It’s never easy to send something you have spent months creating out into the world, even if it was designed to be seen by the public.
When I released my book, the fear of rejection was intense. I was already struggling with depression and anxiety, so adding the idea of putting my work of art out there for others to read and inevitably critique was terrifying.
I knew my book was good but was it good enough to appease my future readers’ varying tastes and styles? That remained to be seen. Enter anxiety.
At times, my breath would be taken away at the idea of someone reading my book. What if there are mistakes? What if the storyline has plot holes? What if they hate the characters? All of these questions, and a million more, bounced through my head, and it was enough to make my heart skip a beat and fear rush through me.
It wasn’t until my first public review came in that I started to relax. It was my boss that read the book first. She read it over a weekend (she is apparently a speedy reader) and sent me a very long text about how much she loved the book. It honestly brought tears to my eyes. To have someone outside of my family read and enjoy the book meant that I was right; it is a good book!
That was always the fear. Was it a good book? My husband certainly thought so, but he was married to me. It was his obligation to like it. I liked it; obviously, otherwise I wouldn’t have put it out there for the world to see. But would the world like it.
I know that I can’t please everyone. That fact was proved when one of our professional reviews came back negative, but three others came back with raving comments. You simply can’t please everyone. That is a hard pill to swallow, the fact that not everyone will like my book and the negative reviews will come.
As humans, it is so much easier to focus on the negative, letting it outweigh the positive things that come our way. It was time to learn to focus on the positives and let the negative fall to the wayside. Easier said than done, and this is still a lesson that I am working on mastering.
While I yearn for the reviews, I also dread them. I understand that as an author I need the reviews, the recommendations, and the feedback. But it doesn’t mean I have to look forward to it. It’s scary to have someone review your baby. So remember, my friends, that when you are reviewing something, especially something that is an indie project, be kind. We value every word you write, we read it repeatedly, and we scour it for the good and the bad.
If you have read my book, please leave a constructive review on Amazon. Did you know that it takes 50 reviews for the book to appear on the recommended reading list? But if every person that bought the book leaves a review, we can make it to that number.
Drop a comment if you like what you read!