After the comments I received from another writer about my novel I was left feeling rather deflated. Their comments, no matter how honest they felt they were being with me, were ungrounded. If they had taken their time to read my novel the issues they raised would have been answered, but still I was left convinced that I hadn’t tied the story threads up completely. I like to treat my readers as intelligent people and not feel the need to spell everything out in block capital letters, but still I had let doubt creep in.
It’s strange how all the good reviews dissolve from our minds and we just focus on the one star ⭐️ review. What is it in our psyche that doesn’t allow us to push aside bad reviews and tell ourselves that it is down to personal taste rather than the quality of our writing. Of course if the same issues kept appearing in other reviews then there might be a problem, rather than just down to a reviewer’s personal opinion.
The issues picked up by this single writer hasn’t appeared in any other review so from my point of view I’m just letting it go and moving on. After thirty-six reviews on Amazon and eighteen on Goodreads and only one ⭐️review I’m focusing on the positive reviews. Today I received this one.
If you’re interested in reading my novel’s review here’s the link to take you to your country’s Amazon sites and if you want to check out Goodreads here’s the link.
Sometimes when I see a negative review, I can tell right away the reader was not the right audience for the book. In that respect, a negative review helps the right audience zero in on your work. Besides, it would look suspicious if you didn’t have any negative reviews at all. So it’s all good.:-)
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I agree with you totally about not having negative reviews. The writer in question messaged me with their views saying I should take down my novel and put right all the issues they found with it. They were surprised that my publisher hadn’t picked up on them too. I thought about what they said but decided no one else had mentioned the point the raised about James’s studio being in the attic, about who his father was etc. So I’ve been waiting to see if anyone else highlighted the issues that had been made. I’m fully aware that reading tastes comes into whether someone will like your book or not.
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I liked the idea of an attic studio. It’s more like a lair.:-) I think you handled the father thing well. If there’s something I’m missing, it totally didn’t matter to my enjoyment of the book.
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I just feel if the issues raised had been a problem, Priscilla you certainly who have picked up on them as you did with the editing issues. These were fixed straightaway, but to restructure my whole novel and storyline to make the changes this writer was suggesting didn’t seem right.
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Hi Paula. Thank you for sharing Ann’s wonderful review with us. I’d print it out and tape it to the wall in front of my work space to remind myself of how much the heart and soul I poured into writing my novel touched not only her heart but the hearts of all the other readers of your exemplary first novel as well. Her review is right on! Damn the one star!! They don’t know what they are talking about!!! I loved you book, Paula, and have told many other people about it. Keep up the great work 🙂
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