Reviews – Second Part
This article is about how to learn from a poor 1 star review
A review is like receiving your driving test result. You have three scores that determine whether driving is for you.
The three levels are driving fault, serious fault and dangerous fault. A dangerous fault is your 1 star book review. No fault is your 5 star book review.
If everyone with a dangerous fault did not try again, the road would be empty.
The drivers with no fault will always have some observers that does not like your driving. But why do so many persevere with passing their driving test but not with their author career.
You only become a good driver with experience behind you, not on a test.
A book review is just like that. It does not define you and should not stop you persevering your career.
I wrote an article about reviews in October 2020. This is a follow up with further experience.
Reviews are needed to learn and evolve in your career. It is a reality check to determine if there is room for improvement or keep going as you are.
They can appear hurtful like someone is trolling you. But I enjoy the 1 stars as it means I won’t get bored of writing. I can evolve.
When I first received 1 stars, I was petrified to read them. I wondered if I would behave like Donald Trump and assume dead people wrote the horrible reviews, via a medium.
But now, I enjoy reading them and show my friends for their opinion. I see it like going for a VAT investigation. I love the challenge and making them feel stupid at their job. I must have a thick skin, to be able to survive space.
Below is one of my 1 star review.
1.0 out of 5 stars Literacy is important
Reviewed in the United States on December 14, 2020
The very first turn-off is in the blurb for the book, conflating “company’s” (possessive) for “companies” (plural, which is what it should have been). In the author’s self-description/bio, he says, “My dream now is to be able to become a full time author as *I have fell in love* with writing a story. Seems as if he has not *fallen* into the literate part of writing. Sorry, but a no-go.
At first I had palpitations that someone made a point of saying ‘never buying my book’. I found the experience the same about being told I would never make it to university. Quite exhilarating.
Then I started dissecting the review. Read it again and it does not mention once about my story or character. It does not mention about my locations being written wrongly or adding a line that was not required.
It just moaned about grammatical errors. So, I learned from my review that my story telling is great. He could not fault my great story telling. The bit I learned was to find a great editor. Sack the old one now.
I did not wallow in self pity or give up on the idea of writing five more books with 5 star reviews. I evolved and improved my choices of editor.
If it was my story telling, I would have read other books similar and find out from them how they linked scenes together and described their characters.
There are always solutions to improving your novel.
Below is another review on the same book.
Reviewed in the United States on October 20, 2020
5.0 out of 5 stars A great read
The thing that upset me was how poorly edited this story was. It made reading it difficult. In spite of this I enjoyed the book.
Two completely different people read the same book and came up with complete different opinions. This is why many reviews are important to help learn and improve.
To get quick reviews in a short space of time is to add your book on either Written Word Media or Bookbub for free.
Written Word Media gives a statistic of about 3 to ten reviews per ‘Freebooksy’.
Bookbub gives a statistic of about 30 reviews per free book entered.
It is the fastest way from experience. Don’t rely on friends as done that and my friends don’t read books.
Don’t shove your book under unsuspected by standers. Give them to people who love reading and subscribe to a platform such as Written Word Media and Bookbub.
Written Word Media is like your BMW or Mercedes. Average cost per download is 0.04 to 0.10 pence
Bookbub is like your Royal Royce or Bentley. Average cost per download is 0.02 pence.