Hi folks, it’s time for the ROW80 check-in again. First,
though, I want to give all writers and aspiring writers a little reality check.
People, the minute you publish anything at all you open yourself up to the
madness. There are folks out there who will attack you with a vengeance and
there are those who will love you for they will see what you were trying to
tell them.
Here is an example: my book, At Loose ends.
Now here’s a one star review of this book:
This book was so bad in fact I made a new section under book collections on my kindle titled "sucked" and this is the first entrant.
I agree with the other reviewers that the over all idea was great and I was actually looking forward to reading it because I thought the primise of how 9 /11 affected livlihoods and relationships was something of interest to me. However it was so over done, stiff and lacked any substance to grab onto to enjoy. I am an avid reader and can manage my way through most books but this book plain pissed me off it was so bad that I couldn't finish it.
I agree with the other reviewers that the over all idea was great and I was actually looking forward to reading it because I thought the primise of how 9 /11 affected livlihoods and relationships was something of interest to me. However it was so over done, stiff and lacked any substance to grab onto to enjoy. I am an avid reader and can manage my way through most books but this book plain pissed me off it was so bad that I couldn't finish it.
Here is a letter I received concerning the same book:
Dear Ms MacLeod,
I am now reading At Loose Ends for the second time. This time through I have had time to go slowly and recognize how good it really is. This is dramatic, powerful, emotional, tightly-scripted, fully-developed, excedingly well written.
The scene where Teagan has her meltdown and runs fro the cafe, certain that Kassidy will laugh at her for making the proposal is dynamic. But the scenes where Kassidy slowly gets more and more desperate to reach Teagan, using up quarters on pay phones, being shunned at the shelter, breaking her glasses, finding the cafe closed and breaking down to sob in the cold--wow!
This book tugs at my heart in ways that my favorites (Deliberate Love and Second Chance) are not able to because those books do not have the pathos or life-threatening need of At Loose Ends.
See, the same book, but two different outlooks on the story.
Oh yes, just in case you’re wondering, At Loose Ends is my best seller so far.
Moral of the story? You can’t please all the people all the time. Just do your
best and ignore the rest. You will reach the people you were meant to reach.
Keep writing. Keep publishing.
Now for the ROW80 goals.
1.
Finish the first draft of my current project and
get it off to my editor. CM Crawford is
a great editor and has very reasonable rates. Find her here if you’re looking
for a reasonable editor who is really good. http://powderriverediting.blogspot.ca/
I am very pleased with my progress here. I am now over
57K and counting. Soon I’ll be ready for the first read through.
2.
Get the next project over 15K words
3.
If Ms. Crawford gets the first project back to
me in time, finish the second draft during this round. If not then I will
finish and hopefully publish it during the last round.
Goals 2&3 are
dependant on me accomplishing goal #1. Getting there.
Now folks, for
something I feel pretty strongly about, please check out this link and read the
post you find there. Thank you. http://handcuffedtotheocean.com/
Posts
I find it amazing the reviews I get as well. One person gave me a 3 star because she didn't like the formatting. huh? A traditional publisher put that book out and I had nothing to do with how it looked.
ReplyDeleteIgnore the bad and revel in the good.
Visiting from ROW80
Diana
www.pencildancer.com
Hi Diane, it truly is amazing what folks will say in a review. The problem is, that can send some people into a depressive tailspin. I'm just way too old and cranky to let it bother me. I just re-read the good stuff. Thanks for dropping by.
DeleteYou can't let the grumps spoil your day. If I learned anything while running the short story contest (the one you helped with-thanks again) is that good people disagree about what is good (though there is no call for someone to tell you your worked sucked--that right there tells you they've got a gripe and probably just taking it out on you). Deciding on what is good is so subjective that I'm coming to terms myself with the fact that no matter how good your work is, someone is not going to like it. I'm with Diana on this, revel in the good and ignore the bad.
ReplyDeleteRevel in the good and ignore the bad. Now there's a life slogan worth considering. Thanks for dropping by Cora.
DeleteI think you've got the right attitude: Do your best and ignore the rest. You can't let negative reviews get you down. Now when I publish my first you can remind me of this. LOL Thanks for the editor recommendation. I'm looking for one. :-)
ReplyDeleteHi Rhonda,you know when you've hit the big time when you get your first one star review. hehehe When that happens, you know who to call. :)
DeleteI got some feedback recently from someone who was critiquing a chapter of my work. They said that they couldn't see the main character as realistic and it bothered them so much they didn't finish the chapter. I've had a several others read the chapter as well and they all gave positive feedback and liked the main character. But that one comment has been nagging at me. So I really needed to read this post today!! Such a good reminder that not everyone is going to be a fan. ;)
ReplyDeleteThanks so much for sharing this!!
Too many people would rather pull someone else down rather than lift themselves up. Don't let them do that to you girl. Rise above that and look at the positive feedback you got. Those are the folks to believe.
DeleteWow, Prudence! I commend you for sharing both reviews because they do demonstrate the reality of our business. As much as I adore Goodreads, people can be really harsh with their reviews. But the wonderful thing about books is that there is a genre for everyone. So as you pointed out, your bestselling book amazes some and annoys others. In the end it's more important that it's a bestseller for you. That shows something about your writing voice! It is strong, and so are you for gracefully handling the opposing viewpoint. Kudos!
ReplyDeleteHi Jess, I have never understood the purpose of a scathing review except to feed the reviewer's ego. I don't give bad reviews. If I can't give a good review I will e-mail the author with the problems I had as well as a few suggestions for the fix and maybe recommend a good editor. The idea is to help the writer improve or just to enjoy the work.
DeleteThanks for sharing that feedback. It was so interesting to see the difference. Great job on your ROW80 progress! 57k is looking sweet! Have a terrific round, Prudence!
ReplyDelete