Coping with the critics
I was very concerned when a reader posted on Black Expressions (where Trouble Down The Road is a Main Selection) that she loved the story, but was put off by all the typos. She said one or two would be okay, but asked if anyone looked at the content before it went to press.
Since I'm a very careful proofreader, I was troubled, wondering if somehow the folks at Black Expressions could have inadvertently done something to my file. Then my editor (bless her) sent me a couple of book club editions, and I soon saw it was the same file as the trade paperback, just with a hard cover.
So why the 3-star review (that the reader said would've been 5 stars if it hadn't been for all those typos (?)? The only thing I can think of is that she mixed up my book with someone else's, yes, possibly even the part about loving the story.
As a writer, I'm objective enough to know that everyone's tastes are different, and it's relatively easy for me to read why a particular reader didn't particularly enjoy my work. But when a reader says something that's just plain wrong, for whatever reason, that's a tough pill to swallow.
While I'm venting, I also want to mention the Romantic Times review, which concluded by saying that readers might want to see an end to the drama and a happy ending for all. This makes me wonder if the reviewer thought Trouble Down The Road is supposed to be a romance with a happily every after. I've always felt a little frustrated when readers don't seem to be able to distinguish between romance and women's fiction. Every romance is women's fiction. Every women's fiction is not a romance. It's not fair to the writers to want them to write the same kind of story every time.
Are you able to tell the difference between romance and women's fiction? Do you feel authors who write romance should only write women's fiction with happy endings?
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5 comments:
Perhaps the reader couldn't spell. What she saw as misspellings really weren't?
As far as romance vs. women's fiction, I think that readers in general want a happy ending without regard to genre.
People want to know that life will turn out alright. The mystery will be solved. The killer will be caught. The gal with get her guy. The woman will achieve enlightenment and go on to live a happier existence. Perhaps even when there isn't an overall HEA, writers can satisfy this desire by balancing the less than happy endings of some characters against happy endings for others.
Interesting reasoning, Patricia? Shades of Dan Quayle correcting the student about the spelling of "potato" (remember, he said it had an 'e' at the end?)
My women's fiction doesn't always end happily, but they always end hopefully...just like real life!
Oops. I hit the question mark instead of an exclamation point. What can I say? Those keys aren't even close to each other. It's early!
Hey Bettye, I'm sure I don't have to tell you that there will always be nit-pickers. Don't sweat any of that small stuff. You can't control it anyway.
What irks me is when "reviewers" jump from making comments about the work to making personal assessments/attacks about and upon the author. Some of the pettiness out there is truly amazing and sad. Another one of my pet peeves is when reviewers share too many details about the story or plot. Quite often, I think folks who view it as sport do these things deliberately. Nevertheless, you know what they say about karma . . .
Anyway, I enjoyed Trouble Down The Road. Suzanne and Brad both worked my nerves a bit, :-) but Flo and Ernie cracked me up. Any chance you'll be doing anything else with them? Really, I think Flo and Ernie deserve their own book . . .
Lori, thanks for weighing in. I do believe that Flo and Ernie work better as secondary characters than lead. When you think about it...300 pages of the Hickmans? LOL.
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