One of the most important aspects of publishing is having your book reviewed.  Reviews help visibility which in turn helps sales.  The interesting thing is that in *most* cases a few negative reviews does not affect sales.  In fact, I believe they can help.  There have been plenty of times where after I read a negative review, I’ve purchased the book.  I know I’m not alone in that, either.

I’ve said before and I’ll say again and again (until I’m blue in the face) since I cannot stress this one point enough:

EVERY SINGLE BOOK HAS NEGATIVE REVIEWS.  

If you see a book with 0 negative reviews, be suspicious. There is no book- not even the Bible- that everyone agrees on.  A book I find amazing and will rave about, you may find mediocre, or perhaps even unreadable.

The beauty of books is that each one allows you to step into a different world.  It may be something that leaves your pulse pounding. Or.It may leave you yawning and throwing it onto your DNF (did not finish) pile.

Whatever YOUR opinion is about a book, it belongs to you.   No one was in that world with you.  The visuals we have in our heads while reading belong entirely to us.  A dozen people can read a book and each can have a different reaction to it.  One quote may jump out at you, while another jumps out to me.

When I release my books into the wild, I’ve done all that I can.  My vision has been realized, and it’s up to each reader to decide if they like the book or not.  Because this is real life, some will like it, some will love it, some will be bored and some may want to light their ereader or paperback on fire because it’s the worst book they’ve ever had the misfortune of reading. I accept that because everyone is entitled to their opinion.  I can’t take reviews personally because I respect that we all view books through a different lens.

Do I get negative reviews?  HELL YES!  Some of them are brutal.  I’m fine with that.  It is what it is.  Truly.

In the interest of full transparency I will tell you that I have taken serious offense to a review. When some idiot left a series of unverified reviews on my books about how they couldn’t read or enjoy my books because I’m fat, I was upset.  And yes, I reported the reviews and smiled when they were removed.  That kind of vitriol and pettiness was one step too far.

Other than that series of reviews, I’ve never reported one of my reviews.  Why would I?  It’s an OPINION.  People are entitled to them.  One of the first lessons I learned when I began publishing was the importance of NOT ENGAGING with negative reviews. It just isn’t done and the reason is because it’s tacky.  Who am I to get in anyones face about their thoughts on my books?

Good, bad or completely indifferent, someone taking the time to leave a review is a good thing.  Unless said review is a personal attack (this author is: fat, stupid, gay, transgender, ugly, a different race or something along those lines) you can’t get your feathers ruffled.

Recently an author asked in a private group for the members to “flag” a review on Goodreads because she didn’t like the review. First, that never should have happened. Ever.  In my opinion, doing things like that is an abuse of group members.  Reading is supposed to be fun, an escape.  Asking readers who like you to report a review simply because you didn’t care for it isn’t appropriate. If you don’t like a book, you’re allowed to leave a review! When we ask for reviews, we ask for HONESTY.  If you honestly didn’t care for it, of course that’s reflected in the review.  We’re not special snowflakes.  We all get bad reviews.  It’s okay.

Having read the review I can say this without hesitation: it was not abusive and in no way was it flag worthy.  The reviewer had an opinion.  She shared her opinion.

The reviewer also said this:

“I know I tend to be a picky reader, so before I get to my review, please understand that just because I felt this way about this book, doesn’t mean you will. Some of the things that bother me, may not bother you, so I suggest you leave your judgement till you read the book. ”

Is that a personal attack on the author? No. Just no.  In point of FACT, she said the words “till YOU read the book.”  She did not say “Don’t read the book.”  At no point did she say, DON’T BUY THIS.

It was a review.  She was entitled to leave her review.  It wasn’t an attack.  It wasn’t personal.

I’ve said several times lately, as have other authors, readers & bloggers- all of this negativity within book world is no good.  It sucks the enthusiasm out of the readers and bloggers.  Who wants to leave a review if an author is going to set their street team loose on said review and have it removed? No one.

Everyone makes mistakes, myself included.  I’ve done and said things I’ve either immediately regretted or came to regret some time later.  I take full responsibility for those errors in judgment.  I don’t think the author doing this is a terrible person by any means.  I do think she owes the blogger an apology, full stop.  Take responsibility and move on.

Make no mistake about it- this whole situation has hurt the author.  By calling attention to the review, she made sure it would be read.  Said review now has over 1,000 likes on Goodreads.  That’s unheard of.  Had she accepted it and moved on, it would be a non issue.

Let this be a lesson to all of us.  We have the choice to accept that reviews come in all forms. Positive and negative.  We can be gracious and humble, accepting that people are entitled to their opinions, or we can fight against them. What you fight, you draw attention to.

Once again this proves the following statement to be true: What you focus on becomes your reality.

Choose wisely.