Bigoted Book Review. Respond?

[Window Bar]

As someone who is pretty new to this profession, I have a question for the Old Hands:

A friend called me to point out that on Amazon I had just received a mocking, vicious 1-star review from a "gentleman" of about 60 years age who happens to dislike any fantasy book that doesn't exactly conform to his fundamentalist beliefs. Out of curiosity, my friend did a bit of internet research, finding that when the man reviews those who write in conformity with his beliefs, he awards four or five stars consistently.

The sad part is, the reviewer is a writer, too; although his one book has sold virtually zero copies in the past year (ranked at almost 4,000,000 on Amazon), so there's a whiff of jealousy when he reviews a book that has sold about forty paid copies (in addition to giveaways) in the past week.

My inclination is to grin and bear it, to let it go... mostly because when one gets into a pi**ing contest with a donkey, the donkey wins. For example, if he were banned by Amazon, he could nevertheless enlist dozens of co-believers to continue to pillory-and-stone the book on line.

My reviews, of course, have run all over the charts, and I welcome them. Readers, after all, have different artistic tastes and standards; and are generally quite fair in what they say. But this is the first time that bigotry has been the motivation.

Anyway, part of me is grumpy, part is laughing, and part of me even welcomes the controversy. It's the old adage that if, by the end of the day, a writer hasn't offended somebody, he's not doing his job.

So... to the longtime professionals in this group: Would you respond? If so, how?

Thanks --WB

 

[Susan Boulton]

So... to the longtime professionals in this group: Would you respond? If so, how?

Thanks --WB

Not a longtime professional, but had a few reviews of short stories so far and, well, I would grin and bear it. I have seen a number of writers throw their toys out of the pram over a bad review and it is not pretty or nice.

 

[MrBF1V3]

It's probably better not to respond, but if you must try something along the lines of "Thanks for offering your opinion." Let him/her be the raving maniac.

B5

 

[Carlyle Clark]

I just read the review-love your website by the way-and I very much sympathize with you because my novel will undoubtedly face the same sort of religious reviewer bias.

I don't think there's anything you can or should do about it. As far as I know your only hope at Amazon is if he is one of those people who admits in the review that they didn't actually read the book. And getting into any kind of negative encounter with him will live forever on the Internet and since conflict and negativity are big draws, it will most likely deposit itself atop any Google search for you, forever painting you in a bad light with each first impression. And someone who would leave the sort of review he did doesn't strike me as an open-minded person whom you could sway with a reasoned argument anyway.

The very good news is that his review is short and anyone who reads it knows immediately that his issues with the novel are irrelevant to the actual story and all it did was make me think less of him because there is a thriving Christian Fiction market from which he could read without ever having fear the content won't reinforce his worldview.

 

[Jonas Stark]

I don't have experience with bigoted reviews, but I wouldn't respond. Let his words speak for themselves.

 

[Hobbit]

The usual response is DON'T.

Just. Don't. Feed. The. Trolls!

Mark

 

[Kaeru]

The cover of the book should be enough to indicate to someone easily offended on a religious front that it's probably not the book for them. While it is a beautifully done cover, it doesn't exactly scream, "open me for Christian values" in my opinion, he either lacks the common sense to realize the obvious (beyond the fact that fantasy as a genre generally supports non-Christian deities) or, he read it so he could become offended and put it in its "place". Either way, nothing you say will sway his belief that he's right to be on the defensive. I haven't read the book yet, but I am fairly certain you didn't break into his house and force it on him.


In case it's unclear, I'm actually not bashing his religious views or anyone else's, only saying if he can't read fantasy as fiction, he should look for things that don't require that he compartmentalize.

 

[Window Bar]

And the votes are in...

A great big thank you to all of you. Out of six responses, the vote is six-for-six to skip this quarrel... which validates my initial inclination. It's a bump in the road.

Something else to mention: A big thank-you to this forum in general. How handy to have a sounding board for almost any question. Usually I find myself as a responder rather than an asker, but respect seems to be offered and received in either direction.

And to Holbrook and Carlyle: This interaction prompted me to visit your homepages. Fine work.

-- WB

 

[KatG]

And just to add mine to the mix: you never, ever, respond to any reviewer. Even if you think the reviewer just got something wrong, was mistaken about facts, you still don't respond. Ever. You, the author, have no right to say anything to the person just because he reviewed the book -- which he may have actually bought even.

If you find yourself in an encounter or conversation with a reader who has a negative view of the work, then you do indeed say "thank you for your opinion" and "sorry you didn't like this one, maybe some other project in the future will be more to your liking" and you can correct small, factual errors just to clarify and answer questions. But you cannot debate people about your work, rant, etc. James Barclay (NOM) is the best at it I've ever seen, so his posts are worth checking out. Or if you can't stand it, you can do what Joe Abercrombie does, which is to express mock outrage and make fun of himself.

But you don't respond to reviewers. You don't argue with them. You put your baby out in the street and they have the right to carve it up with a butcher knife. You don't get to say boo about it.

 

[Window Bar]

KatG--

You are right, of course, and I tip my hat to you for taking the time to respond. Arguments resemble street fights. Almost anyone can get into one, but it takes a certain forbearance to avoid them. (Forbearance... and a little help from one's friends).

Thanks again --WB

 

[BettyCross]

My first novel got an uncomplementary review in an

on-line magazine. Once I'd gotten over my disappointment and frustration over her completely missing the point of my story, I wrote her a brief email thanking her for the review. I figured, hey, she promised me a review, and she came through with it. She didn't promise me a review that would be to my liking, so I really have no reason to complain.

I think if I'd been 30 years younger I might not have reacted as well.

Betty Cross

But you don't respond to reviewers. You don't argue with them. You put your baby out in the street and they have the right to carve it up with a butcher knife. You don't get to say boo about it.

 

[Susan Boulton]

Thanks for the kind words, WB.