Oh No! A Bad Book Review! Have No
Fear... Advice for Dealing with the Blues of a Bad Book Review
BY LAURA HICKEY
You've just been notified a
review of your book has been posted. You're all excited and
can't wait to see what has been written. You're clicking onto
your book's page when... Oh no! They hated your book! This bad
review is going to turn away customers from buying your book.
Wait! This isn't the end of the world. Here's 3 tips to deal
when you get a bad review.
1. You can't please everyone!
Example: One of my favorite
authors is a bestseller but the author didn't receive such hot
customer reviews.
Another example: I was reading
some book reviews and one of the books had one of the worst
ratings ever. I clicked the link with curiosity to find over
20 customers had reviewed the book and loved it. In life, you
can't please everyone. Will a bad review discourage future
customers? On to my next tip.
2. A bad review doesn't have to mean
bad profit.
Not all customers look at a
bad review as their only guide to buying. In fact, if your
review is so awful, they may even buy the book to see if it's
really as bad as the reviewer rated it. There's the saying
that curiosity killed the cat, curiosity in this case could
help you. Customers also realize that everyone has different
tastes. Maybe the reviewer didn't like your book, but who's to
say someone different won't? It may be bad publicity, but none
the less it may help you. In fact, sometimes a customer may
have read the bad review but only remembers your name and or
the book's title.
3. If you're getting more than one bad
review.
It's understandable if you're
disappointed. It's expected, but do not allow yourself to
become discouraged. If you've published an e-book and can
easily edit your work, bad reviews can actually help your
writing. Now don't go crazy and change everything! But if
reviews are constantly pin pointing on one certain area,
review your work and see if and how you could improve it. I
know reviewing repeatedly can be hurtful but if it can help
your e-book, isn't it worth considering? Also, don't start
picking apart reviews right away, give yourself time to go
over them. Picking apart your reviews the moment you receive
them could prove fatal to your self esteem.
Laura Hickey is the author of
Mysterious Chills and Thrills for Kids: Ten Short Stories to
Tickle the Imagination. Visit
her website.
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