It's amazing how much a bad review can really kill your momentum. My book, Becoming Mortal gods, was making descent sales on Smashwords.com until one guy wrote me a less than favorable review. The sales literally stopped over night. Of course seeing a poor review of my work is saddening, but I pulled through. i was sure that there would be someone who didn't like my work going into it. The worst part is that what the reviewer actually wrote wasn't so bad, but he only gave the book a single star. Now, any potential reader browsing titles will immediately see that single star posted right next to the book cover possibly driving away potential buyers without a second glance.
Let me be clear; I don't blame the reviewer in the least. Everyone is entitled to their own opinion of my work. That's fine. But how do I come back from this down turn in sales? I don't want to be one of those writers who writes their own reviews, or pays for them. I've tried giving away copies in turn for a review, but so far I'm only giving away copies with no results. Any ideas? And how do you cope with the bad reviews?
Bad reviews don't bother me because I look at them as a learning tool. Most of the time reviewers can point out things we don't catch on our own. It does stink to get one since it affects your sales. You can't control the reviews people give you. We all hope for good ones, but it is inevitable that someone won't like what we wrote. Don't let it get to you. Keep trucking on and promoting the book like crazy. It will all equal out in the end.
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