A Publisher's Conversation with Authors: Dealing with Negative Reviews

 

It is Tuesday. Time to tall turkey. Monday's madness is over, and Wednesday will take us over the hump, so Tuesday it is--for some serious discussion with authors. Tuesday talks mean to address authors in waiting and self-published authors who would like to go a more traditional route or who would at least like to take their steps with a publisher by their side.

Today's topic addresses the bug-a-bear of every author: the negative review. Some negative reviews are, of course, fair; some point to helpful things for revision; some may not reflect objective reality but honest opinion, and others are just plain mean. So, how should an author react? First, analyze the review -- is it honest or dishonest? (If you cannot make an objective analysis, ask a friend or colleague to analyze the review.) Then, determine a course of action, one course, of course, being to take no action at all. 

The honest negative review:

• Are the points made valid or at least valid within an honest mindset (that might be different from yours) If so, get over it. There is not much you can do. People have a right to their own opinions.
• Did the reviewer point out errors, mistakes, typos, mistakes in formatting -- things that should have been caught in the editing and copyediting process? Talk to your publisher. Putting out a second printing might be in order. 
• Did the reviewer point out inaccuracies in the content -- or point out that the information was dated? Do some research. If this in true, you might consider writing a second edition.
• Was the review just weak? No "it changed my life" moment? Compare your work to others on the same topic that have won awards or received many 5-star reviews. What is in the delta between your work and theirs? Learn from it.

The dishonest negative review:

• Are the points ego-driven and perhaps even just plain mean -- and not true? Some reviewers like to show off by pointing out some things as if they were large ones, helping them to feel superior to the author. Such reviewers are typically amateurs, and yes, you should probably do something about them. Confronting the reviewer is likely to provide even more credence for the reviewer. Ignore the review personally but go after more reviews. Is there a respected specialist in the field who would give your book an honest assessment that might end up being a better review? If there is truly inaccurate information in the review, having a specialist set the record straight is a very good thing. Of course, you cannot go around asking friends to write a good review, but you can send a copy of the inaccurate review to specialists. Perhaps one will respond to the review itself or at least write his/her own review. In the case of one book on the Middle East, an American reviewer on Amazon tried to show off what he thought were his great chops on the topic, but he was dead wrong. All his information came from reading about the Middle East. The author was a specialist on the topic -- and had grown up there. A professor from a university in the Middle East directly responded to that review on Amazon, pointing out the errors of the reviewer and the accuracy of the author, citing references.  
• Does the reviewer have a specific, opinionated point to make at the expense of the author? Not fair, and, if provably inaccurate, biased toward making a personal point, and mean-spirited, the author (or publisher) should contact the source publishing the review (Amazon, Library Thing, etc.) If a review is clearly off-kilter, reflects a personal attack, and differs significantly from other reviews, some places, including Amazon, will take down the negative review. One of our authors of a spiritual book, drew someone who called herself a "giddy atheist" as a reviewer in a Library Thing competition for free books. That person should never have been allowed to review a spiritual book, but LT did not notice the conflict of interest. (This is one of a few reasons we do not submit free books to LT anymore.) The GA proceeded to write what was clearly a personal attack against the writer, calling her things like self-centered, and then sent copies to all the online retailers that accept outside reviews. LT would not take it down, but Amazon did. 
• In some cases, e.g. US Review of Books, the reviewer will allow an author to kill a review before it is published (but rarely after). Some charge a kill fee; others simply do not return the fee paid for the review. In cases of free reviews, killing a negative review is generally not possible.  

The bottom line is that if you get an honest negative review, learn from it, fix the book if you can, and do better next time. However, if you get a dishonest review, put aside the emotion and take the logical steps you can to get more reviews to balance out that review, to get that review called to task, and/or to get the review removed. Generally, the best you can do is to get more reviews, but occasionally you can honestly and fairly kill a review. Before killing a negative review, however, consider whether having a negative review might be better than no review at all. Also, consider whether a negative review might rev up a positive response to the book. That can increase sales when it prompts more people to read the book and see what the controversy is about. (For another conversation about reviews, click HERE.)

Lesson for today's Tuesday talk: Negative reviews are part of the norm of publishing -- and there is a set of norms for responding.

React within the norms, allow for honest opinions that differ from yours, try to develop a thick skin, and learn from the experience of a negative review.

Read more posts about publishing HERE.

The Tuesday talks reflect real discussions between the management of MSI Press LLC and our own authors or those would-be authors who come through our doors but don't make the cut--yet. If you have a topic you would like addressed, leave the question in the comment section. Chances are, in our 18 years of publishing first-time and experiences authors, we have had a conversation with one of our authors that we can share with you.

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