It's subjective... right?

So you spend years and years toiling away at your craft. You probably started off pretty shaky, but over time you leaned all the little tricks and such a good writer needs. Your writing improves bit by bit and eventually you hit the submission circuit. If you're very lucky, and very determined, you find yourself a publisher. You have the amazing moments when cover art comes and you get your first edits, and it is all so exciting and real you know? Finally you are a published writer!

Then it's released and you know the hard work of promo is just starting, and you also know that the thick skin you developed on the submission circuit has to thicken up again.... because it is review time.

My publisher sends my books out to about fifteen review sites. Places like Nocturne Romance Reads, Night Owl Reviews, The Long and Short of it etc. I then add my book to Manic Readers and offer it up to a few more. I'll also go out of my way to try and bag reviews with Romantic Times (who are super, duper fantastic) and a couple of others. Now I'll be honest, I'm not entirely sure that reviews influence purchasing decisions. I know before I was published I was, and still am, a voracious reader, but I knew of none of these sites beyond RT and DA. I'd buy after an RT recommendation but other than that? Not really. It's the blurb that gets me every time, and the review does not influence me... except maybe if it is really bad. Then I buy just to see! I've brought two books after reading scathing reviews by Smart Bitches, Trashy Books. I just had to see if they were as bad as they had been badged.

Still, sales aside, reviews give you external validation. They let you know if you're going in the right direction and it always feels amazing to get a good review. Not so amazing to get a bad one.

Reviews, ratings... if there's one thing I've learned in the nine months since I've been published it's that the whole process is hugely subjective. Let's take my latest book, Paying her Debt. I've had some truly amazing reviews. One in particular still makes me smile.

"Parts of the story will make you hot, parts will make you cry, and parts will make you mad. The author does a great job making you care for her characters and how everything works out. I’d definitely read something by Emma Shortt in the future." Nocturne Romance Reads

How freaking cool is that? But then I've also had some which have made me scowl. 2 star review anyone?

I guess my point is that two different people can read the same book and have wildly different opinions, and that's fine, that's as it should be. Everyone's life experiences will influence what they do or don't enjoy in a book. Take me for instance, I LOATHE reading about weak willed heroines. If the heroine doesn't stand up for herself I'll stop reading. That's my personal preference. I also hate reading about cocky heroes with zero redeeming features. He can be arrogant and dictatorial, but I have to see something beyond that ya know? If I don't I stop reading.

And again the thick skin has to come into play. As an author you can't brood over a bad review, well not for more than a few minutes, because the fact of the matter is you can not please everyone. Some will like, some will love and some will hate. You have to take what you can from a bad review, if say there's some advice in there regarding your writing. For instance one review site slated The Valentine's Fae because of my reluctance to put some parts in italics. They were internal thoughts, but then my writing style, whilst in 3rd pov, pushes the boundaries of that a little and I rarely use italics if I can get away with it. This review site did not approve of that, and I took from it that I should get rid of all italics! Go all out ya know?

But then I've had other reviews which just weren't constructive at all. You hated it? Fine. Tell me why. Give me something to work with. *Sigh*. I guess it is just a question of taking the bad reviews on the chin, smiling over the good ones and writing some more.

You can't please everyone can you? But you know what, you can please yourself, and if you can write something you're proud of, that your publisher raves over, and sells, sells, sells, then the reviews are just an added bonus. Good or bad.

Emma x