One of the most interesting things about publishing my book so far has been reading CUSTOMER REVIEWS. For the most part, they’ve all been positive, even the ones that aren’t from friends and family who want to coddle you and make sure they don’t damage your ego. Independent reviewers have praised my book, and that makes me very happy on one level, but a bit suspicious overall.

I know my book is good. But I also know not everyone will feel that way. Where are the bad reviews?

You can't prove I didn't write this book on an old typewriter!!

Well, I got what might be considered a bad review today. It was still a 3 star rating, so I guess it wasn’t that bad, but the reader expressed some real disappointment in the book…and believe it or not, I was grateful!

You can read the review on the CRAFTY GREEN POET BLOG or on GOODREADS.

She is critical of some of the plot elements in the story, and I can certainly understand that. The funny thing is, she makes points I otherwise would not have considered, and she gave me ways to improve my next book. That may translate into a bad or mediocre review, but I can’t tell you how valuable that is for me. I’ve never been this pleased with a negative or neutral review before.

She mentions that my blurb felt misleading to her. The synopsis on the HOME PAGE of this very website details that blurb. When I wrote it, I never thought it to be misleading because that was the thrust of the book, in my mind. But as a reader, this reviewer felt somewhat cheated because the blurb does not mention the somewhat violent turn that occurs in the book. That would have never occurred to me. This is a valuable review for me simply because of that.

I wondered how people would react to that violence and the strange turn the book takes, but I never considered them feeling cheated or lied to. That’s incredibly interesting to me, perhaps because as a writer we sometimes have blinders on that prevent us from seeing the devil in the details.

The other aspect of the review I never considered was timeliness. Anyone who has read the book knows there’s a fair amount of violence in it, and I never thought a person’s perception of the book or my writing would be affected by current events. It seems completely obvious now, doesn’t it? Well, it never occurred to me during or after the writing. The story was the story. That was the end of the debate for me. As an avid reader myself, I can see that very valid point with clarity if I think about how I would have interpreted the violence if I had read the book at a time when violence in the news was very prominent in the minds of the masses. The reader is from Europe; Norway just endured a brutal shooting/terrorist attack. I’m not good at math, but I can put two and two together here.

I’ll admit that when I first read the review, I was disappointed. Every writer wants to see five stars every time, and this is not a five star review by any stretch of the imagination. But it makes me consider what I, myself, would rate my book. Would I feel cheated if I was just a reader and not the writer? Would I be compelled to give a five star review?

To be quite honest, I think I’ve written a very good book. But if I was just a reader, I’m not sure I’d give this a five star review, either. Maybe a four star, perhaps even a three…who knows? It’s hard to tell. As the writer of the book, and the biggest critic of anything I write, I’m probably inclined to give the book a negative ten star review. That’s how tough I am on myself. There are other writers who are far tougher, as I’m sure you’re not surprised to find. Honesty is sometimes a tough pill to swallow, and while I’m surely disappointed in a three star review from a reader, I am ecstatic at what I gained from that review.

It’s important to remember that your readers do not owe you anything. When they praise your book, you have received a treat. When they are critical of your book, you have received the keys to the kingdom.