I haven’t
published a book yet. I can count the number of people who’ve read my stuff on fingers
and toes, all of them family and friends, or friends of friends, who all
claimed to like it. (They had no choice but to say that, of course, because I
know where their houses live.)
I know that
if I ever do publish a book, and the reviews start coming in, I will take the
negative ones very much to heart. That’s just the way I am. I try very hard not
to care what others think of me, and as long as nobody attacks me personally,
it usually works. But writing is very personal.
Well crafted
(= ‘good’) negative reviews never attack the author and make a point of staying
courteous. Still, it means that somebody didn’t like my ‘baby’, which inevitably
carries and conveys a part of myself, and which was conceived and born out of a
lot of hard work, sweat and blood (paper cuts still happen, even in this
technological day and age).
That’s what
makes it personal, at least for me. But that’s also my problem to deal with and
get over. Finding the right perspective always helps in these situations. Beth
Revis definitely found it: The best way to look at a negative review without
beating yourself up about it. No, scratch that – the ONLY way to look at a negative review. Period.
