The Dangers of Feedback
By Matthew Norman | June 27, 2023 |
How’s this for a guilty pleasure? One of my go-to pastimes for the last ten years has been going on Amazon, searching up my all-time favorite books, movies, and albums, and obsessively reading every single one-star review. I have no idea what this says about me, but it’s probably not 100% healthy.
Just ballparking the numbers here, one-star reviews of brilliant things tend to breakdown like this: 25% of them are complete nonsense, 25% miss the point entirely, and 25% have nothing whatsoever to do with artistry. The Great Gatsby has too much drinking in it. Did the White Album really need all those songs? My Pulp Fiction Blu-ray arrived a day late! You know, that kinda thing. Inevitably, though, that last 25% of one-star reviews will include well-reasoned, artfully written, totally not ridiculous arguments for why many of the things I love so much are actually huge pieces of crap. The lesson here is simple, and I’ll adjust it for the fact that this is a site about writing: No book is for everyone.
We all know this, of course. It’s an important phenomenon to reiterate, though, because getting feedback from early readers is among the most essential steps in the writing process. However, as the one-star bandits of Amazon have shown us time and again, not all feedback is created equal, and, well…sometimes haters gonna hate.
Finding the “Right” Early Readers
If you’re an established writer—or if you’ve just been at it for a long time—you may already have a team of trusted early readers in place. For many of us, though, finding people to read our initial drafts can be a challenge. Often the impulse—believe me, I’ve been there—is to thrust your typo-ridden Microsoft Word doc into the inbox of the first literate, willing, seemingly able-brained person you find. My advice: take a pause, maybe run spellcheck, and ask yourself three simple questions:
- Is this person an idiot?
- Is this person the right reader for my book?
- Does this person even like the type of book that I’ve written?
Listen, I understand that diversity of thought is a good thing, and cherry picking your own cheering section won’t elicit a worthwhile critique of your work. That said, giving your book to someone who has zero chance of liking it can be one of the most destructive things you do to yourself as a writer. Let’s dig into these questions one by one as we develop a strategy for choosing early readers who are right for you.
Avoid Idiots
I’m (mostly) kidding about the idiot thing. If you give your manuscript to a known idiot, that one’s on you. And if you give it to someone who later proves themselves to be an idiot…well, live and learn. But it’s important to choose early readers who get you, your artistic goals, and literature in general enough to be able to effectively assess your work. Maybe ask them to recite the last one-star review they posted on Amazon.
Identify Triggers Upfront
An important thing I’ve picked up on from my years of rage-reading one-star reviews is that readers—even good, thoughtful ones—sometimes have triggers that can completely derail their reading experience and disproportionality affect their opinion of a book. Religion, lack of religion, politics, swearing, sex, infidelity, drug use, violence, animals in distress, children in distress, vampires, elaborate dream sequences, dragons. The list goes on and on. That’s why it’s important to be honest with potential early readers up front and identify what they simply can’t deal with. If they admit to being horrified by any and all swearing, maybe don’t give them your gritty cop drama full of foul-mouthed bank robbers. If they only go for PG-rated love stories, they may not be super-psyched to dig into your godless sex romp. You get the idea. Wait until after your book is published to offend those people. Inviting them into your process when you’re still drafting won’t be good for you or them.
Get A Sense for Taste
I’ll go ahead and throw myself under the literary bus here. At first glance, I might seem like a solid choice to be an early reader. In truth, though, I’m often not, because my reading tastes are actually quite narrow. Apologies in advance for what I’m about to say, but, barring notable exceptions, I just don’t particularly care for historical fiction, YA, science fiction, or fantasy. And yes, I totally understand that these also happen to be among the four most vibrant genres in the entire book industry. What can I say? I am who I am. Point being, let’s imagine a fictional scenario in which a yet unpublished, hopelessly vulnerable George R. R. Martin brings me the manuscript for A Song of Ice and Fire, which (I think) ended up being the first book in that whole Game of Thrones thing. Think how potentially destructive—and very stupid—my feedback may have been at the time. “Don’t you think maybe it’s a little long, George? And what’s with the dragons? Do we need those? I don’t know, man. Maybe someone’ll like it.” Genre matters, and if someone straight up doesn’t like the genre you’ve chosen, cross them off your list.
