Authors: Can We All Just Grow up!

Today, a friend brought something to my attention.

An author got a three-star review from a reviewer that she asked to look at her book and review it. The author was kind and not rude, explaining that she liked about the book, but the editing was poor and needed some work. So, what did the author do? Thank the reviewer? uh...no. Ignore her review? Again...no.

She lambasted her in front of everyone and told everyone about her abusive marriage! Her marriage, people!What the heck was this writer thnking?

Authors, I want to tell you something, and I want you to pay particular attention. I'm only going to say this once, at least I say that now.

I understand that we all want to have 5-star reviews coming out of our rear-ends, like rainbows after a rainy day. I want them and you want them, and if you say that you don't, your lying. I won't even argue you about it. You want them and you want them to be high.

Here's a whole other perspective from an excellent writer Rainy Kaye about how important negative reviews actually are. She's being much kinder than I am being right now. 

But...

Reviews are not for you. The reason Amazon has reviews is not so that authors can game them and get as many good ones as possible. It's not so that authors can be high in whatever ratings system is new that week.

Reviews are for readers.

Before you all get upset and start sending me hatred about how people are sending bad reviews of your book to Amazon, in order to bring your rating down, I say that I acknowledge that to be true. It might be that someone  hates you, and they are now taking it out on you by getting their friends together and trolling your reviews. Fight that fight if you want, but fight it undercover, because you don't come off in the best light when you do this, no matter if you're in the right or not.

That isn't what I'm talking about here, though

I'm talking about when someone gives you a review, they are not rude to you personally and they tell what didn't work for them. That is a review. That is a legitimate review.

Get over it!

DO NOT SELF-PUBLISH IF YOU CANNOT BE PROFESSIONAL.

If you can't hold your emotions and need to respond to everything that is said about your work, all the live long day, then I would challenge you to find something else to occupy your time. Indie writing, heck, writing in general, may not be for you.

Find some friends, get on Skype, and talk it out, complain, get mad, but when you get back online, get control of yourself, Bubba. Nobody wants to hear your melt down. You want a readership so bad that you would take one of the two people who bothered to review you on Goodreads or Amazon, and you would lambast them in front of other readers?

I just want you to understand what you just did.

You told readers that you don't appreciate their opinion unless they thought your book was awesome.

Wrong message. Important safety tip. The one thing you were fighting for won't matter because you're never going to get another one.

Authors! Please grow a pair and get your nose out of reviews that aren't for you anyway.

Your book is no longer just yours.

Now that you have published it and sent it into the world, it is a joint ownership. People who buy books own what you have written. They own it and have purchased the right to not like it if they want. Hate me. Love me. Disprespect me. Appreciate me. That is my opinion.

Get over yourself before you become a has-been before you ever were.