How to Handle a Bad Review:
While perhaps cliché, for writers, I have to agree that receiving those very first bad reviews (and even some that follow) is much like having a stranger publicly announce that your baby is downright ugly. But since such criticism is part of the gig, finding a way to swiftly and fully rebound is essential. So . . .
Once you’ve grumbled to your family or close friends (preferably writers who truly understand), and the initial sting has worn off, here’s my advice:
Visit Goodreads or Amazon, look up your three all-time favorite books, and read at least two one-star reviews of each. The nastier, the better—because hey, how could any person in their right mind despise such a work of brilliance?!
To further heal your wounds, reread wise words like the following, from author John Locke:
“If you get a bad review, it’s because someone outside your target audience has found your book and gave it a shot. It’s no reflection on them as a reader, and no reflection on you as a writer. If, as an author, you don’t understand this, your writing will suffer, because you’ll be writing not to get bad reviews instead of writing to reward your target audience.”
Then there’s my personal favorite, from the amazing Georgia O’Keefe:
“I get out my work and have a show for myself before I have it publicly. I make up my own mind about it—how good or bad or indifferent it is. After that the critics can write what they please. I have already settled it for myself so flattery and criticism go down the same drain and I am quite free.”
And finally, after you’ve done all of the above, it’s time to brush away those self-doubts, sit your toosh back down at that computer, and, for the readers who eagerly await your next book, forge ahead and write.
A little about Kristina:
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Virginia Collier discovered her calling at the height of WWII as a member of the Women Airforce Service Pilots (WASP), an adventurous job that led to close friendships and even a whirlwind romance. But then a devastating tragedy changed everything. A year later, in the fresh wake of the Allies’ victory, she at last musters the courage to board a train bound for a confrontation with her past. Yet with every passing mile, the temptation grows to forgo her destination and keep harbored her haunting secret.
On any particular day, thousands upon thousands of people pass through New York City’s Grand Central Terminal, through the whispering gallery, beneath the ceiling of stars, and past the information booth and its beckoning four-faced clock, to whatever destination is calling them. It is a place where people come to say hello and good-bye. And each person has a story to tell.
Now, ten bestselling authors inspired by this iconic landmark have created their own stories, set on the same day, just after the end of World War II, in a time of hope, uncertainty, change, and renewal…
*****
Make sure to check out all of the other stops on this month long tour HERE and enter the grand prize giveaway.
Reading and enjoyment of a book is so subjective and it is so very logical that not everyone will like a book the same. Hard to take the reviews of those that don’t to heart, but a lesson well learned by others down through writing history. Thank you for sharing with us, I know when I see a review I disagree with this point is always driven home for me 🙂