Are You Dealing With Bad Reviews?

I had started a comment on a blogger friend's article and decided to create an article instead because it had grown larger and more complex than what I believe is appropriate for a comment. Thank you, Auden, for inspiring this post.

I'll quote the original question which prompted this response: 

There's a ton of advice out there on how to deal with bad reviews. They like to say "dwell on the good reviews." What if you don't have any glowing reviews to off-set the negative/indifferent ones?

I've had my two short stories on Amazon since 2012 and one of them has exactly one review and the other a whopping five reviews. I can tell you this much. I didn't ask for reviews, but when I got them, I was pleased. I'm far from inspired by the numbers, but I'm flattered by and appreciate the favorable responses by those who appreciated my work. However, I've not written or produced much these days and that makes me sad.

On the contrary, though a bad review has to hurt, it's not a lost cause, because bad reviews are those things that prompt you to explore and improve! Especially if you're passionate about storytelling.

Here are some questions to ask yourself if you feel you're not getting the feedback you desire. Do you attend a lot of writing conferences? I know they can be expensive, but the advice and information you walk away with is so wonderful! Have you joined a writing critique group? In-person group sessions can help your writing out quite a bit. Don't shrink away from advice and constructive criticism. It's out there. 

I've joined both, the Tallahassee Writers Association and the Florida Writers Association. Both organizations have welcomed me in such ways I can't even explain. You need to be around people who are driven and wired the same way you are in order to learn the lessons and solutions of the trade. These folks are willing to be there for you because their struggles are the same. 

Lethal Injection, The Seed is 7 pages, received almost 400 downloads, and I have 5 reviews, 1 from a relative. The story has no action but is described as powerful. How does that happen? Writing classes, conferences, critiques, and encouragement helped my confidence in putting the story out there. It's the readers who will figure out if it works or if it doesn't. If it doesn't work, I agree, it would be helpful if readers would provide better feedback. Unfortunately, they are not required to give anything of value. It's other writers who will fill that void.

So how do we improve as writers and storytellers? Stephen King advises that we read, read, and read some more. However, how do you take the time to read if you're pumping out novel after novel? After all, Dean Koontz does it! He has an excuse. He's famous and people buy his books because it's branded already. Come on! He's Dean Koontz. 

If you don't have the time to read much, do like I do. Audio books! They are great because I pop them in on my way to work, and they start up again when I'm driving home. 

:)

Hope I've been helpful in some ways.

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My First Audio Book - Innocence by Dean Koontz

I purchased my first audio book today. I'm listening to Innocence by Dean Koontz. It seems the only time I have to myself where I can zone out of everything, including my own thoughts, is during that time I spend going to and from work.

So now my head will be filled with the voice of MacLeod Andrews as he reads to me a story about a banished man living below the streets of a metropolis, an exile from society who finds a bond with a woman, also dwelling in seclusion as a fugitive from enemies.

You can listen to a blurb here. Andrews has a good voice for the novel thus far and I'm liking his neutral tones. I think I'm going to enjoy audio books a lot. They are more expensive, but well worth it if you're pressing for time. I'll probably get in a good 20 minutes per day, unless I unload the CD and take it into my office. Wait, I'm supposed to be writing code.

Maybe I can spark my interest in reading again. My brain needs food!  Do you listen to audio books? What's your take on the time savings?


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Booker Award and Blog Ribbon

Thank you Lara Schiffbauer for selecting me as a recipient for these two blog awards! To receive TheBooker Award the blog must be at least 50% about books (reading or writing).The recipient must share their top five favorite books (at least) and then passthe award on to five other bloggers.

The way I'm going to do this is the same way Lara did. I’ll giveboth awards to five different blogs, so I'll wait until the end to share thenew recipients.

My 5 Favorite Books:

The Celestine Prophecy by James Redfield

Gerald's Game by Stephen King

Enchantment by Orson Scott Card

From The Corner of His Eye by Dean Koontz

The Man in My Basement by Walter Mosley

For the Fabulous Blog Ribbon the rules are to post therules, name five fabulous moments (either real life or in the blogosphere),name five things you love, name five things you hate, and pass the ribbon on tofive other bloggers (and let them know in their comments!).

My 5 Fabulous Moments

Getting married

Having my children

Graduating from college

Daughter's high school graduation

Son's college graduation

My 5 Things I Hate

Death

Destruction

Government waste

Finger pointing

My OCD

My 5 Things I Love

My family

My job

My iPad

My home

Myself

And as promised, here is a list of the blogs I've chosen forthe same awards!

Kelly Hashway

Nicole Pyles

Margo Kelly

Randi Lee

Moody Writing

Social Analytics and Your Story

Have you ever wondered what your impact is as a start up author or publisher, especially if you don't have big business behind you? Stephen King and Dean Koontz don't have to ponder such things because someone else is doing that grunt work. This leads to a very popular question among new authors and publishers in today's digital world, because "sales numbers" are not as important as influence. At least, not at first! We're trying to establish a base and haven't even considered sales. How do we gain traction from the beginning?

We are coming into an age where information is freely available and people out there are proving that this data is more important in gaining power and influence than are sales numbers. Information is freely provided because it is acquired at less cost than past methods. As with drug addiction, if you peddle the product for free and if it's good stuff, they'll come back in droves!

You save money and effort while using today's freely acceptable modes of pushing your data. Facebook is free, Twitter is free. You have all these avenues of marketing potential. But, what do you sacrifice by navigating in the dark with no direction? Your time! And, with little feedback.

