OK folks, this is more of a serious post, a rant if you will. And please don’t get used to the amazing feat of two posts in one day. I’m certain it will probably never happen again!
Since my book Humble Beginnings was published just over a month ago, I managed to get 13 positive reviews (4-5 star) to help get the ball rolling. But today, the thing I’m sure all authors dread most, finally happened. I got my first 1 star negative review. And while it was a hard thing to stomach as I read the harsh words left for all to see, I’m glad to get it over with.
When I first read the review, I couldn’t help but take it personal, and it hurt. “How could someone be so harsh when I worked so hard on my story?” But the hurt was short lived as the anger quickly replaced it. “The guy said in his review that he didn’t even finish the book! How can he possibly be so judgmental without having actually read the whole story?!”
The reality though is that we can’t please everyone no matter how hard we try. As an author, I can either spend years working on one story, perfecting every detail through editing and rewrites, or I can just do the best job I can in the shortest amount of time possible, and move on to the next project. The goal of course is to be improving with time, but even then, perfection just doesn’t exist, and that’s something we all have to accept. No matter how hard you work on your story or how much editing is done, there will always be those who just won’t like it.
So instead of commenting on the review, which in all honesty I was quite tempted to do, I decided to just let this one go. It happened like I knew it would, and now I can move on, hoping the positive reviews will always heavily outweigh the negatives!
P.S., If you’ve had a chance to read the book, I hope you’ll take a minute to leave your review. Here’s the link… Tri System Edge: Humble Beginnings