Mixed Review? Why It’s All Good.
By Therese Walsh | June 3, 2014 |
by Flickr’s Chris JL
A debut author I know recently wrote to ask:
[Ho]w do you assess a poor review from a Goodreads member (or anyone, I suppose)? Being new to this, I’m looking for some great tips on developing a thick skin.”
First, it’s worth noting that there are different kinds of poor reviews. Reviews of the “I hate your guts and your book’s guts” variety are one thing, and thankfully they’re pretty rare. (Erika Robuck wrote a great post on venomous reviews this past February, addressing how some authors cope.) Usually reviews are a mixed bag of things that did and didn’t resonate with readers, and aren’t meant to make an author feel like s/he should give it up and become a banker.
Let’s assume you have a mixed-bag review, and you’ve read it and you want to know… Now what? Can you take anything from it of value? And if so, how can you do that without becoming completely neurotic?
Let’s start with what you probably already know. It bears repeating:
- It’s not personal. Reviewers are judging your story and not you as an individual. Embrace that distinction, and you’ll find it easier to read a range of opinions about your work with little or no defensiveness.
- Distance grows calluses. Some authors can read mixed reviews right after their book’s publication and be unaffected. Other writers need more time, or to be absorbed in a new project before they can read criticism without a spike of anxiety. Whatever your tendencies, know that distance can make it easier to wade through reviews.
- You can’t control this. And here is a theme. You can control little about the business except for the story itself, and you most certainly cannot control how readers who are not your friends and family will receive your book. You don’t know their names, their occupations, their levels of education, what they generally like to read, if they’ve had a bad day, etc… All you know is that they took the time to read your book. And as author Sarah McCoy once wrote, “That alone is worthy of respect.”
- Authors who debate their readers’ opinions look petty and immature, nine times out of ten. It’s so easy once you understand this point: It’s their book. Their. Book. They have paid for the right to like it, love it, hate it, or feel nothing at all about it.
Here’s what you may not know:
- Reviews–good and bad–can help you understand your readers. You know the readers who “get it” when you read their reviews. They’re the ones who identify with a character or theme or in some other way convey that they understand the point of your novel. And while you may want to learn more about them–and maybe you should–consider the readers who didn’t love your book, too. Sometimes there’s a clue as to why there was no love match in their review. The reader mentions their preference for fast-paced books when you’ve written a thinker. Or a hatred of female protagonists. Or cursing. Or female protagonists who curse. They only read the first eight paragraphs on their phone, then quit to play Ruzzle, and never got back to it. Maybe they aren’t reviewing your book at all, rather they’re complaining about the review system or shipping or some other thing that is utterly off the point. And so you shrug off that one-starred wonder, because that guy was never going to be your people.
- Readers who “get it” but don’t love everything are your most valuable readers. Why? Because these people were invested in your story in some important way and you lost or nearly lost them, and they have taken the time to voice their disconnect. Hear, process, and potentially learn from their reasoning–how you hooked them; when, where, and why you lost them–and you may be able to more effectively maintain reader connections with your next stories.
- Criticism that trends is your most valuable criticism. You’ve heard it a dozen times now. The setting is flat. The characters are off-putting. The story lost focus. The ending is underwhelming. It’s probably time to believe it. And while you can’t use this enlightenment to make your existing novel better, you may be able to apply its lessons toward your future books.
- It’s not a crime to tune it out completely. Some authors step away from their book once it’s published, believing it’s no longer theirs, period. Others don’t want to be a part of the review scene at all, because it’s anxiety-spiking. If you want to avoid review sites, do; you’re under no obligation to read your book’s reviews. But consider having an outside party summarize them for you on occasion, because you may benefit from what you’ll learn.
Criticism is essential to our evolution as writers, and there is no truer pool of it than readers on review sites who are not your mother, sibling, spouse, or Aunt Mabel.
What do you think? How do you assess criticism on review sites, if you do? What’s helped you to develop a thicker skin?
Therese Walsh (she/her) co-founded Writer Unboxed in 2006 and is the site’s editorial director. She was the editor of WU’s only book, Author in Progress, and runs the Writer Unboxed UnConference.
Her second novel, The Moon Sisters, received starred reviews and was named one of the best books of the year by Library Journal and Book Riot.
