by The thing I worried most about when I had my first novel published was the reviews I might receive. Being dyslexic and depending on others to proofread my manuscript makes me even more nervous about grammar and punctuation, if overlooked by editors. Being a reader myself, I often read reviews on other author’s books and knew reviewers were fond of highlighting grammatical issues, typos, and punctuation, along with problems they came across with plot, characters, historical facts etc.
I knew friends would be kind in their honesty, as they wouldn’t want to disappoint me after knowing how hard I had been working to fulfil my dream. When I started receiving reviews for Stone Angels from people unknown to me my confidence grew. I was more than amazed to find out how much others enjoyed my first novel. I never expected to receive 5 stars, just honest reviews with some details which would give me an insight to my weaknesses, and maybe highlight some strengths too.
Of course, reading is such a personal thing and everyone’s taste is different. Reviews on Amazon and Goodreads aren’t for us writers and authors, but to let other readers know what the reviewer thought of the book. When I review a book, I like to say what I enjoyed about it. Whether it had a strong plot, engaging characters, whether it held my attention, etc. I don’t believe in giving too much of the plot away to other readers, but to give them an insight to what I enjoyed about it.
Today, I received a review on Stone Angels which took me by surprise. Okay, so I’m fully aware not everyone will enjoy the book. They might not like the characters, my style of writing, etc but to say the story started well, but got bogged down with a plodding script left me both amused and bewildered.
I suppose I should be happy that they were kind enough to leave a review, but I would’ve liked to understood quite what they meant by plodding script and sloppy writing. Mr Reviewer must have been so moved by my sloppy writing that he was driven to write his first review on Amazon. So I’m honour that I’m his first. I was hoping that he was on Goodreads too, so I could personally thank him for his insight into my novel.
I just hope I haven’t put him off reading any more books written by me, but there again, maybe after reading such a plodding script and sloppy writing, he won’t risk it, 😂🤣 I’ve decided to be brave, and promote my wonderful one star review.
Do you think it might help my sales?
Have a great week,
Yours, Paula R C
From The Funeral Birds To As The Crow Flies 
Another reader’s one-star, “plodding script” is often a plus for me. It usually means a slow burn, character-driven story, WHICH I LOVE! It’s no coincidence, then, that I loved Stone Angels and gave it five stars. So yeah, promote that one-star review because readers like me will be intrigued!
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Thank you my dear friend. You and I have never met in person. You only know me through my writing. I only know you because you were kind enough to get in contact with me after reading my first book. You’re the builder of my confidence plus you’re completely honest with me. When I read the review this morning I wasn’t upset, just a bit bewildered by it. Then I thought 🤔why not use it to my advantage🤭 😂🤣
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Love it! The only way to deal with bad reviews is to run them into good publicity, well done!
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Thank you, Mason. If you can beat them, turn their criticism to your advantage 🤷♀️
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Absolutely. It’s a big win to sell despite the had review I say.
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I think the only way to cope with bad reviews is not to get too upset by them. They are often utter rubbish! I’ve had some myself, one of which rambled on about how I kept on mentioning protagonists’ eyes repeatedly! Made me laugh!
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Oh bless them. 😂 I’m not cut up about the review. I’ve been waiting for someone to dislike the novel, but it’s the ‘it started well, then became plodding’ in what way I would like to know 🤷♀️ I still think the best negative review I’ve got so far was “It never ended as I expected”
Well, all I can say to that isn’t that great. An unexpected ending, a twist in the tale is better than knowing what is about to happen. Plus I wrote the book 😂
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Yes, sometimes I reckon people write low star reviews because they don’t understand, or relate to the book. Which is inevitable once more readers read it. And no one understands the book more than the author! Lol. Nevertheless all the different star ratings and reviews are interesting and can sometimes strike a chord. And yes an unexpected ending is great. What I find most frustrating is if someone rates it low on Amazon with no review. Then you are… why?
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My ‘best’ one star review had one word – ‘Ugh’. Nothing more than that, leaving me totaly bemused as to what they were actually ‘ugh-ing’ about!
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I know it’s crazy. They might as well do a star rating and not say anything. 🤷♀️
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Hi Paula, I have had a few one-star reviews too. I am always surprised that people give one star reviews as I have read thousands of books but never found one that is so bad I’d assign it one-star. Even the worst written of the books I’ve read deserve at least two stars for their storylines. Most people who go to the effort of writing a book produce something reasonable at the end of it all. I had a two-star review for my historical novel and the review said the book contained to much history. I found that quite amusing.
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Thank you so much for dropping by Robbie. If I review a book and it isn’t worth anything under three stars, I don’t review. If it is worth only three stars I will find positive things about it. Like you say write a novel takes a lot of dedication. Too much history in a historical novel is as good as it wasn’t the ending I was expecting 😂🤣😂🤣. Bless them 🤭
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❤️
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