Reviews are a necessary part of the business. Without good reviews, a book never sees the positive side of the algorithms that promote your books for you. Without reviews, many readers will turn away from your book, particularly if it is an old book. And reviews help to build SEO traction on a book.
However, as important as reviews are, reviews can also be a dangerous area for writers.
Writers have lost their publishing contracts because they badmouthed a review on social media. Writers have been review bombed because of such deplorable behavior. But writers have also been attacked because they left a negative review on a competitor's book. In some cases, those attacks were warranted. In other cases, they weren't.
The most important aspect with reviews is to remember that reviews are NOT for the benefit of the writer. They are for the benefit of the reader. It's readers telling prospective readers what they thought of the book.
And when it comes to reviews, it is a very bad idea to respond to any reviews (or comments on those reviews) regardless of what you think of the review.
If you want to share those reviews with others, then cross-post it on your feeds. Acknowledge the good reviews that way, but DON'T RESPOND.
It's time to take a closer look at how responding to reviews, good or bad, could land you in hot water.
Trolls exist
If you have read through the mountain of blogs that I have written over the years, you will know that I have definite opinions about reviews. I have written about the review disasters that happened to me personally, where an author sent her fans after me in force because I just happened to be one person who didn't like her book. (And she admitted to the underhanded tactics to a room full of writers during a keynote speech!)
But had the author stuck by the number one rule of reviews, the entire situation wouldn't have happened.
That rule: DON'T RESPOND TO REVIEWS—GOOD OR BAD.
It's incredibly tempting to thank people for good reviews, and it's beyond tempting to go in and defend yourself against the bad reviews. But encouraging others to attack another person on your behalf is completely unacceptable, even if the attacks are online.
The incident that happened to me was just one of thousands upon thousands of stories like it. Bad behavior over reviews from authors (and other creative types) is not anything new. If you dig through the historical archives, you'll find stories of where someone has trashed a joint over a bad review. Other creatives chose to commit suicide—a little extreme, but it has happened.
But for an author to go online and rant about getting 4 out of 5 stars? No joke. It really happened!
Some writers bring disaster upon themselves
When I saw the article in June 2023 about Sarah Stusek's rant and later career disaster, I scratched my head and was completely bamboozled about it.
Why would anyone in their right mind choose to complain about a 4-star review, especially when it was only the eighth review on her not-yet-published book? All other reviews were 5 stars. But apparently, according to the rant, that was the problem.
Her perfect score of 5 stars (with 7 reviews) was destroyed by the 4-star rating. It didn't matter that the review actually called the book "a really great first novel!!!"
And because of one stupid move (the TikTok video rant, badmouthing the 4-star review), the BookTok community retaliated. They review bombed her not-yet-published book with 1-star ratings.
And the vanity press that she was using dropped her—before the book was even released.
I'm not going to go into discussions about this author's decision to use a vanity press to publish her book. That one was entirely her choice, but so too was her decision to go onto social media and show a dark side of her personality.
Sarah Stusek will recover from the disaster that was left in the wake of her public rant. And knowing that she's a professional comedian (according to her TikTok profile), she'll be able to use this as fodder: the only writer to ever be dropped by a publisher she paid $9,000 to publish her book for her.
No doubt, Stusek has learnt some painful lessons because of the incident, but we learn them too, learning how to avoid the same mistakes.
The most important lesson: DON'T RESPOND TO REVIEWS!
The fuel for fodder
I'm going to say it again: Don't respond to reviews. Good or bad, it doesn't matter.
Don't set a precedent or expectation that you will respond to reviews that you like. Because the moment you don't respond (if this is the expectation you have created), people will know that you're hurt by a review. And the trolls will attack, because they know your weakness.
Don't defend your book against the bad reviews, because again, the trolls will come after you. They know your weakness!
Don't rant about bad reviews on social media, your blogs, or newsletters. EVER! Just let the trolls rest in their caves, waiting to prey on some other unsuspecting victim. (Complain to your support network through private channels. They will help you to see reason.)
And if you feel the uncontrollable urge to thank people for reviewing your book on Amazon or Goodreads, thank them as a collective, not singling out any one reviewer.
Share with the public your reviews that come in from independent reviewers. Feel free to share only the ones that make you feel happy. But don't respond!
So many review disasters could have been avoided if writers would just learn to not respond to reviews.
So many Hidden Traps to online activities
This topic is just one of the many topics included in my book Hidden Traps of the Internet: Building and Protecting Your Online Platform. Through that book, I do the best I can to help writers (and other creatives) take control over their online presence.
Whether it's trying to navigate the social media maze, trying to piece together a simple author website, or avoiding the mountain of internet-based scams, this book puts a simple how-to guide in your hands, breaking it down into smaller, manageable sections.
Take control over your online presence.
Hidden Traps of the Internet
Take control over your online presence.
Building an online platform is an overwhelming and daunting task, with many pitfalls and horror stories surrounding the internet. It’s not surprising that many writers shy away from online activities, putting that online presence into the do-it-later category. But to survive in today’s publishing industry, a writer needs to be online.
This book focuses on how to build an online platform in a safe manner. Judy L Mohr (writer, editor, and writing coach) talks you through the various components of an online platform, showing you the tricks to staying safe online, carving out your own little corner of the internet while building that author platform.
Available in print and ebook.
More info →