Learn more about Therese on her website, and sign up for her newsletter to be among the first to hear about any new projects.
Therese, thanks for sharing your insights regarding reader reviews. I put more credence in reviews that include specific criticisms and suggestions for how the work could have been improved. Those comments such as, “It didn’t do anything for me” are useless and make me wonder if the critic even read the book. Jane Smiley once wrote that the novel belongs to the reader, not the writer, and that is so true. Every reader looks at your work through the lens of his/her values, perspectives, likes and dislikes. The critics in my writers group who write science fiction and erotica hate my family sagas and can be scathing in their reviews. I take what is helpful and shrug my shoulders at the rest. It’s just not their cup of tea and I can live with that. For what it’s worth, I thought The Moon Sisters was a wonderful novel and I know a lot of other readers share my opinion.
Chris, I agree with you about needing specificity in a review for it to be helpful. Anything vague falls into the “shrug it off” column–even if the book was liked!
You said, “Every reader looks at your work through the lens of his/her values, perspectives, likes and dislikes.” So true. When you know a critic, you can read their words through that lens you know so well, but it’s a lot harder when you don’t know the reviewer. You might be able to make guesses about their lens if you made a study of their body of reviews. I haven’t done this, but it might be interesting in theory. A stranger recently gave TMS a very nice review and within that review said she was a picky reader who didn’t usually award more than two stars. Someone who receives one of her tougher reviews might take the time to look at her sparse-star history and realize the reviewer leans picky.
I loved your review, Chris. Thanks again for taking the time to read and write about The Moon Sisters.
Therese, this is great. Loved the advice on distancing but also paying attention to trends.
I do have a question though. Is there any way for an unpublished writer to find out what our target audience is? I hear a lot about your audience, and writing to your ideal reader, but how do I identify this elusive reader (aside from putting my manuscript in the woods and watching with a hunting camera)?
Thanks!
Sarah, I’m going to point Barbara O’Neal in the direction of your comment; she’s brilliant about imagining a book’s ideal reader and writing to her. Stay tuned.
Sarah, create your target audience by writing a book you’d love to read. :) You are your target audience. And, if you’re writing YA, it’s you when you were 12.
Writing for yourself is certainly the best way to find your audience. I would also add that you might want to imagine who you’d like to be writing for, and what do they read now?
Thanks, Barbara.
Thanks, everyone! That’s very helpful.
Oh man, don’t we all need this post, Therese. Thank you. You said it beautifully … “Understanding your readers” certainly is vital to every writer. As an author I read every review because I do want to know the readers who have bought my book, presumably read it, and have taken the time to write their response. To value a reader’s review as fair, I look for balance. Maybe one reader didn’t like the ending but he liked the suspense, or maybe another reader didn’t find the theme compelling but liked the characters. These are the most valuable reviews for me. And keeping in mind that the review is not fact, but opinion and in some cases a narrow opinion at that.
As an avid reader, I also write book reviews on Amazon and Goodreads. It’s a good exercise in learning a healthy perspective about the process and responsibilities of posting public reviews. Even when I’m disappointed in a story I’ve read or don’t like it much, I still find some good things to say about it. No matter how bad a book is, there’s always at least one redeeming value to offer praise.
This is a very important subject, book reviews, especially with so many readers trashing some worthy books and others praising trash. I’d like to see more posts on the trials and tribulations of the book review industry here on WU.
Paula, I agree — mixed reviews seem the most credible. You may also find one review cancelling another out. Reader A loves character A, and reader B hates that same character. Pat yourself on the back for writing a character readers like to talk about, and feel something about, even if they don’t agree.
A broader post on the book review industry is something we might be able to address down the road. Stay tuned.
Anytime you are willing to step out to share your thoughts you are exposed to contrasting opinions. When I was a pastor there were many times I wondered where a critical comment came from – what had I done wrong? What I learned is that the bigger the room we walk into, the more likely we will step on toes without intending to do so. It is never meant to be personal to you, but it was personal to them – let them take responsibility and ownership of their feelings. We should be sensitive to the words we project, whether spoken or written, and try not to offend, but even Jesus got some awful reviews by those in the crowd, and at one point his own family was critical. Be gracious when critics take the time to speak their mind, at least they took the time to listen or read what you had to share. Yeah, I agree, it is all good.
