Conquering Your Review Goliaths

Yesterday I received my first negative review. After publishing in January and receiving 4 and 5 stars on my book, "Conquering Your Goliaths: A Parable of the Five Stones," I received the shock of my life. Well, it wasn't exactly the biggest shock in my life, but let's just say I was having a difficult time taking it in.

My Second Published Book

I've had negative reviews before. With my first book, "A River of Stones," I received primarily positive reviews but there were also a few negatives. Shouldn't everyone LOVE my book? I asked myself.

And then I remembered. I'd tried to read a book recently that wasn't in my regular genre. I didn't like it, either. It wasn't deep enough for me, and the problems weren't ones I could relate to. But that didn't mean that the book wasn't well written, just that I really didn't cater to the genre the book was in.

In this round, not everyone is going to like a Christian Fiction novel with God in it. They aren't going to like that the main character trusts in God and learns to get his assistance in every day life. They may think that hearing God is unrealistic, (because they don't believe in God) or perhaps they feel that they should do things on their own--heck, they're smart enough.

I have thought long and hard about my feelings before writing this post, and I've come to this conclusion about negative reviews.

• They aren't really negative. In actuality, they prove to me that not everyone thinks or feels the same way as I do. A review is a single person's opinion (not the whole world's). It's what the reviewer thinks based on their life experience. 
• A less than positive review keeps me humble. After all of those positive reviews I was flying higher than a kite! Now I know that the only review that really matters and will keep me flying, is the one that God gives me.
• Conquering less than positive reviews becomes easy as I listen and learn. Other than a few typos, (something every writer tries to avoid but still manages to let in) I wouldn't change a thing in "Conquering Your Goliaths," and that's how it should be. Ask yourself: How did I feel when writing the book? Who was near me every step of the way? Going back to these feelings has helped me to see the truth about what I have written.

As writers, we must listen to our heart, listen to God and have the courage to trust in him as he directs our life. We must continue forward in life, optimistic about our work. We must be tenacious in our actions and never give up. NEVER. 

Yes, even when a reviewer doesn't like our book.