Today, I’m snowed in. The company I work for even closed because, in the south, eight inches of snow shuts everything down. I was planning on working from home, but apparently my work computer is turned off. Maybe a power outage. So I don’t get paid today. 😦 So I’ll try to be constructive in other ways. You know, like writing.
Guardian Vampire got a bad review on Amazon. It wasn’t just bad, it was a TERRIBLE review. Probably the worst I’ve ever had, even though I felt like Guardian Vampire was so much better than anything I had done in the past. I could tell that one of the things the reviewer didn’t like was that there wasn’t any sex in it. Because she said that nothing happened even though you kept thinking something was going to. This time, I didn’t get that sick feeling in the pit of my stomach. So I think I’ve finally learned to not let these reviews bother me.
I was thinking…one of the cool things about ROW80 is that it’s going to produce a bunch of good reading material for me when it’s all published. And that’s always a good thing! :0) Because I’m definitely going to check out the ROW80 authors’ books.
lauralynnelliott.com 
Sorry about the bad review but I think it’s a very good thing when you don’t take it personally. Thinking about negative reviews just gets in the way of everything else so kudos to you if you’ve learned to let them go.
It was really hard to stop letting them get to me. Zoe told me to stop reading them. LOL. But it was either get over them or stop writing. And that wasn’t an option for me.
I saw Amanda Hocking say something about how she thinks all books should have a bad review or two because next to the good reviews, it sort of legitimizes the whole indie book thing. I thought that was kind of a good point… But when I get a bad one (as I’m sure I will), it will still bug me, I’m sure. 🙂
And seriously, if the problem is that you didn’t put a gratuitous sex scene in the book, then who cares about the review? I have nothing against sex scenes, but ANYTHING gratuitous–i.e., thrown in just to fill up space, increase sales, or indulge the voyeurs of the world–should be kept out of books. Violence, sex, cursing, preaching, speeches, whatever it is–if it’s not necessary, don’t put it in.
It’s that whole “be true to the story” thing. I blogged about that yesterday, because I realized that in a fit of rebellion, I had put in a bunch of stuff in a draft of my novel that didn’t belong there at all. I had to rein myself back and ask myself if it really advanced the plot, developed a character, or revealed something important to the reader. If it didn’t, I cut it. And now I’m happy with the story again. 🙂
BTW, I live in the Portland-Metro area in Oregon, and 8 inches of snow would totally shut us down, too. 🙂
Amy
Hi Amy!
The bad thing is that it’s so early in the life of this book. I had only gotten two good reviews. The reviewer was kind of nasty, and those are the bad reviews that I’m always suspicious of. But, I’m not going to worry about it.
I agree that you shouldn’t put anything in a book that doesn’t belong there. This book was more about the action and fighting between vampires to protect her, as well as the growth of the female main character. And this all happened as they were falling in love. I don’t think they were ready for sex. :0)
I was informed by my boss that we aren’t working tomorrow either, due to the ice that will be on the roads. Hey, I’m not complaining.
I didn’t read the review, but that’s pretty messed up to wreck someone’s sales ranking because the book wasn’t exactly what you wanted.
I could see being disappointed and not giving it a 4 or 5 star review, but unless it says it the blurb “much sex to be had in this fine tale!” there’s no reason to be so harsh.
Hey, Andrew!
Some of the things she said didn’t ring true. The sex thing wasn’t the only thing she didn’t like, but she said the characters were confusing. I don’t understand what that could possibly mean in this story.
I never give bad reviews. If I don’t like a book, I just won’t review it. Because, you know? I could be wrong! There are a few authors that the other indies rave about and I don’t really care for. That doesn’t mean they aren’t good writers. It means their writing isn’t for me. One of the ones I’m talking about is doing REALLY well. So I think it’s all subjective. Unless the writing is just terrible and it’s obvious.
Well, at least you have other books with good reviews… I still just have the one title up. 🙂
I saw on Kindle Boards that someone got a suspicious review, investigated, and discovered the review was from another indie author’s mom who was purposely giving the competition bad reviews. Can you believe it??
My book doesn’t have much sex, either… There’s innuendo, foreplay, and afterglow, but I tend to fade to black for the act itself… I don’t want to end up on one of those “worst sex in novels” lists… LOL. And my hero and heroine take a long time to fall in love, and I also didn’t think they were ready for sex. Well, he was, but she wasn’t. 😉 But since I’m writing a series, I have time to get them into bed. It just won’t happen until they’re both ready.
On the extra snow day… Sweet. 🙂
I’m going to have to check out Silver Thaw. I’ve got such a big TBR list, but I’ll eventually get to all of them. :0)
I can’t believe someone’s mother did that. Yeah, your mom can give your book a good review, but to give the competition bad reviews? What kind of person does that?
If it helps, Silver Thaw is a novella (less than 30,000 words). You could probably read it in an hour. I’d love it if you read it. 🙂
My mom and friends won’t even give me reviews at all. I had to totally twist my BFF’s arm to write ANYTHING. What the heck? LOL. I guess they want my stuff to look legitimate, and I do appreciate that. I just need the reviews right now since I only have the one title…. And I don’t know about a person who does that. Personally, I *like* competition. It makes me better at what I do.
My TBR list is huge, too. *shrugs* What’s a gal to do? So much good stuff… 🙂
Amy
Funny thing about reviews- anybody can write anything. People can even make stuff up. Good reviews are nice, bad review may be helpful later on (or may not be, in this case). Gotta remember if your book is great, people will buy it. One (or two, or five) negatives reviews are not the be-all and the end-all. 😉 Keep writing!
Thanks! I’ve found that some of the reviewers tend to be nasty and almost seem to enjoy it. I’ve actually bought books that had some 1 star reviews and really enjoyed them. So I don’t put much stock in reviews. I would never say some of the things I see readers saying about some of the books. I’ve seen really ugly reviews for some authors that I absolutely love.
You know, I almost stopped writing when I got my first couple of bad reviews. But I’m glad I kept on even when I felt bad. And now I just don’t let them get me down.