Tips on handling a bad review

Tips on handling a bad review…
First and foremost if you are a writer, I congratulate you.
You have embarked on a journey that is not for the faint of heart. Those who know me know that I do quite a bit of TV work. I had a jump on being in the public eye and dealing with my share of critics. Where things change, is behind the veil of a computer screen. People often have the nerve to be very rude due to the obscurity. Where this can hurt an Author, is the fact; that it is easy to answer your critics. As a professional you will do much better not doing so, it can come back to haunt you. Just one nasty comment from an Author and you lose respect and readers.
1. Remember the reasons that you began to write. You wrote because you had to and not just because you wanted to. Many of you literally had a fire that burned within and that fire needed to vent; lest it consume you.
Your writing is based on you initially, it is later, that the public becomes involved; after, you have presented your work to the world.
2. Writers each have their own style and everyone will not connect with yours. This is why writers develop a fan base.
I enjoy writing about very emotional issues. I have a knack for making people ‘feel.’ Someone who is more of sci-fi fan may not want to feel, they may prefer imagining, therefore: they may not care for what I write about. Remember: Authors have and develop a fan base.
3. Remember, that Amazon reviews are for the readers, from the readers. The readers matter, let’s face it: it is all about the readers, but…….
I remember my first bad review. It went something like this. “don’t waste you time. don’t waste your money. this book has no plot.”
Yes, that is how it was written. To be honest with you, everyone who reviews your work doesn’t have the credentials to do so, so they are giving you an ‘opinion,’ and not a ‘review.’ If you desire to have your work critiqued; then have someone that is trained to do so, do it. There are wonderful sites such as http://www.goodreads.com or http://www.writing.com where you can have this done for free and it is coming from another writer’s point of view.
4. Eat the meat and spit out the bones. Find the areas that the bad review may have valid points and work on those areas, in order to become a better writer.
In a writer’s life, we are never going to stop learning.
5. Last but most certainly not least: Write! The only way that we as writers will hone our craft, is to read and write. I am not the writer that I was a year ago. I have grown as a writer and as a person. I am more mature in areas that far exceed my writing and branch off into my abilities to deal with the public. It is my desire to encourage those in my journey and I hope that this writing has done just that.
©2013 Amber Hawkins