![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
(no subject)
Feb. 9th, 2011 11:15 amWriting
Recently, this author's response* to this review came to my attention. Now, I don't know any of the parties involved and have not read the book in question, but that's not relevant to the point this situation illustrates so well. To whit:
There are only EVER two appropriate author responses to a negative review:
1) Silence. (They call it golden for a reason, folks.)
2) "Thank you for taking the time to read my book and comment on it." (Because any publicity is good publicity...except for the publicity you bring down on your head by acting like an asshat.)
And, frankly, some writers would even warn you against #2, but I do appreciate the fact that someone took the time to read my book and tell others what they thought of it, even if they hated it. Readers are like betas for your next book -- they tell you what didn't work in this one, so you can make the follow-up better.
The bottom line is, no book is going to appeal to everyone who reads it. As my fellow WotC alum Paul S. Kemp so eloquently reminds us, that's the nature of the beast.
It's also the nature of the beast to be hurt when someone criticizes something you have put so much of yourself into; I understand that, believe me. But while it may be in our nature, that knee-jerk reaction doesn't have to -- indeed, should not -- control us. We need to take a lesson from Frank Herbert on this one:
*ETA: The author has since edited her original post and deleted the comments, but the internet is forever. Obviously, she has never watched "Criminal Minds," or she would know that running is tantamount to an admission of guilt.
Everything Else
I can't think of a single situation in life that there isn't a fitting Dune quote for, can you? Heh.
Recently, this author's response* to this review came to my attention. Now, I don't know any of the parties involved and have not read the book in question, but that's not relevant to the point this situation illustrates so well. To whit:
There are only EVER two appropriate author responses to a negative review:
1) Silence. (They call it golden for a reason, folks.)
2) "Thank you for taking the time to read my book and comment on it." (Because any publicity is good publicity...except for the publicity you bring down on your head by acting like an asshat.)
And, frankly, some writers would even warn you against #2, but I do appreciate the fact that someone took the time to read my book and tell others what they thought of it, even if they hated it. Readers are like betas for your next book -- they tell you what didn't work in this one, so you can make the follow-up better.
The bottom line is, no book is going to appeal to everyone who reads it. As my fellow WotC alum Paul S. Kemp so eloquently reminds us, that's the nature of the beast.
It's also the nature of the beast to be hurt when someone criticizes something you have put so much of yourself into; I understand that, believe me. But while it may be in our nature, that knee-jerk reaction doesn't have to -- indeed, should not -- control us. We need to take a lesson from Frank Herbert on this one:
Paul Atreides: You suggest the son of the Duke is an animal?Bad reviews are the writer's Gom Jabbar. Let's use them to prove we're professional, hmm?
Reverend Mother Gaius Helen Mohiam: Let us say I suggest you may be human.
*ETA: The author has since edited her original post and deleted the comments, but the internet is forever. Obviously, she has never watched "Criminal Minds," or she would know that running is tantamount to an admission of guilt.
Everything Else
I can't think of a single situation in life that there isn't a fitting Dune quote for, can you? Heh.
