The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly: How A New Author Deals With Reviews

As a new author, navigating the world of publishing is a daunting task. I thought I'd accomplished the hard part by writing the book.

I was wrong. (I'm wrong a lot.) 

Even though it took umpteen pots of coffee, neglecting my children for hours (okay, weeks) at a time, and every ounce of soul and courage I could muster to type those words into that order to create that book - writing was easier than publication. 

In hindsight, writing "Balance" was not so bad. Sometimes it was downright awesome, in the word's truest sense.

Then to publish, you either wait and wait and wait...or take the reigns and do it yourself.

I chose the latter.

I'm still learning the do's and don'ts, the jargon of the industry, the costs that come with being a self-published author. There are amazing writers I admire that have paved the way, even best-selling authors that have given me advice, the best of it being: "Don't worry. Write the books. The rest will come. We're all in this together!"

I still feel like I'm showing up late to the party and without any idea what kind of party it is. It's also possible I haven't been invited and I've left my pants elsewhere.

The stuff nightmares are made of, if you will.

But I laid my best efforts between a gorgeous cover and put out my "product" to the best of my newbie ability. There are things I'd go back and change, but anyone who releases their first book will likely tell you the same thing. 

Now the book is out there. It's alive, living and breathing on gadgets and hiding between dust-jackets and slick paperback covers on people's nightstands (or on the floor in the backseat of their SUV). 

Whatever. Same thing, right?

My point is, people are actually reading it. Many are loving it, but someone said it's a yawn-fest. 

How can this be? How can two people read the same book and have such varying opinions?

Because that's life. That's every book. I'll never write something that pleases everyone. I knew this going in.  

Still, I thought reading reviews was going to be the next hardest part of this process. Open myself up to criticism? Yikes! But this was not the hardest part, either. (I'll tell you what the hardest part is at the end, so keep reading.)

I read a poor review and instead of wanting to crawl into a hole and hide for eternity, I found myself wanting to email the person immediately to thank them.

For the longest time no one told me they were hating the book. No one said "Meh, these characters suck. I wouldn't hang out with them if you paid me!" 

Instead, people I'd never met told me "This is a quality piece of fiction!" "I can't wait to read the next book!" "Can you quit your job and just do this?" I thought all of my early, excellent feedback was lip-service, but it wasn't. These readers were completely genuine.

That meant surely someone, at some point in time, would genuinely dislike it. I was petrified of that day.

But then it happened.

The first poor review came from someone that was nice about it. She found something to compliment me on anyway, and her feedback was helpful. With this first poor review I got lucky, because it eased me into the one-star review that eventually came along. That reviewer said some things I consider just plain mean, but this is reality. Not everyone makes nice.

The moral of the story is, does it matter?

I did not put "Balance" out there to please every single person that will ever read it. I did it because there was a story within me that busted its way out over the course of years. Through the process of sharing it, I became convinced that hey, some people might like this.

Another common theme in my reviews is that Book One ends on a cliffhanger. Some people were kind of ticked about that.

For this, I do apologize.

I wish I could have laid out the entire story in one book. It would have saved me a ton of gray hair and time. But that isn't the way this particular story unfolds. I'm not lengthening the story as a ploy to sell more books. (Yes, one person said that.) 

For me, the writing process doesn't work that way. I write to write, and let the story go where it may. If Book Two also ends on a cliffhanger (it does), it's because it seemed a good place to stop that would make sense but still create some drama while moving into Book Three. Does it make you want to read more, to know where the story goes? I damn well hope so. But it is not a preconceived attempt to sell more books and inadvertently piss people off.

I never thought I'd sell a single book in my life, beyond maybe my parents and immediate family. Do I want people to buy it now? Of course! Because that means I can contribute to my household doing something I love - writing books.

But marketing myself is not something I enjoy. Many writers feel this way, especially those of us with an introvert's tendencies. Yet to sell, you have to market yourself as much - if not more - than you market your blood, sweat and pencil lead. You have to show up, pants or not, and with the knowledge that you aren't going to be invited in. You have to snatch an invite, or create the party that everyone else wants to go to.

I get it, though. We're living in a 'give-it-to-me-now' society. I'd want to know how it all ends, too - and all at once. But Daniel was forced to be patient in The Karate Kid, and look what it did for him! Wax on, wax off, people. I am going somewhere with this series.

Everything about the writing of "Balance" - from the plot to the characters - has happened in a kind of crazy, fated manner that no one would believe.

When I finished Book Two, it ended with the same number of chapters as Book One. In draft form it was the EXACT same number of pages. Insignificant details? Sure. But this demonstrates how the process works for me. I could not plan it this way if I tried.

Months after I finished writing Balance, I stumbled on a random article in a magazine I don't even subscribe to. The article was about a relationship that mirrors the one between Alexis and her husband Ben. This confirmed for me that my characters were about as real as they could get.

These are the kinds of coincidences and signals the Universe sends to let you know you're doing something right, and I've had them raining down on me through the process, from writing word one to publication. This part you can't make up.

It just happens.

This does not mean I'm fooling myself here. I know this is not The Great American Novel, some tome that will be of a great importance on a literary scale. I aim for my stories to balance an ease of reading and entertainment, and I know my audience.

I love my audience. They're my people.

However, let's be real. My people are damn busy. There are children to cart around, there's laundry, there's other books to read by their all-time favorite author...and oh look! A giraffe is about to give birth! (Just kidding. Right now, she's still pregnant.)

As I promised to let you in on, the hardest part is getting people to stop what they're doing to read something I wrote and then tell people what they think about it.

But it is happening.

That is amazing. 

And I could not be more grateful to the people that have read "Balance" and spoken up about it - good, bad or ugly.