A blog about the topics of writing, The elements of writing a book

Responding to Bad Reviews: Should Authors Engage?

Leave a comment

What do you feel when you see that you have received a one or two-star review? It can range from disbelief to unhappiness and anger. And in my case, the need for me to respond to what they wrote.

I thought about it a lot, I wrote my reply, but couldn’t hit send. What could ensue could be bitter and for all the world to see. Is this what I wanted for my book and my brand?

And not only that, if I saw an author going back and forth with a reviewer. What would my reaction be to that? It is easy to reply, but very hard not reply.

Not everyone will like your books. There will always be trolls waiting to put someone down for a few reasons. Sometimes it falls under being mean.

Reaching out to others, a small few said to reply, the vast majority said to hold off, to something I had mentally decided to do. I was concerned the review would be seen.

Would people read and review my books once they saw that? A concern I had was that people would see it and would not read or review my work. I have left very few one or two-star reviews. I tend to reach out to the author to explain my thoughts on the book. They have been grateful that I would go this route instead of leaving a low-ranking review.

I would never, and have never, leave a nasty one; that isn’t my way. I even had someone tell me that having a bad review could be a good thing. People could be curious to know why the review was written and end up reading the book. I am not confident that has happened, but I got the logic of it.

Receiving a low review sometimes comes with no text. The way ebooks are now, you can leave a review by just giving it a star without explaining why. It is too easy now to bring a person’s ranking with no fanfare. I have no control over that. What I can control is not to reply to a nasty review. And I am okay with that now.

A blog about the topics of writing, Uncategorized, Writing tips and ideas

100 Reviews: My Journey with ‘Jasper, Amazon Parrot’

Leave a comment

Jasper and I have hit 100 reviews. Granted, it took a while, but we’ve surpassed the 100-review mark for my book, Jasper, Amazon Parrot: A Rainforest Adventure.

Overall, the reviews were really nice to read. As with everything else, there’s normally a downside. That being said, some reviews are not so nice, and others are written by trolls.

When this book was first released, I received a one-star review. Reading the review, I knew there was no way they could have read the book.


The review was for the hard copy of Jasper. The book was released, and a day later, the review popped up. Amazon is fast with its delivery most days. But the review arrived a day after the book was released. There was no way. This was back in the day when Prime took 2-3 days to deliver.


I contacted Amazon and explained the situation. They took it down. The review showed back up, and Amazon took it down. This happened three or four times.


The person was as persistent as I was. But I didn’t want the first review of my first book to start off with a one-star. Now, if they had read it and that is how they felt, so be it. But Amazon agreed with me. Perhaps behind the curtain, they could research and see if they had indeed delivered the book that quickly. But it came down to it not being possible.


Trolls are everywhere in this world, wanting to bring a person down for whatever reason. Maybe they have nothing else to occupy their time. Perhaps, they are jealous. I honestly can’t think of many reasons why.


But thankfully, Amazon worked with me.

A blog about the topics of writing, My writing journey

One of my publishing house has closed

Leave a comment

This year, one of my publishers closed. Based on what I know, I completely understood the reasons.

I decided to self-publish the books I had with the company as opposed to going with the publisher of my Jasper, Amazon Parrot series.

It did make me pause. I thought of the pros and cons of traditional publishing versus self-publishing. Everyone has their opinion on the topic.

Over the years, self-publishing played second fiddle in the publishing world. Things have shifted, with major players turning to self-publishing. I am talking about already established authors.

But if you are not established and you are a small fish in the ocean, it is not always easy to get noticed, especially when big-name authors enter the fray.

One needs to be persistent with our writing.

A plus to self-publishing is that your royalty is higher. You have more decision-making in the cover, quicker publication release date, and more control over the book, just to name a few. One big difference is marketing. You have to do it all on your own in comparison to a traditional publishing house.

Traditionally, you do give up money since they are doing all the work. Yet you are not forking money in for an editor, illustrator, or to market your manuscript.

It all depends on where you land on the spectrum. Both have pros and cons, and that is when you need to spend time deciding what is right for you.

For me, I have dipped into both baskets, feeling it gives me a better understanding of the industry and a better prospect of where I want my books to go.

The Squirrel Mafia series, I feel good about going the self-publishing route. Quite a few people know about this series, so when I release volume two, I’m not starting from the beginning. Then I can move on to my next project however it is published.

The Musings of A New Englander