Bad Reviews Can be Useful

So, perhaps because bad luck always comes in threes, while I was recovering from a car accident and an unusual esophageal infection that made my doctors take biopsies and suspect cancer, one of my books received a scathing review–my first truly negative review. It seemed strangely personal and hit me as hard as the two physical insults. I was actually so shocked by it that I didn’t cry until the next day.

But I got over it. I had to. You can’t put yourself out there without someone trying to knock you down. People suck like that. So, while I did flail about and whine to my friends, I discovered something helpful.

I wrote a rebuttal, which I might share here later. My only intention  was to release my venom, but something crystallized in my mind as I wrote. I saw, more clearly than ever before, my ideal reader for that book. I already knew a few things–that she was probably female, a Millennial, and politically liberal, but she’s also a bit edgy, appreciates complexity, and has above average intelligence. She understands that characters don’t always say what they mean and do what they say. Sometimes characters, like real people, hide things from others–sometimes even from themselves. She has a sense of humor and is a trifle wicked…maybe more than a trifle.

Having a better understanding of my ideal reader has led me to market that book differently. I’m using more humor and playing up the darker elements.

Don’t ever let a bad review get you down. See if you can turn it to your advantage. Never stop dreaming; never stop writing.