Tuesday, August 16, 2005

The Good Thing About Bad Reviews

I surf the Net a lot and from time to time I come across negative reviews of My Daughter's Boyfriend, a novel which seems to have irked countless numbers of people for many reasons. I really do not read entire reviews anymore (only the good reviews), but here is a link that someone took the time to post. It's an entire blog about my little book.

http://onthenightstand.blogspot.com/2005/06/my-daughters-boyfriend.html#comments

Now, everyone is going to have a different opinion, but one thing about bad reviews is this:

Sometimes, especially when people are very angry in their reviews, well, it only makes others curious and want to know what's going on with that book. An example is Confessions of a Video Vixen. So much anger. So many comments. Scathing reviews. And tons of controversy = book sales. People either shy away from the book or they want to see for themselves what's going on. So, in my opinion, that's a good thing. I want as many people as possible to know about My Daughter's Boyfriend by Cydney Rax. Don't let others scare you out of reading a book for yourself. Form your own opinion.

Also, it cracks me up when people say, "Don't buy this book." Well, all that does is make people buy it. Why? Because they get curious! Why shouldn't I buy it? What's in that book that I'm not supposed to see?... And folks still end up getting the book. It's the equivalent of telling someone not to do something, and that's the very thing that they're going to do. So thanks, seriously, to all the people that post the negative reviews. It can have positive results. And I do appreciate anyone that has heard of my book and read it anyway. I love it when people check the book out from the library. A library book is still a sold book. And when you tell someone to check a book out from the library, it's still an endorsement, right? And the more people that read your book and tell others about it, the more people become aware of you and your book. Not a bad thing.

Soooo, all of this stuff is just part of being an author. I read my contemporaries Amazon and BN.com reviews and so far no one is exempt from negative comments. I mean the million sellers get them. The mainstream, self-pubbed, literary folks, street fic writers, romance writers, all of us. But us authors must keep on keeping on. Everyone will not get what you do, haven't been where you been, or don't understand what you were striving to do with your story at the time you wrote it. It's okay. Write the kind of book you want, the book that makes you feel passionate, and surely there will be folks out there who do enjoy and appreciate what you do. They will tell you the total opposite of what others have said. They will ask when the next book is coming out. They will make you feel good inside with their kind words. And this, my friends, makes everything we endure as an author, worth the journey.

Peace out.

Cydney Rax
Author of that controversial book called MY DAUGHTER'S BOYFRIEND. Get the book and see for yourself what everyone is talking about.

P.S. Other books that get scathing reviews, that people tend to read just because of the reviews are:

The Devil Wears Prada by Lauren Weisberger
The Mermaid Chair by Sue Monk Kidd

And one of my favorites
High Maintenance by Jennifer Belle

10 comments:

No_the_game said...

Rax you sound an ineresting , thoughtful person. I was wondering if you would like link me to your blog and comment on my blog. www.nothegame.blogspot.com

With love,
Nothegame

Anonymous said...

A bad review about a bad book? I don't think a review that says a book is a bad, should necessarily be deemed to be a 'bad' review. A bad review, in my opinion, is one that gives away the ending or too much of the plot, or one that basically restates what's on the inside front flap, or one doesn't state why a book was good or bad for the reviewer. A review, either good or bad, can persuade one to read, or not read a book.

CydneyR said...

Bad review = negative review.

Also, you're welcome to post on this blog, but please don't post anonymously. I want to know who's visiting the site. So please state yo moniker. Thanks!!

CydneyR said...

nothegame,

to be honest, i don't know how to link people to my blog. i've seen other blogs that include those links on the side, but me have no idea how they get it there.

LadyLee said...

In my opinion, book reviews are not all that trustworthy. For example, your book Cydney, My Daughter's Boyfriend, had been on my reading list for over a year, but because of a couple of so-so reviews, it took me awhile to read it. And when I did, I thought it was very good. I'm kicking myself for not reading it sooner...

On the other hand, I just read a book (which I won't mention here) that got rave reviews. Oh, it was suppose to be the best thing in the world! And I found it to be just alright. To be truthful, I didn't like it that much.

So the bottom line is: to each his own. What I may like, you may not like, and vice-versa.

And Cydney, don't let the haters get to you. Keep doing the darn thing! You got a true fan here, homegirl!

Ladylee!!

CydneyR said...

Thanks for your support Ladylee.
:-) I like when people value what I try to do.

CydneyR said...

Daashar:

Thanks for posting your comments, and for reading my book. A guy! Yayyy! Welcome fellow Texan. And I read your profile. I LOVED the movie Sabrina, but haven't seen the original version.

Darni said...

I read your novel in a day. I couldn't put it down because I wanted to learn how it all panned out. For me, the best part was the end. That and the flooded car scene were definitely my favorites (kinda like God's trying to tell you somethng). When I brought it home my daughter looked and gasped: "Mom! That's that controversial book!" I didn't know there was a controversy, just got it because I was intrigued. I also read The Vixen book as well as a few of the reviews. I thought the reviews were more attacks on her personally rather than on the book the plot etc.

CydneyR said...

Darni, you HAVE to ask your daughter what she's heard, why is my book considered controversial. This trips me out everytime I hear something like that. It cracks me up and I wonder what is going on out there. :) Please write me off-loop. And thanks for reading the book and giving feedback!!

Rose said...

Thank you for writing this post..sometimes negative reviews can stop people from writing too. There are some creative people who are already afraid to step out of the box and when heavily criticized this shuts them down. Even when they are clearly good writers. I didn't know your book was controversal. I loved it. Kept me reading it...It mirrors life and we know that stuff is happening somewhere...why not explore it?