What's missing? Analysis and decision making are lacking. All this data means nothing when the other guy is using theirs to make decisions which beat you out in the market place. They know what the data means and they know how to produce more content via reviews and conversational feedback, which in turn allows them to target in a way to maximize on the knowledge they gained by analyzing the mined data they have accumulated. Say what?

Simple terms. What do they have that you don't? Direction and a budget, sustained by years of branding and accumulating that base you're trying to establish.

Here are the questions you need to ask yourself when promoting your product.

Brand: What is your message?

Stephen King: I can produce horrific stories that will make you lose sleep at night.

Mission: What goals have you established which will live up to your brand?

Stephen King: I will write 3 novels that will creep you out!

Scope: How will you reach your goals without diluting your brand?

Stephen King: I will write from my heart and not listen to all these folks who give feedback saying that I should do something other than write 3 novels that will creep you out.

Feedback: What feedback will you utilize to reinforce dedication to your brand?

Stephen King: I will not wait for feedback in the form of fan mail and gratuitous visits to my estate. I will go out into bookstores and institutions who invite me to speak and I will listen to my consumers, the readers of my books. If they're not happy, it's time to change my brand or the execution of my message.

What is your message to your audience?


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W is for Writer Quotations

I'm sharing with you the most inspirational and fun quotes about writing from some of my favorite writers. Please feel free to share yours!


"To write well, express yourself like the common people, but think like a wise man." ― Aristotle


"Writing a novel is like making love, but it's also like having a tooth pulled. Pleasure and pain. Sometimes it's like making love while having a tooth pulled." ― Dean Koontz

"This is a short book because most books about writing are filled with bullshit." ― Stephen King


"In order to learn, one must change one's mind." ― Orson Scott Card


"If there's a book that you want to read, but it hasn't been written yet, then you must write it." ― Toni Morrison


"The most important things are the hardest to say. They are the things you get ashamed of, because words diminish them." ― Stephen King


"Being a writer is a very peculiar sort of a job: it's always you versus a blank sheet of paper (or a blank screen) and quite often the blank piece of paper wins." ― Neil Gaiman


"Any word you have to hunt for in a thesaurus is the wrong word. There are no exceptions to this rule." ― Stephen King

"There are three rules for writing a novel. Unfortunately, no one knows what they are." ― W. Somerset Maugham


"Writing is a way of talking without being interrupted." ― Jules Renard


"My aim is to put down on paper what I see and what I feel in the best and simplest way." ― Ernest Hemingway


"I am a story teller. If I wanted to send a message I would have written a sermon." ― Philip Pullman


"Your intuition knows what to write, so get out of the way." ― Ray Bradbury


"I write for the same reason I breathe ... because if I didn't, I would die." ― Isaac Asimov


"Writing is utter solitude, the descent into the cold abyss of oneself." ― Franz Kafka


"Writing is the only thing that when I do it, I don't feel I should be doing something else." ― Gloria Steinem

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B is for Bravery, Brevity, and Brand

If there is anything I'd like to say about the pleasures of reading, the 3 B words: bravery, brevity and brand come to mind. If your work employs these three things while creating content, I will stay tuned! Let's explore each.


Bravery

When a writer is brave enough to throw it all out there, we readers are in awe. It is very difficult to put what's in your head into the public view, even if it is under the safety net of being considered "fiction". If you wrote it, your brain created it. There is the risk family and friends will read it and pass judgment. How do we make fiction feel real if we don’t add a little truth? Therein lies the problem.

We invoke thoughts and feelings from our characters and make their actions as real as any human would be inclined to make during candid moments when nobody should be witness to them. A writer who wants to be honest with her audience would express these things. She must engage on a level which I believe requires a certain amount of bravery.

There are moments a writer must consider the human condition, exposed, and not become inhibited by his fears of judgment from those who may turn out to be his biggest fans, the very people who would uphold his fictional creations against the moralistic standards of his peers.

It is the very reason 50 Shades of Grey is such a hit. It is brave to put your work out there, not knowing if there is an audience who will support it, thrive on it even. I haven't read it, but I will defend it because it worked.


Brevity

Have you ever received an email and wanted to close it right away because it was so long and had very few instances of white space? I have and it’s rather annoying. That’s why it is important to keep things as brief as possible. The last thing you want any reader to do is put down your work because it was just too cumbersome to read.

Tell us what you wish to convey in as few words as possible without having to struggle with long drawn out sentences. Every word I read, which I feel I didn’t need to read, makes me a little grumpy.

Don't tell me her skin was dark brown and she wore blue eye-shadow and her skirt stood out in shades of yellow and orange, and all other colors of the rainbow, in folds of chiffon patterned fabric, while she moved across the dance floor sashaying and twirling like a ballerina.

Just tell me she looked like RuPaul auditioning for the lead in Black Swan.


Brand

But what’s going to keep me coming back? I think for me, it is your brand. I can pick up a book by Stephen King or Dean Koontz or Danielle Steele and right away I know to whom it belongs. That sort of connection is what you want your readers to feel. I want to pick up your work (or visit your blog) and go, “Oh yeah, so-and-so wrote that!”

How does that happen? Consistency is the key. Do you write once per month, once per week, or on a daily basis? Do you provide funny stories with artwork like Super Earthling (sorry, had to plug one of my favorite blogs)?

It is the thing which makes you rise above the many others who do the same ole thing.

So, are you verbose or brief? Are you brave or still concerned about your privacy?

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