Why authors shouldn't respond to negative reviews | Rachel Rowlands, Editor & Author

All published authors get negative reviews. Even if you’re unpublished, you’ve probably been exposed to critical feedback in some way: notes from beta readers, rejections from agents or publishers, suggestions from freelance editors.

There’s a lot of discussion around whether authors should respond to negative reviews, and whether they should be given more leeway to voice their views. My take on this is that authors shouldn’t respond to negative reviews. And when I say respond, I’m talking about everything from responding to a reviewer directly, to posting screenshots of your bad reviews and complaining about them on social media.

What’s so bad about authors responding to negative reviews?

Emotion is difficult to avoid

When we feel rattled, or like our work has been attacked, it’s difficult not to feel personally attacked. As writers, we pour so much of ourselves into our work. Even if a reviewer is only commenting on the book’s content, it’s easy for the author to take this badly. A writer’s sense of self-worth is often tied up in their creative work. That’s why rejections, and bad reviews, hurt so much.

Responding when you feel this way can mean you respond in a bad way. Even with the best intentions, you can end up sounding catty, argumentative, and straight-up unprofessional.

Hold off on clicking “reply”, or on taking that screenshot and complaining on Twitter that this reviewer doesn’t know what they’re talking about. Put the emotion aside, and think about how your response will come across to readers.

Will replying help nurture your career? Will it change this person’s opinion? Probably not. It’ll do the opposite: create conflict, harm your reputation, and make you feel bad. It’s best to take a deep breath and move on.

The nature of your response could lead to a bad reputation

If you do hit reply, or take a screenshot to put on your socials in a fit of anger, that anger or hurt will show. Your reply will be soured by it. The tone will come across.

You might think you’re just lightly defending your work, or explaining your intentions to a reader. But it isn’t the author’s job to tell the reader what to think. Everyone interprets a book differently. Once the book has left the author, the reader has the right to form their own opinion of it. Arguing or defending your work won’t change that.

There will always be someone who dislikes your work. Sure, maybe they aren’t the target audience. Maybe they read your thriller about a serial killer without liking dark themes. But they still have the right to read your work and form an opinion.

The manner in which you respond to negative reviews can really hurt your reputation irrevocably. Remember that what’s placed on social media is permanent. Even if you think it’s gone, it’s likely been archived somewhere, ready for someone to dig it up in future.

It’s better not to risk it!

Review spaces are for readers

Let me repeat that: review spaces are for readers. Put it another way, if you were looking to buy a movie or a video game, and you were reading reviews and saw that the director or the video game publisher was arguing with everyone who left a bad review, what would you think? Would that encourage you to try the movie or game? Probably not. It’d leave a bad taste in your mouth, and a strong feeling of AVOID!

Spaces like Goodreads, and the review sections of retailers, are for readers and customers. To share their thoughts. To see whether they might like a book. To figure out if they’re interested in making a purchase.

It’s not the author’s place to try to correct reviewers or change their opinion. A review isn’t for the author! You could even harm your chances of someone buying the book. Believe it or not, some people read bad reviews and still decide a book is something they’d be interested in.

You could encourage “pile-ons” or bullying

This has happened before in the book community. An author complains about a reviewer being mean or not understanding their work – on a public platform. The author has a following. And that following turns their attention on the reviewer, and there’s a pile-on. Sometimes even bullying and threats.

Author Kathleen Hale notoriously got hold of a reviewer’s address and went to her house, and went so far as to write an article about doing this in 2014. The bookish community online reacted harshly (and rightly so). Getting riled up about bad reviews can lead to bullying and pile-ons from all sides. But it can put reviewers in uncomfortable and downright scary situations as well. Author Richard Brittain tracked down a teenage reviewer’s workplace – he went there and attacked her with a glass bottle.

Now, I know most authors won’t go to these extremes, but it’s a good example of how these situations can get out of hand. Reviewers want to feel safe and free to express themselves. They can’t do that if authors are getting into their spaces and being confrontational.

What authors can do instead of responding to negative reviews

So, if you can’t respond to those negative reviews, what’s the answer? Here are some tips for authors on what you can do instead:

Complain in a private group with your trusted writing friends. Private venting is less likely to damage your career.
Step away from the computer/laptop/smartphone so you aren’t tempted to reply.
Don’t visit Goodreads. If you want an author account, by all means do so, but looking at bad reviews of your work is a recipe for bad feelings and the temptation to reply and argue with the reviewer. The same applies to other review spaces.
Put the energy into your work. Channel your anger, frustration and hurt into your latest writing project instead.
See if you can use bad reviews to improve as a writer. You can learn from bad reviews, instead of responding to the reviewer angrily!
Learn how to handle negative feedback the right way. My post on this is mostly about editorial feedback, but some of it can apply in this case, too.