Heh on the "worst nightmare". The funny thing is, although of course I do dread getting negative reviews myself, the reviewers I enjoy most are the ones who aren't shy of being negative when they feel a book is seriously flawed.
If I'm wearing my author hat at the time a negative review makes me cringe in sympathy, but with my reader hat on I appreciate that kind of frankness and find it helpful in finding the kinds of books I prefer to read. A scathing review doesn't even tend to keep me from reading a book I'm really interested in, either, if the reasons the reviewer gives for not liking it are not reasons that particularly concern me -- or if the majority of the other reviews are positive and highlight things about the book that sound enticing to me.
Anyway, thanks so much for weighing in -- your perspective's really interesting and useful to keep in mind.
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Date: 2008-11-04 12:50 am (UTC)If I'm wearing my author hat at the time a negative review makes me cringe in sympathy, but with my reader hat on I appreciate that kind of frankness and find it helpful in finding the kinds of books I prefer to read. A scathing review doesn't even tend to keep me from reading a book I'm really interested in, either, if the reasons the reviewer gives for not liking it are not reasons that particularly concern me -- or if the majority of the other reviews are positive and highlight things about the book that sound enticing to me.
Anyway, thanks so much for weighing in -- your perspective's really interesting and useful to keep in mind.