to shreds. This shattered my self-confidence as a writer.

    The book’s description includes the disclaimer “Contains adult content, violence, and strong language. 18+ recommended.”

  99. Amy Corwin says:

    I’ve been writing and being rejected/receiving bad reviews for a long time now, and thought I’d learned to deal with it. I used what I could to improve my writing and tried to ignore the bad.
    Until recently. Someone decided to write a full length book report (or dare I say, dissertation?) on my best-selling book, which is the first book in a series. Okay. I dealt with that, again by looking for any points I can use to improve. Unfortunately, it wasn’t the review that dealt me the death-blow, but everyone piling on and marking it as helpful. It got so many likes/helpful marks that it is now the top review and basically the only review anyone sees. On the first book in the series. You can imagine the results. The sad thing is that I’ve tried writing other series, tried to continue, but… After 20 years, well, what can I say? I don’t mind bad reviews–I just mind when they become the major review that anyone sees. Some hurdles just seem a little too high to scramble over, sometimes, particularly when you’re just hitting your stride, making progress, and wham… I haven’t stopped, and I haven’t stopped trying to improve, yet. Guess we’ll see.

  100. Amy Corwin says:

    I’ve been writing and being rejected/receiving bad reviews for a long time now, and thought I’d learned to deal with it. I used what I could to improve my writing and tried to ignore the bad.
    Until recently. Someone decided to write a full length book report (or dare I say, dissertation?) on my best-selling book, which is the first book in a series. Okay. I dealt with that, again by looking for any points I can use to improve. Unfortunately, it wasn’t the review that dealt me the death-blow, but everyone piling on and marking it as helpful. It got so many likes/helpful marks that it is now the top review and basically the only review anyone sees. On the first book in the series. You can imagine the results. The sad thing is that I’ve tried writing other series, tried to continue, but… After 20 years, well, what can I say? I don’t mind bad reviews–I just mind when they become the major review that anyone sees. Some hurdles just seem a little too high to scramble over, sometimes, particularly when you’re just hitting your stride, making progress, and wham… I haven’t stopped, and I haven’t stopped trying to improve, yet. Guess we’ll see.

  101. Terry Atkinson says:

    Hi Amy,
    I’d love to get a copy of your first book in the series. If it was your best-selling book, there are obviously lots of readers who enjoyed it. I am happy to read it and give it an honest and helpful review, time permitting.
    That reviewer who attempted to tear it apart is probably just jealous. Critics are usually not successful writers. Not every book is to ever reader’s taste.
    Keep on writing and sharing your ideas and work with readers. Don’t let some mean-minded person and a bunch of mean-minded sheep following with their 1-click “likes” and “helpful” of a clearly destructive review, discourage you.
    Write for the readers who enjoy your books and promote to those readers – and above all, enjoy your writing.
    Wave a cheery farewell to that silly reviewer, and don’t spend any more of your time even wasting your thoughts on that person.
    All the best,
    Terry

  102. Terry Atkinson says:

    Hi Amy,
    I’d love to get a copy of your first book in the series. If it was your best-selling book, there are obviously lots of readers who enjoyed it. I am happy to read it and give it an honest and helpful review, time permitting.
    That reviewer who attempted to tear it apart is probably just jealous. Critics are usually not successful writers. Not every book is to ever reader’s taste.
    Keep on writing and sharing your ideas and work with readers. Don’t let some mean-minded person and a bunch of mean-minded sheep following with their 1-click “likes” and “helpful” of a clearly destructive review, discourage you.
    Write for the readers who enjoy your books and promote to those readers – and above all, enjoy your writing.
    Wave a cheery farewell to that silly reviewer, and don’t spend any more of your time even wasting your thoughts on that person.
    All the best,
    Terry

  103. Lillith Black says:

    Just got my first 2* review! The reader ran into a love scene and that was a stopping point for her (even though it’s an urban fantasy romance and there are no explicit words, parts or actions in it). She also assumed that I will have f-words in there (which I don’t) just cause my characters said “Shit” a few times. I guess she is not my reader… *Shrug* 🙂

  104. Lillith Black says:

    Just got my first 2* review! The reader ran into a love scene and that was a stopping point for her (even though it’s an urban fantasy romance and there are no explicit words, parts or actions in it). She also assumed that I will have f-words in there (which I don’t) just cause my characters said “Shit” a few times. I guess she is not my reader… *Shrug* 🙂

  105. Hev Ward says:

    I had about 3,4 and 5 star reviews from strangers in the US and the UK, which I was more than happy with but then I got a 1 star and a one word review ‘Boring’. That was frustrating – why was it boring? – if you’re going to leave a review like that at least give a little more feedback. Wally! I then had another 30 good reviews and then one from the US ‘Enjoyed the book there are a lot of typos or spelling mistakes but the author is from Whales’. Gave me and my mates a laugh that one back here in Wales. 😀

  106. Hev Ward says:

    I had about 3,4 and 5 star reviews from strangers in the US and the UK, which I was more than happy with but then I got a 1 star and a one word review ‘Boring’. That was frustrating – why was it boring? – if you’re going to leave a review like that at least give a little more feedback. Wally! I then had another 30 good reviews and then one from the US ‘Enjoyed the book there are a lot of typos or spelling mistakes but the author is from Whales’. Gave me and my mates a laugh that one back here in Wales. 😀

  107. Wendy says:

    My VERY first review of my VERY first book (a weaving book specifically for looper weaving on potholder looms) was a two-star review from someone looking for bias-weaving instruction and actually returned my book for not covering bias weave. Potholder looms are the one type of small frame loom that are unsuitable for bias-weaving–though I’ve recently found a YouTube video with a hack to use them that way. (That’s sort of like complaining that a book about driving go-carts doesn’t cover double-clutch shifting.)

  108. Wendy says:

    My VERY first review of my VERY first book (a weaving book specifically for looper weaving on potholder looms) was a two-star review from someone looking for bias-weaving instruction and actually returned my book for not covering bias weave. Potholder looms are the one type of small frame loom that are unsuitable for bias-weaving–though I’ve recently found a YouTube video with a hack to use them that way. (That’s sort of like complaining that a book about driving go-carts doesn’t cover double-clutch shifting.)

