Writers and Reviews

Earlier this year there was a bit of chaos about writers responding to negative reviews. Those writers responded in a loud, unpleasant manner.

Dear writers, once your story is published, it no longer belongs to you. It belongs to the readers. By telling a reader his or her review is wrong, you are invalidating his or her response as a reader. How would you feel if someone told you you were wrong because you didn't like Book X? Not very happy, I'm sure.

People have the right not to like a book. Even yours. No one book can please every reader. Even the most talked-about, critically-acclaimed book will have some readers scratching their head, wondering what they missed when they read it because it didn't reach them in that way.

As a writer, you have a few choices. Either do not read your reviews or, if you do, hold your tongue. If there is something constructive in a negative review, take it and learn from it, but do not attack the reviewer. Ever.