Episode 39: The One Where I Read My One Star Reviews

In this week’s episode, I’ll be reading my one and two star reviews, because, well, it’ll be fun.

Hello, and welcome to episode 38. This week, I thought it would be fun to spend some time reading the very thing that keeps a lot of people down—one star reviews.

I’ve never let reviews bother me that much, though I’d be lying to you if I said they didn’t affect me at all. Some hit home pretty hard, but you know what? That’s part of being a writer. It just means that someone, somewhere didn’t like my book. Out of the several billion people that live on this planet, there’s bound to be plenty of people who don’t like what I write. And there’s bound to be plenty more who do.

I view it as my job to get my books into the hands of the people that will enjoy reading them. Sometimes it’s not a good fit, and those people are totally within their rights to give the book a poor review. I’ve always believed that bad reviews actually help readers find books because they might identify with something in the review that they don’t like, thus moving onto another book. That in and of itself saves me another bad review. On the flip side, there might be someone reading through my reviews, and they’ll see a bad one and then say, “This reader is full of crap. This sounds like my kind of book!” And so they buy my book in support. The reading and buying process is funny like that.

Some authors rely too much on reviews. They listen to everything readers say, and they let it shape their artistic decisions about their work. That’s a fatal mistake. Just because readers have opinions doesn’t mean that I have to follow them, just like they don’t have to read every single book that someone recommends them. If you ever talk to me in private, you’ll notice that I’m quite stubborn when it comes to my creative ideas. I don’t compromise. That’s a disservice to the true fans who like my work.

Some authors say you shouldn’t acknowledge reviews at all. Generally, I believe in that. That’s why I won’t be sharing the names of any of my reviewers in this episode. But I also believe that you can’t simply ignore what people are saying about your work. I liken it to a manufacturer of a product. If you make tea kettles, you would want to know what customers are saying about your tea kettle right? Maybe they love it. Maybe they hate it. That doesn’t matter. What matters is the spirit of what they’re saying, what resonates with them. Maybe they bought it because your marketing connected with them and they speak to that in the review. Or maybe they don’t buy it because it reminds them too much of another product they bought and hated. I believe that there are clues there that can help you with the next product in terms of how you position it in the marketplace.

I’m a big believer in knowing where I stand, with people and in the marketplace. If people aren’t buying my book, that’s fine, but I want to know why. Not to act on it, but to understand where I stand. Helps me keep my expectations realistic.

Anyway, that’s my bit on reviews.

Let’s get to the fun stuff.

**\*

Main character is whiny, weak, pathetic.

Didn't like this story. A weak character. It was well written but I could not wait to get to the end and find something else to read.

The story was very disjointed and the characters felt flat. The first one third of the book was the main character following two other characters around without really knowing who they were, where they were going or why. I almost quit several times and by the ending I wished I had.

If you want to read about the trials of a man who actually conned himself into thinking a ritual with a particular powerful object would get his dead wife back & finds himself on the road to a literal hell, this is a book for you. Dante did it far better.

I really disliked the ending. You could see it coming halfway through the book. I understand this is the first in a series but more closure would of been nice.

I wanted to like this but couldn't make heads or tails of it. Finally just stopped reading. To bad I have all three books

In a real futuristic tale one is cleverly convinced that the characters could possibly exist. I wasn't.

The first 6 chapters were great, really creative and held my interest. After that, not so much. Perhaps it gets better later on, but by chapter 9 I lost interest. The grafting on of modern tech into a world with Dragons and elves was a bit much. I think the author got lazy or ran out of creativity! Laptops and Smart phones are not necessarily developments of a tech society.

Galaxy Guard pulls over a private starship, as if it was a traffic stop by a police officer. The Petty Officers ask for driver licenses and registration (sic). No plates on starship as it is a new purchase. Hyperdrive is fueled by gasoline. Childish and childlike is being kind. Bailed at end of Chapter 4, 16% in.

I mean, it’s like nothing about space is actually real. Why would you hang ‘emergency spacesuits’ right next to your regular spacesuits? What kind of spaceship fuel would be containerized and kept in the berthing spaces? Why couldn’t the spacer simply pull himself up…gravity in space? If you know nothing about space or the Coast Guard, you may be able to tolerate the almost comically bad plot. I could not. Normally, burning books is bad. If I had gotten this as a paperback, I would make an exception. Even a used bookstore shouldn’t stock this.

I got this as part of Kindle Unlimited and was unable to get past the first chapter or two. It was as if someone had written a book about the coast guard and then dared them to change it to science fiction by changing oceans to galaxies. Starts off doing an inspection and checking if the life preservers were there and it was noted the engine on the intergalactic vessel had its oil topped off and that is where it lost me..fini. Maybe the beginning was a dream sequence and it gets better but I have my doubts..

I was so excited to read this book after skimming through the sample… and then so disappointed.

**\*

I’ll stop there. I didn’t edit any of these, so as you heard, some of them were pretty harsh, and I’ll admit that they stung a little when I read them for the first time.

But what gives me some encouragement is that this is only 12 reviews. Out of many, many more reviews. In fact, most of my reviews are overwhelmingly positive. So sure, this was 12 people. Am I going to base my career on the opinions of twelve people? Nope.

What also encourages me about these reviews are the people that are NOT going to buy my books as a result of reading them. Most of these reviews are simply honest opinions, but a few of them venture into troll territory. What these few reviewers don’t realize is that they’re actually helping validate my book. It would be odd to say I’m grateful for trolls—I’m not—but I do find it pretty ironic that they put so much time and energy into negative reviews that do nothing but help the very person they’re intended to hurt.

So anyway, I read these reviews to show those of you that everyone gets one-star reviews. You could go to a Stephen King book, or any other author and see substantially the same sentiment in the one-star and two-star sections. If you’re a writer, that should give you some courage.

Sound/Music Credits:

Intro/Outro Music: “Kick. Push” by Ryan Little: http://freemusicarchive.org/music/RyanLittle//kickpush