  109. Louisa says:

    I got a couple of one stars on Goodreads, but only one of them left a text review. It didn’t bother me for too long, because I have a lot of 4 and 5 star reviews, but still…someone calling your book ‘another train wreck’ clearly showed their disgust. I’m actually pleasantly surprised that I don’t have more of these kind of reviews, because it is, as this reviewer goes on to say, “Very anti-Catholic” . BUT here’s the thing…my book is about the Anabaptists during the Reformation-500 years ago, I might add–and the Catholics were hunting the Anabaptists to torture them and kill them. How could it not be anti-Catholic?

  110. Louisa says:

    I got a couple of one stars on Goodreads, but only one of them left a text review. It didn’t bother me for too long, because I have a lot of 4 and 5 star reviews, but still…someone calling your book ‘another train wreck’ clearly showed their disgust. I’m actually pleasantly surprised that I don’t have more of these kind of reviews, because it is, as this reviewer goes on to say, “Very anti-Catholic” . BUT here’s the thing…my book is about the Anabaptists during the Reformation-500 years ago, I might add–and the Catholics were hunting the Anabaptists to torture them and kill them. How could it not be anti-Catholic?

  111. Anne Hagan says:

    My favorite bad one, 2 stars, reads, verbatim: “I didn’t realize when I ordered this book that it was a LGBTQ book. I failed to read the description before I ordered it. I returned the book without reading it.” She titled it, “Look before you buy” and admits that she is the one that errored. Guess she thought that merited 2 stars as some sort of warning to others to read descriptions before they buy.

    For the record, it’s a mystery with lesbian leads and it’s well advertised as such; teaser line, categories, everything. 16 “unhelpful” votes have pushed the review way down but I still shake my head.

  112. Anne Hagan says:

    My favorite bad one, 2 stars, reads, verbatim: “I didn’t realize when I ordered this book that it was a LGBTQ book. I failed to read the description before I ordered it. I returned the book without reading it.” She titled it, “Look before you buy” and admits that she is the one that errored. Guess she thought that merited 2 stars as some sort of warning to others to read descriptions before they buy.

    For the record, it’s a mystery with lesbian leads and it’s well advertised as such; teaser line, categories, everything. 16 “unhelpful” votes have pushed the review way down but I still shake my head.

  113. Aldrea Alien says:

    My favourite bad review was a 1-star that announced: “This author is not a Robert Jordan despite the 800+ pages.” I just shrugged and moved on, just like I did with the 2-star. They are, collectively, two people that didn’t mesh with the story.

    Then 17 days ago a review popped up that included the piece: “Another complaint was that the author tried and failed to be Robert Jordan. It’s glaringly obvious the author wasn’t trying to be! There’s a great many fantastic Fantasy writers out there who are incredibly successful and none of them are similar to Jordan, just as this author’s isn’t. She doesn’t need to be. She’s plenty capable of writing in her own style and successfully too.”

  114. Aldrea Alien says:

    My favourite bad review was a 1-star that announced: “This author is not a Robert Jordan despite the 800+ pages.” I just shrugged and moved on, just like I did with the 2-star. They are, collectively, two people that didn’t mesh with the story.

    Then 17 days ago a review popped up that included the piece: “Another complaint was that the author tried and failed to be Robert Jordan. It’s glaringly obvious the author wasn’t trying to be! There’s a great many fantastic Fantasy writers out there who are incredibly successful and none of them are similar to Jordan, just as this author’s isn’t. She doesn’t need to be. She’s plenty capable of writing in her own style and successfully too.”

  115. Caron Allan says:

    I started self-publishing my books five years ago, and I’ve got several books out now. I’ve had a few really awful reviews, though mercifully I’ve had mainly good ones. I had one which proclaimed that my book was ‘the worst book’ this person had ever read. That made me laugh – even I don’t aspire to such extremes that I can be the worst. i used that in promo, saying ‘read a book someone says is the worst they’ve ever read.’ And I’ve had a couple that said things along the lines of ‘Typically British but in spite of that, it was okay.’ Well I am British, i write in British English and my books are set in Britain in the 1930s, So… I try to make my writing easy to read, and strive for clarity. I don’t use obscure English slang – or at least not much – so I’m trying to reach readers outside the UK. I get annoyed when readers say things like, ‘I couldn’t be bothered to read this book, the free sample was enough to put me off, I bet she didn’t really do the murder, she was just all talk, this book is rubbish.’ A type of review that irks me is ‘Not the kind of story I enjoy’. But at the end of the day, everyone is entitled to their opinion, and I have to hope that readers will not be put off my work. I feel there’s not really anything I can do apart from keep on keeping on.

  116. Caron Allan says:

    I started self-publishing my books five years ago, and I’ve got several books out now. I’ve had a few really awful reviews, though mercifully I’ve had mainly good ones. I had one which proclaimed that my book was ‘the worst book’ this person had ever read. That made me laugh – even I don’t aspire to such extremes that I can be the worst. i used that in promo, saying ‘read a book someone says is the worst they’ve ever read.’ And I’ve had a couple that said things along the lines of ‘Typically British but in spite of that, it was okay.’ Well I am British, i write in British English and my books are set in Britain in the 1930s, So… I try to make my writing easy to read, and strive for clarity. I don’t use obscure English slang – or at least not much – so I’m trying to reach readers outside the UK. I get annoyed when readers say things like, ‘I couldn’t be bothered to read this book, the free sample was enough to put me off, I bet she didn’t really do the murder, she was just all talk, this book is rubbish.’ A type of review that irks me is ‘Not the kind of story I enjoy’. But at the end of the day, everyone is entitled to their opinion, and I have to hope that readers will not be put off my work. I feel there’s not really anything I can do apart from keep on keeping on.

  117. Chris Brooks says:

    Now that me me laugh, because it sounded deeply familiar. Here’s a review I received on one of my books:
    “I agreed to read this book in exchange for my review because I love dogs and I have a heart for those animals that are discarded like worn out socks. At first I was annoyed with what appeared to be grammatical errors. Before I gave up on the book, I realized this author is not American. She lives in England and she is literate! From then on I enjoyed her moment-by-moment descriptions of how she found and “rehomed” (in America we would say “adopted”) nine dogs that were cast off as undesirable by those who should have cared for them.”

    Ring a bell? lol!

  118. Chris Brooks says:

    Now that me me laugh, because it sounded deeply familiar. Here’s a review I received on one of my books:
    “I agreed to read this book in exchange for my review because I love dogs and I have a heart for those animals that are discarded like worn out socks. At first I was annoyed with what appeared to be grammatical errors. Before I gave up on the book, I realized this author is not American. She lives in England and she is literate! From then on I enjoyed her moment-by-moment descriptions of how she found and “rehomed” (in America we would say “adopted”) nine dogs that were cast off as undesirable by those who should have cared for them.”

