On negative feedback

[chris_gerrib]

As I mentioned in a previous post, my book The Mars Run got a bad review. It prompted some thought on negative feedback.

Don't get me wrong. Negative feedback stings. However, having been told by career military men with combat experience that the world would be a better place if my parents hadn't met, in the grand scheme of things not liking my book is no big deal.

But more importantly, negative feedback is both rarer and more valuable then positive feedback. Rare, because most review sites, if they don't like your book, just say nothing. More valuable because negative reviews give you something to fix. If you tell me you like a certain shade of green, does that mean you'll like something five shades darker five times as much? Tell me you hate green and I've got useful information.

This doesn't mean that I will change everything that Lilley didn't like. For instance, he was down on space pirates. Without that, I have no story. So, I may have to assume I can't please him.

It doesn't mean that he's wrong, and I certainly won't ignore or discount his comments. In fact, I'm glad he said something.

Comments

[jeff-duntemann.livejournal.com]

Don't let it get your goat. As a 22-year veteran of the publishing industry, I can assure you that a bad review is worth at least 50% of a good review. The real problem is just getting noticed. Also, many people practice a sort of mental fencing with reviewers that can work to your favor: "Cripes, what a dork! I like space pirates! Maybe that book's worth checking out..."

Some folks have an irritating habit of bitching that a book they read is not the book they wanted to read. Many people have bitched at me because my assembly language book, which was explicitly targeted at rank beginners, is not advanced enough!

Persevere. It's a tough game, and you get points for simply sticking with it.

[chris-gerrib.livejournal.com]

Thanks! Yeah, I suspect I'll get some lift from the review. It was ironic (if that's the right word) that, in the same edition that I got torched, Lilley's editorial was "we rarely review stuff we don't like - that doesn't make us flacks for the publishers."

I guess what got my goat most was a line at the end to the effect that I needed to join a writer's group and get used to critism. It seemed a little, well, personal.

Still, heaven knows I've panned stuff - see the posts above.