Today’s topic from the Marketing for Romance Authors blog challenge: How to overcome or accept a bad review. Join the conversation here:
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We all know the feeling. With trembling fingers and quivering guts, we scroll down the page on Amazon, Goodreads, or Bookbub to peek at our latest reviews. Writer’s roulette, a necessary trial by online fire. I like to think I have a thick skin, but a bad review still stings.
I once wrote about merit badges for writers, the embroidered kind you wear on your scouting uniform. I wish someone would create those. First Rejection Letter, 25th, 50th (that badge should be gold, dontcha think?), First Bad Review–all these painful milestones a writer must pass on her way to success. Rather than sob into my Merlot, I raise my glass to another milestone passed. (Wine helps, in any case.)
My least helpful review so far: the reader just didn’t like my main character. “Something about her bugs me. I don’t know why.” Not helpful, but nothing I can do about that. Chacun a son gout.
Another reviewer commented on the slow pace. On the one hand, I write slow burn romance, not fast-paced adventure stories. On the other hand, I thank her for pointing out a weakness I need to work on.
Still another said Through the Red Door wasn’t what she expected from an erotic romance. I thank her for a lesson on the importance of keywords. My publisher shelves my work with erotic stories because of the detailed love scenes, but no one’s getting tied down, spanked, or dripped with candle wax. Not my cup of tea (or lube?).
So before shrugging a bad review off as “Can’t please everyone,” I look for a lesson that’ll help make the next book better. How about you? Does a bad review ruin your day? Does wine help? Chocolate, perhaps? And do you know where I can order my merit badges?
LOL….LOVE the idea of Merit Badges!!! Did you mention ‘First time pirated’? Back when all my author friends were fuming b/c all their books were on various pirate sites, none of mine were….I figured it meant I was still too ‘unknown’….but two years later, one of my books appeared on one. I had ‘arrived’, so to speak:) Thankfully, it’s not happened again.
If merit badges were awarded for negative reviews, I’d have a trophy for an absolutely brutal review received a few years ago. Learned a hard lesson with that one.
Honestly, I’ve never been discouraged by bad reviews and they bother me even less now than when I was first published. If a bad review mentions something that I find helpful, that’s great, but reviews are so subjective that I don’t dwell on them.