Every so often, I check my reviews and ratings. (Yes, I have a spreadsheet for that.) Yesterday, I went through the Amazon listings for each of my books, noting the number of reviews vs the number of ratings, and the rankings. Nothing really new. Some nice new reviews, some crappy ratings - the usual. But one review has left me feeling a little blue*.
They said they liked the book, but then they said something about the plot resolution that showed they hadn't really read the end, and then they went on to say that the book was rife with errors in grammar and spelling, hinting that I should've edited better. I, of course, was shocked. You know me - I work really really hard to clean up all that stuff before I ever hit publish.
So, I opened the last file and ran my spelling/grammar checker. It pointed out some things, but everything it pointed out was a stylistic choice. The book in question is, after all, written in a looser, more-dialogue oriented style. It's entirely possible that is what she was talking about. Unfortunately, I can't explain any of that to the reviewer. So, that review sits there, hinting to potential readers that my books are poorly written and crappily edited. (And yes, the above sentence is grammatically incorrect. It's how I write when I'm talking to you here.)
This might explain why the last freebie I put out for this book did so poorly. Who the hell wants a crappy book? If I read that review, I wouldn't download the book.
So, yeah, I'm bummed. The writing life is hard enough without stuff like that.
*Yes, I know, you're not supposed to read your own reviews, but I do it anyway. I'm a sucker for punishment, I guess.
Well...that sucks. Getting reviews is so hard anyway! Hang in there! 🤗
ReplyDeleteFYI, you have mail from my TPP acct.
I've discovered that most people who leave these sorts of negative reviews are compensating for something. It makes them feel better to lord it over others, and what better way than to do it anonymously.
ReplyDeleteThey're not well read enough to understand style, let alone subtext. All you can do is hope someone leaves an informed review to set the narcissist straight.
Sadly, it's impossible to educate these sorts of readers (if they even read the book at all) because they think they're always right.
Ignore it.