The art of accepting reviews

Like several of my fellow Muses, I haven't been feeling well this week (in my case, with sinus issues) but I wanted to post a quick blog about a subject I think is very timely - dealing with reviews.

Not everyone is going to love your work. That's a fact. If you're looking for universal acceptance, writing or any "art"-driven and therefore subjective field probably isn't the best choice. As I've touched on here before, when someone pays money or invests time in your product, they have a right to an opinion on it. We all hope those opinions will be in our favor but when they're not, take what you find helpful from the review and move on. Burning bridges in a tight-knit community like the publishing one is not advisable. 

Honestly, book bloggers and reviewers have helped me so much in trying to get my career going. A few of them have boosted me up when I was pretty sure no one would want to read anything else I wrote (because most of us have those days) and they've helped generate buzz that I couldn't have created on my own. I'm grateful and feel very lucky that they have put a time or money investment into what I've written.

And that brings me to something else...just like not everyone will love your work, someone will. That's also almost a virtual certainty. Hopefully lots of someones. People are different and what doesn't work for person A will be exactly what sells your book to person B. That also applies to editors. Keep honing your voice and strengthening your work and most importantly, don't give up and keep getting your stories out there. You never know who might be waiting for YOUR story...the story only you can write.

Happy weekend!