You Can't Please Everyone

If you write a book, you're going to have people who love it (hopefully) and you'll have those who may not get what you were shooting for. That's just part of it. If you haven't written a good book, you'll probably get blasted quite a bit for it too. But how will you react?

Recently, a well-known author published a sub-par book. The book began to receive a LOT of bad comments on Amazon.com about the quality of the work. Most were well-founded (the plot was slow, the symbolism was often just confusing, the characters whined too much rather than acted), though some may have been too cruel. Still, it's a person's opinion, and as a writer you'll have to be prepared for the good and bad press.

Back to this author...he recently posted a blog on his website that was pretty much a pity party for himself. The reviewers hated him personally (or posted several times under false names...after all, there's no way that many readers could have disliked something he wrote). If they didn't get the story it was because they were stupid and dense. It was just plain sad to see. He begged people to go to Amazon.com and post glowing reviews of his work because he was just a poor, lowly writer trying to make a good story. It worked for the most part, as people went to the website to help, just as any adult wants to help quiet a crying child. But it was sad to see. He wrote a bad book, the publisher let it slide, and he got called on the carpet for it. Get over it. Realize you can't just write whatever you want to and make people happy. You have to write a quality story, no matter how good you think you are and how people will just let it slide.

When you become successful, it's not the time to just start hacking out junk knowing your readers will eat it up even if it's spoiled dog food pudding. If the story's not ready, admit it and make it better. Or, if you decide you're going to put it out there anyway, be prepared for the people who aren't afraid to call it as it is. Either way, don't resort to a pity party for positive votes. Be a big boy, and write a better story for the next one. Prove us all wrong with your follow up!

In other words, when your book gets published, be ready for the storm. Develop a thick skin. And learn to suck it up and take it. You 're not going to please everyone, no matter how great your story is. It comes from putting yourself out there. But it's better to try than to sit back and constantly say, "I could have done that" for the rest of your life.

No matter how good you are, there are going to be those who don't enjoy your work. Look at any 5 star book on Amazon.com that has more than 20 ratings and you'll see someone who just doesn't see what everyone else saw in the book. It's life.

Several years ago a very well-known author had an ugly incident on Amazon.com. She blasted all the people who had posted bad reviews of her books and told them if they didn't "get her work" they shouldn't read it. It didn't do well for her public image, to say the least. It's a part of life though. As hard as it is to take, it's just something to help us make the next book that much tighter.