Why authors shouldn't read reader reviews
If you disagree, don't worry; I also disagree
Dear Writer,
There was a discussion in the writer community on Threads recently where a newly published writer was struggling with mean reader reviews, and they ended their post with something along the lines of, “But of course, I’m going to read them.”
And… I get it. Reader reviews are like a free focus group; they’ll let you know where you’re letting your readers down, where you can improve as a writer, and also what you’re doing well.
Ideally.
But the reality of reader reviews is that, while there can be some benefit to being aware of how your readers are responding to your work, there are—in my humble opinion—many more reasons why reading your reader reviews in particular will have a net negative impact on you as a writer, to the point where they may stop you from writing altogether.
Hear me out.
Reader reviews aren’t for authors
Some years ago, there was a big hubbub about a writer who stalked a reviewer who panned her book and that’s an extreme example, to be sure, but it does beautifully illustrate my point here; reader reviews aren’t for you, they’re for other readers.
Now, some authors might argue that those reviews effect their bottom line, because someone who might have purchased the book may change their mind because of that review. Therefore, knowing what’s in the review and amending your work in the future to avoid those mistakes can be a career benefit.
No argument. Absolutely it can, and there are situations in which this exact response is warranted. Say a writer inadvertently wrote something racially biased out of ignorance; yeah, that’s something you want to be aware of to fix next time, and readers will absolutely let you know about that shit.
Outside of that circumstance though, I would argue that your negative reviews are none of your business. The review space is for readers, and when it comes to your work, that’s just not a space where you belong.
Unless you value the good reviews as much as the bad, reading them is gonna be a net negative
I have a lot of dreadful personal failings, but the one most relevant to this discussion is that when people say lovely things about me and my work I always ignore what was said and file it away under T for THEY’RE JUST BEING NICE.
Meanwhile, anyone who says anything even remotely negative about me or my work… them, I believe. Those comments—especially the ones that hit on my fears about my own shortcomings—are filed under A for ABSOLUTELY TRUE AND RIGHT AND COMPLETELY UNASSAILABLE.
I think many of us worry about the opposite imbalance, that we’ll believe all the good stuff and ignore the bad, and in veering away from one extreme we rush to the other. The fact is, though, that any response where you over-value one kind of feedback and ignore the other presents a potentially toxic mindset imbalance that may hurt you in the end.
The best case scenario is an author who treats both positive and negative reviews in the same manner. So if they file nice comments under THEY’RE JUST BEING NICE, then they need to file the mean ones under THEY’RE JUST BEING DICKS.
In which case, since absolutely no feedback gets valued in the end, it’s kind of a waste of time for that author to read their reader reviews.
The healthiest approach is probably to file the good under YAY, THIS READER GOT IT and file the bad under NOTES I MIGHT WANT TO CONSIDER. If you can do this, then fair enough, but honestly… I’m not sure how helpful reader reviews are even under these ideal circumstances, because…
Readers who leave reviews are a small and biased percentage of your readers
Let’s take a moment to think about things from a reader’s point of view. As authors, it can be hard to imagine being a reader without also writing, but that’s who most of our readers are: People who work hard and just want to enjoy a good story at the end of the day.
Most of those people don’t necessarily have the time or energy to also review the book. As a matter of fact, in a recent survey done by an independent author, it was estimated that only about 13% of readers leave reviews, which vibes pretty well with a general statistic that only 5-10% of customers write reviews of any business.
So why do people write reader reviews? For a number of reasons, usually sorting out to the following three categories:
They loved it and they want to gush so others will buy it and also love it.
They hated it and they want to vent so others will not buy it, or so that others will buy it and join the reviewer in their absolute hatred of this work.
They are genuinely interested in being a critic.
Okay, so even if we’re willing to allow that the first two categories may not give us an accurate view of the overall response, what about the third? The genuine (if still nascent) art critic?