    Ring a bell? lol!

  119. Dixie Jarchow says:

    On a novella length romance: predictble ending, could have been written by anyone.

    I don’t read the reviews anymore or I would dwell on them too much. I listen to my agent and beta readers.

  120. Dixie Jarchow says:

    On a novella length romance: predictble ending, could have been written by anyone.

    I don’t read the reviews anymore or I would dwell on them too much. I listen to my agent and beta readers.

  121. Murray Peters says:

    The one star rating I got said, “Stupid. No plot” for a day in the life story.

  122. Murray Peters says:

    The one star rating I got said, “Stupid. No plot” for a day in the life story.

  123. Karen says:

    Just writing this sends arrows of fear into my brain. So much so, that I’m having a tough time writing. Some psycho emailed me and stated that he hated my work so badly, that “if he could find me, he would kill me.”

  124. Karen says:

    Just writing this sends arrows of fear into my brain. So much so, that I’m having a tough time writing. Some psycho emailed me and stated that he hated my work so badly, that “if he could find me, he would kill me.”

  125. Belle Ami says:

    This review made me cry, but the good news is my book hit #7 on Amazon today in Mystery/Suspense/Thriller so I’m feeling pretty good!
    This is just sappy, awful
    ByCherylon June 25, 2018
    Verified Purchase
    Format: Kindle Edition
    Oh, wow, this book was billed as an “out time suspense thriller.” What the description left out was “romantic.” I love thrillers, especially those that involve time travel. I don’t do romances, which this is so full of, I’m having a hard time getting through it. Since I’m more than halfway through, I’ll slog through it, but I can just about guess how it all will end. I wish I had read more of the description and more reviews before I take the bait on my Kindle again. Yeah, it was only $4.99, but that money could have been better spent than on this junk.

  126. Belle Ami says:

    This review made me cry, but the good news is my book hit #7 on Amazon today in Mystery/Suspense/Thriller so I’m feeling pretty good!
    This is just sappy, awful
    ByCherylon June 25, 2018
    Verified Purchase
    Format: Kindle Edition
    Oh, wow, this book was billed as an “out time suspense thriller.” What the description left out was “romantic.” I love thrillers, especially those that involve time travel. I don’t do romances, which this is so full of, I’m having a hard time getting through it. Since I’m more than halfway through, I’ll slog through it, but I can just about guess how it all will end. I wish I had read more of the description and more reviews before I take the bait on my Kindle again. Yeah, it was only $4.99, but that money could have been better spent than on this junk.

  127. Scott Harpole says:

    My first book was a children’s, fictional bedtime story. My most hilarious, critical review was …
    “I love children’s books. This is not a well written book. I will not be reading it to the children in my life. I would recommend that the author think about editing it to make it a true story.”

  128. Scott Harpole says:

    My first book was a children’s, fictional bedtime story. My most hilarious, critical review was …
    “I love children’s books. This is not a well written book. I will not be reading it to the children in my life. I would recommend that the author think about editing it to make it a true story.”

  129. Carron Stevenson says:

    Thank you so much for such a positive way to look at the harsh reviews. I’ve just released my first novel and my only review was a harsh two star review… from my best friend! Oh that hurt! Since then I’ve only sold one more book. I worked my way through the pain before having a discussion with her about it. She reads best sellers with long descriptions and I’d deliberately left that out so the book would resonate with more people struggling with abuse, debt and alcoholism. Each tough subjects in their own right. She has since amended the review but the two star remains. Fair enough.

  130. Carron Stevenson says:

    Thank you so much for such a positive way to look at the harsh reviews. I’ve just released my first novel and my only review was a harsh two star review… from my best friend! Oh that hurt! Since then I’ve only sold one more book. I worked my way through the pain before having a discussion with her about it. She reads best sellers with long descriptions and I’d deliberately left that out so the book would resonate with more people struggling with abuse, debt and alcoholism. Each tough subjects in their own right. She has since amended the review but the two star remains. Fair enough.

  131. Brad Foster says:

    Hmm, seems the only review I get (at least on Goodreads) is a negative one!:

    “I didn’t understand a lot of this story. I don’t even want to give it 1 star.”
    This wasn’t helpful at all! Ok she didn’t like it, and yes I know she doesn’t owe me an explanation – though it would have been nice 🙂

  132. Brad Foster says:

    Hmm, seems the only review I get (at least on Goodreads) is a negative one!:

    “I didn’t understand a lot of this story. I don’t even want to give it 1 star.”
    This wasn’t helpful at all! Ok she didn’t like it, and yes I know she doesn’t owe me an explanation – though it would have been nice 🙂

  133. Sergey Skudaev says:

    In 2011, I published “The easiest way to understand algebra” and its cover had the system of the two equations. One equation was subtracted from another and the answer was provided under the line. Even thought the cover was very simple in that time the book was selling well. Then a teacher, who even did not read the book, left comment that the answer on the cover is not correct. He misunderstood the problem and add the equations instead of subtracting them. He probably was not a good teacher, but because he wrote that he was a math teacher, my book sales dropped. I re-published the book under a pen name with the new cover created by a designer but it did not help.

  134. Sergey Skudaev says:

    In 2011, I published “The easiest way to understand algebra” and its cover had the system of the two equations. One equation was subtracted from another and the answer was provided under the line. Even thought the cover was very simple in that time the book was selling well. Then a teacher, who even did not read the book, left comment that the answer on the cover is not correct. He misunderstood the problem and add the equations instead of subtracting them. He probably was not a good teacher, but because he wrote that he was a math teacher, my book sales dropped. I re-published the book under a pen name with the new cover created by a designer but it did not help.

  135. Patrice Fitzgerald says:

    My favorite (and worst) review, below, which I currently find hilarious–since it’s been five years:

    1.0 out of 5 stars
    Absolutely terrible
    By Giacomo
    Format: Kindle EditionVerified Purchase
    I bought this book because, after reading the amazing Wool and Shift series by Hugh Howey, I wanted to dwell a bit longer in the silo world (before getting my hands on Dust later this year).

    Compared to Howey’s work, this piece is simply pathetic. It is:

    1) rather dumb in its premise
    2) boring and unintelligent
    3) poorly written (at least compared to Howey’s amazing prose)
    4) a rip off. For the price of this 30-min read one can buy the whole Wool series

    Dear Patrice and the others camping in Howey’s success, please stop writing in the Silo world and find your own topic. Thank you.

