It takes some real thick skin to be a writer.
My skin is not really that thick, so when I read something negative that directly impacts me, I want to go crawl in a corner and die. I try not to let it bother me. I even say it out loud, hoping it will even force me to believe it. Yet, all I am doing is lying to myself.
As I sit, these negative statements come to my mind and they make me wonder.
I wonder why?
Why did they target me?
It isn't as if I know these people. Or maybe I do. I couldn't really tell if I do if they hide behind the tag anonymous.
I have been thinking about this for the better part of a week when I came across a negative review for my book on Amazon. I took it with a grain of salt. They said it was depressing. I guess that is partially what happens when your intention is to make people cry. (And the only reason that was one of my goals was because I wanted people to feel the emotion.)
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| Does this look like a romance novel? It doesn't even come close. So if that is what you are looking for, look somewhere else! |
Yet the part that bugs me is actually the anonymous part.
Are you to afraid to stand behind your words?
Signing something as anonymous is the cowards way of leaving a review. In fact, if you can't verify who you are, you have no right to even leave a review. I finally got over it, convincing myself that this person is entitled to hide behind their computer screen, especially since a positive review had already trumped the negative one meaning it wasn't the first thing people saw.
Call it weird, but the major reason I was concerned about the bad review was because it was the first thing everyone else would see.
Well, today, my husband messaged me. He had finally finished my book. (While he had an idea what was going on, he never read the completed version.) He even said it made him cry and he left a glowing review. (To clarify, I didn't ask him to leave a review because I thought he would be unfair. After all, his wife wrote it so chances of a bad review were slim. But he left one anyway.)
When I went to read his review, I saw another negative review.
REALLY?
This one, while at least they didn't leave an anonymous review, was just as bad. It was a personal attack, calling me "special."
So, why is it that the majority of people who leave reviews are always so negative? Why are they trying to cut down an author who has obviously put themselves out there?
At this point, it doesn't matter. I reported their feedback as inappropriate. After all, the comment they left seemed more like a personal attack and that should not be tolerated.
