Having just published a collection of short stories, Maybe Next Time, I’ve dreaded that first negative review. However, having belonged to a writers/critique group, I’ve had a bit of experience.
What I learned is that reviews can be both helpful and insignificant. Just like the author of this post, Don Massenzio, found when he did a bit of investigation. As writers, we all must pay attention to the feedback our readers give, but their word on the subject is never the last word. Thanks Don for a great post!.
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I’ve been blessed. I’ve written a number of books. I’ve been very fortunate. Readers that I don’t know have given my work reviews that have, in the vast majority, earned four or five stars.
That’s why, when I receive a bad review, I like to study it and figure out if there is something I can learn to improve my work.
When I signed onto the Amazon author’s site, I saw this review for my second book, Let Me Be Frank:
I’ve redacted the name in this review. I didn’t want to make this post about the person who submitted the review, I wanted to make it a teaching moment.
First, I looked at the review. It’s titled ‘Boring’ and starts out with the words ‘too slow’. This is valid criticism for a book and sometimes, in a detective novel, the pacing can be…
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