Blogger: Rachelle Gardner
If you’ve been a published author for any period of time, you’re probably no stranger to critical reviews or harsh reader mail. Even though you might receive many glowing reviews and letters from satisfied readers whose lives you touched, you can’t help but focus on the very few less-than-happy readers who feel obligated to share their discontent with you. It’s very hard to cope with this, and even more difficult to figure out how—or if—to respond.
When They Criticize Your Faith
It can be especially frustrating when the topic of a reader’s discontent is the fact that your book is written from a Christian perspective, and they feel hoodwinked. They start reading and when they realize it’s “Christian” they become enraged. They sometimes leave 1-star, angry reviews on Amazon. Here are some Amazon comments on a Christian novel:
“When you read the review for this book, no mention is made of the Christian nature of the book. This is misleading.”
“I resent the absence of the Christian fiction label. ”
“This book is not a [genre]. It is a Christian morality tale.”
“Why is it that authors of Christian fiction often hide that fact in the descriptions? I am simply irritated when I buy a book based on a secular description only to find that the predominant thread throughout the book is Christian proselytizing.”
Sometimes people will even write directly to the author to say these things, as happened to one of my clients recently. They may couch their opinion in terms of “constructive criticism.” But as authors, you can’t help it—it hurts!
I empathize with the pain of being harshly reviewed. As an author, this is just one of the many situations in which you need to find coping mechanisms that work for you (and all you authors are very familiar with this!)
What To Do
Keep in mind that a reader feeling “hoodwinked” is a real thing, and if it were you, and you bought a book that turned out to be from a perspective with which you deeply disagreed, you’d be frustrated too. Imagine any novel that you thought was secular or neutral and as you read, you discovered it was from a different religious or atheist point of view, and seemed to be strongly espousing those views. You may rightly wonder why you hadn’t realized this before you bought the book. Being empathetic toward your angry reader can help you put it in perspective.
The best thing you can do—and I promise this will make you feel better—is to create and save a template response to send to people who write you negative letters. Creating a template keeps you from having to summon up the emotional energy, not to mention the words, to respond to a critic. I keep my templates in Evernote but you can keep them in Word or whatever works for you.
Your template response to a negative reviewer can be something like this:
Dear [Name],
Thank you so much for taking the time to write me. I value my readers and I take every critique seriously, so I want you to know I’ve heard you. I regret that my book didn’t live up to your expectations, but I’m grateful you took the time to reach out.
Wishing you all the best,
[Your Name]
The response is purposely brief, and lets the reader know you received the critique that they felt was important to send. It also avoids shaming them for not being a Christian or somehow not “getting” your book. Of course you can make your response sweeter (mine is a little business-like) but avoid being defensive.
This Isn’t the Best Time To Share Your Faith
Some may disagree with this, but I also think this isn’t the place for evangelizing. Charles Martin’s example of a response to an angry reader is beautifully written and a lovely invitation to faith, but you’re already dealing with a person hostile to Christianity. In my opinion, this kind of response is more likely to increase their hostility rather than open them up to the idea of faith.
Of course, the advice to send a response applies to situations in which you received a personal letter (or email) from a reader. It’s not for responding to public reviews (such as on Amazon or reader blogs), to which you should never respond.
I hope this helps! What are your thoughts on how to deal with or respond to negative reader mail?
Image copyright: elessar / 123RF Stock Photo
Rachelle, the reply you drafted is certainly an appropriate response, but I love Charles Martin’s reply. Who knows what result will come from that gracious response, one like what we would speak to a person face-to-face? What if it opens a dialog that leads to healing and peace for the person who sent the negative letter? Isn’t it worth a bit of discomfort on my part to reach out to someone who is hurting, like the writer of the attack on Martin probably is?
*I have a friend who was a proselytizing atheist in his early 20s. His best friend was a Christian who responded with gracious explanations of why he believed every time the atheist attacked his faith. Today that former atheist is a missionary.
*On a practical note, if we don’t want to be subject to a bait-and-switch accusation, maybe we need think more carefully about the back-copy blurb. Are we writing it with the focus so completely on hooking a reader that the spiritual aspect of the story is ignored or even concealed in the process?
