To answer or not to answer one-star reviews?

[Ethan Jones]

Hello everyone,

Please enjoy my take on whether an author should answer or not one-star reviews.

Thanks,

Ethan


New authors may wonder how to address the issue of one-star reviews on Amazon or elsewhere.  You have been working hard for a few months or years to get your book to its published form.  You’re thrilled, but then, someone, somewhere wrecks your joy by spewing their venom all over the Internet.  What’s an author to do?

The most widely suggested approach is to do nothing.  You can’t please anyone in this world.  A quick glance at even the most famous and bestselling author reviews shows that even those guys and gals get their fair share of one-star reviews.  It comes with the profession. It’s a fact of an author’s life.  Some people will not like your work, your style, your stories.

What is the purpose of your answer, if you chose to address one-star reviews?  Some famous authors do that, like Preston and Child, who ridicule and mock a selected few of their worse reviewers on their website.  Other may want to set the record straight or have the last word.  The truth is, we don’t know all the reasons why someone took their time to write a bad review.  Perhaps they had a bad day or bigger issues that disliking your book or your style.  Perhaps their life is not going as they had planned it.  Some of the one-star reviews are personal attacks on the author, written to counter the five-star and four-star reviews or to address issues that are irrelevant to the quality of your work, like Amazon’s price policy on new e-book releases.

The time and the energy spent on stewing over your reply or the reasons why someone doesn’t like you or your work could be used toward another novel, promotion, marketing, blogging or something else in your life.  Perhaps your next work will be liked by more readers and who knows, even the ones that wrote a bad review may change their mind once they have enjoyed your new creation.

[Edward C. Patterson]

Vintage KB'ers expect my reply to this - I got it from Brendan Carroll, and I believe it began with Shaw:

"Never wrestle with a pig. You both get dirty, and the pig enjoys it."

Replying or answering any review (regardless of content) other than a "thank you," if appropriate, is an ill-advised course of action, no matter how upset it makes you. As an author, you create in solitude, you must also take public acclain or the pillory in silence. Either that or a straight jacket. Your choice.

Edward C. Patterson

[Ian Marks]

There's another saying: "Never argue with an idiot. People may not know the difference."

[Christopher Bunn]

There's another saying: "Never argue with an idiot. People may not know the difference."

Though, there's always the good possibility that the reviewer is correct in his assessment.

[LadyHawk]

I wouldn't give them the satisfaction of your time. Just ignore it.


It will soon be swallowed up by great 5* reviews. Have faith in yourself and your book Ethan.
xxx

[Kathleen Valentine]

There's another saying: "Never argue with an idiot. People may not know the difference."

*writing that down and posting over desk*

[David 'Half-Orc' Dalglish]

If you do, you better know what you're doing. I've responded to bad reviews before, but I know full well I'm treading on thin ice, and to react accordingly. If you want to ask a question, go for it. If you want to address something that disappointed them, you better be sincere, and be apologetic. Humor also helps.

I'm linking below a conversation I had with a 2-star review, if that helps to give an example. Went from him being majorly disappointed and dropping the series, to grabbing a far more favorable review on the second book.

http://www.amazon.com/review/R26ZORULM68GZC/ref=cm_cr_pr_cmt?ie=UTF8&ASIN=B0053NZL12&nodeID=&tag=kindleboards-20&linkCode=#wasThisHelpful

[Kevis 'The Berserker' Hendrickson]

I <3 1-star reviews.

[Zelah Meyer]

My approach is going to be:

If it's genuine - they're entitled to their opinion.  I gave one star to Othello on Goodreads because, in my opinion, Desdemona is too stupid to live (and thus unconvincing as a character.)  If I can do it to Shakespeare, someone can do it to me.  Just as I hate serious, gritty & 'heartrending' fiction, people who love those things will probably hate my feel-good, happy ever after stories.

If it's an attack against me or against indie authors in general - if it's obvious, report to Amazon and let them decide.  Otherwise, it's their karma.  An obviously unfair one star will ultimately lead to people who liked the book being more inclined to review it - so it will all even out in the end.

In either case - I will not be responding!

[Beatriz]

Though, there's always the good possibility that the reviewer is correct in his assessment.

Unless you wrote the turkey of all turkeys and have very low self esteem, I would never consider the possibility that the reviewer is correct.

[Krista D. Ball]

Unless you wrote the turkey of all turkeys and have very low self esteem, I would never consider the possibility that the reviewer is correct.

Um, seriously?

[David 'Half-Orc' Dalglish]

Unless you wrote the turkey of all turkeys and have very low self esteem, I would never consider the possibility that the reviewer is correct.

If a reviewer gives a 1-star and says the book bored them...I fully, 100% believe I did bore them. Doesn't mean it'll bore everyone. Doesn't mean my book is terrible. Doesn't mean the reason they hated it might be out of my control.

But my book still bored them, and I don't need to take any hit to my self-esteem or pride in my work to believe that I still failed that one reader.

[Sean Patrick Fox]

It's really simple: never respond to reviews.

If a reviewer raises an issue with your book, you can go back and review the text if you desire. But never, ever respond to a review (1,2,3,4 or 5 star). Nothing good can come of it, but a lot of bad can. Also, it looks really unprofessional. There's a fine line between being "connected" with your audience and obsessively reading every review of your work.

Pretend like there's too many to sort through, and ignore them all (except to improve your writing).