  136. Patrice Fitzgerald says:

    My favorite (and worst) review, below, which I currently find hilarious–since it’s been five years:

    1.0 out of 5 stars
    Absolutely terrible
    By Giacomo
    Format: Kindle EditionVerified Purchase
    I bought this book because, after reading the amazing Wool and Shift series by Hugh Howey, I wanted to dwell a bit longer in the silo world (before getting my hands on Dust later this year).

    Compared to Howey’s work, this piece is simply pathetic. It is:

    1) rather dumb in its premise
    2) boring and unintelligent
    3) poorly written (at least compared to Howey’s amazing prose)
    4) a rip off. For the price of this 30-min read one can buy the whole Wool series

    Dear Patrice and the others camping in Howey’s success, please stop writing in the Silo world and find your own topic. Thank you.

  137. Sue Johnson says:

    I got a 1* review when one of my novels was on promotion. A lady ordered the book one day too late and ended up paying full price for it. She was so annoyed she gave me a one star review and said she wasn’t going to bother to read the book!

  138. Sue Johnson says:

    I got a 1* review when one of my novels was on promotion. A lady ordered the book one day too late and ended up paying full price for it. She was so annoyed she gave me a one star review and said she wasn’t going to bother to read the book!

  139. Tom Goymour says:

    Great article, short and to the point, outlining key characteristics we all should possess as writers.
    I got a one star that made me smile. It was so damning I thought ‘here’s someone who just doesn’t like anything about me or my writing.

    “Sorry Tom. This book lacked everything. Depth, characters, a proper plot, explanations. It was messy, unclear and disjointed. I have written better stories and I have no idea how you even managed to get this one published. I have the rest of the series but I will be containing them to permanent history. Suggest you find a better career.”
    Boy, was I tempted … but I didn’t, I behaved myself, replying would have been very unprofessional. But it was quite fun replying in my head.

    I would love to see the better stories this woman could write herself, and, this was the free book – first of the series, which makes me wonder why on earth she bought the others!
    The book isn’t the strongest freebie that has ever been written but it averages 4 stars and has a handful of reviews. I just think you should only really take reviews like this seriously if you get several of them.
    What doesn’t kill you makes you stronger.

  140. Tom Goymour says:

    Great article, short and to the point, outlining key characteristics we all should possess as writers.
    I got a one star that made me smile. It was so damning I thought ‘here’s someone who just doesn’t like anything about me or my writing.

    “Sorry Tom. This book lacked everything. Depth, characters, a proper plot, explanations. It was messy, unclear and disjointed. I have written better stories and I have no idea how you even managed to get this one published. I have the rest of the series but I will be containing them to permanent history. Suggest you find a better career.”
    Boy, was I tempted … but I didn’t, I behaved myself, replying would have been very unprofessional. But it was quite fun replying in my head.

    I would love to see the better stories this woman could write herself, and, this was the free book – first of the series, which makes me wonder why on earth she bought the others!
    The book isn’t the strongest freebie that has ever been written but it averages 4 stars and has a handful of reviews. I just think you should only really take reviews like this seriously if you get several of them.
    What doesn’t kill you makes you stronger.

  141. Rachel Devenish Ford says:

    I have a series of the best of my blog posts, which I put together after more than a dozen people said they had clicked through eight years of posts to read every one. They are humorous and deep memoir. I’ve had hundreds of positive reviews, but when people don’t like them, they really don’t like them.
    I like to read the bad reviews aloud to my friends. My favorite is a one star which says, “Nothing interesting about her life whatsoever.” Another one says they cannot understand my outlandish life. And another says, “Just a whiny, dysfunctional woman.” LOL.
    When I get bad reviews I go to my favorite books by award-winning authors, and I read their one-star reviews. Works every time. No matter what you write, some one will hate it. And many more will love it.

  142. Rachel Devenish Ford says:

    I have a series of the best of my blog posts, which I put together after more than a dozen people said they had clicked through eight years of posts to read every one. They are humorous and deep memoir. I’ve had hundreds of positive reviews, but when people don’t like them, they really don’t like them.
    I like to read the bad reviews aloud to my friends. My favorite is a one star which says, “Nothing interesting about her life whatsoever.” Another one says they cannot understand my outlandish life. And another says, “Just a whiny, dysfunctional woman.” LOL.
    When I get bad reviews I go to my favorite books by award-winning authors, and I read their one-star reviews. Works every time. No matter what you write, some one will hate it. And many more will love it.

  143. Ruth Kidson says:

    I am a doctor and complementary therapist and have written several books on aspects of medicine. A couple of years ago I wrote a book called Insomnia and Other Sleep Disorders. An Amazon reviewer gave me three stars but wrote “The later sections are helpful, but you get the feeling that the author has a hidden agenda; seems to want us to share his “spiritual bias” and that is not the facts I was seeking.”
    I replied to this, saying ” I have no hidden agenda at all, other than wanting to help people sleep.” I answered her comment about ‘spiritual bias’ (which I didn’t understand) by asking if she was referring to the discussion of ‘energies’ in the sections acupuncture, crystals and ayurvedic medicine or the section on meditation and visualisation, I pointed out that while, in the case of the first, I had explained the classical theory of “energies” and in the second I had referred to the methods’ origins in spiritual practice I had stressed that they could all be used quite independently of any spirituality and required the patient to have no particular belief system..
    What really amused me, though, was that she wrote “his belief system” whereas the cover of the book clearly states that it’s by Dr. Ruth Lever Kidson – and, as far as I’m aware, Ruth has never been a man’s name! I was unable to resist pointing out her “typo”.

  144. Ruth Kidson says:

    I am a doctor and complementary therapist and have written several books on aspects of medicine. A couple of years ago I wrote a book called Insomnia and Other Sleep Disorders. An Amazon reviewer gave me three stars but wrote “The later sections are helpful, but you get the feeling that the author has a hidden agenda; seems to want us to share his “spiritual bias” and that is not the facts I was seeking.”
    I replied to this, saying ” I have no hidden agenda at all, other than wanting to help people sleep.” I answered her comment about ‘spiritual bias’ (which I didn’t understand) by asking if she was referring to the discussion of ‘energies’ in the sections acupuncture, crystals and ayurvedic medicine or the section on meditation and visualisation, I pointed out that while, in the case of the first, I had explained the classical theory of “energies” and in the second I had referred to the methods’ origins in spiritual practice I had stressed that they could all be used quite independently of any spirituality and required the patient to have no particular belief system..
    What really amused me, though, was that she wrote “his belief system” whereas the cover of the book clearly states that it’s by Dr. Ruth Lever Kidson – and, as far as I’m aware, Ruth has never been a man’s name! I was unable to resist pointing out her “typo”.

