Got a Bad Review? Do NOT Do This

A Wordslinger 10-Shot! Bad reviews are inevitable. The real question is what you do after you get one. In this Wordslinger 10-Shot, I’m talking about the mistake authors make when a negative review gets under their skin—and why responding, arguing, or trying to “correct the record” usually makes things worse. I recently looked at my own book reviews for the first time in more than a year and found a 2-star review calling one of my books boring. That sent me down a rabbit hole about reviews, trolls, negative comments, and how much attention writers should really give any of them. We’ll talk about why you should almost never respond to a bad review, when reporting a review might actually make sense, why I once deliberately upvoted some of my worst reviews, and why one of the healthiest things you can do as a creator may be to stop reading reviews altogether. And there’s an important flip side: reviews still matter. They provide social proof and credibility for your books, which means authors should absolutely be asking readers to leave them—even if you decide not to read them yourself. If you’re a writer, author, creator, or creative entrepreneur trying to build a career without letting criticism derail you, this one’s for you. What do you think? Do you read your reviews? Have you ever responded to a bad one? Tell me in the comments. And subscribe to Wordslinger for practical, experience-tested guidance on writing, publishing, marketing, building an audience, and creating a sustainable career around your work. Visit the Knovelton Bookshop at https://knoveltonbooks.com GET 15% OFF YOUR ENTIRE ORDER AT CHECKOUT WITH CODE STORYCUTS TIMECODES 00:00 — The reality of negative reviews 01:05 — I found a 2-star review of my book 02:24 — Why I stopped leaving negative reviews 03:14 — Never respond to a bad book review 04:02 — When you should report a review 04:47 — Why I used to upvote bad reviews 05:33 — How 1-star reviews can actually help you 06:46 — Why some successful creators never read reviews 07:32 — Reviews vs. YouTube comments 08:54 — Why book reviews still matter 10:00 — How to get more reviews for your books 10:40 — The simplest review strategy for authors 11:26 — How should writers handle trolls and criticism? FIND KEVIN Find Kevin and his books:https://kevintumlinson.com Kevin’s books:https://kevintumlinson.com/books Join Kevin on Substack:https://kevintumlinson.substack.com Wordslinger Podcast home page:https://wordslingerpodcast.com SERVICES FOR AUTHORS Polish your writing and make it ready for publishing with ProWritingAid:https://tidd.ly/3NCdlk5 Publish your book to every major retailer online, get your book into print and ebook, and get support the whole way at Draft2Digital:https://draft2digital.com/wordslinger Find a virtual assistant to help you market your books—and more—at AuthorAnchor:https://authoranchor.com Ernest Dempsey:https://ernestdempsey.com #WritingAdvice #SelfPublishing #IndieAuthors #BookMarketing #AuthorLife #WritingCommunity #Wordslinger Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.