How do you handle negative reviews?

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How do you handle negative reviews? I have been told I'm my own worst critic and usually receive positive, if not at least constructive, feedback -- but I've also read a lot of work that honestly needed negative reviews.

Some people, I've noticed, are very good about ignoring other's opinions. I'm not that guy. I obsess, even when it's positive. For me, it's not enough to simply know, I have to know the why of it and most people won't get into the why of their opinion.
http://google.com/newsstand/s/CBIw_bTogRo

Comments

Krista Cagg said…
I wouldn't really mind a bad review if it was honest. The one 2 star review I have on my book has been questioned by people who have read it. The reviewer swears she read the book, but judging by her review that remains in doubt. I leave the review because I don't have many ratings, and people don't trust books that have nothing but positive reviews.
March 17, 2014 at 11:19 AM
Nathan Lowell said…
Most of my 1- and 2-star reviews hate the same things that the 4- and 5-star reviews love. 

My view is that populist reviews say more about market reach than about the quality of the work. If you only have 4- and 5-stars, then you're not reaching far enough out. If you only have 1- and 2-stars, then you haven't found your audience yet. 

My ideal is about 40% 5s, 20% 4s and the rest 1s, 2s, and 3s. 

When reading the bile gets to be overwhelming, I go read the 1- and 2-star reviews on GRRM and Nora Roberts.
March 17, 2014 at 11:40 AM
Krista Cagg said…
Trying to get people to leave reviews is like pulling teeth from a rhino while in free fall.  I've even offered free copies of future episodes for the first few reviews left.  No dice.
March 17, 2014 at 11:54 AM
Max Russell said…
I second Nathan Lowell  People just have different tastes. If everyone liked it, it'd be mediocre. It's why average movies do so well in the box office, because it is entertaining and doesn't disturb the largest amount of people. Write, knowing that not everyone thinks like you. What you can do though, is look at it like a learning experience. You just found a completely new opinion! Steal it! They wrote about your book, you're entitled to use their mindset, possible to fill out a future character of yours. Just make sure to write it honest and don't make them a caricature or your readers will see right through it.
March 17, 2014 at 12:07 PM
Rachel Desilets said…
There are several books that I have disliked that have been at the top of the list for other people.  I (would have) rated it one star, while others rate it 4-5.  Readers are all different.  For example, a book with a great plot but poor character development could still be a 3-4 star for someone else, but a 1 star for me because characters make or break a book for me.
March 17, 2014 at 12:43 PM
Rachel Desilets said…
Oh, I wanted to add:  At the end of the day, you should write for you.  Your readers will always bring their own lives to your book, which means, everyone will read your work differently.  The best you can do is learn from your mistakes, strengthen your writing where you can, and continue to write.  While we all want our art to be consumed, and we all want people to enjoy our art, we can't make people like our stories.  Some will, some won't.

If you can read the negative ones and get some constructive feedback from them, then you should do so.  If you can't, or are too disheartened by it, then try to remember that the reader has their own life, their own pet peeves, their own biases, and it might not have anything to do with your story at all.
March 17, 2014 at 12:47 PM
Laura Klein Stephens (Leauxra) said…
When I check reviews, I only check the 1 and 2 star reviews.  If there's nothing of substance, I head to the threes and sometimes even the 4s. 

I don't know why, but I think of 5 star reviews as reviews from superfans, and I am not interested in those.
March 17, 2014 at 12:47 PM
Bryce Anderson said…
You can usually tell when a reviewer genuinely tried to read and like it.  Occasionally, there are reviews whose only goal is to sabotage a writer who said something the reviewer didn't like.  Lynn Shepherd just got a boatload of actual sabotage reviews for saying something unkind (and honestly wrongheaded) about JK Rowling.

I'd like to see most insincere reviews disappear: bought-n-paid for 5-star reviews?  Revenge reviews?  Gone.  They just add noise and drown out the information the readers actually want.  But there's no clear mechanism for doing that, and no clear dividing line between sincere and insincere, or between honest and dishonest.
March 17, 2014 at 1:17 PM
Brittany Constable said…
Reviews are not for the author. One of these days I swear I'm going to end up with that tattooed on my forehead.

As a reader, if I'm on the fence about a book, I look for the negative reviews. If the stuff that bugs them is the sort of stuff that bugs me, I know to pass. And if there aren't any negative reviews at all, I know to pass because good work doesn't happen in echo chambers.
March 17, 2014 at 3:09 PM
Derek Dillon said…
Jason,

Some reviews and reviewers are worthless because they have incompatible agendas. Look for common denominators. If three people say the same thing about your work, it's time to pay attention. And enjoy the positive reviews!
March 17, 2014 at 3:12 PM
Blue Publishing said…
I would say as long as you have professionally edited your book, got it designed professionally from cover to interior and the eBook edition is professional grade than everything after that is user preference. If people are dinging you because of typographical errors, poor editing etc. then you need to worry and maybe hold your book until it is ready for the market.
March 17, 2014 at 4:04 PM
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