Pop quiz time.
What do the following things have in common?
-
Traffic jams
-
Fish in the ocean
-
The full moon appearing every month
-
Negative book reviews
If you answered they are all certain to happen, then you pass!
Every book gets negative reviews. The Hunger Games, a book I absolutely love, has 443 1-star reviews. No matter how good your book is, eventually, you will get negative reviews. So since we can't avoid them, we should have a strategy for what to do when they appear on our product pages, else we collapse into a blubbering heap or decide to quit writing and join the carnival. Sure, the endless access to funnel cakes would be awesome, but your family would miss you.
Below are four actions I've gathered from personal experience, talking with author friends/reading similar posts, and research. I hope that by the end, you'll be able to read negative reviews of your work in the most objective way possible.
Action 1: Understand negative bias
Negative bias basically says feedback of a negative nature affects us more than feedback of a neutral or positive nature does (click here for the Wikipedia article). It has an evolutionary basis, because our prehistoric ancestors needed to pay more attention to the lion's den than to the pretty flower growing next to it. It was about survival. In our current day setting, the bias plays out in our reactions to problems that need solving. Emails of an urgent, negative nature get attention first because we want the problem to go away.
Our brains see negative reviews as problems (because they feel like attacks), but we can't solve them, so they sting more. Neural activity and heart rates increase, as if we're preparing to go to battle. This is normal. It's also why they get stuck in our brains while positive reviews blend in with the rest. Anyone who works with kids has heard the advice that for every piece of negative feedback you give a child, there should be ten pieces of positive feedback. This is why.
Action 2: Realize the negative review isn't more valid
This goes along with negative bias, but it's important enough to merit its own point. The negative reviews just feel more true, don't they? Even if cognitively you know they aren't (especially when the reviewer dings you because of the ebook price set by your publisher, or they were mad because they didn't like how your character dressed), you feel like you could have done something to prevent the bad review.
Here's the thing: reviews are opinions about your work. That's it. They're not about you, personally (in most cases. Reviews that leave personal attacks are a whole different issue). My book has received side-by-side reviews, one positive and one negative, both discussing the characters. One thought they were great and well-rounded, the other thought they were cardboard. Is one more right than the other?
We can't control where readers are in their lives when they read our books. Perhaps a negative reviewer just lost a job and a character reminds them of their jerk boss. Even if they aren't fully aware of the connection, that experience will taint the reading. Of course, we don't get to read all that in the review. All we see is "the story sucked and the characters were unlikable."
I've read that 1-star reviews tell more about the reviewer than the thing being reviewed. I tend to agree. There are people out there who seem to really enjoy complaining, and reviews are a great vehicle to do that. I would say a truly 1-star book would have no redeeming qualities. I'm not sure I've read such a book, but apparently, some people have read several, including The Hunger Games.
Action 3: Look for patterns
Sometimes, negative reviews are more than just opinion. If many say the same thing, like the book needs editing or the formatting was a mess, that's probably something you need to address (if you're an independent author and have the power to publish updated material). I read a post by an author that said she accidentally published an early draft and didn't realize it until the negative reviews rolled in, criticizing her poor editing. You may also see a pattern if you've miscategorized your book. I know if I bought a book thinking it was a mystery and it ended up being a western romance, I wouldn't be a happy reader.
However, it's possible that no patterns exist. My book has a handful of negative reviews, and while a few kind of say the same thing, overall they're pretty different. Most solely talk about the story's content (characters and events) rather than the writing itself. This leads us to...
Action 4: Realize negative reviews help sell the book
I know, it seems completely counter intuitive. Bad reviews = scared away readers, right? While that may be true in a few cases, negative reviews often contain something many positive reviews don't: specific details.
Small picture, a detail the reviewer hated could be something the potential buyer enjoys. Or if the negative review is especially ranty, the buyer may wonder what all the fuss is about.
Big picture, the total number of reviews your book has affects how visible it becomes on Amazon. It doesn't take into account if those reviews are positive or negative. More reviews = better visibility = more sales.
And now for the one thing not to do: Respond
I said reviews are not about you, personally. They are also not for you. They are readers talking to other readers. Granted, the online forum opens the door for more negativity than you'd probably see in an in-person book club, but the idea is the same. Reviews are readers talking about content.
Responding to a review puts you in a position of challenging someone's opinion. The chances of you changing the reviewer's mind with a comment are zero. Just don't do it. People don't like to have their opinions challenged, and responding brings attention to the negative review you don't want people to see.
Instead, read all your positive reviews. Print out a few of your favorites and tape them around your desk. Internalize them. You wrote a book that people love! Those ideas are much more deserving of your mental energy.
How do you approach negative reviews, either as a writer or a reader?
Allison is a blogger and author of the best selling historical mystery The Fourth Descendant. Visit her website:allisonmaruska.com