I was thinking the same thing, Carol, about the back-copy blurb. There are words (for example, “grace”) that clue in believers but are easily missed by others.
* When a thread of faith in a book triggers the effort of an offended response . . . well, I see the Spirit at work in that life. My first reaction (my own hurt feelings aside), would be, “Go God!” Followed, I hope, by prayer, and certainly, never by a bitter response of my own.
* Your template, Rachelle, is a good place to start — followed by “What would you have me say, Lord?”
Shirlee, I agree! Apathy is a more dangerous spiritual response than anger. It’s a sign that someone takes it seriously, and that’s a crack in the shell that the Spirit can and will use. My missionary friend said the closer he came to having to admit God was real, the meaner he got to his friend about it.
Yes, Carol, I’ve blogged a couple times in the past on the controversial subject of having a “label” for Christian fiction. My conclusion was that, wherever the book is for sale in an online secular bookstore, the description should include strong clues that it’s a faith-based book.
Wise wise advice Rachelle. Right now I’m just wishing that I had enough reviews for some of them to be angry … “Ms. Wilks had way too many hilarious dog scenes for my taste, and those rewritten Christmas Carols about cleaning and fleeing wolves, ridiculous.” Maybe that is foolish, but getting reviews is hard!
Great post, Rachelle. And yes, this is one more way authors need to develop a tortoise-shell skin. I hadn’t thought about the idea of a template letter to send to negative reader letters. I love that idea for exactly the reason you shared: it doesn’t require energy in the moment when we’re already hurting.
*I hope if/when this happens to me, I’ll have a gracious response to the reader (after I’ve vented in a safe place).
Well, Jeanne, you now have a gracious response for that eventual reality. Just copy and paste from my post. 😉
I run a small eBay empire when I am not writing. There is occasional friction with buyers and I always take the response of extreme – disarming- humility.
99% of the time it is a problem with the post office, not with me, but regardless, I want buyers to have a positive experience.
Something I learned from Carol Kent has helped me make my business a bit of a ministry: when Carol’s team is putting together registration packets, they pray for each registrant as they handle the materials. I put that idea to work, and as I package orders, I pray for each buyer. I am sometimes amazed at how the Holy Spirit leads me to pray in specifics. I have prayed for thousands of strangers and will never know this side of eternity if I had any impact. How could it not? God does not ignore prayer.
In the same way, I think a negative response to a book is a great way to know of a stranger to add to the prayer list.
Truly a ministry, Sheila! I publish indie, and I pray for the buyer of each book as I see the sales come in from the Kindle KDP sales report and Amazon Author Central for the paperbacks. With fewer than 10 a day, that’s a pleasure, never a burden. I don’t expect to ever have 100/day, but I’d still offer the prayers if I did.
What to do with neg mail? Use to line bottom of parrot’s cage. Life too short.
* Thx all for prayers pls pardon typos
PS – no warn label, not apologetic for faith, caveat emptor, adios y tengo su dinero!
“Adios y tengo su dinero”
“Goodbye and I have your money.”
Well played, Andrew.
File that under “things I’d be to chicken to say, but Andrew could do it without blinking”.
*too chicken
…oh, the shame.
I agree that there should be cues that the book is from a Christian perspective to avoid misleading readers. However, we must remember there is nothing we as writers can do to please everyone. There will always be negative reviews no matter what. Always. The template letter is a great idea.
We’re always open to negative reviews, but if there are small things we can do to avoid them (such as not misleading people about our Christian books) then it’s definitely worth it!
So true. No need to open yourself up for more criticism than is necessary. Thank you for all your great advice!
Great post, Rachelle! I received a negative message in response to a plot point, not the faith in the book. I responded somewhat like your template, but I think I’ll customize something for the future. Your point about avoiding having to summon up the emotional energy is spot on. Thank you!
Yes, Meghan, when we put ourselves out there, we’re open to a negative response based on any little thing in our work! A gracious response, letting the person know you heard them and appreciate their taking the time to reach out, is never wrong.
offer label today, legal req’d tomorrow
No
wanna hang me fine but I not bying th rope
again pls xcuse typos, bit underweather
Spot on, Andrew. An “official” label would be a very bad first step down a path we don’t want to go. Clarity in the back copy is good.
