It's a Sickness

by Stephanie Black

First of all, HUGE congrats to the immensely talented Rob Wells on getting an awesome agent! I can't wait to read his YA sci fi novel!

Now for today’s confession: I’m addicted to Goodreads reviews. Not to writing reviews—as I blogged about a while back, I’m not a good reviewer when it comes to negative reviews. In the LDS market, chances are I either know the author personally, have interacted with him/her online, or know people who know him/her. I would shrivel into a tiny ball of guilt knowing the author knows that I thought his/her book was disappointing and said so publicly. That would make for a nice topic of conversation when we’re sitting next to each other at the next writer’s conference. And yeah, I’d bet those last few Lindor Balls sitting on top of my fridge that, if asked, the author would say that he was grateful for my candor, and it’s good to know what to improve on, or whatever blather authors give to pretend we like the fact that someone said our book stunk for X, Y, and Z reasons. But I’d be willing to bet the entire bag of Lindor Balls that I’m planning to buy next time I’m at Costco (I have a coupon!) that beneath the polite and proper response, the author would be feeling pretty stung. I’d rather not go there. (Don’t get me wrong—I’m not saying that I think only positive reviews should be posted. I’m just saying don’t ask me to write the negative ones).

Anyway, my Goodreads problem involves checking my own ratings. I keep looking, every day—more than once a day—to see if anyone has posted new ratings/reviews on my new book.

It’s a sickness.

And I think I’m getting crabbier over the whole review/rating thing. When I feel defensive and snappish because a good rating includes a mild criticism, I’ve got a problem. It’s time to quit wallowing in this. So, um, does anyone have any suggestions for breaking a review reading addiction? Am I the only one with this problem?

At least checking Goodreads lets you see that even wildly successful authors have critics. They may have sold a bazillion books and achieved worldwide acclaim, but there is still someone who disliked the book and is going to say so. JK Rowling has some one-star reviews. Mary Higgins Clark has some very harsh comments. So when someone says something that stings, well, I know I’m not alone.

In a compilation entitled Writing Mysteries, writer Jan Burke stated, “I’ve never understood why people who fear negative comments want to be published. I can only imagine they’ve never had a job that brings them into contact with the public. Once you’re published, any clown with a library card can tell you what he thinks of your book. To get almost anything worthwhile done in this life, you have to risk disapproval. Writing is no different.”

When you publish a book, you do risk disapproval. No matter how many readers love your work, sooner or later someone is going to come along, think your book is a two-star read, and say so. But the joy of creating stories--and hearing from the readers who do love your work--is worth the occasional negative comment.

Which still doesn't solve my Goodreads obsession, so if you want to help cure me, send suggestions. And Lindor Balls.