Hey, it’s Rey.
It’s JJ, hey.
Good grief—you’ve got Linda, ha-ha-ha (if you’re going to be “cute”, ladies, then I may as well join in).
Linda:
The Boss is still bummed out, so the three of us put our heads together and agreed to post as a trio.
It’s one thing giving advice, it’s quite another following it. So, what has our boss’ knickers in a knot? While working on a promo sheet, she went to Amazon and read reviews for her books (she hasn’t done that often and it’s been a long while since she last did). There were some 5- and 4.5-star reviews, which made her feel great . . . but, alas, there were also some 1-star ones.
Now, you can’t please everyone all the time and we all have different tastes in stories, so that’s fine, and expected. If you really didn’t like the book, you’re entitled to state this. What you really shouldn’t do is call someone’s work crap, criticize the editing and typos, or just be out-and-out offensive. Needless, to say . . . she’s [still] bummed out. So much so, she’s wondering if she should continue writing.
Having been on the end of nasty criticism, I can feel her pain and distress.
Rey:
Yeah, so can I. Being panned sucks, big time. And while I may have posted the other day about—more or less—remaining courteous, I’d be inclined to tell the “editting” criticizer to look at their own writing, ‘cause, honey, you can’t write to save your life. Me-eow. 😉 (And you wouldn’t want to know what I’d tell the others.)
But that’s the catty side of me, the person I once was. These days, I’m not as quick to carp or condemn in return. I’ve got two A-1 colleagues—my cousin and BFF—who (usually) keep me on the straight and narrow.
So, I say, let it go. Revel in the good reviews and forget about the bad. Sure, they’re going to hurt, but life ain’t always fair and people ain’t always nice. So, live with it; suck it up. Or, as I suggested the other day, go to the source and ask them to elaborate. Maybe they’ll provide useful feedback.
JJ:
That’s an interesting proposal, Rey. I get it: recognize the criticism and/or ask for feedback. I think, though, I’m going to disagree with you. Or, at least, say: determine from that review, if it’s worthwhile to address it. The tone, the comment(s) should help you determine if it’s worth pursuing. However, my opinion re a bad book review, is . . . walk away. Let it go. It’s not worth the grief that could develop when the exchange heats up (and it may very well do that). Be professional. Always.
Who’s the bigger person? The writer/doer or the criticizer? I wholeheartedly believe if you have constructive criticism, provide it; if you’re just being malicious because you’re having a bad day or week, or that’s just your [unfortunate] nature, then take it out somewhere else—go hit a few golf balls or play whac-a-mole.
You have to remember that the review is based on one person’s opinion . . . or a handful, whatever the case may be. That’s not a huge percentage. A negative one or two amid the many positive ones is fine, and expected. Why? Because, that’s right, you can’t please all the people all of the time. So, just smile, chuckle, giggle, laugh, dance. If you can learn something from it, great; use it. But, if there’s no value-add, truly, it’s not worth brooding over.
And what do the three of us say in summary? 😊 Live and learn . . . and love what you do. And don’t let anyone tell or influence you to do otherwise!
The Writer's Grab-Bag 