How to deal with negative book reviews

Negative reviews are as unwelcome to an author as the words “so where do you get your ideas?”

It’s also unavoidable. 

We all have to deal with negative reviews, and, you know, the opinions of others. It’s part of being an author.  

It’s true, not everyone is going to like your book. As writers, we know that. That’s ok. In fact, it’s not necessarily a bad thing. You attract your ideal reader with your book package (cover, description, price, etc.) and in a perfect world, you repel the readers that you don’t want to read your book—the ones that will leave one-star reviews.  

However, we don’t live in a perfect world. We live in a world where some readers will go the extra mile and leave you troll-like reviews. They might even take it another mile and DM you nasty messages. 

 “Any reviewer who expresses rage and loathing for a novel is preposterous. He or she is like a person who has put on full armor and attacked a hot fudge sundae.” – Kurt Vonnegut 

I love this mental image of reviewers gone rogue! What do you think? 

The point is we all have to deal with negative reviews, even the greats. It hurts. It feels personal. You feel attacked. Rejected. It’s not a pleasant experience. 

But there are ways to deal with negative reviews. 

Let’s get into them! 

DEALING WITH NEGATIVE REVIEWS

01. Don’t make it personal

“People will love you. People will hate you. And none of it will have anything to do with you.” – Abraham Hicks

As you know, sometimes reviewers can get real nasty. I’ve heard so many authors voice how that one reviewer took it one step too far. Instead of just saying why they didn’t like their book, they attack the author’s work on an atomic level.  

It’s not fun to read. 

The thing to remember when reading a negative review, though, is that people say, do, and write things looking through the lens of their beliefs. You can’t fight and win against a lifetime of circumstances and events that formed a person’s view of life, good or bad. 

The only thing you can do is strengthen your belief in yourself, your books, and your true fans. These are the three things that ultimately matter. 

02. Don’t read your negative reviews 

“Every rejection is incremental payment on your dues that in some way will be translated back into your work.” – James Lee Burke 

Negative reviews are a form of rejection, no doubt about that. 

And rejection hurts. 

So if you’re an author struggling to not take reviews personally, don’t read your negative reviews. Instead, read another author’s reviews. That way, you can get a sense of what readers don’t like without putting yourself through emotional turmoil. Also, if nothing else, you can see you’re not alone. Every author gets bad reviews.

 It means you’ve got skin in the game.

“To ward off a feeling of failure, she joked that she could wallpaper her bathroom with rejection slips, which she chose not to see as messages to stop, but rather as tickets to the game.”

– Anita Shreve  

03. Bad reviews serve a purpose 

 Now you might be thinking, Tanya, no.  

Because if you only had five-star reviews that would be smashing, right? 

“People adore bad reviews. Nobody would be interested in reading the good ones.” – Jay Rayner  

The thing is, negative reviews do serve some purpose and that’s to signal to everyone who might not enjoy your story (and leave another bad review) to move on to the next book.  

Mind you, nothing is ever black or white, but for the most part, if a reader reads a bad review and they move on, even after reading your five-star reviews, your book probably wasn’t for them. 

“A review is the opinion of one person, albeit one who has public forum. Maybe his dog just threw up on the new carpet, or the toilet overflowed, or your main character reminds her of her rotten ex. And maybe readers will find and love your book, despite the lousy review.” – Pamela Jane  

Which brings us to my fourth and final way to deal with bad reviews. 

04. Focus on the good, not the bad

“A bad review may spoil your breakfast, but you shouldn’t allow it to spoil your lunch.” – Kingsley Amis.

Where focus goes, energy flows. So when you read a bad review, and you felt the sting of rejection, go straight ahead and read a positive review!

This will probably not take the sting away, but it will fill your mind with positive energy. The sting won’t be as sharp because it will remind you that it’s just the opinion of one person and not everyone feels the same way. 

You have true fans and readers who love your books. 

Isn’t that the best thing?

Hell yes! 

So tell me, how do you deal with negative reviews?