Just to point
out that when I blog, I don’t care to edit hardcore. So this will have
mistakes. I’m just thinking, not writing a bestseller here.
So you want to
write a negative review, eh? Well, that’s your right and you are entitled to it
in the publishing world. But some of you have no class.
I’ve always
marveled over how many times we as authors will scroll over positive reviews
only to remember, almost word for word, the negative ones. Especially those
that are excessively harsh. I’ve never understood why a person would feel the
need to say someone’s body of work was “complete shit” or “this story sucks and
is boring as hell”. Don’t they realize that someone poured their heart and
soul, not to mention years and years worth of work into a project that maybe a
harsh reviewer took days to read and then shred? Isn’t there a better, more
professional way, of saying you don’t like something? You know, with some
class? You can say you don’t like something in more tasteful manner. Besides, I
don’t ever recall Siskel or Eibert ever giving a review about a movie saying it
was complete shit, and they are actually respected. Think about it.
Most of these
ham and egger harsh reviewers haven’t written a single thing in their life
because it’s much easier to rip apart someone else’s body of work. It’s safer.
They’re too cowardly to stick their work out there for fear of running into
someone like them. After all, they don’t have their neck on the line, because
if they did, their inappropriate reviews would be much different. It’s easy to
sit on the sidelines and call the plays. Just ask any sports fan. But to
actually get in the game, well, that’s where knowledge is earned. I’ve seen
many reviews that weren’t favorable towards a body of work, but they were done
in a tasteful and professional manner and will always have my respect. To those
reviewers, I say thank you. You make us strive to be better. Of course thank
you to the positive reviews as well. You give us inspiration to push on. None of
you drag us through the gutter in a disrespectful manner like the harsh
reviewer.
When writing Drift,
I knew beforehand that every person on the planet may not like the story. Wow!
What a concept, huh? There might be people that actually write about that very
fact too! Holy crap! It’s not news to us, Mr. /Mrs. Harsh Reviewer, that you
may vomit your disapproval all over our work. We expect that from time to time.
So when I came across someone that stated book 1 in my series was boring, I
decided to look into his/her credentials as a reviewer. So you know, I don’t
consider that a harsh review. It was what I discovered afterwards that bothered
me.
I naturally
assumed this person read the whole thing. So, being nosey like I am, I looked
into the negative reviewer more closely. I saw that said person hadn’t read but
only 30% of the book. Now, how can you start a review and advise others about a
book that you’ve only read a small portion of? Much more intriguing, how can
you the reader, take their unfinished input as advice anyway? It’s kind of like
judging a chef’s meal before they’ve actually served it. How can a reviewer
know what the main course tastes like when they haven’t gotten halfway past the
appetizer? And, as you the reader, don’t you want to taste the whole meal for yourself anyway?
Do reviewers
like this do thirty percent of the work during sex with their partner too? If
that’s the case, do your partner a favor, skip the sex and tell everyone how
awesome you are at it anyway. I’ve got another novel idea, how about you save the
review and judgment until after you’ve actually finished the entire book. Shocking, I know, right? You may have to
put in a little work; you know, put down the Cheetos and turn the pages a
couple more times. I know it’s hard, but we believe in you harsh reviewer.
But that
probably doesn’t matter anyway because Mr. /Mrs. Harsh Reviewer are reading
with the intent to shred, not enjoy. Because they are reading with negative
tendencies anyway, we the authors are screwed regardless. That’s why I am not a
reviewer. I like to submerge in a story, not have to think about anything other
than the story itself. Of course there is nothing wrong with reviewing, we need
it as authors. Positive or critical reviewers read with the intent to enjoy,
not destroy. Then they offer their opinion. That’s the point of the review. Read
it, submerge in it, review it - positively or negatively, with an open mind
when done.
Anyway, I dug
deeper into said harsh reviewer, going to the blog and seeing what the pattern
was in this persons reviewing process. Just to point out, I noticed people
didn’t visit said blog either. I saw that the highest percentage of the time
that particular harsh reviewer gave 1 star reviews. The lowest percent of time this
person gave 5 star reviews, with 4 star reviews being the next lowest. It
became evident that 1 and 2 star reviews are this reviewer’s specialty. So, I
dug deeper. I read the harsh reviewers’ blog (not just 30% of it) and saw that
blog after blog and review after review, a compilation of nothing but negative,
condescending, terrible and poorly thought out reviews is the dominant theme.
Said person used foul language to describe tons of different author’s work in
as derogatory a manner as the person could come up with. Instantly, the
reviewer lost credibility with me. I think I went 4 pages into this blog before
I found a somewhat respectful review. I knew Drift was in trouble with this
one, if it ever got finished by this person that is.
I even saw a
blog post where this reviewer went off on an author for “daring” to call this
person out about the harsh reviews by saying things to this author like, “You’re
a piece of shit.”, and “If you can’t handle a reviewer’s review, then don’t
write.” along with some other horrible things.
Well harsh
reviewer, I’ve got news for you. You don’t matter to us. You’re only a legend
in your own mind. No one gives a damn about your third grade, uneducated,
school yard review. If you were credible you would be in demand, but instead
you’re just sitting in front of your computer while toggling between porn sites
and your ereader in your panties/boxers while trying to figure out how to rip
apart the next writer who dared to do something you haven’t. Jealousy, maybe?
You can read them, just can’t write them? I’ve got an idea for you, put down
the Doritos, tell your parents (that you still live with) to do your laundry a
little later and then go pick up/download a book on etiquette. Do us a favor,
don’t review it unless you have actually read all of it. Absorb it, then come
back to us and try again when you put your big girl/boy panties/boxers on. Get
it?
Authors may
have to earn a reviewers respect through writing, but a reviewer has to earn
ours and their audiences through credibility. So, here’s what I’d like
to do because I know there are tons
of authors who have come across these immature reviewers in their writing path.
Feel free to comment on this page with the name and blog of said style of
reviewers. If you’re not comfortable with that, inbox me with the info on any
of my social pages that you choose. That way, we can all get together in our author social circles (and as we
know we have TONS) to share notes and spend more time focusing on those
reviewers who care and not those who are being immature.
Idiotic,
harsh reviewers will always be there to take digs at the risk takers; that’s
life. Identifying them right off the bat will help us to spend time on the
reviews that really matter; educated ones.
Happy writing
and reviewing!
