You've heard it a dozen times before, but a thick skin can come in handy when that glaring one-star review is sitting out there like a land-mine attached to your name. That's why it's hard for me to believe that reviews have such clout in the literary world. Everyone has a unique and different opinion. And that's all it is. An opinion. It's not fact, not the be all and end all, and it's not always the truth. (To them, maybe it is, but to you it's just another voice in the crowd that's being drowned out by all the others shouting into the void.)
Every author deals with bad reviews. Every single one of my favorite books have snotty/negative/nasty reviews attached to them. And really, all it does is make the reviewer sound whiny and miserable.
There are plenty of things I don't like and am disappointed by. But the difference is that I don't make anyone feel bad over it and attempt to damage or demean something they've put effort into.
You have to take the good with the bad. Because that's what life is filled with. Good thing/events/people, coupled with bad in order to balance it all out and make our time on this earth interesting.
How can you make yourself feel better? Go read the good reviews that were so kindly left by your readers, the ones that rave about your writing and boost your confidence and remind you why you pour out your heart and soul onto a page.
Or scroll through the Goodreads page for your favorite book. You'll be surprised at how many bad reviews are out there for phenomenal writers like Nora Roberts, for example. When you start disagreeing with the reviewers' negative comments, you'll feel a little better because no one is immune to a bad review. No one.
And then you'll go back to your current work in progress and keep writing. Because that's what you do. You dust yourself off and get back out there. Not because you're a glutton for punishment, but because you have a voice that won't be silenced. And your voice is just as important as the next guy's.
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