Ramblings… June 8 2023

Hello friends,

So I have been writing for a few years, yes, my books have been selling but reviews?

Crickets…, well most of the time.

So I’ve thought about it, put myself into the shoes of the reader, so to speak. Do I leave a review or even a rating every time I finish a book?

Well, I never used to. I never actually thought to, especially because I only read paperbacks or hardcovers.

Now, when I began to write and publish, that changed. When I eagerly looked for reviews, for validation, I guess, but it turned out that not many people who bought my books left a review. No, not even my friends. It was disappointing at first but I realised that not many people these days have the time or inclination to log onto Amazon or whatever other store they bought my book from, to review my novels. Or maybe they just didn’t like them and chose not to write something horrible instead. Who knows?

But I have changed the way I do things now, knowing it’s important to review, even if it’s not a great book I’ve just read. And because I now read eBooks as well and listen to audiobooks more often, it’s easy to review. And I take into consideration the work that has gone into the writing of the book and base my review on that. It’s not to say that I don’t ever write not so good reviews, but I tend not to judge the book just on my own personal enjoyment of it. There’s the writing, the plot, the characters and honestly, if I don’t enjoy a book, I will probably not finish it – life is too short, right?

 I remember getting my first bad review. It was for my second novel, She Remembered. I was devastated, even though I had a couple of good reviews already. But this was awful. I metaphorically stomped my feet, literally cried my eyes out, thought about it for days, threatened to quit writing because I was a failure. And something in me wanted to find out why, why this person hated my book so much, especially as she had clearly gotten to the end. I did a little digging and found that she was a serial bad reviewer – someone who wrote bad reviews to get their two dollars back from Amazon. I felt a little justified after discovering this, but I still felt irritated that someone like this could ruin someone’s reputation, hurt them this way. But we all can’t be saints, I guess.

This was, in hindsight, a good experience for me. Before I received that review, I was waiting for my first bad review. It was inevitable and I needed to get it over and done with. It was horrible, yes, but I dealt; I didn’t quit.

Since then, I have received a range of reviews. Some adore my books, others not so much. And that’s okay. Not everyone is going to like my writing and I’m really okay with that. Don’t get me wrong, I still take it a little personally, after all, the love I put into my work is on trial.

So, dear reader, please leave a review, good or not so good (note that I don’t say bad here). And especially if you love a book, take a moment to let the author know it. If you don’t have time, a rating is better than nothing.

Until next time,

Rits.