  145. Sunny Lockwood says:

    My husband and I write travel memoirs. About a year ago I asked a book reviewer who said she liked memoirs if she’d review our book “Finding Ourselves in Venice, Florence, Rome & Barcelona.” She said “yes,” and I sent her a complimentary copy. She gave a three-star review because she said the book did not include enough photographs. She particularly complained about my passage on the Bridge of Sighs and the Bridge of Straw in Venice, saying I devoted a lot of text to these bridges, but had no photograph of them.

    I checked, and sure enough there’s a beautiful photograph of both bridges in the book. And it shows up on the very page where where we describe them and the surrounding area.

    I virtually never respond to reviewers because I believe they have a right to their opinion. But this was a serious mistake and I was sure she’d want to correct it in her review. So I sent her an email thanking her for taking the time to read and review our book, and pointing out that there are photos in almost every chapter. And then I said as politely as possible that her specific criticism about no photo of the Bridge of Sighs and the Bridge of Straw was incorrect. I gave her the page number where the photo of those bridges appears.

    She wrote back, “Oh, I know, but I loved my wording on that sentence, so I just left it in.” and she put a smiley face at the end of her sentence.
    I was so taken aback by her lack of professionalism, and her allowing a serious error to remain in her review, that I’m still talking about it more than a year later.
    So there you go, that’s my story about a shocking review.

    Most of our reviews are positive. And we continue to write travel memoirs that we hope entertain and inspire our readers. Thanks for the chance to share my story.

  146. Sunny Lockwood says:

    My husband and I write travel memoirs. About a year ago I asked a book reviewer who said she liked memoirs if she’d review our book “Finding Ourselves in Venice, Florence, Rome & Barcelona.” She said “yes,” and I sent her a complimentary copy. She gave a three-star review because she said the book did not include enough photographs. She particularly complained about my passage on the Bridge of Sighs and the Bridge of Straw in Venice, saying I devoted a lot of text to these bridges, but had no photograph of them.

    I checked, and sure enough there’s a beautiful photograph of both bridges in the book. And it shows up on the very page where where we describe them and the surrounding area.

    I virtually never respond to reviewers because I believe they have a right to their opinion. But this was a serious mistake and I was sure she’d want to correct it in her review. So I sent her an email thanking her for taking the time to read and review our book, and pointing out that there are photos in almost every chapter. And then I said as politely as possible that her specific criticism about no photo of the Bridge of Sighs and the Bridge of Straw was incorrect. I gave her the page number where the photo of those bridges appears.

    She wrote back, “Oh, I know, but I loved my wording on that sentence, so I just left it in.” and she put a smiley face at the end of her sentence.
    I was so taken aback by her lack of professionalism, and her allowing a serious error to remain in her review, that I’m still talking about it more than a year later.
    So there you go, that’s my story about a shocking review.

    Most of our reviews are positive. And we continue to write travel memoirs that we hope entertain and inspire our readers. Thanks for the chance to share my story.

  147. De Fletcher says:

    I received a one-star rating from a reader who didn’t like the details of child abuse in my book. My title is “Simply Unbreakable”. The subtitle is “Overcoming Childhood Trauma . . .”. I purposefully did not go into any gory details of the abuse in my book! So, I’m thinking “Why would a person buy a book about child abuse and then give a bad review because there was child abuse in the book?

    I didn’t respond to the reviewer, but I did post an “advice about buying books on child abuse” in my blog.

  148. De Fletcher says:

    I received a one-star rating from a reader who didn’t like the details of child abuse in my book. My title is “Simply Unbreakable”. The subtitle is “Overcoming Childhood Trauma . . .”. I purposefully did not go into any gory details of the abuse in my book! So, I’m thinking “Why would a person buy a book about child abuse and then give a bad review because there was child abuse in the book?

    I didn’t respond to the reviewer, but I did post an “advice about buying books on child abuse” in my blog.

  149. Pete Blyth says:

    not a review as such but a beta reader complained that my book had far too much swearing and bad language. This was for a book about mercenaries in the Belgian Congo/Katanganese secession with the working title, Rain of Blood. What was I supposed to do “I say Tshombe old bean I really am quite miffed at you stealing our copper, so I’m not going to talk to you any more.” Yeah , no

  150. Pete Blyth says:

    not a review as such but a beta reader complained that my book had far too much swearing and bad language. This was for a book about mercenaries in the Belgian Congo/Katanganese secession with the working title, Rain of Blood. What was I supposed to do “I say Tshombe old bean I really am quite miffed at you stealing our copper, so I’m not going to talk to you any more.” Yeah , no

  151. Mary Beth Gibson says:

    I got a 3-star review for my historical fiction set in Ireland, Aroon. The reviewer said the story turned out okay, but the title was misleading. They expected a story about Japanese women dealing with waterfowl. My husband finally figured out it was a racist comment from someone mocking the stereotypical Japanese pronunciation of “a loon.” Amazon removed it on their own.

  152. Mary Beth Gibson says:

    I got a 3-star review for my historical fiction set in Ireland, Aroon. The reviewer said the story turned out okay, but the title was misleading. They expected a story about Japanese women dealing with waterfowl. My husband finally figured out it was a racist comment from someone mocking the stereotypical Japanese pronunciation of “a loon.” Amazon removed it on their own.

  153. Christopher J Valin says:

    I received a one-star review on Goodreads in which the reviewer said that she never wished so hard that she could leave zero stars. The book starts out with a lot of similarities to a famous franchise so that expectations can be subverted later on in the story, but she only read about a quarter of it and decided it was just fan fiction.

  154. Christopher J Valin says:

    I received a one-star review on Goodreads in which the reviewer said that she never wished so hard that she could leave zero stars. The book starts out with a lot of similarities to a famous franchise so that expectations can be subverted later on in the story, but she only read about a quarter of it and decided it was just fan fiction.

  155. Jennifer Silverwood says:

    I think my favorite one star review was gifted to me from a kid. Here’s what he had to say:
    “7% Deleted

    I read to 7% and wondered how the author managed to graduate school and never take a science class. I’m talking BASIC science around the 6th. grade level. Sorry but this is rubbish.”

