Sometimes simply doing nothing is very hard. The general consensus among indie writers is to not react to reviews, be they good or bad. I know some writers like to engaged their readers, and it'd be hypocritical to say I didn't. I have commented on a review on the German Amazon page. Today, I somewhat regret that I did. Not because I no longer stand by what I said there, but because - as the person I talked with so aptly noted - it tends to be a case of "Someone is wrong on the internet!"
If you read that: Thanks for that particular piece of wisdom, Scarecrow.
And yet, it is so very hard not to react if something you poured all your effort into gets either savaged or praised. You want to react, either to argue with the reviewer or to do the decent thing and simply say: "Thank you!" Because that's the way you've been brought up: be polite, be grateful, but be steadfast.
If you read that: Thanks for that particular piece of wisdom, Scarecrow.
And yet, it is so very hard not to react if something you poured all your effort into gets either savaged or praised. You want to react, either to argue with the reviewer or to do the decent thing and simply say: "Thank you!" Because that's the way you've been brought up: be polite, be grateful, but be steadfast.
Nonetheless, I've come to the point where - unless there's really slander involved - I'll take new reviews with passivity. Oh, don't get me wrong: I'll still have to summon all the strength of my inner Bhudda and grate my teeth whenever "someone is wrong on the internet". But in the end, my time is better spent writing new stories than in the futile effort to defend old ones.
As for those of you who use the contact form: I may not answer your mail, but I most certainly do read it. Me not answering one of your mails is not meant as an insult. It's just me being very conscious about using my personal email address.
Alas, I'll leave you for now with Amazon Wisdom #524:
As for those of you who use the contact form: I may not answer your mail, but I most certainly do read it. Me not answering one of your mails is not meant as an insult. It's just me being very conscious about using my personal email address.
Alas, I'll leave you for now with Amazon Wisdom #524:
A review may reveal more about the reviever than about the book he or she commented on.
