By Alan Kealey
There are a few authors out there who have never had a bad review. If that’s you, stick around. At some point every author will receive at least one. It’s the nature of the beast. Not EVERY reader out there is going to just jump for joy over what you’ve written. And reading that review, or the many, will make you react physically, mentally, and emotionally. You will most likely go through a plethora of feelings. It may make you angry, or sad, or worthless. You may dorect that anger at yourself or at the reviewer screaming obscenties at the computer screen about how they don’t know what the hell they’re talking about. You may decide to never write another word. Don’t! Again, anyone who has ever put something out there for the public to read – even newspaper reporters, or bloggers – have gotten a bad review in some form or another.
So you may ask, what are the alternatives? According to Alan Kealey from Indie Author News there are 10 available tips for how to deal with bad books reviews. And they are…
1. Do nothing!
Bad reviews happen! Relax! See the examples of bad reviews of very popular bestselling books or go, check on reviews for books by your favorite author. Bad reviews happen for every book that is getting published. You as an author cannot please all tastes of different readers. Relax and Go Write!
2. Do NOT respond to Bad Reviews (or should you).
Distinguish between a “Troll” who just wants to rant and the “Teacher” who wants to point out mistakes in edit, grammar, plot, or techniques. Ignore the offensive rants! Do not respond to these – instead: Relax and Go Write!
Constructive criticism you should embrace and try to learn from. Helpful criticism can make you a better writer. Let a day or two pass, analyze the “Teacher’s” review and if it is helpful (or well meant) criticism – you could respond to the review with a plain “Thank you.”
3. A Bad Review is still a Review.
Bad reviews need to be seen in perspective. 1 bad review in 25 good reviews is still an amazing ratio. It means that 4% of readers (reviewers) might not like your book but 96% like it or love it. As written above – no book will receive over a lifetime only good reviews. There is no book written yet that pleases all readers.
Sales platforms like Amazon, B&N, etc. give books a higher visibility the more reviews it received. (And this is measured as overall number of bad and good reviews)
4. Re-read your good reviews
As long as you keep working at your writing, good reviews will come. Don’t allow bad reviews to occupy your mind most of your time, while letting good reviews occupy only little of your time.
Most of us have a strong negativity bias – we let one bad thing ruin a multitude of positives. The reality is that any potential reader who is considering to purchase your book will expect to see also negative reviews. In fact, they’ll be rather suspicious of books that have nothing but 4 and 5 star reviews.
5. Don’t pour gasoline on the fire. (Beware the Troll)
It’s very hard to ignore negative reviews and frustration or anger might lead you to respond ASAP to the bad reviews. Do not respond! Relax!
Every response gives that review more momentum. If you reply you could improve the search engine ranking of the review site. If your reply gets “thumbs-up” or a “Yes! This review was helpful.” the review will probably bumped up into a more prominently space. On social media or forums with a timeline format new responses might push the review with a reply higher than your good reviews.
Some (if not most) negative reviews are not about you or your book. It is about the person reviewing it.
6. Ignore the Bad Review!
The best way to deal with bad reviews is to ignore them. If it really hurts, talk with your friends and fellow authors of your network, and have chocolate, a beer, or a glass of wine. Do not ever contact a reviewer! There’s no reason for. Every reviewer has an opinion, and all opinions are valid to the person who has them. There are lots of authors who recommend to not reading any reviews at all
7. It’s not personal – It’s business.
Your book, written with the labor of love and handled like your baby, is still a book, a product. You are an entrepreneur. You’re in the business of writing to make money. It’s a business of skills like most other businesses. The quality of businesses grows proportionally with the skill-set. You wrote your book (your product) with your ideas, your plot, your words, your story. It’s a piece of art but still a product of your business. This is the train of thought you should keep in mind when seeing bad reviews. Do never take it personally – it’s business.
8. Don’t rush to your favorite Social Media site!
Don’t head over immediately to Facebook, Twitter, Goodreads, or any other social media site to rant. There is probably someone who knows the reviewer and will point this out. “They always do.” Before you know it you will be titled as “Author Behaving Badly” and a flame-war might start online.
9. Get some tough skin.
If you are going to make art, there will be some bad feedback eventually, even if you are some genius artist. Feel free to give yourself a moment or two to be sad, eat large quantities of chocolate, etc. Then, pick up yourself up, get re-inspired, and keep working towards your goals. The persistent become the successful. Go write!
10. Remember why you write.
You write because you must. You had a vision. Or because it’s your business. Never forget that no matter how much one reviewer hates your book – others will love it. And good reviews will always trump bad reviews.
http://www.indieauthornews.com/2015/03/10-ways-for-authors-to-handle-bad-book-reviews.html