One of the core principles in product management (my day job) is to gather your user feedback, and where appropriate, ensure this is considered. So that's why, when I started writing, I knew I wanted to pay attention to my reviews and see what my readers were saying. So I didn't understand why the authors I followed on social media didn't prioritise reading their reviews.
Then, I got my first bad review and it all made sense to me.
I knew it was only a matter of time before it happened and I'm surprised it didn't happen sooner, so I was prepared in a way. Sure, I was a little hurt, because I'm human and I'm really proud of the book that got the bad review. The actual feedback isn't important, because we're all allowed to have different opinions as long as we discuss them respectfully, but it got me thinking about the different perspectives that go into a book review. The "user psychology" if you will.
Sometimes, people don't like your book and that's completely okay. Because in a world of billions of people, it's impossible for everyone to like what you've written, because we all think differently. Some of the most successful authors have horrible reviews, and guess what? They're still successful authors.
Another angle is that sometimes it's possible that a reader doesn't understand an author's perspective and vice versa. I know I'm currently reading a book where I'm experiencing this exact issue, and it doesn't mean the book is horrible, it's just not for me. Another example of this is I don't understand the Sarah J Maas hype, but it doesn't mean her stories aren't good, or that she isn't a good author.
Then you get the flip side, of what I would call a "Keyboard warrior" - someone who rips an author to shreds online, because they find it amusing. I would even go so far as to say that this is straddling the line of online bullying. It's also worth noting that it's easy to criticize an author when you haven't produced your own book, or understand the amount of effort that goes into this, something to keep in mind.
Now sure, there is an argument there that if you've paid for the book, you can do as please, and to a point, I agree with this. But it doesn't give you the right to treat someone poorly, nothing will. So I've compiled a collection of some of the worst reviews I could find online from some of my favourite authors, and I feel there is no other way to categorise this mean.
Next time you want to leave a bad review for an author, please do, because it's your right to do so, but if you've got nothing constructive to say, (ie: I didn't understand the world building) and only want to say something mean, please remember, there is a person on the other side reading this and if you wouldn't say this to them in real life, is it necessary to say this online?