  156. Jennifer Silverwood says:

    I think my favorite one star review was gifted to me from a kid. Here’s what he had to say:
    “7% Deleted

    I read to 7% and wondered how the author managed to graduate school and never take a science class. I’m talking BASIC science around the 6th. grade level. Sorry but this is rubbish.”

  157. Wendy says:

    I got a 2-star review from a buyer who returned my book of plain-weave patterns for the potholder loom because it didn’t describe how to perform patterns in triangle weaving– the one type of weaving the typical potholder loom is unsuitable for.

  158. Dolly Kyle says:

    Because I wrote a “political memoir” (which was published in 2016), I received plenty of one-star reviews from “the other side.” Clearly, many of these so-called reviewers hadn’t even bothered to read my book (HILLARY THE OTHER WOMAN), and their barbs were viciously personal. Perhaps that was a good way to get started on receiving one-star reviews without getting upset; unfortunately, the reviewers didn’t even help me by offering criticism that I could use. Nevertheless, I got over the slings and arrows, and I’ve been blessed with over 1,000 five-star reviews, but many of the good reviews weren’t helpful either, since they were also politically biased.

    I think the best thing is to be pleased with my own work and to have supportive beta readers. Now, back to my fiction, which is a lot more fun! ~ Dolly Kyle

  159. Glen Kenner says:

    I have just one 1-star review on Amazon. The reviewer stated that I use short, choppy sentences and trash language and that my novel is the worst thing the reader has ever tried to read in 65 years of reading sci-fi. It was written by my uncle. Ouch.

  160. Florence says:

    I received a one-star review from someone who said he/she had downloaded the wrong book and didn’t read it. Really?

  161. Great article!

    I write BDSM erotic romance, with male dominants and female subs, and it’s really clear in the blurb what sort of book you are getting, so goodness only knows why this particular person picked it up, but here’s their one star review:

    “If you like submission and nipple clamps read it, but it is not for me
    Total c**p but then this is not my kind of book. Did we go through Womens’ Lib?”

    Honestly, when I first saw it, I re-read it a couple of times wondering quite what I was seeing and then I laughed. I also used what they said a few times in my marketing and got the response that people had bought it precisely because of that review because it made it clear to them that they WOULD like it :D.

    Liv

  162. I’ve been lucky in that the only real criticism has been the language a character uses. (Hello, it says that under the blurb and on the cover) I took it as a person who had a legit complaint by not reading the warning of language and adult situations.

    l’ve learned to take them as a learning tool plus, depending on the way things are said, as someone who just didn’t like the book or was having a bad day. It hurts, but I get over it quickly and move on, taking the criticism for what it’s worth. I figure I’ve got another three years to make a name for myself, so I’m enjoying the ride and negative reviews are all part of the learning process.

  163. A.C. Melody says:

    The only review I’ve ever gotten that gave me a bad reaction wasn’t even a 1*, this person had absolutely nothing nice to say about the whole 37% of my book they read, yet gave me 3 stars. I’m still a little flabbergasted over that. After I had time to react and think of all the ways I wanted to justify my book and characters against the things highlighted in the review, I realized that it wasn’t my book or my characters. This person simply did not grasp any of it, and I had to acknowledge that that’s bound to happen. That not everyone is going to understand my books. It was obvious by what was said in the review that they had missed clearly stated explanations to their own complaints in the story, itself, which means they weren’t even really reading it that thoroughly and possibly just skimming through.

    The part that first floored me, then made me decide with certainty not to respond at all was when they said: “There are elements in this story that really bother me, one being I dislike all things monied and show-off-y that it usually turns ne off.” – The title of the book is AVARICE, which I’m left to assume this particular reader doesn’t realize is another word for Greed, otherwise they would’ve saved themselves the wasted time and my brain the wasted energy of my reaction. This was the only time it was hard not to respond to a review, otherwise, good or bad, I don’t usually respond at all, though I will “like” a review on Goodreads to let the reader know I’ve seen it and appreciate the time they’ve taken to review.

  164. My worst review wasn’t so much a review as an opinion. It was a 3*, and simplybsaid ‘Good idea, poor execution.’ What use is that, either to me, or to any potential readers?

  165. Sharon Mitchell says:

    I once got a 2star that said, “Didn’t finish it. Guess I just didn’t feel like reading.”

    Yet he took the time to write that review?

  166. Author William Mangieri says:

    I write short fiction – 90+ stories and collections out there and one novel, and I have almost no reviews.
    I once received a review – actually, 2 in succession – that had nothing to do with my story – instead they read together as though the reviewers were writing their own story about a couple of people on horseback having a conversation.
    I received a one-star from someone who seemed to be complaining about the book search on Barnes & Noble (as though that was my fault.)
    I wouldn’t mind getting some negative reviews (at least until I do) if they were pertinent to my writing.
    One of the oddities to me of the modern era for readers – how can someone have the opportunity to read a description and sample portions of an eBook before buying it and then STILL buy it, then complain that it wasn’t their sort of thing? I’ve had that happen. You’d think it would be hard to get a one-star review (unless your book was free.)

  167. Lawrence Hebb says:

    Nick
    I once got a one star review that said he only got to chapter 14 and was bored!
    In that particular book by chapter 14 you’ve gone through a Terror attack, a Kidnapping, a HALO jump from 35,000 feet (High Alititude Low Opening freefall parachute jump) scaled a 600 foot cliff face, killed the guards and are about to blow an ancient castle to kingdom come, AND HE WAS BORED???
    I did send Amazon an email as they said only people who read 80% of a book can review it (he read 30%) but otherwise nothing has happened, except that I’ve ‘spiced things up a bit’ in all subsequent novels.
    By the way, that was my first novel, it doesn’t have many reviews (11) but 55% are 5 star, 40% are four star and one solitary 1 star!

  168. Leon Stevens says:

    Let’s face it. As writers, we are not going to please everybody, and we shouldn’t try. I write for myself, and then put it out there to entertain readers. Do poor reviews hurt? Of course, but constructive feedback helps hone our craft. Negative comments usually come from negative people.

    I would much rather hear, “The story could have used more action...” than, “It was boring…

    I thought the pieces in this collection were mostly okay. I’ve read much better but there are much worse collections out there.

