Bad Book Reviews – A Love Letter to My One-Star Frenemies

There’s nothing quite like pouring your heart, soul, and an irresponsible amount of coffee into a novel—only to have someone on the internet declare it “the worst book I’ve ever read” right after publication day. First of all… dramatic much?

If you’re reading this post and you’ve ever gotten a bad review, welcome to the club. We have cookies. And tissues. And a secret spreadsheet where we compare the most dramatic one-star zingers and rate them for flair and emotional devastation. There's even an entire podcast where they read one-star reviews out loud - and make fun of them.

But seriously. Let’s talk about it. Bad reviews happen to everybody. And I mean everybody. I once looked up reviews for a wildly famous author who’s sold more books than there are cats on the internet (and that’s saying something), and guess what? One-star reviews galore. Someone said their “writing style reminded them of damp lettuce.” I don’t know what that means, but I know it’s harsh.

So what do we do when someone roasts our literary baby like a holiday turkey?

Well, if you’re me, you read the bad review exactly one time, with one eye closed, then scroll down and read ten five-star reviews like you’re drinking a healing elixir from the fountain of validation. Bonus points if one of the good reviews includes the word “unputdownable,” because that word feels like a cozy blanket for the writer’s soul.

Now don’t get me wrong—criticism can be useful. Constructive feedback is how we grow. But some reviews aren’t constructive. Some are just... angry. Or weird. Or clearly written by someone who thought they were buying a cookbook and accidentally got a murder mystery with a talking dog instead.

(That last one’s on them. It says Magical Papillon Mysteries right there on the cover, friend.)

The thing is, not every book is for everybody. Some people hate cilantro. Some people hate Mondays. Some people hate books with quirky small-town vibes and lovable ghosts. But that doesn’t mean those things are bad. It just means those people are wrong—I mean, it just means they have different tastes.

(Probably also wrong, but we’re being gracious today.)

So yes, bad reviews sting. Especially when you’re tired and you’ve just finished a long writing day and your dog is judging you and someone online is calling your heroine “annoyingly optimistic” and you’re like, “Ma’am, she’s literally being haunted. Give her a break.”

But here’s the beautiful part: you wrote a book. That’s more than most people will ever do. You created a world, gave it life, and sent it out into the wild. And whether people love it, hate it, or think your villain was “too polite for a murderer” (real review, by the way), it means you were brave enough to share something from your heart.

So how do I survive bad reviews?

I scroll by them like my mouse is on fire.
I eat a snack.
I read the good ones twice.
And then I write another book.

Because the best revenge is success—and also, maybe naming a particularly obnoxious villain after someone who left a really mean review. Hypothetically.

DIY Audiobook. A bit of equipment, good advice and lots of patience

I want to create an Audiobook - should I? Ever since the release of book one in the "Cannabis Preacher" series of thrillers, that question has been on my mind. The "Cannabis Preacher" books were quite long. To produce an audiobook from each of the four, including voice actors and audio production with a turn key service, I was looking at around $15,000 per book. Financially, that was a non-starter for me at the time. That amount represented a LOT of books and audiobooks to sell to recover the investment, and I shelved my plan again. With the popularity of the "Magical Papillon" cozy mystery series, I found myself coming back to the growing popularity of audiobooks. I knew that audiobooks could reach a wider audience and catered to busy readers who prefer listening while multitasking. The idea of bringing my characters to life through narration excited me, as it offered a new dimension to my storytelling. The cozy mysteries were only 60-65,000...

Writers, Don’t Be a Slave to Word Count: Let the Story Speak for Itself

As writers, we’ve all asked ourselves that nagging question: “Is my book long enough? Too short? How long should it be?” It’s easy to get caught up in the numbers, obsessing over whether our work fits neatly into arbitrary word count guidelines. But here’s the truth: Word count should never dictate the quality of your story. The heart of storytelling lies in the narrative itself, not in how many pages it spans. The Pressure of Word Count From NaNoWriMo goals to publishing industry standards, writers face constant reminders about “acceptable” word counts. A novel must be 80,000-100,000 words. A novella shouldn’t exceed 40,000. Short stories have their own limits. These guidelines are helpful, but they can also be stifling. We begin to pad scenes unnecessarily or trim meaningful moments just to conform to these benchmarks. I’ve been there. I’ve wrestled with my manuscript, forcing it to stretch or condense to meet expectations. And you know what happened? The authenticity of the...

The Glamorous Life of a Writer (Or, Mostly Just Staring at a Screen)

There’s a persistent rumor floating around that writers live thrilling, adventure-filled lives. Perhaps it’s all the dramatic author portraits on book jackets—moody, windswept, staring off into the distance as if contemplating the fate of the world. Perhaps it’s the movies, where writers are always dashing off to Paris to write the next great novel in a charming café (suspiciously never interrupted by spotty Wi-Fi or overpriced croissants). I hate to break it to you, but real writing? Not quite so cinematic. In reality, my writing days mostly involve staring intensely at my screen, willing the words to appear through sheer force of will. Occasionally, I engage in deep philosophical debates with myself—such as whether my protagonist should turn left or right down a hallway (the fate of the fictional world depends on it). And let’s not forget the highly intellectual process of naming characters, which can take hours because somehow every single name I think of is either the name of ...

Thinkingdog Publishing

Search This Blog