The Realities of Publishing: Bad Reviews
Posted on Monday, January 28, 2013 at 1 am by Yasmine Galenorn

The realities of publishing (and again, these posts are based on my personal experience, but remember: I’ve been doing this a long time and I do know what I’m talking about).

Here’s the thing:

• NEVER EVER CHASTISE A REVIEWER WHO GIVES YOU A BAD REVIEW!!!
• NEVER EVER STALK THEM AND POST THEIR INFORMATION ON THE NET!!!
• NEVER EVER MAKE YOURSELF SEEM LIKE THE FREAK IN THE SITUATION.

This has been said a gazillion times. Apparently, it’s not reaching the people it needs to reach.

Bad reviews suck. They do. They can sting, they can hurt, they can make you want to throttle the reviewer if they’re bad enough or if it’s obvious that the reviewer hasn’t read the book (it happens). BUT:

Facts:

• ALL writers get bad reviews.
• NO writer can please every reader.
• Somebody, somewhere will hate your book.
• Somebody, somewhere will find your writing boring.
• If you stalk a reviewer who hates your work and go after them on the net, you are the freakshow and you should probably have your keyboard taken away from you.

The ONLY way to deal with bad reviews is to:

• Realise that ALL writers will have someone who loves their work. You DO have fans out there.
• Take a deep breath.
• Vent to a friend who you know you can trust not to say anything.
• Suck it up and realize that every writer gets bad reviews—it’s an occupational hazard.
• Go back to your keyboard, and get back to writing. Because that’s what you do.

That’s it. On this: I’m right. Pay attention. Don’t bring bad attention to yourself by throwing a tantrum. You WILL alienate your readers and other writers when you act like a jerk. Seriously. I mean it.

Yasmine

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Posted in Realities of Publishing, Writing |