Not Every Book

Whether you’re traditional, indie or self published once you put your work out into the world you open yourself up to the opinion of strangers. That’s an indisputable fact. It could be in the form of a star rating, comments on social media or a written review. Some people might even reach out to you directly to share their opinion on your work.

Hopefully people will be kind and supportive. You may even find a few who genuinely love living in the world you brought to life. But somewhere out there at least one person is going to hate what you’ve written. And that’s okay. Not every book is for every reader. Remember that phrase because it will help you grow a shiny spine. Not every book is for every reader.

Look up reviews for books or authors you absolutely love, somewhere in there you will find criticisms. It doesn’t mean the reviewer hates you, it just means they didn’t connect with your words and that is honestly okay.

If you put your work out there expecting nothing but sunshine and rainbows you will be disappointed. It’s better to learn to roll with the punches than waste your anger at somebody not enjoying your book. Because that’s what it would be. Wasted anger. And for the love of God please don’t engage with negative reviews, it is their opinion and they are entitled to it whether you think it is fair or not. Be professional.

Personally I’ve learnt from some of the negative reviews I’ve received. I changed the entire cover of The Diseased based on some less than stellar feedback on the original. I’ve learnt that perhaps I was a little to abrupt with the cliffhangers and so I’ve tried to improve upon that for the sequel. That’s what negative reviews are, in part, to me. A chance to grow as a writer.

Sure some of them I just ignore because there is nothing constructive within them to build upon but I have listened to the ones where I could see some truth in them.

If you want to be a writer you need three things:

1) Thick skin

2) The ability to take on constructive criticism

3) A drive to always want to improve your craft

And if you don’t have those three things then publishing is not going to be an enjoyable journey for you. So please dear writer, learn to respond to criticism logically rather than emotionally. It will be better for you mentally and professionally.