NovelsByNeenah.com

I got a new review from a customer who bought All For The Love Of Thomi on Amazon.com for the Kindle. Nice one. (You can read all of the reviews gotten so far on my reviews page. So you’ll know which ones I’m musing about.)

Getting reviews when you’re not a known writer is tough. But, there are some reputable places online who will do them. And some of them will even review your ebook. This is the toughest probably. Everyone wants a real book to touch and hold . . . to spill your coffee on . . . to get paper cuts from . . . to toss into a corner because the story is so exasperating you can’t stand it, but, you know you will finish it because–well, you just have to . . .

Well, someday my books will be in print. I’m working on it, and there will be one less hurdle for me to worry about in getting a review.

Okay, now, say, all hurdles are overcome, and your book/ebook has been accepted someplace for a review. You wait for days, weeks, months, depending on where you sent it, for the verdict. You are so hopeful of a great review. Words of shining praise that will recommend your work to the whole world so people will want to read your stuff and you can pay the mortgage with your writing.

Then . . . you get the notification of the official verdict.

3 stars or hearts or coffeecups or roses or . . . whatever . . .

The review itself is pretty good, maybe even great, but–the rating is not what you hoped for.

How would you feel? If you are an author, and have gotten a review like this, how did you feel? Were you fairly satisfied? You had to have wondered, though, if the reviewer seemed to like your story, why only an average rating.

I sure did.

So, when I got the review from CoffeeTime, I emailed Kimber to ask what was repetitious about the book. I was surprised to read that she felt that Thomi’s faults were tossed up at her more often than she felt was needful. Made her want to skip over those parts.

Which makes me feel she must have skipped over all of the parts of the story where forgiveness takes place . . .

The next review from The Romance Studio earned for me 3 1/2 hearts. A bit better, but not the 4 I was hoping for. I wanted to be able to run to all my forums and groups and family and friends, (and the naysayers from high school days on . . .) waving those cups, hearts, stars, whatever, triumphantly.

Do you do that with 3 stars, cups, hearts, whatever? Will anyone be excited for you? I didn’t do it, so I don’t know.

The review from The Romance Studio showed me where I might have spent some time repairing a character’s flaw, or did a scene differently. And the forgiveness issue came up again. A couple of the secondary characters bad behaviors were pointed out. No forgiveness or understanding for them.

Of course, for one of them, she was dead on with. If you want to know which one that is, you’ll have to read the book. The other, is . . . well . . . a yes, but no type deal.

Again, the review was a good one. Didn’t say the story stunk or anything like that. If you leave out the rating end of it, why, I got reviews I really can be proud of. So what’s the beef again?

Did they really get the point of what I was trying to convey in that story?

How much of it was skipped over, if any?

The same reviewer at The Romance Studio also reviewed The Resurrection of Joleigh-Anna Kelman, a story close to my heart, but I wasn’t expecting it to do better than Thomi. It did.

4 hearts!

I was thrilled, but disappointed still that Thomi was a half heart behind. In any case, these reviews were feathers in my writer’s cap. And I know that I should feel proud of my efforts.

Now that the books are online at Amazon.com, I know I’m opening myself to a whole new level of reviews. Customer reviews. And some readers out there won’t be as kind as Kimber and Maura were. I know. I have another book out there being trashed by many. But then, I have discovered too, that my co author has reviewed other books, and given his honest opinion of them. They have taken his opinions as personal attacks and have had their entire clan come give some really horrible reviews. Trashed me as an author as well, They don’t know a thing about me, and their opinions showed that. Yes, I’m afraid that some of those remarks left for the world to see, do offend me, and I took them as a personal attack, too. Was hard not to.

But, it’s still opinion, isn’t it? And everyone has at least one of those. Should they all be viewed as a personal attack?

No, of course not. And once the first rush of disappointment is past, and the remarks reread a few times, you will know which ones are sincere in their opinion and which are out to trash your reputation earnestly. You can find ways of stating an opinion so it doesn’t cut the heart and guts out of someone. And you can, if you actually read the book you’re reviewing, find one thing, at least, to say good about it.

Which leads me to the newest review I got . . .

This person tells me why she was frustrated with some parts of the story, and how she felt towards some of the characters. Was kinda sorta like the opinions of the other two. Except, then she expands to tell me that by the end of the book, she saw that Thomi’s father wasn’t a jerk or bad guy. He just seemed to be because, well, hey–he’s a father with an exasperating daughter.

And then, she goes on to say it portrayed life within a family group realistically. Plus, unlike the other two, she saw that, yes, Thomi did need a lesson in humiliation more than once. She saw that Thomi does indeed earn forgiveness from almost everyone. And from those she didn’t, well, they don’t count!

This reader got it. By the end of the story, she got it. And because of her specific remarks, I know she actually read the whole 429 pages.

So, I guess this post is twofold. How to take a review of a story that may not be quite what you hoped for, and how to write one that will be useful to others and to the author as well.

So, as a recap:

If the review’s ratings aren’t what you hoped for, what is the tone of the review itself? Pretty good? Then don’t take the ratings too personally, as if you failed as a storyteller. Remember a review is simply one person’s take on your story. As long as it is written to the very best of your ability, has been edited well so there’s not a ton of typos and grammatical errors, you can just see it for what it is. One person’s opinion.

But, if you have just slapped a story together haphazardly with no regard to form, style, format, plot, sentence structure, dialog, and haven’t bothered to edit or have it edited, then, maybe, you should take the criticism to heart, and rework the story to at least near perfection. There is always going to be a typo missed, or some error in grammar that slips by. Forgivable things. But when it is so bad it takes a reader out of the story, then you will lose them as such. And they might just decide to tell the world about it.

Be willing to accept that, and be determined to do better next time.

As for the really trashy reviews . . . I ignore them. I may not be happy about them, but I just ain’t gonna lose my beauty rest over ‘em!

Writing a review:

Write how you feel about the book without ripping the life out of the author. There’s no need for it. Explain your thoughts with sensitivity, courtesy, and honesty. Find one or two things to praise the author for before delving into all the things you weren’t happy with. And don’t go overboard with your dissatisfaction. Remember, someday, you yourself may be on the receiving end of someone’s disappointment. A little tact, a little restraint is always appreciated.

If you love it, great! Tell the author and the world why you did. Specifically. You don’t have to write something about every aspect of the story, or about every character, but one or two things about the story, and maybe the main characters would be so much appreciated. In short, saying, I liked this book, or, I loved this story, is okay, but why did you like/love it? Were the characters believable and were you drawn to them? Were you sad the story had to end? Did a character in the book remind you of someone you know?

The list could go on and on. But I’ll end it there.

And I’ll take my own advice . . .!