What Should You Do When Your Book Gets A Bad Review? | Handling Negative Reviews As An Author

You'll often hear the phrase, "reviews are for readers, not for the writer." The main purpose of a review is to help prospective readers determine if a book will be a good fit for them. When an author enters this space, especially when the book in question is their own, the waters can get murky.

How authors interact with reviews—including whether they should read reviews of their books—is a long-running debate in the bookish corners of the internet. In a lot of ways, writers and reviewers intersect. There are things a writer can learn from reviewers (as I've written about more extensively here). Some writers are reviewers themselves. Reviews can be used in promotional materials to help their books reach more readers. And, while it's generally advised against, some writers use reviews to shape their writing going forward.

If an author is tactful and considerate in reviewer spaces, I'd say they can visit just so long as they remain respectful and understand that they are a mere guest and not the guest of honor.

Problems arise when these boundaries are misunderstood or ignored altogether. And it's often because a reader left a review that the author didn't like.

One author posted on Threads asking her audience to mass-report a negative review because, "it's suspicious when ur book's no1 and an Amazon customer gives u 1 star."

Another posted a snarky video on TikTok after an ARC reviewer left a 4-star review, saying, "I had a perfect 5 star average till this bitch came up. She said, 'The ending was kind of predictable.' Yeah, well, it’s my life, not a fucking murder mystery. 'But other than that, it was incredible,' so you just gave me four stars?" This author was dropped by her publisher.

It's sadly not only verbal attacks and social media posts. Some authors take things way too far.

One disgruntled author wrote and dedicated an entire book to one reviewer with a logline reading, "Romance written through the eyes of a woman, by a man, because – f*ck you, that's why." He then continued harassing her and trying to goad her into coming on a podcast with him, despite the reviewer saying she would not feel safe doing so. This wasn't satire or sarcasm. It was spiteful and disturbing.

And in one of the most extreme, deplorable cases I've heard about, an author tracked down a teenager who reviewed his book to assault her at her job in 2014.

Pop quiz! What should you do if your book receives a negative review?

The glaringly obvious answer should be ABSOLUTELY NONE OF THE ABOVE, UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCE UNDER THE SUN.

Got it? Good.

With that out of the way, what should you actually do? Because, let's face it, getting a bad review sucks, but it happens to all of us.

A Bad Review As A Rite Of Passage

The first step in handling negative reviews as an author is understanding that they're inevitable. It's wise to make peace with that.

Like any reader, I'd imagine that not every book you've ever picked up has worked for you. And your book won't work for every reader.

Many writers treat negative reviews as a rite of passage. It's proof that you're doing the thing. It's a sign that someone was willing to take a chance on your book, even if it ended up not being quite what they expected.

So congratulate yourself on being inducted into the club!

Reader Expectations

Readers have preconceived notions when they pick up a book, influenced by genre conventions, your book's cover, its blurb, and reviews from other readers, etc.

If your book doesn't meet their expectations, they may leave a low rating.

There are things you can do to let readers know what they can expect. Including a well-crafted blurb. Marketing that is both fun and informative—and may even include sharing positive reviews on your social media profiles.

Once your book is in a reader's hands, however, it is completely out of yours.

You can't know your reader's expectations, nor if your book will align with them.

Maybe they love the enemies-to-lovers trope but felt your characters' shift from bickering to flirty banter was too quick. Or the ending didn't sit right with them. Or they didn't love your writing style.

You cannot please everyone. Your book will not please every reader.

Things like that are out of your control, and there's nothing to be done about it except moving on.

A Bad Review Is Not A Reflection On YOU

This was one layer of the controversy surrounding The Age of Scorpius, and something we sadly see a fair bit.

Writers have a habit of losing themselves in their stories and finding themselves along the way. The trouble is, we can easily get too caught up in our writing. It's a personal thing that demands vulnerability from us. When a reader doesn't see your story the same way you do, it can sting.

