In this article I’m going to break a golden rule and talk about a negative review I received. Normally talking about reviews of your own books is not a good idea. However, I do think it’s important that we talk about how useful and positive a negative review can be.

I want to talk about this review because I think it’s great example of how a review from someone who didn’t like the book but wrote something useful and positive thing for both authors and readers. I have nothing but appreciation for the reviewer, who took the time both the read my book and write about it, and I hope that the readers of my blog will show this reviewer the same respect.

This particular review will form a kernel around which I talk about the relationship between authors and reviewers, and how to deal with other sorts of negative reviews. Once again, please let me emphasise that this is not an attack on the reviewer, who I believe wrote and an excellent and accurate description of why they didn’t enjoy the book as much as others might. The main objective is to show why their critique is so well written, how to see the positives in someone not liking what you wrote (and potential lessons to learn), and then look more broadly at negative reviews.

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