Mike, thanks for your comment. I agree that “the bigger the room we walk into, the more likely we will step on toes without intending to do so.” Also, the bigger the room, the rangier the opinions. In the biggest of rooms, we’ll find the people who love, love, love our work, who think it’s the best thing they’ve ever read. Here we’ll also find the people who think we write like pre-schoolers or that we should be banned from words until the end of days. In terms of learning from them, I think we should ignore the outliers — the folks at the extremes on either side of the bell curve.
You nailed it, Therese! Reviews are invaluable to a writer. While you can learn as much as possible from critique partners and beta readers, you can only anticipate so far what effect your storytelling has. An interesting experiment, perhaps: after all ARC reviews have been considered and editing is finished, one could circulate a “gamma version” (for “gamma readers”, of course), get 100 or so random reviews, then use all that for some final tune-ups before the final publication? Hmm…
John, yes, it’s a great idea. I know Brunonia Barry asks for early feedback from her target audience: book club groups. Smart, smart.
I’m pretty sure I’m going to have trouble with this, so I’m grateful for the tips, T. I base my guess on the fact that I even get twisted up over three star reviews on friends’ books that I’ve loved. I can easily dismiss one star reviews, but three stars? For a book I loved? By someone I know and care about? Actually, now that I think about it, that might be worse than harsh critique of my own work.
Here’s one that got to me as I loaded my own review of a friend’s (wonderful) book: the three star reviewer criticized all of those of us giving the book five stars? What the…? I don’t know why I let myself be drawn to look at them.
Thanks again for always leading the way by leaning forward, Mama!
When I’ve loved a book, I’ll often close the cover and head to the review sites to see what others felt. (My online book club experience, maybe.) I’ll read the great reviews, but I’ll also read the one-star reviews. Sometimes I’ll see a point, but more often I’ll understand that the reader just didn’t “get” the book, and that the review is dismissible. (Sometimes I’ll “dislike” the review, to give voice to my disagreement.) It’s so much easier to do this with someone else’s book, but it highlights the lesson that your book will appeal to some but not to all, and that’s not only okay, it’s normal.
Don’t drink the Kool-Aid.
Good or bad. My last novel got a starred Kirkus Review. It didn’t sell any better because of it. I think there is more danger for the working author to believe good reviews than there is to be hurt by bad reviews.
What you’d like to see is a bunch of reviews. Bad or good, doesn’t matter. More reviews, a lot of reviews… a bandwagon of bad reviews, for ex.: TWILIGHT, staring rolling down the hill as the book became more and more successful commercially. This is normal.
As for developing a thick skin. No trick to it, really, you will. You have to. Best to make it like bullfighting and become gracefully adept at stepping aside.
Randy, I almost included some thoughts on the danger of believing only the good reviews, but I ran out of steam. Thanks for saying what I also believe. An author is forged by fire. At least in part.
Loved this advice, Therese:
“It’s their book. Their. Book. They have paid for the right to like it, love it, hate it, or feel nothing at all about it.”
That totally sums it up. Get over it and move on to your next story.
Denise Willson
Author of A Keeper’s Truth and GOT
Thanks, Denise. I think remembering that helps with the distance we all need as writers.
Great points, Therese! When I published my children’s book, at first there were great reviews. Then one reader won my book at a Goodreads giveaway, and she complained about the cover (which showed a little boy and a cat playing with small army toys) and claimed that I should have put in different toys to play with.
I was surprised and bothered by it, and wondered why she would want to win my book if already saw the army toys on the cover? After a while, I just shook it off as her opinion and let it go. I’m sure it will be harder when I eventually publish novels.
Yes, that’s one I’d shrug off, Jennifer. (People are weird. Readers are people. You do the math. ;-) ) Thanks for your comment, and best of luck with your novel.
As I learned from my first LibraryThing giveaway, reviewers who received a book for free are much harsher than the ones who bought it.
(1) People tend to enter giveaways for any and all books they see, regardless of whether they’d like to read them. You get a lot of two stars from people who say, “I hate this genre, but this book was okay I guess.”
(2) People who get books for free tend to skim. They didn’t invest their money in the book, so they don’t invest their time or themselves in it either. Then you get one-stars that read like the critics meant to review some other book, but they clicked on yours by mistake.
