Having your book reviewed is a scary thing. I doubt any writer would disagree with that statement. The first time I submitted one of my books for review, which was only a short handful of months ago, I was so nervous, my stomach hurt. When I received the email notice that the reviewer had posted his review, I immediately clicked off my email and went to do something else. That notice danced around the edge of my mind for a few hours before I gathered my courage enough to go back to my email and read it again.
A review. Someone posted a review of my book. My book. Click. Off went the email again. I went another whole day before I found the courage to actually go read the review. If I’d been a nail-chewer, I might have lost the tips of all my fingers to the first joint.
So, with great trepidation, I read the review. Oh, the relief! He liked my book! No, he loved my book! Thank God, my first review over and it wasn’t so bad. The anticipation had been so much worse than the actual thing, as many things in life tend to be.
Unfortunately, I’m not the kind of person who can accept the good things in life without reservations. I’m actually more the kind who realizes I’m not worried about anything in particular at that moment and then immediately wonders what I’m missing that I should be worrying about. And so, even after the joy of that first positive review, I dreaded submitting my books for review, because I knew it was simply a matter of time before that first bad review slammed into my ego like a punch to the stomach. Logically, I realized not everyone could love what I wrote, but naturally I still couldn’t bear to think that anyone wouldn’t. My books are like my children, carefully created and nurtured into maturity, then launched into the world where they have to stand or fall on their own merit.
Finally, it happened. My first negative review. I reacted every bit as badly as I had always thought I would. I cursed, I paced the floor, I ranted at my cats, who all stared back at me as if certain I had lost my mind. My young dog, Roxie, ran to get her ball, having misinterpreted my arm-waving and shouting as a desire to play fetch with her. I read and re-read the criticisms, and answered the reviewer back for every one of them, and generally had a full-on tantrum. Thankfully, I did this all in the privacy of my office, where only I and my cats and dog heard my ravings. After I had vented, I emailed the reviewer and thanked him for his time and effort, deleted the link to his blog with a vicious stab of my finger on the mouse key, and then tried to put his words out of my mind. Eventually, distracted by life and work and other, not-so-bad reviews, I managed to move on from my crushed ego and hurt feelings. I can even admit now that getting a bad review was probably good for me. Really.
I took at least one good thing away from the experience: I’m not afraid of reviews anymore. I feel no urgency at all--well, maybe not quite as much urgency--about reading every new review that comes out. I’ve even missed a few altogether. I’ve come to accept with at least a modicum of decorum that not everyone will like my writing; some may even hate it. That’s just a fact of life on a planet filled with billions of other human beings with their own likes and dislikes. I knew that before, intellectually. The difference is that now, I know I can live with it.
Goodreads:
GIVEAWAY TIME!
This giveaway is going to be nice and simple. To fill out the form all you're gonna have to do is put in your name and email, and then select your top 2 choices out of McCarty Griffin's 3 books!
Details:
- INTERNATIONAL
- 3 Winners! (Each winner will receive one ebook.)
- You must be 13 or older to enter.
- Following and linking is not required, but is, as always, appreciated. :)
- Giveaway ends on July 18th at 11:59 PM (M.S.T.)
- Winners will be chosen using Random.org, and they will have 48 hours to claim their prizes.
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To enter fill out this FORM.
****THIS GIVEAWAY HAS CLOSED.****
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Thanks for entering!
Good Luck!
And don't forget to leave McCarty Griffin some comments! :D
Happy Reading!!!
♪♫ Ambur
