The Bad Review Blues

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.

Thursday This n That

Adapt dammit!  Whether you want to or not. 

I've been up since 3:30.  This does not bode well for human interaction.  And I have to go to Wallyworld today.  

Lucky for Hubs, he is exempt from my crankiness.  He and Mom are the only ones with that exemption.  The cat doesn't care.

I read a really awesome book this week.  It was a British suspense/thriller.  I need to coax some money out of my budget to buy the next book.  

Unfortunately, I got my new jacked-up health insurance bill this morning.  They added an additional $50 a month.  A month.  That's more money per month than I've made this year selling books, btw.  And I never use the damn insurance.  Seriously.  Never.  I only have it in case something bad happens.  If I'd taken all the premiums I've paid and never used over the years and put that money into a savings account, I'd probably have enough to pay for major surgery out of pocket.  Sheesh.

As I told Mom yesterday, don't get me started or we'll be here all day.

Yesterday, I saw a bald eagle.

No sign of Pierre the skunk since that one time.  I hope he's okay.  I mean, I'm glad he's not stinking up the joint, but I don't want anything bad to happen to him.

Send positive thoughts out to my BFF's great niece.  She's fourteen and they just discovered she has a brain tumor.  =o(  Come to think of it, send positive thoughts to her and her whole family.  It hasn't been the best of years for them.

It hasn't been the best of years for most of us, I'd say.  Sure, not as bad as the above, but we're each struggling with all of this in our own ways.  Hang in there.  By your fingertips or the skin of your teeth if you have to, but hang in there.  :hugs:

Sorry to be such a downer this morning.  Don't say I didn't warn you.