I'm debating whether or not to keep that comma in the title.
Writers aren't supposed to respond to critics. We're not really allowed. It's a fair tradition; a writer who responds to a critic comes across as whiny and defensive and thin-skinned and brittle. And they're right. No one's going to make everyone happy; a writer who tries is doomed, and a writer who can't handle someone not liking his stuff probably shouldn't have ever started.
That having been said, it's very hard to engage sometimes. The first review of my new novel is in, and the book has been eviscerated.
I have a sneaking suspicion that this guy knows me - the review is written under a pseudonym - and has some reason not to like me. He didn't just hate the book - it seemed to offend him in some way that he didn't divulge. The review was devastating.
All right, so this guy didn't like it. Big schmeal; you can't please everybody. However, the drubbing frightened my publisher away from sending out any more review copies, which means my book isn't getting any publicity right now. And because this twit's review is the only one, and likely to stay that way for a while, it's the fourth link when someone Googles my book. And since I have a naturally confrontational attitude when the right buttons get pushed - and he knew all of them, which feeds my theory that this is some jerk from high school or something - it's killing me not to be able to throw down with this guy.
Which brings me here, ranting anonymously on an unrelated bulletin board, trying to vent enough steam to make the urge to engage go away.
I understand the desire to be a snarky critic. Snarky critics get a lot of attention, and writing snark is a lot of fun. But this is a snarky critic who could have a pretty powerful impact on my income and doesn't even know it. He's not likely to have an impact on the box office of a movie like, say, "Avatar," but my stuff is still finding its feet, and he and I write for the same small audience.
All that and he couldn't even spell the main character's name right...
Love, Who?
Writers aren't supposed to respond to critics. We're not really allowed. It's a fair tradition; a writer who responds to a critic comes across as whiny and defensive and thin-skinned and brittle. And they're right. No one's going to make everyone happy; a writer who tries is doomed, and a writer who can't handle someone not liking his stuff probably shouldn't have ever started.
That having been said, it's very hard to engage sometimes. The first review of my new novel is in, and the book has been eviscerated.
I have a sneaking suspicion that this guy knows me - the review is written under a pseudonym - and has some reason not to like me. He didn't just hate the book - it seemed to offend him in some way that he didn't divulge. The review was devastating.
All right, so this guy didn't like it. Big schmeal; you can't please everybody. However, the drubbing frightened my publisher away from sending out any more review copies, which means my book isn't getting any publicity right now. And because this twit's review is the only one, and likely to stay that way for a while, it's the fourth link when someone Googles my book. And since I have a naturally confrontational attitude when the right buttons get pushed - and he knew all of them, which feeds my theory that this is some jerk from high school or something - it's killing me not to be able to throw down with this guy.
Which brings me here, ranting anonymously on an unrelated bulletin board, trying to vent enough steam to make the urge to engage go away.
I understand the desire to be a snarky critic. Snarky critics get a lot of attention, and writing snark is a lot of fun. But this is a snarky critic who could have a pretty powerful impact on my income and doesn't even know it. He's not likely to have an impact on the box office of a movie like, say, "Avatar," but my stuff is still finding its feet, and he and I write for the same small audience.
All that and he couldn't even spell the main character's name right...
Love, Who?
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