Wednesday, October 1, 2014

IWSG


It’s strange having the first of the month fall on a Wednesday—but it does, so that makes this IWSG time. Thanks kindly to Alex Cavanaugh and crew for hosting this each month; you can find the link here if you’d like to join in the fun. Basically, it’s a time to reflect on being a writer, the whole publishing process really, and what makes us insecure about it. For me insecurity tends to be directly tied to other people’s opinions. If people liked my work, I’m flying high, if not, I’m questioning why I even bother writing at all. As you can imagine, that’s neither healthy nor helpful. Recognizing this, I’ve done my best to stop. Now, I’m not saying I’ve stopped reading every review that comes in, that would be too much to expect, but I did stop letting them affect me. I’ve come to acknowledge that people have their own opinions and they’re entitled to them, just as I’m entitled to mine.  And if I forget that? I go to Amazon and read some of the reviews of my favorite books. That’s a quick wake-up call. That, more than anything else, tells me one thing: we’re all unique, and life would suck if it were any other way.

Do you read your reviews? How do you handle the “bad” ones?

10 comments:

  1. There you go - read the good ones when you feel down.
    I read all of them and the bad ones I just figure were someone I didn't write my book for.

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  2. Since I'm not yet published, I don't have any reviews to obsess over, but I expect I'll only be interested in those reviews that explain why the reader did or did not like it. How else can you learn what your audience wants?

    Of course, it's easy for me to say this now.....

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  3. I hope that when I publish a book I won't be affected by bad reviews but I'm sure I will be. I just hope the good will outweigh the bad. You just have to remember that you can't please everyone.

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  4. Bad reviews that offer no reason or depth are meaningless anyway. Just ignore them. We can't please everyone.

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  5. Right now I am not reading my reviews for 30 Seconds because I know if a bad one comes in it'll drag me down. I'm not going to ignore the reviews totally though. I am focusing on writing and promoting 30 Seconds. When some times passes, I'll check out the reviews, but I don't want to burden myself with them at the moment because I remember what I was like when Hurricane Crimes came out. lol

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  6. Yeah, insecurity sure ties in with feedback and opinions. It's hard not to let negative reviews affect us no matter how much we know that we cannot please everyone. I used to think no matter what authors do read all reviews...and yet, I don't remember the last time I checked lol. I like your idea though, read your favorite books' reviews, it sure gives us perspective ;)

    S.K. Anthony: My New 2014 Business Card — IWSG (15)

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  7. Great post, Melanie!! I love your attitude about getting a negative review. Especially how you combat the bad ones by reading reviews of your favorite books. And one thing I've learned as I read reviews of some of my favorite books, is that some people are naysayers. There's nothing that makes them happy—not even a good book! :)

    http://swordsandstilettos.blogspot.com

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  8. Like you I can't resist reading the reviews and bad ones linger on my mind but I try to learn from them. Not even bestselling authors get all good ones so I try to not take it personally.

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  9. We all need to acquire a thick skin. As we are SO OFTEN told by agents and publishers, it all SUBJECTIVE. Not everyone is going to love your work and the sooner you can accept this, the healthier you will be....emotionally. Focus on the positive reviews because you've touch another human being with your story/writing.

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  10. I used to be affected by negative reviews but not so much anymore. I rejoice when I get a good one and just kind of ignore the others.

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