*My Roman history author site gets about a quarter of its visitors from countries other than the US, heavily UK but even places like Serbia and United Arab Emirates. My Christian novels’ covers are click-bait at the side of every page. The Roman info is always factual with specific inclusion of details related to being Christian when it differed from the norm. The parts of the site that are my bio and the info about my books make my faith and the philosophy embodied in the books very clear. Anyone clicking through to Amazon to buy won’t be surprised by what they’re getting.
I had a Ph.D in Native American history up and put the brakes on helping me because uh-oh, she found out that I was/am a Christian. She simply “could not help”.
I could hear the brakes screeching from 2500 miles away. The disgust was unreal. That was my introduction to just how deeply some Native American despise Christians.
I expect serious flack from people, and appreciate this post very much. I really like the idea of a template. Thank you!
Jennifer, that may have been more of a social sciences Ph.D. effect than a Native American effect. The “highly educated” who know nothing about the molecular biology proofs of the existence of a designer/creator often give that conditioned response. It’s trained into them by their university profs who are too uninformed to know that the scientific evidence is on the side of the theists, not the atheists.
Very true. Sadly, so very true.
But this woman was Native American, and a historian well respected for her knowledge on the subject matter I was researching. She and I both were aiming for the same goal- clarity and historical accuracy in the research of our subject. My faith was a wall to her, and she made that known. I expect her to be very vocal, and negative, about my work when it comes out.
Most walls have doors, and prayer can open them, even if it takes a along time. Perhaps your work will lead to the first crack.
I’m with Carol here–
* May the one who stepped away feel the same sense of loss Jennifer carries. Crack that wall, Lord, and install a window! Amen.
I’ve always felt that being published would be such an honor. But as with any public accomplishment, one will be met with postive and negative. It would definitely hurt if we allow ourselves to focus on the negative. I have a writer friend who doesn’t even read her reviews. I admire that. I always stick my positive review in her face … because I want her to see the good. But she refuses to be swayed by either. She doesn’t sway with the wind. She has a job to do … she has a voice …. Every writer receives bad reviews … but it seems that very few focus on it. We have to be so careful where we place our lens regarding all aspects of life (much needed note to self).
some one whines because mybook is christian, i hit em where vulnerable
good refinement data for aimpoint
job isnt making antireligios feel good about them selves
job is making em uncomfort in their bigotry
And nothing works better for that than a gracious response.
A gentle answer turns away wrath, but a harsh word stirs up anger. (Proverbs 15:1)
I’ve found that to be true so many times! Negative opinions based on bad experiences can change after enough good ones.
yes
haters want to hate
take away motive
leave em puzzled
they open door from curious-ity
This is a great idea, Rachelle. Thank you. I especially like the thought of not having to “summon up the emotional energy.” That really hit home. I have limited amounts of that sort of energy, and I don’t want to waste it dealing with negativity.
I’d love to see a follow-up blog post on how to respond to critics within our own Christian community who argue that a book isn’t “spiritual enough” or deals with issues they feel shouldn’t be discussed in polite company. Attacks on faith-based media from fellow Christians seem rampant right now. I suppose the email response you quoted would work for them, too.
Karen, I think the same kind of response is warranted. I wouldn’t recommend engaging in a conversation about the content of their critique. Writers have enough people to mentor and advise them – agents, editors, critique partners, etc. – they shouldn’t have to take in everything that every random stranger says. But there’s no need to be rude or dismissive, so thanking them for their input is always a good idea. Another idea is to send a note (perhaps as part of the template I described above) that simply says, “You may be right.” And leave it at that. Personally, I like that one. 🙂
Our Christian witness should be open and obvious. If we hide Christian content in our book description, our witness is not open and obvious. It’s not a question of warning labels. It’s a question of being the best witness possible.
.
If your book proclaims Christ, say so.
Rachelle, as you (and my readers) know, I don’t write “in your face Christian fiction, trying to be more subtle about it. I get angry when my books are provided at a discounted price for the Kindle version (usually a decision of my publisher, not me) and the one-star reviews on Amazon are like the ones you cite. I’ve even blogged about the converse of what you’ve mentioned, asking if non-Christian books need labels, such as “erotic” and “questionable language.” Thanks for bringing this subject into the open. It happens.