Dealing with Negative Feedback

   Every writer has dealt with negative feedback.

 It doesn't matter if you write poetry, short stories, reviews of books, or books. Not everyone is going to like your work. Not everyone is going to agree with your opinions.

 Negative feedback can come from anyone. A publisher, editor, agent, even a friend. Anyone can say that they don't like your book, and that's okay because that is their opinion. They have a right to have an opinion and post it on social media, Amazon, Goodreads, etc. because your book is out there and people are allowed--and going--to talk about it.

  You can either take negative feedback as a learning experience, or ignore the negative comments that people make about your work. What you should NEVER do is reply to a negative comment hostilely. The comment is this persons own opinion. He/she isn't speaking for the whole world. This is what they think and you should accept it and move on. Don't say anything back along the lines of, "You're too simple minded to understand that my story/book is actually great." No hostility should be exchanged what-so-ever!!

 Because:

  1. That's really rude and unprofessional. YOU come out sounding like the simple minded one. Your book isn't perfect! No book is! J.K. Rowling's book, Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone, was rejected by 8 publishers and gets negative feedback from readers. Now, I'm not comparing your book to anything J.K. Rowling has written; I'm just saying that even one of the most popular and loved books in the world gets negative feedback from readers.

  2. You're hurting yourself by doing this more than the other person. Your readers will lose respect for you, and will lose interest in your book because of your rudeness. (This could seriously damage you if you're a self-published author.)

 I'm not saying that negative feedback doesn't hurt. I'm just saying that you shouldn't reply to comments with the intention of being mean/rude. You should be happy that someone has reviewed, or talked about your book, even if they didn't like it.

 Negative feedback shouldn't deter you from writing. The more you write, the better you get! So don't give up!

Happy writing! <3

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