In this wonderful world of the big wide web, we are all authors, and we are all critics. Jacqueline Howett found this out the hard way.
A couple of weeks ago her self-published e-book was reviewed online by Big Al's Books, and although he mentioned that he found her plot quite exciting, he didn't like her style, or her plentiful grammatical errors. She didn't like the review, and took the opportunity to tell him so - at length, and rudely - in the comments on his blog. The review and Jacqueline's comments are here, and her webpage is here, if you want to see more details.
No-one likes getting a bad review, no matter how well known an author they are. Jacqueline is not the first author to take issue with her reviewer, as this Guardian article points out. Her main complaint was that the reviewer was working from an earlier draft, so shouldn't have complained about the grammar. It turns out that he was in fact looking at her most recent draft, and she was unable to see the errors he was pointing out.
As with all entertaining internet spats, this has gone viral, with posts on Facebook, and blog after blog (including this one) commenting on Jacqueline's work and reactions.
So what lessons are there to be learnt?
Most importantly - once something is in the public domain, it's very very hard to have any sort of control over it. Only put out what you would be happy for a potential publisher, reviewer, or employer to find.
A self-published author (who has not had input from editors and publishers) should be gracious enough to accept help when it is offered graciously. Big Al was pointing out that the grammatical errors could stop readers from continuing to enjoy the author's work. Sometimes it's hard to accept criticism, but it's always worth thinking about why someone is saying it.
Just as we now have self-appointed authors who can generate their own sales, we also have self-appointed reviewers. You can't be one and complain about the existence of the other.
When you get a bad review or bad response to your writing, can I suggest the following course of action?
Turn off the computer/put down the paper.
Turn to chocolate or gin or whatever your petulant self-poison of choice is.
Tell your best friend/the cat/the washing up what an idiot the critic is.
Sleep on it.
Take a moment to wonder if the critic has a point, and whether they've pointed out something you can take on board.
Evaluate the critic - is he/she someone whose opinion you respect? What is their track record?
IF you feel the urge to respond, stay courteous.
And finally, use the emotions the episode has stirred up as fuel for your creativity.
(Editorial Consultant)
I find this more sad than funny. She is obviously too close to her work - she sees it as a mother sees her baby - beyond critcicm.
The reveiwer is actually quite even-handed, and is quite complimentary about the story; it is her appalling sentence construction that lets her down. Perhaps with the hand of a decent editor she could have produced a half-decent piece of work.
It always amazes me the staggering self-confidence, almost a sense of entitlement, of some people who self-publish. Not all, I hasten to add. Most successful writers I know are constantly wracked by self doubt; and because they doubt their own writing they are constantly striving to improve.
Ah, she's not as good as Bernard Black (Dylan Moran). Now there's a man who knows how to handle a bad review.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l1yYnCDFIhs