The Reading Obsession

Reviews of Fiction Books: Everything from Young Adult Romance to Crime Thrillers

[Reblogged from The Armchair Librarian] Some Thoughts on Negative Reviews

A one star review is just not that big of a deal. First of all, you're getting upset about a cute little pixelated star, and that's just ridiculous. You could argue that it's a symbol, I guess, and yeah, okay, it does symbolize that someone didn't like your book. But really, when it comes down to brass tacks, who cares?

 

Whenever I get a low rating, I do feel a little sad and disappointed. But it makes the four and five-star reviews seem all the more special by comparison. Things are valuable because they are difficult to get. If you didn't have to work for your four- and five-star ratings, they wouldn't be worth as much. Not to you, and not to the people who read them.

 

And, if I notice a lot of one-star reviews all saying the same thing, I try to use their criticism to improve. Some people pay for criticism! I'm getting it for free!

 

Even if their criticism is not valuable to me - gasp! how can anything not be about ME - it still has value to potential readers. If someone does not want to read my book, those are their personal reasons. More disappointment and unhappiness is prevented if people are forewarned by negative reviews. I would much rather lose a sale than have someone buy my book and absolutely loathe it. I've been there, myself. Reading sucky books, well, sucks.

 

And what if the rating isn't about the book? What if it's about you, the person?

 

I've been there, too.

 

But, like books, people can always be improved upon. Even if I get a negative review from someone who doesn't like me, the author, well, I just try to take it with a grain of salt. It's a reminder that I'm not perfect, that I can't please everyone, and that it's just foolish to think otherwise.

 

The bottom line is, people have a right to their opinions. It's easy to stand up for that when you're agreeing with the person - the real test of character happens when you disagree with them.

Currently reading

A Kiss of Shadows
Laurell K. Hamilton
The Killing Dance
Laurell K. Hamilton