[Edward C. Patterson]

If a reviewer gives a 1-star and says the book bored them...I fully, 100% believe I did bore them. Doesn't mean it'll bore everyone. Doesn't mean my book is terrible. Doesn't mean the reason they hated it might be out of my control.

But my book still bored them, and I don't need to take any hit to my self-esteem or pride in my work to believe that I still failed that one reader.

I agree. I've an occasiona review where I didn;t do the job for that reader, and that's "truth." No human can usurp another human's reaction. I author to engage readers, but will what I create engage all readers. It would be ridiculous to think it would. However, despite that, all readers rock.

Edward C. Patterson

[psychotick]

I would not respond. Ignoring the fact that if you don't handle it perfectly you coul well end up making an enemy for life, there's also the fact that you could end up with other readers staring at your comments and thinking - that guys a dick, I won't buy his book.

I think it's just a part of life as a writer. Grow a thicker skin. Learn to take from a review what you think is good or useful regardless of the stars, and ignore the rest. Of course it's easier said than done like a lot of things in life.

Cheers, Greg.

[Terrence OBrien]

"Never wrestle with a pig. You both get dirty, and the pig enjoys it."

That leaves the situations where you don't think the reviewer is a pig.

[Kevis 'The Berserker' Hendrickson]

However, despite that, all readers rock.

My sentiments exactly and why I always acknowledge my one stars. Not every book is meant for every reader as one star reviews can attest. But it still rocks to know a total stranger chose to dive into one of my books when they didn't have to. Just means it wasn't a good fit for them. I can live with that.

[ETS PRESS]

Has anyone ever actually read the original version of Alice in Wonderland? Alice is a complete idiot. It's quite shocking. Of course, I haven't reviewed it anywhere, and what would be the point?

[Douglas E Wright]

I answered one 1-star review. Not because of what was disliked, but this person kept asking about the word 'comer'? It was throughout the book. When I saw that, I knew the book should be rewritten. I knew immediately it was from the scanning of the original. It was a word I missed when I went through the text. (Much too fast obviously.) And it wasn't only that word that prompted me, but also from the answers given from the first 300 words at Vikki's review site.

So, my answer to this reviewer was the book would be rewritten. I uploaded it last week and got another 1-star from someone new. Who knows? She may have got the wrong version of the book. But when I open it on my Kindle, it looks nice and reads well. So, I will not be answering any more 1-star reviews. But because of the first, I learned there was something technically wrong with the original ebook version.

BTW~ Comer = corner. 

[William Peter Grasso]

I didn't think there was much ground left to till on this topic, but once again, I'm proved wrong.

David Dalglish's tale a bit up this thread is a good example of how to attempt to engage a disparaging reviewer--but the happy outcome was by no means assured. As we say in the crude, blue-collar world when facing an uphill fight, don't do nothin' against him unless you got pictures of the dog. (I don't know who first coined that expression. My apologies to dog lovers and bestiality fans everywhere)

I prefer to follow a few simple rules: never respond to public reviews and always reply politely and promptly to personal messages. But don't bother attempting to debate the sender of the personal message, either: there just ain't no percentage in it.

But all readers do rock...

WPG

[Zelah Meyer]

My sentiments exactly and why I always acknowledge my one stars. Not every book is meant for every reader as one star reviews can attest. But it still rocks to know a total stranger chose to dive into one of my books when they didn't have to. Just means it wasn't a good fit for them. I can live with that.

Exactly.

I will appreciate anyone taking the time to leave an honest review on one of my books when I publish, even if they hate it. 

[J.R.Tate]

I usually never respond to any review, regardless of the number of stars.  A few months ago I did respond to a one star that pointed out a street name being wrong.  I was gracious and said, "Thanks for taking the time to read and review.  I have corrected the mistake, and a new, updated copy is now available."  I was extremely nervous about leaving a response, as I've always been told by others to NEVER do this, and was surprised when the reviewer responded back, thanked me, and told me they wish me continued success. 

For the most part though, I feel responses can come off as hostile and pull away from the professionalism of a book and the author.  It's hard to say... sometimes just leaving it alone and letting the review get buried is the sensible choice, though you have to tough it out and be patient. 

[Chrystalla]

Not.

(unless it was a review for the wrong book or some other such error)

[Kevis 'The Berserker' Hendrickson]

I didn't think there was much ground left to till on this topic, but once again, I'm proved wrong.

David Dalglish's tale a bit up this thread is a good example of how to attempt to engage a disparaging reviewer--but the happy outcome was by no means assured. As we say in the crude, blue-collar world when facing an uphill fight, don't do nothin' against him unless you got pictures of the dog. (I don't know who first coined that expression. My apologies to dog lovers and bestiality fans everywhere)

I prefer to follow a few simple rules: never respond to public reviews and always reply politely and promptly to personal messages. But don't bother attempting to debate the sender of the personal message, either: there just ain't no percentage in it.

But all readers do rock...

WPG

What I like about David's example is the fact that the reader who left the two-star had actually enjoyed one of his other books and hadn't realized it was the same author who wrote the book he disliked. By being a class act, David was able to get that reader to read more of his books.

That's the key point to remember. Just because a reader dislikes one of your books, doesn't mean it's personal. In fact, they may decide to give another one of your books a try and end up loving your work. Just because someone disliked one of your books doesn't give you a reason to trash them or their review or give them the impression (intentionally or not) that you are hostile to their review by responding to it. Best to just leave it alone and go eat some ice cream or knock back a brew (or two).

[Beatriz]

Um, seriously?

Yep.