How to handle bad reviews?

Every author will face a bad review for his book, sooner or later. You might have a perfect book, but there is always a reader who will think differently.

If you think that a good editor and translator will help you to change the audience's opinion, you are wrong. Your book is an investment, you paid an illustrator, editor, and beta readers, but still, this is not enough to be a bestseller. You got a bad review.

What do I consider a bad review?

1 star on Amazon.

2 stars on Amazon.

Receiving bad reviews doesn't mean that your book is a pile of rubbish.

The reasons for bad reviews might be different:

It could be an act of revenge. Someone doesn't like you and he will spit at your book.

The reader doesn't like this genre, yet he read and reviews.

It could be trolling. Such people exist and mark many books with bad ratings, just to make a mess.

It might be compensation. If you give an author a bad mark, he can do it for you too.

Does a bad review have an influence on sales or ratings?

With a few bad reviews, your rating will fall, but it doesn't mean your sales will decrease. I have seen many books with excellent reviews but the audience is still passive.

A bad review is also a marketing tool. People will ask, what is disturbing and intriguing in this book, to piss off the reader?

A bad review can show you the way how to make a book better, and what is missing, and it could be constructive criticism.

When you receive a bad review, this is like an egg on your face. I see you are furious, frustrated, and angry, but it doesn't represent your audience's view in general.

Opinions are various. It is impossible to please everyone. Some books will be a thrill to readers, but another group will think that are not good, for the same reason.

For example, I like to read horror and thrillers. I love provoking scenes and I don't mind violence. If I see a dull thriller with a well-known scenario, I will think that is banal and boring and it will not capture my interest.

Some readers don't like swearing, erotica, and vulgar scenes. They will judge the book if there is too much sex or violence.

I received 4 bad reviews on Amazon, two were for bad editing, and the other two were out of topic.

Also, I received bad ratings without reviews. Those are the act of trolling. The worse thing is when someone did not read your book, but still, will judge it. Some people will insult you on a personal level, just to fulfill their frustrations.

Writing is not easy and some people might be jealous. They will leave a bad review for the same reason, as an act of envy. Maybe they wanted to write but they did not have the courage and patience to publish their books.

Your book is your product. Head up. If you were on the stage, you would wipe an egg from your face and continue to sing.

Comments

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Recently I had a discussion in my social media about negative ratings. There was a situation in Goodreads, where I got two negative reviews on my two books. The point was in the way how the ratings were set up. First rating for my book "Body in the waves" was placed under 5-star review from another reviewer. While the reviewer praising my book, the troll came under to say "This is really bad book." Second rating was described as " Poor author needs writing lessons." Both reviews broke standards of reviewing, because there is no visible evidence that book was downloaded in Kindle unlimited or purchased. It was a clear troll act from a new page, without a profile photo and with a nickname. I reported this to Goodreads and they responded me they are processing this. Meanwhile, I heard from other authors that Goodreads failed to do anything about trolling. In these terms, Goodreads should delete such profiles and forbid the access because of breaking rules. T...

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I understand someone can be disappointed with a book. It is like I was disapointed with my trousers online and returned it. What makes a difference, my trousers were 40 euros. The book was 2.49 cents. This makes return funny, because what can you do with this money? Some readers don't understand story behind the refund. The author will get minus royalties. - 0.13 c in my Kindle report, that will vanish when someone else buy the book. The situation happens. Someone accidentaly clicked and bought a book. A random customer wants a refund. Maybe it was not a random move. Maybe the customer clicked, bought and did not like the book. When you don't like the book choose another options, instead of damaging authors. Write a negative review. Write negative one star rating. Don't purchase another books from this author. Or, maybe to reconsider and read it, again? If you write negative reviews or rate it with 1 or 2 stars, you are making a favor to authors. You are moving algorithms i...

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Recently I asked for a featured Bookbub deal for one of my books. I got response that my book should be free priced and my expense would be 230 dollars. This is really funny, because I could expect people grab my book for free and give me one star (as it happens when books are available for everyone). To pay such amount of money would be waste and without a purpose. I am mix of traditional and indie author. Having a publisher, but not bestseller books, I am looking for ways to increase my book sales. Promo sites like Bookbub are very expensive and they offer their deals for 25% books from authors who applied for this. I had an insight to author's books who grabbed Bookbub deals. It works will authors who are already selling a good amount of their books. In general, promo sites are not working for favor of indie authors. These are five myths about promo sites: Promo sites give many readers. It is not true, because you will get visibility and many trolls, but not readers. Promo sites...

Rebelious rules by Kristina Gallo

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