It’s
wonderful when you get a good book review.
All that hard work has suddenly been worthwhile. And it’s rewarding to think that you have
brought pleasure to your reader.
But what if
you have received a bad book review? It’s
happened to me as I imagine it’s happened to most writers at some time or
another, and it’s a devastating experience.
I’d call it ‘the pits’. No two
ways about it. Nobody likes
criticism. We’d much sooner be
praised. That’s natural.
So, what do
you do?
Well - and
this is purely from my own experience - you will feel appalling for the next
day or so until the shock wears off.
After that,
I suggest you go back and read the review again. If it is constructive criticism you might
glean something from it that will help you to better your writing. Readers quite often see things that the
author doesn’t because we are too close to the work.
Of course,
there is another way of looking at this whole experience. Whether it is a good book review or a bad
book review, the reviewer has been moved enough to write something about your
work. He or she has put a lot of thought
into what they want to say. Far better,
I think, than there being no one with an opinion, be it good or bad.
So in that
respect wouldn’t you agree that there is no such thing as a bad review?
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