Negative reviews--Who cares?

This is more or less a response to some posts to a thread on Goodreads.com in the group called Support for Indie Authors.”

Someone had started a discussion on whether or not a writer should respond to reviews on the Goodreads site. She made the point that reviews on the site were more like feedback from readers and that a writer should be able to discuss certain aspects of her work that might have been misunderstood or claims made by readers who apparently hadn’t read the work carefully or had completely different ideas about the world in general. She pointed out that not responding to a positive review with at least a simple thanks would seem to give the impression that she’s not interested in her readers or just not approachable and maybe even feels superior to them.

I agree with her at the same time that I agree with all those on the thread who disagreed with her and I don’t think that’s contradictory.

Give me a chance to explain.

First, I should start by saying, as I find myself having to say again and again, I’m not from the same planet as most of the writers (and readers) on Goodreads. I started self-publishing many years ago, just before the internet started getting good, and no one had an e-mail address, there was no POD, no Goodreads, not even CreateSpace.com (another good site). Everything was done on paper. I did my typesetting on a computer but I had to print everything out and paste it all onto boards which I then brought to the printer who used a small offset press. I then loaded my shopping wagon with boxes of books which I kept in my bedroom. Reviews appeared in paper magazines and newspapers, the only kind there were at the time.

The rule then, as it seems to be now, was never, never respond to a negative review. It’s supposed to be considered beneath the dignity of a writer to do so and makes her seem immature and defensive. I don’t think that every writer who responds to a negative review is immature and defensive but, having met a few people in my life, I find it easy to believe that there are people who will consider such a writer to be immature and defensive.

But as much as negative reviews hurt, sometimes they can sell as many books as positive reviews can sell.

I’ve only received one negative review in my life. Of course, I haven’t received that many reviews at all, but it’s not over yet. And I think that the fact that I was a nobody encouraged good reviews, that is, because I was a nobody, a reviewer who didn’t like my work wouldn’t want to be bothered writing a review and thought it would be easier to just let me die in oblivion and only those who liked my work would take the trouble to write about it.

I had sent my book to a small magazine that included nothing but reviews of small press books. The editors needed books to fill up their magazine and probably reviewed everything they received. The book I sent, Vendetta, was a 48-page chapbook of poetry. Nearly every page offered a poem about being Italian-American or being a lesbian or being an Italian-American lesbian. Food was mentioned on almost every page.

The tone of the review I received in this magazine, whose name I forgot a long time ago, was one of derision and disdain. I still remember one comment from that review: “This woman is obsessed, yes, obsessed, with being an Italian-American lesbian!” (And he reached this conclusion after reading only 48 pages, yes, only 48 pages!) It was obvious that this guy was an anti-Italian bigot and a homophobe. That made me angry for several days.

Then I looked on the bright side. I think there are two main groups of people who want to read work by and about Italian-Americans, gay or not. One group knows that there is a great deal of prejudice against Italian-Americans, gay or not. The other group, which includes many Italian-Americans, thinks that we’re all American now, so what’s the problem? Their feeling is that we should all just shut up and eat our pasta. I think both groups of people would be encouraged by that review to buy a copy of the book, the first group out of a feeling of solidarity and the second group out of curiosity because there are still people in this world who have no idea how someone could fill 48 pages with writing about being Italian-American. They are completely oblivious to the fact that libraries have been filled with such work and our literature is taught in many universities.

What do you write to a bigot? How do you explain to him that you’re a human being with a history and a culture and that you deserve respect, if he was too stupid to figure that out for himself? There’s really nothing to say to these people that would do any good, although hitting them over the head with a baseball bat might make them think twice before opening their mouths the next time and at least you wouldn’t have to put up with aggravation, in addition to the bigotry. Even better, you can always write a poem about it or use the reviewer as inspiration for a stupid, bigoted character in a short story or a novel.

The moral of the story is that not everybody is going to like everything you do. So when you get a bad review, get over it as soon as you can, maybe with the help of a hug from your best friend or the caress of a cat, and start working on your next book.

That’ll teach those reviewers a lesson. Maybe. Stranger things have happened.