Yes, authors, you CAN respond to a negative review!
It's common wisdom out there that authors shouldn't respond to negative reviews. Well, that depends. The wrong response can certainly lead to a lot of authorly regret.
What kind of response is an author likely to regret? I've noticed pretty much any online response, but especially any kind of scathing, angry or "corrective of wrong thoughts" or "just trying to be helpful" rebuttals; even certain types of clarifications can lead to a kerfluffle spiral of authorly regret.
Really, a review is simply a report of one person's subjective experience of a book. It's good for authors that there are reviewers out there taking the time to report honestly about their experiences. But a pesky thing about other people's experiences is that you can't change them! If it were possible to change other people's experiences, I guarantee you, my husband and I would be going out to see a lot more romantic comedy movies.
Really, a review is simply a report of one person's subjective experience of a book. It's good for authors that there are reviewers out there taking the time to report honestly about their experiences. But a pesky thing about other people's experiences is that you can't change them! If it were possible to change other people's experiences, I guarantee you, my husband and I would be going out to see a lot more romantic comedy movies.
One idea, when tempted to respond online to a negative review, is to first do a little thought experiment. Imagine waking up tomorrow morning and discovering thousands of hits on your website...and it's ALL people coming to see who the author is who wrote that [insert adjective here, and it's not the one you were hoping for] response. And everybody is tweeting and facebooking it and hyping it. Imagine the horror in the pit of your stomach.
But look, that doesn't mean you can't respond!
For example, you could do an interpretive dance as your response.
Go ahead, open the curtains. Let the neighbors see!
This one depicted above is called: "AUTHOR SO UNHAPPY!"
Another awesome and regret-free response: craft your reaction in macaroni art! This particular piece, from my own collection, is called "THE GNASHING TEETH OF THE WRITER MISUNDERSTOOD!"
Spend the afternoon imagining that you are having angry, sweaty, hot sex with that character that Russell Crowe played in the movie Gladiator! OMG! Rawr!
Another awesome way to respond to a negative review: Gratitude - for giving YOU the most perfect excuse ever to eat a truckload of chocolate! Yee ha!
Spend the afternoon imagining angry, sweaty, hot sex with the mysterious and babelicious "Seven of Nine"character from Star Trek: Voyager.
Hey, why read are you reading reviews anyway? Your thing is the write the books. Make a resolution to not read reviews, good or bad. Let this experience give you the gift of time.
Have a stiff drink, put some Billie Holiday on the hi-fi, draw the curtains. Or something like that. You're a f*@king writer, man! It is your right to WALLOW awesomely and creatively and with great pathos! Step away from the computer and really get into it!
Write a crazy-ass response in Morse Code! And tap it out on the window. Repeatedly! But wait, not too hard!
Think of a book that you have really loved, and go write a review for it, telling how much the book meant to you. Or go write a nice review for an under-appreciated book that you genuinely enjoyed. This is actually a very therapeutic way to respond to a negative review.
Best of all, remember those good reviews you have gotten? Or, the readers who have enjoyed your work and told you so? If everybody only had nice things to say about your writing, those good reviews and comments wouldn't mean anything whatsoever.
So, in a way, negative reviews are important and valuable, because they make the good reviews mean something. You will be okay! Just keep writing.
Comments
And awesome pictures!!!
Love the pictures!:)
Gabriella Hewitt
McPig: Thanks! and for stopping by!
Missy: Yum, I hope you enjoy.
Writer & Cat: Oh no! LOL
YACWW: Hey, thanks!!!
~Sherry
Check Out My Books!
After Russell Crowe in Gladiator, of course :)
By the way, I need your address, I moving to your next door house. LOL
Also, not sure I've told you before, but I adore your drawings. Interpretive dance and hot, sweaty sex images particularly. LOL
But I actually appreciate authors telling me when I missunderstood something.. Another author recently said that she also reads negative reviews of books she loved.. Beth Revis, I think?
Anyways, great post!
Can we imagine angry, sweaty hot sex with a bearded Eric Bana? Just checking!
I can't imaging being an author and reading a negative review for something you have poured your heart and soul into. Heck, that is the only part of being a lowly blogger that bugs me - posting a review for a book that didn't ring my bell as loudly as it rang someone else's. But as you said, a review is subjective and to each her own. And it's important that everyone feels comfortable posting their opinion...I only wish some people were a little more tactful about how they word things.
Again, great post. Gave me my super laugh for the day. :)
Then, hold their hair out of their face as they eject the tequila into the toilet, and hopefully they'll sit in the hospital room with you as they pump your stomach.
That'll get you a changed review.
captcha word: tersp. It's an anagram for strep...I find that unsettling.
And yum, hot sweaty sex with Russell's gladiator character. Brawn and sensitivity!!!
Only if your pet is a dog. Cats tend to have much higher standards that their humans could never live up to ;-)
OH, that may be a little bit double entendre!!! ooo-err miss.
Although, I'd prefer Hugh Jackman.
"If someone reads it and likes it, fine. If someone reads it and doesn't like it, that's also fine, and if they tell you they like it great, if they tell you they don't like it, well, so what, you wrote and posted what was on your mind and they replied with what was on their mind after reading it, let them do it and move on to the next one."
I know there is a vast difference between writing a blog and a book but I think the same though may apply. BTW I wrote a blog today intended to be a review of one book but turned into a review of six" also at http://tomstronach.blogspot.com
Love the drawings
H
Thank you very much!
I'm going to bookmark it, so I can come back and read after my book comes out next year. It's sure to come in handy. :)
Great post, lovely illustrations!
Dottie :)
The Muggle
But you're right the occasional bad review is a nice balance otherwise it can look as if your family members and paid flunkies are your only reviewers.