Zero out of Ten, Would Not Recommend
Social media has really done a number on how readers and writers interact with one another. Before the age of Twitter, Instagram, and (especially now) TikTok, communicating with your favourite author was often difficult, if not downright impossible. With the advent of engaging social media platforms and portable smart devices, it has never been easier to communicate with, well, anyone. That ability comes with a unique set of problems, particularly in the book community.
If you’re not on TikTok, you may have missed the recent drama between reviewers and authors (one author, specifically). I say recent, but really this is old news by internet standards. I’m not going to call anyone out, mostly because that’s been done many, many times by people with larger platforms than mine, but here is the gist: an indie author published a book, someone left a less-than-favorable review, that author and their editor started harassing the reviewer, and it sparked a fear among reviewers to give honest feedback.
I don’t think anyone will disagree with me when I say that harassing a reviewer for giving their opinion (rather nicely, I might add) is an all-around shitty thing to do. I haven’t seen much support for the author in question, thankfully, outside of her circle of friends/supporters, but the situation has brought up an interesting conversation.
Who are book reviews for?
The answer might seem obvious to you, but you’d be surprised how much there is to discuss. Some people will confidently answer ‘authors, of course!’ while others will give them a weird look and argue ‘why would they be for authors? Reviews are for readers.’ This is the debate that BookTok (the book-centered corner of TikTok content) has been having since this whole mess started, and I think it’s about time I weigh in.
The simple, no-nuance answer is that book reviews are for readers. If I wanted to stop there, I could, but that wouldn’t actually clear anything up, so let me elaborate. Book reviews are intended for readers to share their opinion of a book, assisting other readers in deciding whether they want to invest their time and money. By the time readers are able to leave reviews, the book has been published. It’s out there, finished, for the world to do with as it pleases. If there are critiques and criticisms in a given review, there isn’t anything the author can do to address the complaints. The review is, definitively, for other potential readers.
Does that mean authors should ignore reviews altogether? No, absolutely not.
Reviews, while intended for the reader, are also incredibly useful tools for authors. It goes without saying that knowing how your book has been received is important for your career and, while you can’t change anything about a book that has already hit the market, you can tailor your next book according to public reception. Reviewers all tend to agree that your characters are one-dimensional? That’s something you can work on. Getting criticism for your dialogue? Too much description? Excessive alliteration? All of these things are elements that you can change moving forward. Reviews point out the commonalities in critiques of your work and help you become a better writer. Ignoring reviews, in my opinion, is one of the worst decisions an author can make.
Now, what about the nay-sayers?
I’m not talking about the people who argue reviews are meant for the author. They’re not, and I don’t think anyone is going to change my mind on that point. I’m talking about fellow authors who insist that you shouldn’t read negative reviews of your work because you can’t please everyone. There are some good points to be found here, so let’s break it down.
The fundamental idea that you can’t please everyone is true. No matter what you do in life, someone isn’t going to like it. That’s just a fact.
Another important point is that not everyone is a professional critic. Publishing a book means that anyone can purchase and read it, including people not part of your book’s target audience. Why does that matter? Think of it this way: if you write children’s books and an adult leaves a one-star review because there isn’t enough graphic violence in Puppy Pete Plays at the Park, you’re not going to find much use in that criticism. Alternatively, if someone leaves a review for Pete’s Park diner on your listing for your children’s book and not, as was intended, a local burger joint by a similar name, that’s not really pertinent to you. To put it bluntly, some people are not very bright and there’s nothing you can do about it.
Finally, some people just like to be negative. There are reviewers out there that leave intentionally derogatory remarks on your Amazon listing because it’s fun for them. Those aren’t helpful to you, and reading them will only sour your mood.
So, what to do?
It’s easier said than done, but the goal is to find a middle ground. Read reviews of your book, and learn what’s helpful to you and what isn’t. Don’t let the excessively negative comments, or the irrelevant ones, bother you. Find the genuine criticism among the noise, and consider it. Use it to help you be a better writer.
What we’re not going to do, is harass people. Your readers should never be afraid to tell the truth. If you’re creating an environment where reviewers don’t feel comfortable sharing their honest opinions of your work, you’re doing something wrong. Even the not-very-bright ones have every right to express their opinions, whether they make sense or not. As an author, you release your book into the world with the full knowledge that once you hit ‘publish,’ that’s where most of your control ends. If you can’t handle harsh critiques maturely, warranted or otherwise, you shouldn’t be in the publishing business.
As a general rule, authors should never interact with reviewers. If you’re a small indie author with only a handful of reviews and you want to leave a little “thank you for your feedback!” comment on the 5 or 6 reviews for your book, I don’t personally see anything wrong with that. Asking for clarification, in the right context, also isn’t necessarily a bad thing. Read the room; if a reviewer is comfortable answering some questions about their critiques, then by all means. Just make sure that you aren’t arguing with them or trying to change their opinion. Your goal in that conversation is to listen and learn, not to debate. If you don’t think you can do that, or if you aren’t sure if it’s appropriate, just don’t do it. File their feedback away in a ‘things to consider’ section of your brain and move on.
At the end of the day, all of this can be summed up in a simple: be respectful. That shouldn’t be too much to ask of anyone.
