How to Handle Negative Book Reviews

Let’s face it: handling negative book reviews can be hard, especially when it’s about something that means as much to you as your own book! As an author, your book is the very amalgamation of your thoughts and emotions, bundled together and presented to the world. How dare someone take a jab at it?

You might consider a range of possible actions, like writing back a vicious-toned comment to the reviewer, or perhaps even crawling under a blanket and never writing again. However, there are more productive ways to face this challenge. I’ve listed some below, in hopes of helping you deal with it with the least amount of pain.

Do not respond in the heat of the moment

It may be tempting to give the reviewer an expletive-filled piece of your mind. However, be warned — if you do, the internet will keep a record of it forever. While you may feel that a review is needlessly exaggerated or even untrue, responding to the reviewer will do more harm than good. This is because while a select few fans may choose to empathize with you, most people might view you as arrogant or even ill-tempered. If you change your mind and choose to retract your comment later, the damage would have already been done. In short, stay away from the keyboard when reading reviews.

Focus on the good part

Book reviews add massive credibility to your book and thereby help boost sales. As publicists like to say, “there is no bad publicity.” Even if some readers don’t like your book, a large number of reviews on Amazon or another retailer platform will give your book credibility and visibility. And if they really hate it and shout about it from the rooftops, you can bet they’ll be heard by some interested readers who’ll want to give your book a chance (so they could be helping you regardless)! As long as you’ve set realistic expectations, a few sour-worded reviews can’t harm your book’s chances of being found and appreciated.

Don’t take it personally

Learn to differentiate between your work and yourself. A bad review is just one person’s opinion on something that you wrote — not a reflection of you as a person. We normally take criticism personally only when we feel the comment threatens our ego/identity. Therefore, you should see bad reviews as an opportunity to improve your work. Moreover, a few negative reviews simply come with the territory, don’t they? Choose to see them as areas of improvement and leave the naysayers spellbound next time!

Keep the right people around

Accept the fact that everyone will probably have an opinion on your work (and most of them would like to voice it out if given the chance). Therefore, it is important to populate your immediate circle with the right people to keep your morale upbeat. These are simply people who wish to help you succeed. Your book marketer, for example, has to be someone who believes in your work — otherwise you need a different champion. (Of course, with your editor you may have an occasional disagreement, but it must be in good faith.) These could also be your loved ones, industry professionals and communities to whom you can ask questions, learn from, and approach when in doubt.

Look for what you can learn

While some reviews will be blatantly rude and aggressive, some may actually offer feedback that you can benefit from. So, put your ego aside and check for some possible truth in these negative reviews. Is there anything you can learn from? Can you improve your next project based on what was said? After all, writing is a skill and can always be improved. Take bad reviews as a learning opportunity, level up your writing skills, and write an even better next book.

Remember, your job is done

Once you publish your book, you must let it go. You (hopefully) have already given it your best with the knowledge and skills you had at the time. Now, it’s time to let it breathe on its own. All you can do now is learn from your mistakes, work on your craft, and make better decisions. Could you have found a better publisher? Could you have written a better plot description for your back cover? Reflect on these questions and get onto planning your next book.

At the end of the day, if you’re willing to put your work out there, you have tougher skin than you think! If you’re still a bit upset about negative reviews, give it time. It’s only natural. Allow yourself to wallow a little, but remember to eventually get back up and keep writing.

Rose Atkinson-Carter is a writer with Reedsy, a marketplace that connects authors with some of the world’s best editors, designers, marketers, ghostwriters, and translators. At Reedsy, she advises authors and professionals on everything writing and publishing related; from marketing to copyrighting and querying agents and publishers. She lives and works in London.