Just like every other author out there, I’ve always known the drill when it comes to dealing with bad reviews: just don’t read them and ignore them completely.
Still, though, even with all that wonderful advice, sometimes we cave. We read them. And they hurt.
They hurt a lot.
Certainly, every bad review can sting, but what about those ones that are overly harsh? The ones that just seem to get worse with every word you read because the people are just nasty, mean-spirited individuals who have a life mission to cut down everyone and everything they can?
Well, those are on a whole other level. And in my opinion, there is a different way to handle those. First, laugh them off. Second, laugh them off, again, all while telling yourself they have no merit whatsoever.
And why is that? Why do those mean nothing?
Because of the way the people went about the way of posting their review, hiding behind sitting in front of their computer, probably laughing as they type and feeling as though they are, not only better than the person they believed they’ve just crushed, but they’ve done some type of service to the community.
Ah, yes, bravo to you. Because of you no one will ever buy, read, or enjoy this book again.
Thank goodness you came along when you did because if you hadn’t then someone else would have bought the book and the world would have fallen apart.
Eyeroll
I, especially, love the “I can’t believe this book has gotten any good reviews because it shouldn’t have.” Ah, yes, because your opinion is the end all, be all, and no one could ever love something you didn’t love.
Again, eyeroll.
I completely understand that there are people who aren’t going to like my stories and it’s totally fine. We all have likes and dislikes and I know my books aren’t going to be for everyone.
All books, even ones that are best sellers and have sold millions of copies, have one star reviews just as all books have five star reviews.
That’s the beauty of having an opinion, of having a voice, of having a variety of novels on the market.
If you don’t like my work and you want to say something about it, then by all means, go ahead. It’s America, we are all allowed to have opinions.
But don’t think that being absolutely cruel is going to validate your opinion more or that you’re doing everyone a favor. And don’t think that I’m all of a sudden going to say, “You know what, you’re right. I suck and my books suck and I’m just going to quit right now and never write again.”
This world is so full of anger and hate, why must we resort to such meanness on something as simple as a book review?
Seriously.
If you don’t like it then stop reading and walk away, and if you must leave a review, try doing so in a constructive manner. Because being a jerk and being mean is utterly pointless.
angelachristinaarcher.com 
I love this. You are so right! Reviews like that say more about the reviewer than about the book.
I’ve always ignored the really harsh reviews on books when I look them up. I don’t understand why people have to get like that. Oh well, can’t make sense of everything I guess. Lol
Exactly! If everybody liked the same thing, there wouldn’t be so many book sections of all the DIFFERENT genres in the bookstore. The ugly, evil words just show the petty smallness of that individual. We can pray for them. And read your books 😉 #keeponkeepingon
I guess there will always be people in the world who feel the need to be that way. I’m more sad for them than mad. They must have pretty bad lives to want to be so nasty to bring others down.
It may be wishful thinking on my part, but I’ve heard of negative reviews being left strategically by a competing author’s street team. If it’s true – and I don’t know of any specific cases – it brings a whole new level of nasty to the mean review. However, it also provides another rational for dismissing a particularly venomous review. If it seems too scathing to be real, maybe it is.
If that’s true, that’s just even more disturbing as a reader just using the computer as a disguise. I would never do that to another author as I know what it’s like to get bad reviews. Not to mention, uh, there’s what millions of books on the market. Readers don’t just get one book to read their whole lives. What does it matter if one person reads two books by two different authors. It happens pretty much daily. Lol.
Here are some choice bits from my Goodreads reviewer:
“Reading this book was a chore.” and “This book should’ve been an article.”
Never mind that 100% of the other reviews were positive.
Moreover, “Elizabeth” knew I’d most likely read her review because she previously asked me a question on Goodreads and I answered her.
Oh yes – her review was almost 1000 words! Yet she didn’t even understand the crux of my book.
I know that may sound weird, but I suspect many reviewers who leave mean, thoughtless reviews are frustrated writers.
At least some readers replied to this woman’s review and their comments were wonderful, brilliant, and put her in her place. I didn’t ask them to do it, either, which was a nice surprise.
The reviewer wound up writing yet again that she was going to revise her review but it was only to make herself seem less….well, I’ll spare you on the word I really want to use. How about “ignorant”?
I’m sorry you had a run-in with one of those types of reviewers. It’s good that there were some who came to the defense of the book. Yay for those type of readers. Lol. Sounds like you just found that one oddball who pounced. They are out there . . . in droves, unfortunately.
p.s. I forgot to mention at the very beginning of my last comment that I love your post!!!
It’s perfect.
And yes, the reviewer also wrote, “I can’t believe this book has gotten any good reviews because it shouldn’t have.”
I forgot to add that after roughly 85 positive reviews, this was the 1st bad review my book has received, well, at least that has come to my attention.
I knew it wasn’t a matter of “if” but “when” my book would get a nasty review. (Enter “Jaws” theme music!)
“Birth of a New Brain—Healing from Postpartum Bipolar Disorder” was published in October 2017 so I had a nice, long wait for a 💩review and I was grateful it didn’t happen earlier than now.
Thanks again for this awesome post. You get it. And you’ve made me feel better!
Thank you! I’m so glad you enjoyed the post! I’ve been told that some bad reviews even help sell a book and that sometimes people are leary of books with all good reviews. Maybe this one will help you somehow. Even if the woman was a loon. 🙂