People who make the decision to buy your book are your intended audience. They liked the premise, they liked the sample, and they’re predisposed to like your book. People who get it just because “it’s free, so why not?” are most likely not your audience.
As others have commented, the same thing happens with bestsellers. When a book gets “big,” people who would not normally be interested in it (or who don’t normally read at all) buy it because everybody else raves about it. And they hate it. So the average Amazon rating goes down, down down… If a book is very popular, I’m impressed if it can keep a rating above three stars.
So very true.
Seconded!
I don’t let negative reviews get me down. I may think about a bad review for an hour or two, but that’s it. I DO love constructive criticism that makes my work better; otherwise, I realize that not all people like the same things, and it would be boring if everyone did. It’s okay if people don’t like my books. Of course, I would rather they did, but I’m not going to drive myself crazy if some don’t.
Healthy attitude, Judy. Brava!
Therese-
You got it. The four and five star reviewers are your readers. The one and two star folks are not.
It’s in the middle where things get interesting, and maybe helpful. Trends help too. I recently read the second novel by an author whose debut was a literary/commercial smash. I loved, loved, loved the second novel until the end, which was an epic fail.
I thought to write the editor, whom I know, but realized he’d already grappled with the book. So I flipped over to Good Reads to say something…only to find that 1500 people had already said exactly what I was going to say.
Has the author noticed? Let’s hope. He’s got one more shot with me.
What I can add to your excellent points (as well as Randy’s point that good reviews don’t necessarily sell units) is that those one and two star brush offs can be brushed off by you in turn, if you like, but there’s a different way to look at them: as a challenge.
Think about it. That reader doesn’t care for your type of story, your protagonist, your voice? Sure as shooting that reader will love those things when done by someone else. What’s the difference between your writing and that other author’s?
Ah, that’s the challenge. Figure that out and watch your stars rise.
Agreed; if you want to make a study of those one- and two-star reviews, you might learn a lot. And tackling that study might be all the more important if your profile with readers doesn’t trend upwardly, with more people liking your book than not. If you have a lot of people “awarding” your book with a single star, and fewer people loving the book, pay attention. If you have just as many people loathing your book as loving it, pay attention.
Bells, bells, bells! OMG, Donald (and Therese in follow-up), you just made me realize that there is likely much to learn in reading OTHER authors’ 1- and 2-star reviews. I usually ignore them. But the “1,500” example D. Mass provides is not just an opportunity for that author. THANK YOU! Bells sometimes go off when I realize I have been being an idiot. You’d think I heard them all the time.
Wish there was an edit button. Maass, of course. Apologies.
Glad those bells went a-clanging, Randy. Some of the best exercises in skin-toughening can come from reading the worst reviews of your favorite novels — and classics.
I really got a kick out of a two star Amazon review recently. The headline was Too Much Sex. The reader liked the book but was upset that the narrator ‘slept with all the women’. Given that there are five strong women in the story and he slept with two, I wonder if she actually read it. But several of my friends think that headline will probably help sell books!
My feeling is that non-venomous reviewers are sincerely engaging with the book which great from my perspective, even if they don’t care for it. I generally don’t review books I don’t like (I usually don’t finish them) but if I do it’s because I’m trying to understand something that didn’t work and why. As a writer I can take that feedback!
That is funny. And I think your friends are right.
Good post, Therese. Something I keep in mind when I get a 1 or 2 star review (which isn’t that often, thankfully) is that almost all of my writer heroes – those whose writing I most admire – also have their share of 1 and 2 star reviews. Just look at some of the nasty Amazon reviews for classic novels by Tolstoy, Hemingway, and Steinbeck, or for contemporary best-selling authors.
Some reviews are certainly mean-spirited, and those you just have to shrug off. Somebody was having a bad day, or thinks every novel should be a thriller.
I also agree with Randy about your target audience being readers like yourself. If you write the kind of book that you like to read (and why would you want to write something you wouldn’t like reading?) then you will have no trouble understanding who your target readers are.
Thanks for posting!
Ruth, reading the reviews of classic novels puts things into perspective for me as well. Write on.
Therese,
Thank you for this post, it makes so much sense. I’m going to pin your advice to the board above my desk, where I can see it.
