… And How to Cope
If I was ever in any doubt that reviews are totally one person’s point of view, I only have to look at my Goodreads reviews. Across the board they range from glowing 5 Stars to a 1 Star [reviewer seems to have been disappointed that Fool's Errand wasn't footballer slash...], though 4 and 5 Stars predominate. Do the low Stars upset me? You bet they don’t. Mostly because they are outnumbered, and also because the reviewers usually have posted nothing to tell me where I failed as far as they were concerned.
One person’s fail is another’s win, so where does that leave the author?
Doing what she/he has always done: writing the story as it needs to be written, and not giving in to the temptation to tweak it out of its natural path.
We can’t please all of the people all of the time – to try to do so would be a compromise I, personally, am not prepared to make. If an author has any responsibility to her/his readers, it’s to create the best story possible while being true to themselves and their voice. Though I have to confess I have very little idea of what comprises an author’s voice…
When someone does give me lesser than good review, I would at least hope and expect a reason as to why. Let me know. Maybe erotic romance isn’t your normal genre (then, why are you reading it) or maybe you didn’t like a certain character. At the minimum- tell me and the rest of the review and reading audience.
Absolutely *g*. Writing is a permanent learning curve, but if you get no hints, then how can you even consider about the points raised?
We’re not here to please “everyone”…some people may not like exactly what we write, where the story line leads or even our characters. But then again…some people DO. Take the good with the bad and trudge on
one reviewer gave a 1 to Kian, the first book in a trilogy… they then gave Darach a 1 as well…
Why did they bother to read Darach! ROFL…
I must admit i have found 1s hard in the past, but then i was like… hey my average is 4s so it is there that I focus… I am new to all this!
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