Dealing with negative reviews

If we’ve got books and products out there in the world, available for purchase to anyone who is willing to buy, then we have to be ready to accept negative reviews.

Opinions are subjective, and everyone has a right to have one.

And I wouldn’t even be talking about this subject if it weren’t for the fact that my very first review was negative. And not just negative, but mean.

In today’s cynical, bullying, dark and mean internet culture, many of the negative reviews we receive are just a high tech version of heckling. Lonely, one-hand-typing,  basement dwelling bullies are just waiting for the opportunity to show the world how superior they are by telling (as they imagine) the world how much your book or product sucks.

And I’m okay with that. Really. It’s part of the game today. I expected negative reviews the moment I put my book up for sale. Not everyone was going to like my book.

But here’s my problem today:

If you’re going to leave a negative review for my book, you really should read it first.

My book is about humor, and joke telling, and negative reviews illustrate joke telling principles I teach. If you’re going to leave a snotty review, I’m going to turn you into a joke.

Again, I don’t want to whine and complain about a negative review, I just thought that maybe by examining this negative review that started my book campaign, maybe I could help others understand their own negative reviews.

Let’s take a look.

Here’s my first special review:

“This is a terrible book - it is misleading as you won't learn much about how to communicate better with humor - just a bunch of random jokes that aren't even funny.”

First: There are thirteen chapters of joke telling instruction and how joke telling relates to all other kinds of communication. If you’re looking for “step 1, step 2, step 3”, you need to look in the “special” book section. But this part is STILL acceptable. The reviewer didn’t like the instruction. Okay.

Second: A collection of jokes is random by nature.  You were expecting specific jokes?

And finally: If you don’t think the jokes in my book are funny, then you REALLY need this book, because you don’t GET jokes. These are the funniest jokes in the world. I’ve collected them for twenty five years. I’m sorry, but this is not subject to opinion. These jokes come from joke telling masters. Many are age old classics. If you don’t find these jokes funny, talk to me! I can help. You can learn to have a sense of humor.

So there you have it. I received a negative review, and then I ranted.

I hope this will help you better understand the sloping foreheads that are behind overly negative reviews.

Here's the link to my book so you can see for yourself:
You Must Be Joking!

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