Have you noticed people these days are more opinionated? People have always had an opinion, but with social media taking over, it’s more apparent and out there everywhere. The reason I’m posting on this is the way people do things.
Take for instance. I received a review on one of my books. The person gave me a 1 star review which is their opinion and I can take criticism, but only when it’s constructive. The review simply stated “Pease relieve my mind. Whyis tender flame and moonbeames and roses using the ssme names but different stories. Nothimg is mention about others that were mention tender flames. What happened to sarahs baby……..damn why wright two books using wes and sarah”. I copied this from the actual review. Does anyone see anything wrong with this review other than the spelling and nasty word?
Now don’t get me wrong, Criticism is a big part of writing and I use constructive criticism for good. My issue is that Tender Flames and Moonbeam & Roses are two entirely different books and many writers use the same character names in different books. Why do people do this to writers? Moonbeam & Roses is a stand alone book and Tender Flames clearly states it’s part of the Flames of Love series. I just don’t get it. Let us know what you thought about the book, not the characters names. That’s a odd point.
Opinions run rampant, but when your opinions are not constructive but destructive should you voice them? Many people like to voice destructive opinions publicly. It’s bad for those that are public figures. Look at how movie stars get raked over the coals. If they make one misstep or wear the wrong color shoes with the outfit they get a social media dress down.
So, what’s up with people these days? Some people are like moths to the flame when it comes to negativity. I can say this, when you do a review for a book whether it’s a 1 star or 5 star, make sure it’s relevant to the book. What does it matter the names of the characters? When you watch a star do a interview, what does it matter the color of their shoes or the way they combed their hair? Look at what they’re saying or their acting skills, not their fashion sense.
Everyone has their opinion about something or someone, that’s their right, but should they go crazy with how they express it. I guess my upbringing taught me to not sling mud and to watch what I say because I could be on the receiving end one day. Boy was that ever right.
As always, good writing and May God Bless You…
Stephanie Hurt - Romance Author 
I agree that the internet and social media have enabled people to be able to fling their opinions around much easier these days. People feel more comfortable saying whatever they want because they don’t have to say it to your face.
I think that it’s important to accept that people are bound to say horrible things on the internet and that it’s your reaction to it that’s going to resonate with your fan base. I’ve seen so many people on Goodreads who are criticised on various aspects of their writing who then retaliate in an attempt to put the person in their place. However, this tends to start some serious flame wars which descend into absolute chaos, name-calling and ‘your mama’ retorts which go nowhere.
I always admire the authors who either ignore it or simply thank the reviewer for reading their work. It must be monumentally difficult to just let it go (and I certainly would have a difficult time doing it), but I respect the person who can. I would actually be tempted to buy a book from an author who shows grace under fire because I like to support nice people. 🙂
I think that people who decide to buy books based on reviews know the difference between constructive criticism and trolling so I would like to think that a rant like the one you copied from a ‘reviewer’ would be overlooked by someone who was genuinely interested in what people think of your work. I certainly wouldn’t be swayed by someone with such a tenuous grasp on spelling.
I guess the point of my reply is Don’t Feed the Trolls! Just keep doing your thing and disregard anything that isn’t constructive.
Best of luck with your writing!
Thanks for the reply. I like your take on it. I’ve always been one to let things roll off my back. But the review gave me food for thought on the way a lot of people do their trolling these days. I’m comfortable in the fact that the other reviews will far make up for this one. I’ve seen the activities on Goodreads before and was actually shocked at the way some authors responded. Unfortunately crazy reviews are a part of the beast, whether constructive or destructive. As you say, it’s all in how you take it. Have a great day and thanks again for your thoughts 🙂
Take heart, you sold 2 books and you are a better person than the reviewer!
Thank you Rosie. When I saw this review I had to laugh to myself. It didn’t bother me as much as it made me think about how some of our society sees things. Oh well, it gave me some good blogging material anyway. Have a great day…
I liked your post on people today. It’s good that you could laugh about this. I’ve had some strange reviews lately and I just scratch my head and laugh too. It’s funny how people can’t see the good in something for pointing out the one thing they thought was bad, which in this case I’ve read both of the mentioned books and it was clearly two separate books with two entirely different sets of characters.
Just keep doing what you’re doing and thanks for being an advocate for us as writers. As I’ve noticed you’ve always taken your reviews in stride and I think you handled this one in a great way. It did make for a great blog. Thanks again for the morning inspiration.
My general thoughts on reviews is that the reason you’re writing the review is so that it’s useful to other READERS — and this person seems to have totally missed the point. When I read that review, I had literally no idea what they were talking about. I got the general impression that they were confused, and probably not very intelligent (due to the appalling spelling and lack of grammar), but beyond that … nothing actually telling me about how good the book is, whether or not I should consider buying it, etc.