Remember: a bad review of your book is not a reflection of YOU as a person. Even if there are elements inspired by you and your lived experiences.

Separating yourself from your writing is crucial, as is separating yourself from reviews about your writing. A review is not a personal attack against you.

Don't Read Into It

You might see reviews that knock off a star because your main character drops a couple of F-bombs in a romance novel or because there is a fade-to-black spice scene and the reader is put off by the suggestion of sensual intimacy.

Are there reviews that are unwarranted? Absolutely. Leaving a negative review simply because a Muslim character is featured (or, worse, because the author themselves is Muslim) is uncalled for. There's a difference between that and a review saying the Muslim character was an offensive caricature.

Things like that are trivial in the grand scheme of things. They don't necessarily tell a reader about the overall quality of a book or if it's something they'll enjoy venturing into. Don't read into these.

Don't Post About It

In most cases, this holds true.

I've seen some authors use out-of-pocket reviews as part of their marketing. As an example, a romance writer posting a reader's 3-star rating saying their book was an enjoyable enough read but also says there wasn't enough spice for their liking, which the author may use to entice readers who prefer sweet romances. Or they're just getting a laugh because a reader was irked by the Queer rep in a YA fantasy novel and proclaimed something along the lines of, "how dare you tell a teenager that boys can like-like boys?" in a review.

Overall, it's better to keep these low reviews out of your posts.

If you do decide to share a few of them, don't tag the reviewers. Don't target them and definitely don't insinuate your readers ought to do so on your behalf. Black out identifying details. As they say, don't feed the trolls.

Don't Engage With It

A lot of the author drama we see on social media is because an author crosses the boundary between writers and reviewers, whether they're jumping into the comments of a review or making their own post about it. In these cases, it often comes across as argumentative or even bullying.

Lashing out at a reviewer is never okay.

It doesn't matter if you feel offended by their criticisms of your writing style. It doesn't matter if they didn't "get" your book. It doesn't matter if they said it felt unfinished or juvenile. It doesn't matter if they say your characters are too flat or that the plot doesn't make a lick of sense.

It is unprofessional and inappropriate to interact with reviewers in this capacity—and might spur even more negative reviews. I don't agree with review-bombing books you haven't read, but it does happen, especially as a consequence of an author's poor conduct online.

A review of your book is not your place to engage as its author.

How To Prevent Negative Reviews

Well... you can't.

Like I mentioned earlier in this post, negative reviews are inevitable. You could write THE greatest book ever and some people would still hate it. Several of them would take to the internet to tell others how much they hate it.

Book reviews, like the opinions of your readers, are out of your control. So let's talk about some of the things that are.

• Seeking Outside Feedback: It's better to receive feedback early in the process from critique partners and beta readers than in the form of negative reviews from readers once your book is published. Taking outside feedback into account makes your writing significantly stronger well before it hits the shelves. While this won't prevent your book from receiving low ratings, it can lessen the number.

  
  

• Editing: Another common factor of bad reviews is feeling like your book is a first draft. Story beats that don't line up, stilted dialogue or extraneous info-dumping, characters acting out of character, etc. I know you're excited to get your story out into the world, but I implore you to make sure it's in its best shape first.

  
  

• Marketing: One book I DNFed this year was mismarketed. I went in expecting a lighthearted football romance with a little spice, but it was actually erotica. I'm not against erotica, it's just not something I personally enjoy reading. While I didn't post a review for this book on those grounds, others did. Marketing your book appropriately can help it find the right audience.

Authors and reviewers co-exist in the bookish spaces of the internet, but upholding those boundaries is vital to maintaining that symbiosis.

Reviewers have every right to post their honest opinions about your book. You don't have to agree with every point they make, but it's never a good idea to cross the line and defend your writing because it will almost certainly do more harm than good.

At the end of the day, reviews are for readers. If you're an author entering these spaces, do so only as a respectful observer.