Authors Behaving Badly: When
Authors React Badly to Negative Reviews and Criticism!
Or: How NOT to Handle Bad Reviews!
When an author puts a book out into the world they must know it's not going to get completely positive feedback. All books, throughout history, from Hamlet to The Da Vinci Code, have people who love them and people who hate them. And most authors handle the negative reviews pretty well (even if they're crying inside).
However, some authors decide that they want to fight their critics. Some get personal. Some get downright nasty. Did someone say car crash?
I was originally going to post one article on this but so many authors have behaved badly that I thought I would make it a weekly feature! I bringz you all the drama every Thursday from authors who have been a little naughty.
Who Is He: Stephen Leather, who, to quote Wikipedia, 'is a British thriller author currently published by Hodder & Stoughton. He has sold more than two million books in more than ten languages and has written for television shows such as London's Burning, The Knock and the BBC's Murder in Mind series.His books have made him one of the top selling Amazon Kindle authors and in 2011 he was the second bestselling UK author worldwide on Kindle.' ()
What He Responded Badly To: Oh so many, MANY reviews. Our Stephen has a nasty habit of reading the bad reviews of his books on Amazon and giving the reviewers some, shall we say, tips on how to read and enjoy his book better? It is a joy to behold.
What Made the Fur Fly: Pretty much ALL the 1 star reviews! I have painstakingly screencapped the original reviews and his comments below:
Exhibit A
Exhibit B
Exhibit C
Exhibit D
Exhibit E
Exhibit F
Exhibit G
Exhibit H
Exhibit I
Exhibit J
Exhibit K
Exhibit L
Exhibit M
Exhibit N
Exhibit O
Madness.
P.S- If you didn't enjoy this blog post I suggest that next time you read a sample of my work first before judging me for this particular piece :-P
That's really a great post! You must have spent lot of time, to collect these snapshots.
ReplyEspecially loved your comment at the end.
I just hope these authors stop all these bullying stuff and do some quality work. Getting tired of all the latest news about authors..
Vidya @
Sigh people never learn do they lol
ReplyYour comment at the end is priceless ;) This guy obviously has some issues he needs to deal with. If reviewers consistently call something "soft porn," then there's no need to argue, and no amount of the author arguing that point is going to make me or anyone else pick the book up. These authors still absolutely stun me. Another one whose work I won't touch.
Replyim with you guys, the postscript made me smile. get too defensive and people will think you are guilty. thanks for the post.
ReplyI think he took it too far, but I can kind of see his point of view. Having his book available for cheap encourages people to read it... even if it isn't their thing. Since it sounds like he took a step out of his comfort zone to write the book maybe he was just feeling a bit vulnerable... I don't know that commenting on EVERY review is really going to help, though.
ReplyWOW. Love the p.s. and this guy needs to chill. He should not be commenting on so many reviews and making readers feel like their opinions are wrong.
ReplyI don't think that this will work, but I must say: I don't think he is very unkind. At least he doesn't call them names. I think that he is only trying to show people his point and he fails, but he could be much worse.
ReplyWow. I was cringing after the first few and I outright skipped the last half because I was embarrassed for him. Dude, if your book has a hundred 5 star reviews, focus on THEM instead of chasing after the people that didn't like it!
ReplyI feel that authors really need to be a step removed from reviews of their works. It's human to want to know what's said about your precious creation, but I do not believe contact should be made unless directly solicited. I realize that negative reviews sting, but belaboring a dead horse like this is really pointless, and arguing lost causes is just a waste of time.
If someone asks me a direct question, I am happy to answer. If a fan tells me they loved the book, I will thank them. But I'm not going to stalk the one-star reviews and argue with readers about why they hated my work so much. Reading is subjective. There is no such thing as universally loved - someone, somewhere, is bound to hate what another adores.
Shake it off and move on, dude.
I didn't see anything where the author was behaving badly. In one response, he even offers to refund the person's money. However, some of the reviews were very, very harsh, and even attempted to attack the author also.
ReplyThis is your best evidence?
It appeared to me the author was merely trying to explain the fundamentals of the book. Again, there is nothing you posted that represents the author behaving badly.
By the way, I still need you to take down that copyrighted material you posted from my blog. I am serious, I will have DMCA on the case if you refuse. (You have yet to respond to me email) And if I get them involved, they will have your blog shut down temprarily until you do remove. I am trying to be nice about this as best I can. Thank you.
It is unfortunate that so many authors act out against their reviewers. It is always hard to take criticism, regardless of how it is packaged, but an author needs to first and foremost take a step back and see if there is anything they can take away from it. I am an author, and I have had some cringe worthy moments that really stung, but I have tried to grow from it and I have NEVER responded back to the reviewer. It is unprofessional in so many ways.
ReplyOn the other end, I am also a reviewer of those books that I read. I recently purchase My Everything by Khelsey Jackson, and was immediately attacked when I gave it a less than stellar review. It was clear that this author tossed out the book without a second glance, so it was riddled with errors that affected reading, and plot and character development issues that made it downright laughable. Judging by the number of fantastic reviews that made me purchase this in the first place, I can only guess that this was a case of shilling at its finest. How can an author be surprised when someone outside their inner circle gives them an honest, unbiased opinion? Since then, I have been the victim of her and her friends, who have gone on to rate each and every one of my own books 1 star, dragging down my ratings, along with those who I have collaborated with in the past. It is downright sickening.
It's a sorry thing to see so many authors who react badly to a negative review. I read them to find the books I want to read. I tend to ignore 5-3 star reviews. Every book has it faults and I want to know if those faults will get in the way of my enjoyment of the material. If I am like this, I am sure there are other people out there just like me. Someone needs to tell these authors bad reviews can make them sales, just as much as a good review can break a sale. The reviews give a more in-depth concept of what the story is about. If the good reviews praise things about a book I don't enjoy reading, I won't buy it. Just the same as if a bad review complains about elements I like to read (Or complains about grammar mistakes, which I rarely notice) will help in my decision to buy a book.
ReplyI ALWAYS look at the bad reviews before buying a book. It breaks or MAKES the sale with me.
I always look at the bad reviews too. I rarely look at the positive ones because I usually find them unhelpful. The only time I look at positive reviews, is if they are coming from a booktuber whose opinions I trust.
I wish authors who get whiny and immature over bad reviews would realize that the reviews can benefit them. There's countless books that I have purchased based on bad reviews.
Funny how he says that one should not buy books just because they're cheap. I bought Alexander Gordon Smith's Lockdown because it was like 1.99 on Kindle one day and I was bored. Turned out to be an AWESOME series, and I bought every single book and even purchased 2 off a Spanish bookstore website to get my hands on it before it was released in the US. Heh.
ReplyHe's so condescending!! Almost every comment was "I'm sorry you made a poor choice." Not that he's a bad author, just that you don't know how to pick books properly. Amazing.
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All the one star reviews have magically disappeared from Amazon
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ReplyHi there,
Replythat was so interesting, how weird though. Probably the editor has a hard time getting in any constructive criticism, too, if there is such a strong defense to just any comment, accusing the reader in return most of the time. It's mind-boggling that this is a professional and pretty successful author. After reading the arrogant responses I would never buy the book, before, just reading the bad reviews, absolutely possible.
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