I know it’s tempting…
It’s tempting to respond to negative feedback. An email to that dreadful competition judge, a response to the social media trolls, a reply to a review on Goodreads, a blistering response to the editor’s comments on a manuscript. I’m not going to lie … I have responded once or twice, but I too have to remind myself that for every action there is a reaction. And once you get that stone rolling and it begins to gather moss, there is no stopping that snowball from growing (pardon the mixed metaphors, but you get the picture, right?)
Trolls are attention seekers. They will only stay when they are being fed or given attention. Engagement encourages them, and then they’ll descend on you like a swarm of angry wasps and perpetuate your pain. The same goes for that competition judge who gave you a low score. Perhaps their response stems from inside themselves, from some inner frustration that prevents them from writing and submitting an entry. You never know what’s happening in that person’s life at that point in time. Some people are just plain nasty, and you’ll never change that. Sometimes reviewers aren’t even real reviewers, they might be someone wanting to draw attention to their own new release or a fan from someone’s street team looking to put their favourite author in the spotlight instead.
Respond graciously if you must, but bear in mind that it’s not about you, it’s about them. ‘Like’ their review. It shows you are paying attention and taking feedback onboard, even though it may not be constructive criticism.
A fabulous 5-star review of Shadows over Wongan Creek resulted in a touchy discussion of the cover. I thought carefully about my response:
Reader YYY: Great review XXX. That cover though….seriously??? They are getting worse! He looks like a giant cowboy towering over the countryside.
Reader XYZ: Oh YYY your comment had me laughing, but you’re so right 😊 Great review, XXX!
Reader ZZZ: I do agree with you YYY – I wish they’d move past the guys and girls in hats and put them into perspective!!
Reviewer XXX: I don’t take a lot of notice, except when they’re really good! And I don’t let them stop me reading the inside 😉
ME: Thanks for the lovely review. I’m so pleased you enjoyed Fen and Kieran’s story. Ladies, I’m sorry the cover disappointed you 😥 While I understand the whole balance and perspective of a cover, the one thing that struck me when I first saw it was that the cover artists nailed the scarred hero perfectly. I hope you will see past the cover to the message between the pages. Happy reading.
My favourite negative review ever came from this Netgalley reviewer on Goodreads. I made her ‘dropped’ shelf. Go me!
Shelves: dropped
Review:
There was definitely a darker element to this series that dealt with suicide, depression, abuse, and death. Normally elements like [this] would instantaneous [sic] draw me in but this series was just missing that “it” factor to really win me over. I felt like it was more than a chore to finish this and that’s something no reader should feel. My motivation shriveled down to finish this chapter after chapter and I decided it was probably best I dropped this before it was too late. I will notate [sic] I would definitely consider picking this back [up] in the future to see what the outcome was.
My first clue? Cue the flashing banners. Who does it draw attention to? The reviewer or the book?
My next clue was the writing scrawled across the top of the GIF – “Oh the shenanigans, stay frosty my friends”. My interpretation (or maybe my dose of chocolate) was that the review graphics screamed ‘look at me, look at what a clever girl I am’. It’s designed to attract other readers’ attention and distract them from the 4 & 5 star reviews. Her review is an opinion piece, not constructive feedback. The fact that she got more than half way before dropping the book and the 3 stars she gave it means she actually liked most of it but couldn’t spoil her ‘frosty’ reputation by admitting it. All her reviews, bar a couple, are the same.
Another clue – the writing. The reviewer is clearly a reader not another writer which is good. That’s not to say that she doesn’t have dreams of writing her own book one day. She certainly put effort into her review. The good thing is that it’s a reader’s review. I don’t care that she dropped the book halfway through, what’s important is that she’s said she may pick it up again to see what happens. I haven’t completely lost her attention but, at the same time, maybe this reader just isn’t my target market.
So what could I take away from this review? What made this reader feel like she was dragging herself through mud to get to the end? Could I have done anything differently? These were the clues I looked for when I went back and read the manuscript again.
Now, to work! Here is an exercise to help you recognise areas of improvement for your own writing:
Think about a book you’ve read recently but haven’t enjoyed:
- What didn’t you like about it?
- Was the plot unclear, mixed up, too complicated, not complicated enough?
- Were the characters drawn well, did they jump off the page?
- Were you engaged from Chapter 1?
- At which point did you stop reading?
- What do you think the author could have done to make it better?
Write a quick review – one paragraph, a few lines and then write a review of one of your own works to think about what you could have done differently and if it’s an improvement or not.
And finally, why you should read reviews:
- Learn not to make the same mistakes,
- Reviews are a portal to what readers are looking for,
- Reviews will help you define your own target market.
Kees2Create Words 