If You Aren’t the “Right” Early Reader, Admit It
And, of course, this street runs two ways. Writers are pack animals just like everyone else, and we tend to seek each other out. If someone in your writing community—or even some rando from the Internet—comes to you, hat and manuscript in hand, looking for an early read, be open and start a dialogue about who you are as a writer and reader. If you find that you’re not a good fit, cross yourself off their list. It may seem impolite at first. Trust me, though, undeservedly derailing their confidence will be much worse.
Do you use early readers? Have you ever been the victim of the “wrong” feedback from an early reader? Do you have any reading triggers that you just can’t get beyond? Don’t worry, this is a safe space. What’s the best advice you’ve ever gotten from an early reader? Do you enjoy obsessing over one-star reviews…or am I just weird?
Matthew Norman is the author of five novels. His latest, Charm City Rocks, is out now from Dell. His debut novel, Domestic Violets, was nominated in the Best Humor Category at the 2011 Goodreads Choice Awards, and his second novel, We’re All Damaged, was an Amazon bestseller. His upcoming novel, Grace & Henry’s Holiday Movie Marathon, will be out in October. He lives with his wife and two daughters in Baltimore and holds an MFA from George Mason University.
[coffee]
An early reader said I shouldn’t mention Rachmaninoff in my novel.
My protagonist is a classical musician.
Ha! That’s fantastic. All you can do in that situation is just kind of back away slowly.
Love this. Spot on. There are reviewer rats aplenty but, like you said, there are those that have a point from their perspective. A reviewer, not an early reader, said they wanted to throw my book against the wall when they finished (there’s a twist at the end that not everyone is ready to deal with). Another said she couldn’t stop crying and she wished she’d never read it. I chose to turn those negative comments into positives—they each had an intense emotional reaction. Isn’t that what writers want? An emotional reaction, whether positive or negative. Anyway, loved your “hobby” of reading 1-star reviews. Maybe I’ll take it up. :-)
So, so true. I’d take an emotional reaction over an “eh” reaction any day.
Good thoughts — it really can be that delicate, and it’s (apart from those Idiots) it’s more about matching than anyone’s fault. There’s you and *Game of Thrones,* and on the other side there’s the author who acknowledged that she just couldn’t satisfy a reader who said her story “didn’t seem like a dragon story” because the dragons used human forms.
Reviews and feedback ought to be from the perspective of someone who *wants* to like what the book’s doing, and judges how well it delivers that. All the other barriers just waste everyone’s time.
Great point, Ken. The “wanting” thing is huge. Framing the question as “Can you read my manuscript, and do you actually want to read my manuscript?”
I actually do that with super popular (“NYT Bestseller!”) books that I feel are terrible. I want to see if other people are also baffled about a book’s popularity or if anyone else sees all the flaws that I see. Jealous? Maybe. But I am the first to sing a good book’s praises. It just irks me when garbage or formulaic writing somehow end up on top!
lol on reading 1-star reviews of favorite books! But you’re right–every book isn’t for everyone. Hey, I’ve had 1-star reviews and it reflects the reviewer more than it does me (Ex: I didn’t have time to read it–c’mon it’s a kids’ book with fewer than 200 words; It’s too simple–c’mon it’s a kids’ book for emerging readers).
I learned my lesson with the first novel I tried to write, that all critiques aren’t equal. It was a classroom situation and so interesting. Thank you for reminding us.
Yeah, those classroom situations can be full of misguided feedback. If I went back and did my MFA over again I’d suggest that workshop participants get a “pass” if they know they’re the wrong reader for a particular piece or story.
I get the one-star-review thing. Like Marg, above, when a published book face-plants for me, I read reviews to check myself. Is it just me? Did others feel this way on this specific issue? It has been mostly instructive, but also secretly satisfying. I’ve been lucky with Beta readers, having been advised early on to ask specific question. Also, they were all people I knew and trusted for their sanity as well as their honesty. But I got exposed to some pretty insane feedback in one particular writer’s group I was in. Downside? Self-doubt. Upside? I grew a thick skin and learned some s discernment. And you are right, no book is for everyone.
Ah, thick skin…the ultimate requirement for this business. I’m made of leather at this point.
When Amazon listed my husband’s new book, they connected it to the reviews of another book with the same name that readers didn’t like, so he instantly had only a three star rating and scores of invective-filled remarks. It took months to get it corrected, but by then, the sales damage was done.
