A few weeks ago the unthinkable happened. I got a bad review for my book on Amazon. Guess what? I L-O-V-E it. My thoughts are this; I’m not writing books for everyone. I’m writing books for me and for people who like to read the same kind of stuff that I do.
In my life philosophy, if people don’t get mad at you sometimes then you are obviously never taking risks with your thoughts, words, and actions. Don’t get me wrong; I don’t want a lot of people to disagree with me or criticize my books, but if I occasionally get someone’s undies in a bunch then I think I’ve probably done something noteworthy
The reader, whom I shall not name, gave the book three stars and started her review by saying, “Not what I expected. I did not finish the book. I stopped about 1/3 of the way through.” Really lady? You decided not to finish the book because it was too scary and then gave it a 3 star rating anyway? Maybe it would have gotten all five stars if she had read the other two thirds.
She also said, “There is some swearing in this book. The usual words may not be used but you know what is intended.” What? Characters in a book acting like normal human beings? I can’t believe it. Hide your children! Contact the authorities!
Furthermore she added, “The boys frequently ignore rule for their safety, climb out their windows when they are supposed to be in their rooms.” Oh no! Fictional characters having fun and acting age appropriate? Get this on a banned books list somewhere immediately!
What really cheesed me off, and I do not say that lightly because I’ve never been cheesed off before, is that she gave away three crucial plot elements that occur in the first third of the book. If you don’t like my book, fine. We all have different tastes. Apparently she was searching for a book for small children and thought that the synopsis mentioning a serial killer wasn’t clear enough. If you don’t like it, I don’t care, but don’t ruin surprises in the book for others.
All in all, I’m pleased that someone read part of my book, hated it, and thinks it should be at least PG-13. I’m not suggesting any of you go write bad reviews just to please me, but if you clicked on the book in the right sidebar and read it I wouldn’t mind a bit.
Have a great Monday! ~Phil