Although my first published novel isn’t coming out for a bit yet, I want to keep what you said in mind, for when it does.
I do know from experience at my day job that the advice you offer works, not just for books but also in many areas of life.
One of the duties at my day job is to work face-to-face to complete the pick up process for customers who order stuff from my company’s website. After the customer picks up their stuff from my desk, an email form goes out to them, so that they can rate our service.
Sometimes we get feedback that is irrelevant, stuff like the parking lot was too crowded, or a customer who asks us why we got rid of the hot dog stand… stuff we at the online desk have no control over. We also get the grumpy customer feedback, the people you can’t please no matter what, and they make their displeasure known. Thankfully we get thoughtful and kind customers too, customers who make suggestions they feel could improve our service, along with the customers who love everything we do.
We’ve learned to wade past the complaints we have no control over, brush off the nasty remarks from the customers we can never please, and to pay attention to the thoughtful suggestions of the customers who offer helpful improvement, while enhancing the stuff our customers absolutely love.
It has paid off. Our overall approval rating in some weeks now is an almost perfect score.
Fantastic comment and outcome, Bernadette. Thank you for sharing!
Great points. I never thought of taking what I might find in negative or mediocre reviews and applying those lessons to future projects.
I definitely had some of the criticisms of my debut in mind when I worked on book #2. I highly recommend at least looking for trending comments. Best of luck, James!
I approach reviews from inside out and outside in and other directions. My skin gets no thicker or thinner anymore because I evaluate reviews for substance, mainly the caliber of the argument, style, content and organization, expression, and efforts to appeal, if any.
I type reviews according to several categories.
A Critical Review analyzes and interprets method, message, moral, intent, and meaning, one or more, without expressing personal disapproval, except perhaps ironically of the courtly irony variety: condemnation using faint praise, or praise using faint condemnation. This type of review is rare anymore, an artform in itself.
Promotional Reviews are solicitations to consumers to let them now a product is available, and where, and entice consumers to consume. Another artform in itself, these too are generally impersonal though bright and lively, somewhat like a query pitch.
A Lifestyle Review generally expresses personal sentiments and sensibilities: like or dislike, works or doesn’t work for me commentary. Substantive lifestyle reviews define the argument’s claims, keep on topic, support claims, and define the whys and wherefores of likes and dislikes, etc. Insubstantial lifestyle reviews fail at one or more of the above and tend to be more about the reviewer than the product reviewed.
A Mixed Review attempts several disorganized review types at once: part Critical, part Promotional, part Lifestyle, part, Vanity, part Nastygram, and makes little sense. This review type is most common anymore, easiest to dash off a wandering, informal chat than put effort into a substantive review.
Vanity Reviews are also known as astroturf, artficial sod laid by family, friends, acquaintances, and fans of a writer to attempt a marketing campaign. These are generally substance-less and of a like, Like, LIKE sensibility.
Nastygram Reviews, contrarily, though vanity reviews as well, are artificial fertilizer laid on artficial sod by competitors, enemies, and haters of a writer’s marketing campaign. They are a product of misguided people with no better activity to occupy their time than spread fertilizer, misguided other writers possessed of artistic and professional jealousy, haters of a theme, topic, subject, opinion position with which they take offense and disagree, or of a sophistication beyond their ken.
Needless to say, if a review passes my evaluation, I will as well consider the claims made and supported and consider their import for my writing and reading pleasures. This way, my skin needs no thinning or thickening.
Ah, yeah, who in their right or wrong mind would have the audacity to review the writings of Poeticus. Reading your comments is like enjoying a good workout. It’s extremely exhilarating, but beware, the effects of lactic acid will be experienced over the next few days.
Excellent post with lots to learn from those “negative” reviews. Thanks for posting! Will share on FB.
Therese–
The more positive reviews a book gets, the more the negative reviews are reduced to the level of one reader’s opinion. Really nasty reviews probably work to a writer’s advantage: they make the reviewer look like a nut case.
Agreed, Barry.
My skin isn’t nearly as thick as I’d like to believe it is (you’d think after being a comedian for several years I’d have gotten used to it.) I know that I have a tendency to dwell on the negative, even when it has nothing to do with me personally: Negative Yelp reviews of my parents’s business make my skin crawl just as much as negative reviews of anything I’ve done.
