Dealing with 1 Star Reviews
If you expose your work to public opinion, there is a huge probability that you’re going to get a 1 star review.
If you’re a writer, everyone can judge your work on Goodreads or Amazon, which are both owned by the same company.
I understand your frustration over a bad review but don’t let that stop you from writing.
Yes, sometimes we need a break and we get hurt by these angry reviews, but we must not let these people stop us doing what we love — and that is writing.
Writers put a part of their souls into their work; and if they’re really brave their books are entirely made from the fiber of their souls. For that reason writers get so emotional when they get a bad review.
But, writers need to know one thing — bad reviews tell more about a reviewer than the work reviewed.
Our books can’t serve everyone and they definitely didn’t serve those people who write these bad reviews.
These people feel cheated and disappointed. At some level, they are right; we stole their precious time; they used to trust us and we failed them, but it’s not our foult and neither it’s theirs.
Negative reviews doesn’t mean that your book is bad; it only means that your book is not meant for people who wrote them.
Outhere, there is someone who will like your book and they are waiting for it. Don’t fail them as well.
Find your favorite books and authors on Amazon and check theirs negative reviews. I bet there are plenty of poisonous words, each sharp like a tiny needle which pierces writer’s heart and, bit by bit, and let it bleed. But, you must agree that none of the negative comments deminish the value which you have found in the book, or do they?
Negative reviews didn’t stop Stephen King and J. K. Rowling from writing and they should not stop you.
If bad reviews are the only reason for your decision not to write a single book again, I beg you to reconsider your decision.
After all, a bad review is just an opinion of someone entirely unimportant. It’s a person, somewhere in the world who didn’t like your book. Who gives a damn?
They read your book, wrote a review and continued with their lives, and you should do the same; read their review, have a mojito, or two, or dosen, and continue with your life.
Yes, it can ruin your rating, but you can always write another book; that’s what writers do; write books. So, sit in that chair and write another damn book and let it disappoint another person, and then write another…
If there are some other reasons for quitting your craft, then good luck in whatever else you’re going to pursue, but remember that people are going to judge you, no matter what you do and how good you are.
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Originally published at https://ibmiller.net on July 7, 2019.
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