I just finished a book by Douglas Preston called “Impact”. I love both Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child, and I especially love them when they write together. Their Agent Pendergast books are great. Another author friend, Andrew Mocete, shares my love for these authors. I thought “Impact” was an awesome book, and I especially enjoyed it as an audiobook because the reader was so awesome.
I don’t know what made me pop over to Amazon to look at the reviews. To my shock, there were more one star reviews on this book than anything else. Really? People were giving DOUGLAS PRESTON one star reviews? I think the book ended up with an average of three stars because there were almost as many five stars, and some other stars in between. My books range from an AVERAGE of 3 stars to 5 stars. As much as I feel like my writing is getting better, I am NOT as good as Douglas Preston. It’s true that he writes in a completely different genre, but still…. At this point, I think I’m just going to disregard bad reviews. I’ve been pretty good at doing that this year, anyway, but now those bad reviews seem even more ridiculous (some of them were pretty weird, LOL). Does that mean I’m going to disregard the good reviews? Absolutely not. Because if someone likes my book and goes to the trouble to write a good review, I’m going to respect them enough to appreciate that.
So what makes me absolutely love this book, full of adventure and suspense, and yet makes others dislike it so much? Who knows? Reading likes and dislikes are so subjective. So, in your journey as a writer, be prepared to get all kinds of reviews from all kinds of readers. Some will like your work; some will not. Just keep writing what you love. And for those of you who are readers…keep those good reviews coming! LOL
lauralynnelliott.com 
“Here here…” she says, slamming her fist on the desk. Would an artist stop painting because someone didn’t like their work? Then, they aren’t really an artist. We write for ourselves first. If others like it, it’s a bonus.
Yes, Michelle, we have to write for ourselves. We should definitely try to write something marketable, but if we write ONLY for others, we would be miserable.
I totally relate to what you’re saying. Some books that I feel are awesome receive oddly negative reviews…and, even though I know everyone sees and enjoys different things in books, I find myself going: huh???
But yes, we should keep reading (and writing) what we love. Never mind the naysayers!
Laurel, it’s amazing how subjective reading is. There are authors that have gotten really good book deals that I don’t think are that good. But it could just be my opinion, although I can think of some specific things that made the books not that great. But, apparently others like the books. So it happens the other way around, too. Some books I love, others don’t like.
I just finished reading George R. R. Martin’s fifth book in the Song of Ice and Fire series. I thought it was pretty awesome, but there were a few things that bugged me… Still, I probably would give it 4 stars if I absolutely HAD to rate it. Part of that would be based simply on his writing. He’s just that good. I’d knock a star off for all the stinking POVs and for the fact that one character seems to sort of go backwards in her development, and I got sick of her whining.
BUT–imagine my surprise when I saw on Amazon that the book had over 1,000 reviews, pretty much evenly distributed across all the ratings. It averaged out at about 3 stars. Dang. That made me feel a lot better about the 3-star ratings I’ve received on my work…
It really is all so subjective… I have a hard time remembering that. Thanks for another reminder that there’s no perfect equation to make everyone love your work. People just like what they like. 🙂
Hi Amy! I never realized how subjective reading was until I started publishing. I don’t feel nearly as bad about my lower ratings anymore. I’ve had 5 stars and I’ve had 1 star, and everything in between. So now I just write to please me, knowing that it’s going to please SOMEBODY out there. Just not everybody.