I try to avoid reading reviews so I don’t get sidetracked and absorbed by them (both the good and the bad), but I think your suggestion of having an outside party summarize them for you is brilliant. It allows you to know if there are any trends in reader opinions so you know where you’re hitting the mark and where you’re off track, but without getting sucked in. Plus, it’s probably more helpful getting that aggregated feedback from someone you trust than from multiple anonymous people on the internet.
Thanks, Therese!
Love the way you put this, Brian. And, yes.
I suspect that many (most?) people involved with the arts are dwellers. Isn’t it our ability to focus on the negative — on what isn’t working — that propels us to do better? But, boy, I understand that sometimes the best way to cope is to protect yourself.
A lot of reviews are useless to writers, and I’m talking both positive and negative reviews. Telling an author that you love their story is a nice ego stroke, but I want to know why. Telling an author that you hate their story is a not-so-nice ego stab, but I want to know why.
I’m realizing many reviews are for the readers who wrote the reviews. They want to release what they are feeling. They want to be heard. Sure, there are some useful reviews out there, but not enough to quiet to the noise of the useless ones.
The only way I know to develop thicker skin is to subject myself to the fear and pain of the situation at hand. Face it. Poop my pants, clean it up, and then embrace it. I don’t embrace the poop but the realization that pain and fear are a part of the situation.
When that process becomes extremely hard, I remember most, if not all, professional writers have to endure the fear and pain at some point in their writing career, so I must be on the right track. That’s why reading author bios are a part of my writing world.
BB, great to see you here. I suspect you’re right that the truly useful comments are often buried under many pointless comments. I’d argue that they’re worth the hunt.
Excellent advice about developing thicker skin. We have to build callouses by actively doing that thing we don’t want to feel.
So when is your book coming out?
Probably in another 4-8 years. My stories are far from ready, Momma Tee. Padawan has much craft to learn, he does.
Well, I very much look forward to the unveiling, when you — and it — are ready!
Awesome article, Therese! A wise editor lady I work with told me: If you can learn something from a bad review, take it, otherwise go have a glass of wine and forget it.
At first it was hard not to take negative feedback personally, but I am learning that intellect and interest have a mighty impact on how a reader receives a book.
I only wish I could send your article to the author that attacked me for my review of her book. She was rude and totally unprofessional.
Authors writing HONEST reviews of other author’s work – that sounds like a good blog subject… *Hint, hint :)
We tried that with Reader Unboxed. I know some of our reviewers, may of whom were authors, found it uncomfortable to critically review their fellow authors’ work.
Great advice! Cheers.
I’m one of those never go look at reviews authors. I stopped soon after my first book was out and never looked back. Works for me!
Rule #1. Do what works for you!
just noticed the “up, James” clickable link over there at the bottom – made me laugh! I love little hidden things like that :D
Haha- I’ve seen the words “Up James” before, but it never really registered until Kathryn Magendie just brought it to my attention. That is pretty cool.
Glad you like it. :-)
Barring a trend in reviews that can be addressed, children are an excellent example of why you shouldn’t take negative reviews to heart. One day you ask them to perform a task and they’ll do it willingly with a smile. The next day they hate you and you are the worst. Mom. Ever. What has changed, other than bits of neurochemistry, that they were taunted at school or their favorite TV show wasn’t on at the right time? This gets back to your first point: it’s not personal. Much of human negativity comes from emotional weather rather than the immediate situation. (In my experience, while we might be more sophisticated in our presentation, this is also true of most adults.)
“Emotional weather” is perfect. As the mom of two teens, I know exactly what you’re talking about, too. Thanks, Jan.
Yeah, you think you have the resilience to hear about your work’s flaws, but sometimes certain things get you. When I read a Publisher’s Weekly comment about my manuscript for a contest entry describing it as a “slight” novel, it bugged me, because it was such an overarching thing.
I was ready to hear about some plot or character limitations, or deficiencies in emotional buildup or climax, or that I couldn’t describe the way a chicken walks to save my life, but “slight” seemed so deeply dismissive of something I’d worked on on and off for years that it stung.
Thank god for martinis.
I second that, Tom. And there should never be a “slight” martini — or margarita, for that matter.