Susan Allison-Dean
  • Home
  • About Susan
  • Books
  • Book Club
  • Read-Ponder-Comment Blog
  • Bane's Next Step
Find Susan on

Ouch!!  That First One-Star Book Review

7/21/2013

2 Comments

 
Picture
Being a first time novelist, I log onto book review sites with the same excited anticipation as a bride-to-be checks her mailbox for wedding replies. Like that same bride-to-be, I don't expect everyone to respond favorably to my invitation to read my first written creation. I was even prepared for the one star reviews, perhaps with a note, saying "Not my cup of tea." What I wasn't prepared for was the scathing, rant one-star review! So when one of my earliest reviews was from someone who won my book on my first Goodreads giveaway, I was gored. I immediately filled with self-doubt. Was I one of those pathetic American Idol contestants whose family and friends thought my art was good or didn't have the heart to tell me how bad my writing was?

My first reaction was to turn to my editor, who was also thrown under the review bus.  "Alice, please take a look at this and tell me how you think I should respond, if at all," I emailed and forwarded her the link. Thankfully, Alice was plugged in that night and responded immediately. She confirmed it was a really nasty review, I won't use her exact words and forwarded me a link to a recent article in Oprah magazine (http://bit.ly/12WvSs6).  I read the article and let the advice sooth my wounded self.  "Thanks, good advice, Alice; you're right I just won't comment on it."

I still needed to vent to my husband who was sympathetic but didn't have any advice in this field. I needed a little more reassurance. After all, I had just spent countless hours and a lot of money to put this book together and I planned on writing more. I certainly didn't want to waste another moment of my time and resources if the only people who would read it were my circle of influence. I returned to my laptop and forwarded the review to a woman who I trust to tell me like it is, a former executive in the publishing businesses.  "Maretta, I need your advice. Was my book any good? I need you to tell me the truth. Are people just being nice when they say they liked it?" 

Maretta responded the next morning in her authoritative tone she usually speaks in.  "Who cares (cares elongated) what other people think! If you enjoy writing, write. If people really didn't like your book they would not say anything or they would say it was good and look away. I see the way people respond, they like it. Besides, look at all the other reviews on the other sites, read those!"

I picked myself back up and decided to follow the English mantra that has been reconfigured in so many ways and keep calm and write. I reread the one-star review and noted the few editorial points that she made. At least I would take something positive from it. My awareness of how not only words, but tone can affect others was heightened and I vowed to try and be more aware of that myself. Thankfully, more 4 and 5 star reviews keep coming in, to tip the scales on that Simon Cowell of book reviews! 

Are you an author?  How or do you respond to reviews of your book?

Are you a reader who writes reviews?  What formula do you use?




2 Comments
Book publishing link
9/4/2013 06:12:29 pm

Good steps have been used in this article. By giving these type of examples we can easily understand what the writter is saying in this article.

Reply
Sue Allison-Dean link
9/5/2013 04:52:59 am

Thank you for your comments. I hope the blog helps other authors persevere through negative feedback.

Reply



Leave a Reply.

    Author

    Susan's Novels Are Available on
    Amazon


    Picture
    Picture
    Picture
    Picture

    Archives

    July 2022
    May 2021
    April 2021
    December 2020
    November 2020
    October 2020
    May 2020
    December 2015
    November 2015
    August 2015
    July 2015
    June 2015
    April 2015
    March 2015
    February 2015
    January 2015
    December 2014
    November 2014
    October 2014
    September 2014
    August 2014
    July 2014
    April 2014
    March 2014
    February 2014
    January 2014
    December 2013
    November 2013
    October 2013
    September 2013
    August 2013
    July 2013
    June 2013
    May 2013
    April 2013

    Categories

    All
    9/11
    9/11 Stories
    Accomplishment
    Alicia Silverstone
    Amaryllis
    Animal Captivity
    Animals
    Apple Pie
    Aquariums
    Art
    August
    Author
    Beach
    Bees
    Bibliotherapy
    Blackfish
    Blog
    Blog Contest
    Bodi Miller
    Book Club
    Book Club Books
    Book Club Menu
    Book Club Recommendations
    Book Club Suggestions
    Book Cover
    Book Cover Design
    Book Review
    Book Reviewer
    Book Sequel
    Breath
    Camping
    Caribbean
    Caribbean Vacation
    Cherokee Purple Tomato
    Children
    Chocolate
    Christmas
    Christopher Reeve
    Comfort Food
    Conservation
    Container Garden
    Contest
    Cooking
    Cove Guardians
    Daffodil
    Determination
    Dolphin
    Dolphin Captivity
    Dolphins
    Dolphins And Whales
    Dolphin Trips
    Dolphin Winter
    Easter
    Elephants
    Endurance
    Entertainment
    Environment
    Facebook
    Feel Better
    Floral Arranging
    Free Morgan
    Fun Book Club
    Fun Party Ideas
    Garage Storage
    Garden
    Gardening
    Garden Poem
    Girls Getaway
    Good Book
    Harvest Season
    Healing
    Holiday Humor
    Hope
    Humane
    Humor
    Ideas
    I Know You're There
    India Dolphins
    Indie Book
    Indie Publishing
    Inspirational Stories
    Inspiration Contest
    Japan
    Jerry Seinfled
    Jones Beach
    Kids
    Kids Entertainment
    Kind Diet
    Kind Vacation
    Kind Vacation For Kids
    KoKo The Gorilla
    Lean In
    Library
    Meditation
    Mompower
    Moms
    Mothers
    Music
    New York
    North Carolina
    Novel
    November
    Olympics
    Orcas
    Passover
    Peta
    Pets
    Pig
    Plant Based Diet
    Planting
    Prince William
    Prizes
    Pumpkins
    Readers
    Reggae
    Relax
    Resilience
    Robin Williams
    Seaworld
    Shark Culling Australia
    Shaun White
    Sochi
    Spring
    Spring Blooming Bulbs
    Spring Flowers
    Strong Women
    Success Through Stillness
    Summer
    Swim With Dolphins
    Taiji
    Technology
    The Cove
    Travel
    Travel Therapy
    Tugboat Design
    Twitter
    Vacation
    Vegan
    Vegetarian
    Whale
    Whale Captivity
    Whales
    Wild Animals
    Wildlife
    Win
    Women
    Women Role Models
    Women's Bookclub
    Women's Fiction
    Writing
    Writing A Book Review
    Writing A Story
    Writing Ideas
    Zoos

    RSS Feed

Picture

Copyright © 2014 Susan Allison-Dean. All Rights Reserved. Website by 
Tugboat Design.