This is a great article with sound thoughts on the One-Star review. As a reviewer and a writer myself, I hate giving one-star reviews. The guilt is high when it happens people, and not just because I’m Catholic. Asking for someone’s opinion on your work is nerve wracking and hearing that they didn’t like it can hurt. But as J A Konrath has said: Praise is like candy. Too much isn’t good for you.
In other words, oftentimes criticism is more helpful to the work and to one’s development as a writer. It forces one to learn and improve, which is important to this trade. It’s all about growing the rhino skin.
Just to allay any fears, this post isn’t directed as anyone in particular, so if I haven’t reviewed your work yet, don’t be frightened! This is just to articulate some thoughts behind one-star reviews 🙂
After Saturday’s lively discussion some interesting points were brought up in the comment thread that I’d like to address while talking about some of the wider talking points surrounding one star reviews. It’s in no particular order but I think it is important to address some of these today:
Most reviewers aren’t targeting you personally. There’s a difference between criticizing a product and criticizing the person behind the product, which I consider author-bashing.
1. Giving a one star review does not mean you’re being rude or disrespecting the effort the author put into a book.
Unless you’re author-bashing I see no reason why a one star review can be considered rude as long as it’s your honest opinion and aren’t utterly reveling in taking down the book. When I do a book review I generally try to follow a format where I point out what I liked/disliked and why (generally)…
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Author of speculative fiction 