    Well, I’m not the worst! Yay!
    Leon

  169. Candy Paull says:

    Many reviews on my free ebook, The Heart of Abundance, on Amazon. Average 4.1 stars. But among my favorite bad reviews: “Total waste of money” (remember, this is a free book). Another 2 star classic: “I’m not paid to write reviews” A three star review that started with “A guide for cult leaders on the best way to deliver propaganda” and went on in a paragraphs-long screed that ended with “Read the table of contents to see the other warm fuzzy words used to disguise the real message of this book: abundance > greed > debt = enslavement. This book is well written propaganda.” The book has been vilified for being too fluffy, not Christian enough, too Christian, and even “I did not buy this book” (well, duh, free ebook). Sometimes the review says more about the reviewer than the book. You learn to laugh, and to treasure those who did take the time to offer an intelligent review, usually positive, but sometimes even a well-thought out negative review can give you good information and feedback. Having some years between the writing of the book and reading it again can offer a sweet surprises of “I didn’t know I knew that!” In the end you do your best and let the book have its own life out in the world. You work to get better, but you just have to trust and move on. If you want some encouraging perspective on bad reviews, I recommend reading Subpar Parks: America’s Most Extraordinary National Parks and Their Least Impressed Visitors by Amber Share. Here’s a great one-star review on Yosemite: “Trees block view and there are too many rocks.”

  170. Michael Lauck says:

    I had a review calling my writing juvenile (I write about people beating each other up, so okay…) and decrying my lack of understanding of the Chinese culture… which was annoying because my book is a martial arts fantasy not set in the “real world.” The culture I describe has Mandarin derived names pulls from other sources (notably Plains Indian). I fumed, but tried my best to ignore it. Before long another reader (who I have since learned writes historical fiction novels set in China) pointed out the book was not set in China or even Earth and that really was the best thing that could have happened. A rebuttal not penned by me but by a fan! And that white knight reviewer? We are now in an online writing group together.

  171. Ray Hawk says:

    I personally don’t see the point of reading reviews to being with so I disagree with the premise of this article. I don’t believe bad reviews really make you a “better” writer. They are one off opinions from people with completely different personal histories, values and interests than you have as an author. They are snapshots in time.

    I see reviews as something like a taco you get for lunch on a weekend. Most of the time its good, but its not guaranteed to be good. And its very transitory. Why waste time dwelling on it?

    If you read all your reviews, inevitably the bad ones are just going to make it harder for you to keep writing. The good ones might give you a false sense of security in terms of your work – causing you to overlook things. So why read them at all?

    Its very much detrimental against trying to be a working writer.

    Does a football player spend all their free time looking at videos of people in the stands, trying to find those who were booing a play, and wonder if they were the particular player being booed…? Just one example/analogy of how ludicrous it is to take reviews personally…

    Writing, in many respects is like the spoken word. And as human beings, we don’t spend a lot of time dwelling on conversations we had last week, or a year ago, or ten years ago. We move on. We realize sometimes we say stupid things.

    All our writing is going to be subjective in the same way…

  172. Chani E Taylor says:

    This was the read I needed to help get me back on the writing horse. Thank you for this. I’m sure I will be rereading it several more times. =)

  173. Graham Hodson says:

    I once got a Three Star review for my book about Himalayan salt lamps because the reviewer said that one of the plugs was faulty! The book didn’t contain any affiliate links to physical products, but somehow it was my fault that an American was having a problem with a lamp made of salt from the Himalayas that had been assembled in China! 🙂

  174. Kara says:

    I’ve only had one “bad” (2-star) review for my debut dark psychological fantasy book, which is inspired by my traumas and PTSD healing journey. It’s set in a POW setting, as one of the worst traumas I endured happened in POW training, but the characters use therapy skills they learned to fight back.

    The reviewer said the story was “borderline snuff porn” and that people shouldn’t read it, unless they have been raped, are in a police-type job, or are a therapist. Otherwise, they’re horrible people for enjoying the story.

    I laughed from anger and read other replies that he had done. The only book he’d reviewed as 5-star was his own, and the closest rating after that was a 3. Most negativity projects from a person’s ego, so I don’t take it personally anymore. Overall, my star rating is 4.8-4.9 (Goodreads and Amazon are different), so I’m doing something “right.”

  175. Lenny Cavallaro says:

    My former piano teacher, Claude Frank, once said that critics are “the people who feel too little and know too much — but not enough!”

    I responded by mentioning the famous retort of Max Reger to a critic: “Sir — I am sitting in the smallest room of my house. I have your review before me. In a moment, I shall have your review behind me.”

    As an author — yes, I am both a musician and a writer — I once posted a “novelette” (just over 10,000 words) on Amazon for 99 cents. I got a scathing 1-star review from a genius who claimed it was “well written and interesting, but short.” Go figure!

  176. Deborah Woodward says:

    Thank you. A very informative article. ‘Your job is to write a thousand words today.’ I will remember that. I wrote screenplays for 20 years, but was too scared to take an opportunity.
    “You don’t want to succeed.”
    He was right, but that took a long time to overcome. Then I found Nick Stephenson’s $0 to $10000 readers. Brilliant and it works, I’m going to find your books to read. Best wishes

    Brilliant, . I s

  177. Debbie says:

    I rarely read reviews any more. My low ratings (1 or 2) rarely have reviews-just a number, which isn’t at all helpful. Luckily, there aren’t a lot of the low ones.

    Two doozies from the past come to mind. In one, the reviewer said the guilty party (I write mysteries) didn’t appear until chapter 7, but he was in chapter 2. With the same book, another reviewer said she knew about the weather in the area. She did NOT need to be told. Other readers wouldn’t necessarily know AND melting snow led to enough mud that footprints and tire tracks weren’t clear.

    I have a great beta team and an excellent editor, so I rely on them. They don’t mind words if something is off!

  178. Vanessa MacLellan says:

    I got a 1 star review for being a white girl who writes about Egypt. I thought I would report it as a racist review to Amazon, but just left it. if that’s the bad about my book, well, nothing I can do about that.

  179. Montse de Paz says:

    Thank you for this post! It helps a lot. I am very sensitive to criticism and rejection, it is my “battle-horse”! My worst qualification was 3 stars, and that was terrible for me! But until now I have not enough reviews to judge. To embrace rejection and learn from it… a great advice!

  180. Caroline Muntjewerf says:

    What annoys me about the rating vs reviewing system is when people leave a 1 or 2 star rating and don’t give a reason, so no review. Others don’t seem to know the difference between a subjective opinion and a objective review. [“I didn’t like this, I liked that, I didn’t understand this, it’s not my genre” and they give a story a 1 or 2 star]. I’ve had 1 star ratings for books they possibly never read. At other times the “review” didn’t make any sense, and the 1 star led to the conclusion that they were only posted to be nasty.

