Comments on: Single Star Blues

By: John Adams

John Adams — Mon, 30 Jun 2014 19:15:13 +0000

Please, don’t anybody tell her about GoodReads.

By: D. C. DaCosta

D. C. DaCosta — Sat, 28 Jun 2014 01:31:53 +0000

Pfft. As long as the reviewer paid for the book, you’ve got your money and all is well.

By: Shandy Lawson

Shandy Lawson — Fri, 27 Jun 2014 13:54:28 +0000

Depends on the review… there are some that are easy for me to discount because a)some reviewers just don’t like anything, b)the reviewer was predisposed to dislike the book for whatever reason or even c)the reviewer is confusing my book with one of the other half-dozen ones she or he read in one sitting, in one night. That’s happened. Twice.

(I also got this once: “stupid wrting and lazy didnt like AT ALLL!!”)

On the other hand, if I get consistent reviews that point out a particular flaw (or several of them), then that’s something to think about. At this point I’m pretty aware of what people liked about my debut and what they didn’t like, and I’m taking all of that into account as I write my next one…

By: Katie Newingham

Katie Newingham — Fri, 27 Jun 2014 13:43:28 +0000

I hope Hillary doesn’t give up. No one can attentively read and process 600+ pages in a day. She has overcome so much in life and is prepared for this hard role – though she will face more scrutiny.

Having never had an official bad review, yet, I can’t speak to this issue, but I don’t write reviews: good or bad. I mean I tweet the good stuff. My opinion is only one and I wouldn’t want my thoughts to negatively affect someone’s work. That said, don’t give up! <~ note to self.

By: Cyn

Cyn — Fri, 27 Jun 2014 13:26:20 +0000

As no stranger to bad reviews, my first step is ignoring them. When that fails, which it usually does in a moment of weakness, I google my favorite books and read the one-star reviews of them. All books, even the classics, have their haters. Authors can’t escape or control bad reviews; the only thing you can control is the quality of the next book you write, so get on that instead.

By: Kristi Belcamino

Kristi Belcamino — Fri, 27 Jun 2014 13:00:33 +0000

I actually wrote about this on a crime fiction site called Do Some Damage this week, (I appoint my husband as troll buster to filter my reviews), but with that said, I also heard something very interesting from one of the top publicists in book publishing. She told a story about how a blogger had given one of her authors a one-star review. The author thanked the reviewer for reading and said she hoped the reviewer would like her next book better. As it turned out, the reviewer loved the author’s next book and gave it five stars. But here’s the rub — the book that had received the one star sold like mad and the one that had received five stars? Not so much.
That’s a good example for authors to keep in mind when they receive a one star review. After all, my goal as a writer is to be the best writer I can be and to get my books into as many hands as possible.