Hi All!

Since I’ve become a published author, it feels like I’ve made every newbie mistake there is. My most recent authorial faux pas involved a particularly harsh 1 star review I received. Let me preface this by saying, so far, the narrative reviews that I have seen for When One Night Isn’t Enough, my debut Harlequin Medical Romance for any newcomers, have been complimentary, averaging 4 and 5 stars. So that 1 star was a shocker.

Authorial words of wisdom from the pros: Never read a bad review. You can have dozens of good reviews, and it will be the one bad review that sticks with you.  

Newbie mistake: I read it. (And the pros were right!)

Now, I know I can’t expect everyone to like my writing. As much as that pains me (perfectionist that I am), I have come to terms with it. But it was the wording of this particular review that made me feel attacked on a personal level, and that I took issue with. (At least I did after I stopped crying. Admitting that is probably another newbie mistake. They just keep coming! But I’m being honest here.)

Authorial words of wisdom from the pros: Never take to social media when emotions are high

Newbie mistake: I tweeted about it.

@WendySMarcus Just read the harshest review of my book (and me) on Goodreads. Totally mean. Apparently you all should be avoiding me like the plague.

OK. Not my wisest move, because I attracted attention to that negative review and basically sent people to read it. In my defense, I was alone and outraged and hurt and I needed to vent. (I bet all newbies say that. And here I am blogging about it. Will I ever let the matter rest? Will the blunders never cease? Don’t be mad, Nas. I promise I’ll stop talking about it after this!) 

So where were we? Oh…The Tweet. AKA, another one of my newbie mistakes. Or was it? Because I got an outpouring of support from my Twitter friends that cheered me up. More importantly, they reminded me that that review was one person’s opinion, and none of them agreed with it. I needed that confidence boost because my revisions on book #3 were do that very night. (Got them in as scheduled – thank you all very much!)

And something else to come of my Tweet, I sold books. I have no idea how many, but there was a significant change for the better in my sales numbers on Amazon.

So, do you believe any publicity is good publicity? Have you ever received a negative review or upsetting rejection letter? Did you take to social media?

For the record, I don’t plan on Tweeting about bad reviews in the future. And for anyone out there planning to write one, I won’t be reading it!

Blog Tour Update:   

My blog tour is winding down. Please check my News page to see where I’ll be this week and next. My final stop is at my friend Lacey Devlin’s blog on August 24th where I’ll be announcing the winner of the $50.00 U.S. currency Amazon gift card to the person who visited me at the most stops on my tour. I hope you’ll stop by to congratulate the winner.