More on Reviews and Being an "Author"

At the beginnings and ends of months, a whole new slew of reviews come out. It’s interesting to go through this with a third book. Boy, that first three-star review from Romantic Times was a blow. The first rave review made my little heart go pitty-pat. Now, I’m sort of immune to it all. NOBODY’S SAINT got three stars from RT, just like FOR HER LOVE and INTO HIS ARMS. I feel no need to rush right out and find out what the reviewer didn’t like. I’ll read it eventually. Mostly because I still do get a kick out of reading other people’s synopses of my work. It’s always interesting to see what different people think your book is “about.” Otherwise—whatever. The good reviews don’t go straight to my head anymore, either. I’m always pleased, of course. I tend to read them more like fan letters, though. I love to hear that someone is enjoying my books. It’s possible that reviews help to sell books, so I appreciate the work that reviewers do, don’t get me wrong. It’s just, well, the bloody book’s written. It’s kind of a done deal, you know? If you’ve reviewed one of my books and said lovely things about it—I’m thrilled that you enjoyed it. If you wrote a review and said it was less than stellar—thanks for being honest. I have yet to read a review for any of my books that was mean or truly clueless, so I can’t say much about those kinds of reviews.

I will say this, though. Mean reviews hurt authors’ feelings. I wonder if the people who post on Amazon or write for review sites ever think about that. Some reviewers clearly have made meanness their trademark. They’re like shock-jocks (hello, Mrs. Giggles). An author had better be able to deal with that. I get a chuckle out of the old lady in Malaysia (Mrs. Giggles) and am pretty proud of my review from her. Oh sure, she made a few digs, but she didn’t rip my heart out of my chest and offer it up on her website, so I’m cool with it. At the same time, I’ve dealt with the fallout from friends who’ve had really nasty things show up on Amazon or whatever, and I wonder if the people who write them realize that they’ve been really cruel. A real, live person wrote that book, and really, she is as entitled to decent treatment as anyone else.

I’m not saying that it’s wrong to criticize a novel. If you read something and thought it was poorly written or offensive and you think a heads-up needs to be posted on Amazon, go for it. If you’re writing an honest review that points out weaknesses as well as strengths, fine. It’s even acceptable to write that a novel has far more weaknesses than strengths, if that’s your perception. I just don’t think common decency is too much to ask.

The fact that authors are human is, perhaps, the biggest thing I’ve learned. I’ve mentioned before that I keep waiting to feel like an author. Well, heck, you know what I think? I think authors, even bestselling ones (ooooh, ahhhhh) are just people. You know what being an author feels like? It feels like you hate cleaning house, love your family and friends, and never have enough hours in the day. If you’re not a published author, and that sounds like you, well…there ya go. The only difference between writers and everyone else is that writers have all these weird people pounding on the insides of their skulls trying to get out. If you also have weird people inside your head, you’d better start writing or start taking medication!