Been there. I’m not the only Matthew Norman out there publishing things. This has led to some confusing situations over the years. I blame my parents.
This is SO true. I had a one star review for one of my books where the “reader” admitted that she didn’t even read it. She gave her copy to a friend. *sigh*
Hello Matthew. I agree with just about everything you say here, in part I suspect because my own literary tastes have a lot in common with yours. And like you, I see no reason to apologize. As Popeye says, “I y’am what I y’am.” All I would add is my one-note samba take on the whole issue of beta readers. IMO, nothing can or should supplant or even supplement the reactions of professional editors. But that doesn’t take the writer off the hook: it takes serious research to locate the right editor for this or that book. Given intelligent choosing, a professional editor is free of all the complicating, questionable elements that figure when other writers, friends, or family read and comment. ‘Nuff said, and thanks for a readable, common-sense post.
Yeah, absolutely…editors are the best! I’ve found that my editor is basically always right, which is often infuriating.
When I finished y first mystery, I sent it to several people who volunteered to read it for me. One said it would be better if it was a cozy mystery, which I don’t read. They sell better, they said. I think it may have been because my protagonist was a woman in her forties.
Been there. It’s like, “But that’s not what I wrote! That’s not what I wanted to write!”
Sounds like “Flog a Pro” to me. I recall an interview that Leonard Feather did with saxophonist Paul Desmond. The conversation got around to audience response. Desmond opined (Paraphrased in the interest of brevity) that after a particularly bad performance it was not unusual to be complimented on his virtuosity just as after a particularly stellar performance it was not unusual to be offered condolences. After decades of experience in entertainment and the arts I know few people who give a rats patootie about the fickleness of the great unwashed. As the saying goes, you rolls the dice, you takes your chances.
How can anyone not like dragons? lol. Excellent column.
In my case — and I respond because recently I commented on a flogged book excerpt — “Dragons, meh.” It’s not that I don’t like dragons themselves, I just don’t want to read books about them. As fantasy creatures go, dragons are impressive, but I’m not a fantasy reader, so when I see dragons on a cover illustration, for example, I tend to admire them, but to read a whole book featuring dragons — meh.
Great Post.
I learned this through my writing group. They, too, are writers, positive people who want to help me make my book as good as it can be, and I reciprocate–a lot of love and respect there. But they don’t choose to read retellings of myths or detective story/mysteries, which are what I’ve asked for feedback on.
They really tried to help, and sometimes they did, but much of what I got back left me puzzled. So I created a question list for beta readers. I made it clear I wanted to know what THEIR experience reading the book was, and while I crave praise, what I need and want (in addition, if possible) is candor. Was the story idea big enough to carry the novel? Could they root for the protagonist? Why or why not? Could they finish it? If they did, was it worth it? Etc. That was more helpful, but still not as helpful as I had expected.
So, I finally put the mystery in the hands of a mystery reader. What a difference! Choosing from whom I get my feedback is the way forward for me. I’d rather be told it was a bad idea to begin with, or they never engaged, or they went to sleep on page 47, or the ending didn’t work for them, or they identified the murderer with 70 pages to go than they want to know more about the protagonist’s childhood, or how the ingenue was dressed.
You are bolder than I. I don’t know about seeking out feedback from one stars. I read one stars for products to see if there is repetition of an issue. Like it breaks after a couple of weeks, or it’s hard to assemble. Those help. Those that say, It’s junk! or Don’t waste your money! leads me to believe I should have asked when they were having a better day.
Any feedback can be helpful, but I don’t think I want to seek out a poet’s experience of my mystery or myth. I wouldn’t expect the poet to buy it. I need beta readers whose language I write in.
Good advice, Matthew. I would add, though, that enlisting readers outside your genre can be helpful. They come to the work with fewer expectations and can be more clear-eyed about flaws, less likely to give you a pass on the excuse that they’re conventions of the genre. If you want to expand your audience beyond your genre, that might be especially helpful.
Definitely a fair point. A comment up above talked about a reader “wanting” to read your book. I think that’s a big part of it. Want, open-mindedness, willingness. Whatever the phrase, somebody being game to offer honest feedback to something outside their comfort zone can be very valuable, for sure.
Excellent post! Very necessary, most of us don’t even think about it. We’re just so delighted that we forced anyone to read our work! Thanks for this.