To include a negative review about your book or not to?

Have you ever received a negative review about your book. If so, do you include it in your press kit along with your positive reviews or just list the positive ones?

Tags: book, feedback, negative, positive, reviews

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Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Kimberly Golden Malmgren on August 11, 2011 at 1:37am

I've never seen negative reviews in a press kit. I haven't published anything in book form yet, other than some short stories in an anthology, but all the press kits that I put together when I was an intern and the ones I've seen in general have never had a negative review included.

Permalink Reply by Zetta Brown on August 11, 2011 at 3:58am

Unless the book is meant to spark controversy where a "bad" review is just as valuable as a "good" review, I wouldn't include it.

Plus--consider the source. Did this "bad" review come from a credible review source or is it a customer review? Some people may take a small snipit from the "bad" review that sounds positive...considering it's taken out of context. But that's risky, IMO. People who get press kits understand that review quotes can come from good or bad reviews, and unless they intend to follow the source, they take it for what it is.

But on the whole, no, don't include it. Press kits are supposed to put things in a positive light.

Permalink Reply by Rasana Atreya on September 7, 2011 at 6:12am

I wouldn't include it, if I were you.

Permalink Reply by Mia Loveless on January 22, 2012 at 7:57am

I truly agree with Rasana, I wouldn't include it too :-( I'm a very positive person so definitely I will only include positive reviews. :-)

Permalink Reply by Vivienne Diane Neal on January 23, 2012 at 5:06pm

Hi, Mia, thank you for your feedback. I really apprecaite it.

Permalink Reply by Kimberly Lane on April 16, 2012 at 1:32am

I know this question was posted a while ago but I recently published my first ebook (A Love like This). I've gotten one negative review (so far) and it was devastated. I'm working on developing a thicker skin but in the mean time I wont be reading any more reviews.

Permalink Reply by Vivienne Diane Neal on April 16, 2012 at 7:56am

Kimberly, I know how it feels when your book gets a bad review. Your book "Love Like This" sounds familiar. Is it on Public BookShelf. My book Shades of Deception is there, and one person gave it a negative review without even reading all of the short stories. The person read two out of ten stories and decided that the content was the same and could not go any further, in addition, the person thought the characters' names were silly. Another reader thought it was an excellent novel and was hoping that the book could be translated in Chinese. Then I got a five star rating and a positive review for the same book on Amazon. I think I can say that just about every author whether famous or unknown as gotten at least one negative review. Don't take negative reviews personal and don't let them prevent you from reading more reviews about your book. Each individual will see something different in the book he or she reads. It give one minutes and keep on writing. Best wishes to you.

Permalink Reply by Kimberly Lane on April 16, 2012 at 3:08pm

Hi Vivienne,

Yes, "A Love Like this," is on the public bookshelf. I offer the chapters free and it's gotten pretty good reviews so far. The person who wrote my negative review only downloaded two chapters. I figured out how to delete her post but it still bothers me.

Some of my favorite authors received terrible feedback from readers. Intellectually I know that my writing won't appeal to everyone so I have to learn to take the good with the bad. I'm going to take a look at Shades of Deception. Thank you for the advice, I really appreciate it!

Permalink Reply by Zetta Brown on April 18, 2012 at 1:26pm

A friend of mine had this on Facebook yesterday. I think it fits.