Be open to constructive criticism

Recently a man I've never met, and who hadn't read or even bought my novels, emailed me asking for (free) advice on how to promote his self-published book. Overlooking his faux pas, I told him I have several consulting options available on my website and sent him a link for his review.

However, I wasn't super busy that morning, so just to be nice I took a quick look at his author bio online. Unfortunately, it was filled with typos and basic grammatical errors. This of course made me wonder what his book must be like, and it certainly didn't make me want to read it.

I decided to help him out. I copied the bio into a Word document, then pointed out the errors in tracked changes. I emailed it back to him with a nice note explaining that if potential readers can't get past his bio, they are probably not going to purchase his book. The email was professional, respectful, sincere, and free.

Pay attention to feedback!

I normally charge a fair amount for this type of work, so I would have thought he would appreciate the gesture. However, he wrote back that he didn't think "a couple typos" are important and that no one reads author bios anyway.

He clearly missed the point, which was that I was a potential reader, and that I had read his bio first thing. It made a negative first impression. But he was completely closed to hearing any constructive criticism, and as a result I would be willing to bet he hasn't sold very many books. I know I didn't buy one.

Just remember, all feedback, positive or negative, is helpful!

-Maria

Maria Murnane is the best-selling author of the romantic comedies Perfect on Paper, It's a Waverly Life, and Honey on Your Mind. She also provides consulting services on book publishing and marketing. Learn more at www.mariamurnane.com.

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Comment by Janet Parfitt on August 10, 2012 at 3:17pm: Being good at taking criticism is something I need to work on but I'm better than the idiot with the mis-spelled biog.

Comment by Janice Seagraves on August 9, 2012 at 10:41pm: Even though I've been doing critiques for a while, I still get a knot in my stomach when I get a critique back. But my writing has improved a great deal because of my critique group.

When I go through a critique, I find myself nodding and saying, "Good catch."

Janice~

Comment by Gili Malinsky on August 9, 2012 at 12:30pm: Oh man, constructive criticism is so hard! I recently worked with an editor whose criticism was so mean, my response (what I wanted to respond, anyway) was just to be defensive and call him on his bs. Really nice of you to read this guy's bio though, and I'll definitely work on how I take criticism from people.

Comment by Elisabeth Kinsey on August 9, 2012 at 10:41am: This is a wonderful post that I'm going to share with my composition class. I try not to let it irritate me when they continue to make the same grammatical errors but I think many have this attitude. It's all perception and how one wants to be perceived in the world. Thank you, Maria.

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