Well… as someone who has worked professionally as exactly this kind of critic for a very long time, I can tell you that developing a measured and thoughtful response to a work is mostly not at the forefront of a critic’s mind. In my early days as a critic, I was such a dick. I didn’t mean to be, and I wasn’t always a dick, but mostly… I was a dick because I thought that I was supposed to be unafraid to say what I thought, and I pretty much stopped there. I failed to consider that my personal opinion wasn’t helpful to anyone, that in order to provide a useful evaluation of a piece of work I needed to understand that “I don’t like it” does not equal “It’s bad.”
I have since learned how to balance my personal response to a story with its value to the people who would like it, and understanding why they might like it. Yay for modern day Lani. But as a former complete and total and published dick, I feel really qualified to say that many actively published critics still haven’t learned that skill, and many do not seem interested in learning it. Being a dick makes reviews fun to read, so there’s an active incentive to be one and stop thinking about it there1.
And that’s professional critics, who are way more likely to interrogate their own responses and bring some nuance to the table. Casual reader critics may be doing this work for all kinds of reasons that have absolutely nothing to do with you or your work so sorting out what is genuinely helpful from what is ego-based for the critic can be a job of work.
So if both the positive and negative reader reviews are biased, and it’s difficult to separate the wheat from the chaff in well-meant critical reviews… is my advice that writers should just never read their reader reviews?
Well… not exactly. Here’s where it gets complicated.
To sum up
Look, if you want to read your reader reviews, go ahead with my blessing.
But if they harm your sense of yourself as a writer, and if they mess with your ability to write because you are freezing up trying to anticipate and head off all the petty criticisms of a small percentage of your readers, here is your official permission slip not to read any of them...
… except the positive ones.
You should absolutely read all of the gushes, and only the gushes.
But Lani, doesn’t that contradict your “treating good and bad reader reviews equally” advice?
Yes, but it’s worth it, and here’s why.
As a writer, you should know what your strengths are, and be leaning into those strengths. Most of us try to play whack-a-mole with our weaknesses, to prevent the vulnerability of having our slip showing in public, metaphorically speaking. Often, we spend so much energy on this that we take our strengths for granted, and give them no attention at all.
This is a mistake.
Look, you cannot write a perfect story, because “perfect” is imaginary. No matter what brilliant work you do, someone is going to hate the shit out of it2.
As a writer, your top priority is to know why the readers who love your work love your work, and maximize that thing.
Every writer should be leaning into their strengths, rather than trying to eradicate their weaknesses, and as such, you need to know what those strengths are.
So here’s what you need to do.
Get a review buddy
Pair up with another writer who is also publishing and getting reader reviews. They read your reviews, sort out the gushes, and send them on to you.
You do the same for them.
You do this for each other with glee in your hearts, and absolutely no shame. You each pin those messages in your email, or print them out and stick them up in a place you can see when you’re writing, and when you’re not sure where to go next in your current work in progress, you look at those gushes as your north star. Head in that direction.
But wait… are you saying I should never hear critical feedback ever?
I am absolutely not saying that. You should have beta readers and editors, people whose knowledge and experience you trust and respect, giving you measured and thoughtful feedback before the book is published.
Rule of thumb: Do not ever take constructive feedback from anyone whose full legal name you do not know for sure.
But after the book is published, you’re done with that book. You’re onto the next one. And in order to know what you want to lean into in that next book, you need to know what you did right in the last one.
So read the gushes. Snack on them between meals. Print them out and tack them to your walls. Make cross-stitch art out of them.
They are your north star, and you should treat them as such.
Everything,
L
I have said so many things in the past that I would take back now if I could, and the idea that any of those artists I maligned might still remember what I said then makes me cringe with regret and embarrassment. Just something to think about if you’re still remembering something some dick said about your work in the past. Let it go.
Don’t believe me? Go look up the reviews for the most flawless, wonderful book you’ve ever read. I’ll wait.