  181. Larissa Brown says:

    After 10+ years, I have a few. This one’s fun:
    “I hope that the author finds some other outlet for her self-indulgence than the written word because we only have so many trees.”
    😀

  182. Danika Bloom says:

    I star on my my latest release: “Don’t waste your time downloading this piece of whatever you want to call it. It was really sort of cute or catchy until the wordsmith just had to resort to taking the Lord’s name in vain. Clicked out. Sent it back to never read land. Bye bye easy read for slumber special.”

  183. Laura Lai says:

    I’ve heard that even the big King, Stephen King, got a one or two-star review. I guess you’re right about it being part of the job and about never stopping working to become a better writer. But if this kind of comment is feedback, then it’s supposed to be constructive and support the writer becoming even better. For example, “I gave a 2-star because I think the plot is like this, the characters like that…” like a literate critique, not like a non-literate punisher. From here, the writer and the audience can even build a constructive conversation. Instead, the way some bad reviews are formulated sounds like a slap or a punch in your face, meant to discourage rather than to encourage. If writers choose carefully their words when writing (and we spend time looking and finding the right word that may never satisfy everybody), shouldn’t the discontent audience, in turn, also carefully choose its words? Furthermore, writers and readers have a rich vocabulary, so why choose the worst of the words?

  184. Philip Janvier says:

    This is a review of my first book and the reviewer hated it! Good or bad I love reviews!

    Worst edited book I have ever read!
    by Me from for Fin Butler and the Clockwork Phoenix on Amazon US at July 16, 2019
    I will not read any more of this series. I had to re-read too many sentences to make sense of them. The story has too many conflicting and confusing situations. Too much of it didn’t make sense. The characters were not well developed, and neither was the story line. I read this book to the end, because I can’t ever not finish a book. I would not recommend this book to anyone. Don’t waste your time.
    ★☆☆☆☆

  185. Lenny Cavallaro says:

    One reviewer hailed *If Music Be the Food of Love*, the first novel of my series, as “unspeakable filth.” While it does have some hard-core sadomasochism (consensual), the series is about forgiveness, spiritual growth, and unconditional love. Go figure!

  186. Lenny Cavallaro says:

    Permit me also to append (classical composer) Max Reger’s response to a music critic: “Sir — I am seated in the smallest room of my house. I have your review before me. In a moment, I shall have your review behind me.”

  187. Patricia Finney says:

    I had one magazine review in my trad published days which told me off for writing women who were cliches. I was very indignant until I realised that she was right. I had another review in a newspaper (still trad published days) which mostly criticised the fact that it was a historical novel. That really annoyed me. So I cut out the review, took it to the toilet and yes, folks, I peed all over it. So comforting, so soothing. I recommend this.

  188. Lenny Cavallaro says:

    @Patricia Finney — Brava! Magnificent!

  189. Esther Luttrell says:

    Worst review … “Not my cup of tea. I only got it because of all the rave reviews.” She gave me two stars, but I don’t get why anyone would bother taking the time to even leave a reply like that on Amazon. “Not my cup of tea” … so? Then close the book and go on about your business. All the other many reviews were 5 star. Are people just trying to hurt the writer’s feelings? How many books have I started and just couldn’t get past the first page or two? I don’t run to the computer and tell the author in front of the whole world that it wasn’t my cup of tea. I just went and got another KIND of tea. Such a puzzle. ..

  190. Carmen Allen says:

    What a brilliant blog post! Thanks Nick and Thomas for putting in the time and effort. I’ve taken notes and will refer to them, the next time (and I’m sure there will be a ‘next’) I receive a poor review. What Thomas says is spot on, and I also really appreciate that you guys “get” how emotive poor reviews can be. The people I do life with don’t get it cuz they’re not putting there soul out there. I was very encouraged.
    One three star review I received raved about my book (an allegorical children’s chapter book that points to the Christian faith), but said he didn’t appreciate the religious overtones. Fair call. I’ve now updated my book description and included a short sentence about it being an allegory. I don’t want my readers feeling like I’m tricking them into reading a religious book. 🙂

  191. Stella Fosse says:

    Years ago I wrote a scientific memoir under a pen name about my experience with parasitic mites and how I got rid of them. It included an appendix with my protocols. All great reviews except for a one-star from a woman who complained the book was about my lesbian relationship. Likely she had read the free excerpt (first chapter) and hadn’t bought the book. I pointed this out – this was back when you could reply to reader reviews. Many books later I’m still annoyed that Amazon took down replies to reviews.

  192. Jenny Graves says:

    I’ve only had one review that was less than a 4 star. Some twit left me a 1 star rating but didn’t have the gumption to back it up with anything concrete. I guess it affects my rating fractionally, but I thought it was rather pathetic of them.

  193. Lenny Cavallaro says:

    I agree: pathetic and cowardly. However, it sounds as though you had plenty of other reviews. When one has only a handful (literally) of reviews, a vindictive imbecile of that sort can truly tank a book. A friend told me she had a book online that got a 5-star review and a 4-star review, and then two 1-star reviews left her with a 2.75 rating. Needless to say, the 4- and 5-star reviews came with several paragraphs of commentary; the 1-stars did not have a single word. Perhaps Amazon should insist on critiques for all reviews of books…

    1. Jenny Graves says:

      I’m not sure how much notice people take of ratings, as opposed to reviews. After all, some people will inevitably dislike a book. The fact that people have read it and taken the time to rate it counts as something. If ever I’m buying something, a book or otherwise, I take ratings with a huge grain of salt. I appreciate that’s just me, but I hope most intelligent people do the same. And the unintelligent probably wouldn’t be looking for my book anyway!

      But yes, if you only have 4 people reviewing a book, a couple could make a big difference. Luckily, I’ve managed to get my review count up a bit, so it makes almost no difference.

      1. Lenny Cavallaro says:

        My friend expressed great concern and told me that “people don’t tend to read books with ratings below 3-star on Amazon. Like you, I pay much more attention to actual reviews that the mere numbers, but I suspect that low ratings actually ARE damaging, at least temporarily, so perhaps her fears were well-founded.

        1. Jenny Graves says:

          Well, my overall rating on Amazon is 4.9 on the US site and 5.0 on the Australian one (which is where I live). So I don’t really think it’s done me any damage. I think it all depends on how many good reviews you get and whether they compensate for the 1 star ones.

  194. Alice says:

    Really thankful for bringing my ex back, via____________________R.buc k ler 11 ( ‘ ‘ )g ma i l…… c o m…

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