How do you handle negative reviews?
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
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
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.
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.
I don't know why, but I think of 5 star reviews as reviews from superfans, and I am not interested in those.
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.
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.
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!