Thursday, 3 March 2011

An Epiphany!

I logged onto Goodreads today to discover someone had left Alone a two star rating. Now this is the first two star and so far lowest rating Alone has received and my initial reaction was to get annoyed. But then I realised that you can't please everyone.

Books, like anything else in life, are all down to personal taste. Maybe this person loves soppy romances, in which case there is no way Alone was ever going to be for her. Just the same as if someone doesn't like spicy food, I'm sure the chef in a curry house wouldn't take it personally.

When your work is out there, and people are reading it, reviews are just part of the course. There is no way I can control what people are saying about my book, but at least people are reading it! So far the reviews for Alone have been great. It's got a steady 4 stars out of 36 reviews on Barnes and Noble, with some of the review headings being 'Wonderful Book' and 'Great Read', with people saying they couldn't put it down and can't wait for the sequel.

I know I can't please everyone, but as long as I am pleasing the majority, and above all, that people are actually taking the time to read my books, then I am happy. And look out for the paperback guys! The proof as been ordered, so it won't be long now!

7 comments:

  1. Exactly what I have been saying to you. For example Wolf Hall by Hilary Mantel, an author whom I have previously enjoyed, was feted by the media including the Daily Mail who said, "Dizzingly, dazzlingly (say that after a few beers) good". Now I got a third of the way through and was bored out of my mind and never finished it.

    ReplyDelete
  2. It will happen to all of us, and you bring up a good point about varying genre tastes. But, when I'm giving a review for a book, I don't knock it because of conflicts in genre interests. I judge by character development, plot structure, etc.

    The only thing I would stress is that those who are giving low stars on a book, ANONYMOUSLY, don't hold much weight.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Marissa what a great attitude you have about this! I can't imagine what it must be like to have so many people critiquing your work. As a reader when I look at reviews I look at the worst to see why they didn't like it. Usually it's a ridiculous reason..."i couldn't find it as a paperback." Seriously...you're going to give a book a low rating because you couldn't get it in paperback? If the positive reviews outweigh the negative, then I will buy it. Alone is next on my list to read and I'll be sure to post a review when I'm done. Looking forward to reading The Dark Road too!

    ReplyDelete
  4. Erin -- it has been brought to my attention this week that sadly there are actually other writers out there slating other people's books. I don't know why someone would do that, but unfortunately it seems to be happening. Reviews left by 'Anonymous' should always been taken with a pinch of salt!
    Cindy -- thanks so much for stopping by and commenting! It's always good to hear from readers and I'll look forward to reading your reviews!

    ReplyDelete
  5. Good for you! I've gotten really careful with book reviews. Recently a diet and workout book was suggested to my husband and I. I dug through the reviews, skeptical the book had anything new to offer. Turns out the writer has a number of books out with hundreds of five star reviews by Amazon users that have only reviewed one book. Interesting. Someone even posted a one star review, saying he'd been harassed by the author's cronies for posting a poor review.

    It sure is worth the extra time, weeding through the through reviews to find like minded readers.

    ReplyDelete
  6. I liked it too.

    Realistically you'll always have this problem and so far all Vamplit authors have had great reviews from both readers and reviewers, but that can't last forever.

    When I read Stephen King's review of Twilight I laughted my socks off for half an hour or so. If you find it give it a read it's wonderful. Personal taste is a wonderful thing and although many horror fans have read Twilight all they are in fact reading is a teen romance with vampires. I wouldn't think that was Stephen King's cup of tea at all.

    Personal taste is the one of those things and you can't discount a disgruntled person who has an axe to grind Marissa. You know your novel is wonderful and so do I and almost 100% of those readers who have read it.

    Speaking as the person who has a paperback copy of Alone sitting on her desk, I must say I'm looking forward to proofing it. Alone is one of those novels I could work on forever and still be happy.

    ReplyDelete