I woke up this morning with the most vivid dream, well nightmare to be exact.
I have been so excited about when my book does come out, that I didn't even think about what people would think of it. I just figured it would do great and that was that. Right?.......Wrong!
Well in my dream, I was getting A TON of awful reviews and the feeling of getting them was just horrible:( I just remember in my dream watching the reviews as they happen and getting 1 star out of 5 stars over and over again!! No Bueno!!
And now that I know that getting bad reviews can happen, and it will I'm sure, how do you as a writer cope with it? And if you're not a writer, how do you deal with rejection? I have never handled rejection very well, and I don't know how I am going to deal if it, if and when it happens.
Your thoughts would be greatly appreciated...
I expect I'll be suicidal when I get my first bad review, so I'm afraid I don't have any advice for you on that. As for rejection, I won't lie to you, it's like a punch in the gut the first few times. And it's not like I ever received a truly bad rejection. Usually, I'd get great comments about my writing, but then I'd be told that Chick Lit was dead, switch genres if you want to get published, etc. You get numb after the first couple of rejections, then you get pissed (or I did anyway.) And that's good because anger is motivating; it propels you forward and makes you want to succeed despite the odds. As cliche as it sounds, rejection can be really character-building. It will strengthen your belief in yourself, which is something every writer needs. So, try not to dread the rejection and just look at it as something that will initiate you into the ranks of authorhood. Every great writer on the planet has been rejected at some point in his/her career.
ReplyDeleteJust remember that you didn't write the book with the intention of getting good book reviews. You accomplished what you set out to accomplish, so the rest is just icing on the cake. Oh yeah, and you're hot!
ReplyDeleteRejection sucks. There is no way around it. But my advice is to feel the burn and then just shrug it off and move on. Tracie is right, rejection is part of being a author. Thankfully, I haven't received many bad reviews (yet) but I did get a two-star rank from someone on Goodreads. She didn't write a review so I don't know the specifics. Of course, I was upset (she ruined my average ranking!!) but at the same time, I told myself way back when that as soon as I got my first bad review, I'd know I'd officially arrived as an author. Even my favorite author Emily Giffin gets bad reviews and she's fabulous!
ReplyDeleteDon't let the fear of rejection/bad reviews keep you from pursuing your dream :)