by Laura Crum
Reading
reader reviews of one’s own book on Amazon can be interesting, cheering, and
frustrating—all at once. Obviously positive reviews are a joy for the author
and outright negative reviews are pretty crushing (fortunately I haven’t had
too many of this last sort). Some reviews are mixed, with the reviewer stating
what he/she did and did not like about the book. A lot of the time I understand
exactly why the reviewer had a certain objection; sometimes it concerns a fault
that I can easily see and acknowledge. What I find very frustrating is the
reviews in which I think the reviewer is just plain wrong. So today I’d like to
bring up some of the negative things that have been said about my books by
readers, and respond to them.
Let’s
take Cutter, my first mystery novel, set in the world of cutting horses. Cutter has a four star rating on Amazon,
so obviously it has been pretty well liked by readers overall. But…there is one
very negative review in which the reviewer states that my glaring lack of
knowledge about horses ruins the book. She says she owns and raises horses and
that I “need to do more research.” I will admit that looking at this particular
review makes my blood boil, so I try not to go there. But here is what I would
like to say to this reviewer.
“Lady,
I don’t care how many horses you have, or if your horse keeping practices are
vastly different from mine. I dare you to show me ONE place in the book where I
am inaccurate in what I say about horses. Everything in my books (regarding
horses) is modeled on things I have actually seen and done, with the exception
of some dastardly deeds, and these are also as accurate as my long career with
horses (and checking with my vet) can make them. You may not like my writing
style, you may disapprove of the way horses are treated in the western horse
world, you may just not like my tone, and that’s all fine. But you are 100%
dead wrong about my information being inaccurate.”
Very
satisfying to write that out and post it here. But very frustrating to think
that potential readers are being told something negative about my books that is
simply not true. I’m not sure what was in this reviewer’s mind when she wrote
this comment, because she fails to give any specific point where she thinks I
am inaccurate. And, of course, I can’t know if she really has horses or knows
anything about horses at all. But there her review sits, among all the others
that attest to the fact that the book is very accurate in all its horse
background. Grrr…
Then
there are the criticisms that I actually agree with. Several people have said
that they really liked Cutter and Hoofprints (my first two novels, rated four
stars and four 1/2 stars respectively on Amazon), but did not like my excessive
use of dashes. To these people I would like to say that I am sorry for this
fault, and give an explanation.
When
I put Cutter and Hoofprints up as Kindle editions, I had no electronic copies
of the manuscripts. At the time I wrote them, the publishing company that
bought them worked strictly on paper copies. Thus the editing and the final
editions did not exist in digital form. So I had to have the actual hard copy
books scanned in and then go through the resulting digital copies trying to
take all the scanner errors out. This was not easy. Certain scanner errors just
weren’t that obvious, though I went over the books many times. The hardest
thing turned out to be the fact that I literally could not tell that a dash which
appeared to be a needed hyphen at the end of a line would end up being an
unneeded dash in the text when it finally appeared on the Kindle. Thus the
books ended up having a lot of extra dashes as Kindle editions.
I
apologize for those dashes. I know I should return to the books and edit them
some more and try to get the extra dashes out. The truth is that I have been
overwhelmed with other projects, and getting the books edited and put up on
Kindle was a six month project that took ALL of my time and I just can’t face
going back to it…yet. Some readers have assured me that the remaining scanner
errors (dashes and such) do not detract from the books, and some readers
obviously feel differently. So this is a very legitimate criticism.
And
then there are those criticisms that seem particular to the critic. For
instance, I have been criticized for deviating from the plot stream (too often)
to describe details of the landscape and weather. This “fault” has annoyed a
few readers. However, some readers praise my books for just this reason. They
say I do a great job of evoking the places I write about through accurate
detail. “I felt like I was right there with Gail as she rode those trails,” is
a frequent response to my books. So it’s hard for me to say if this trait in my
writing (which I freely admit to—I love describing landscape and weather and
trying to create through words the feeling these things give you) is a strength
or a weakness. Maybe both?
There
are those who just don’t consider my protagonist “likable enough,” and there
are those who think she is just like a best friend. I have to guess that’s a
reflection of personality style on the part of the reader. I’d venture to say
that chatty, outgoing extroverts are likely to find Gail a bit of a cold fish,
and quiet, introspective introverts who are something of a loner in real life
will like Gail and relate well to her.
There are a few who resent what
they describe as a sudden dramatic wrap-up in some of my books that presents
them with an unexpected villain, and there are many who praise my books because
they never figure out who-dun-it ahead of time. I’m here to tell you that the
“surprise” villain is/was a real thorn in my side as an author. I never
realized that this was an expected feature of a mystery until my books were
bought by a major NY publisher and my editor made it clear to me that the
reader must always be surprised by the ending. They don’t call mysteries
“who-dun-its” for nothing. You are not allowed to build up to an inevitable
conclusion in a strong logical manner through clear character development, as
you might do in a thriller, or sci-fi or whatever. No, you must somehow
disguise the killer’s motivation thoroughly enough that the reader is surprised
when the villain is revealed at the end.
Needless to say this isn’t easy to
do, and DOES result in a story where the killer’s true purpose and character
must be hidden—resulting in a rather sudden revelation and wrap-up—in order to
create that sense of surprise which the mystery reader expects. I sometimes
find this frustrating myself as a writer, so I can understand why a reader
might critique me for it. But perhaps it helps to understand the trap the
mystery author is in? Give too much info about the villain and his/her
motivation and everyone will guess who it is before the “surprise” ending. But
giving very little info ahead of time results in that sudden wrap-up/revelation
that often seems a bit contrived and not-so-believable.
And finally there is the thing
which has drawn the most criticism (and the most hostile criticism) of all. I
had the nerve to turn my equine vet into a mom in the ninth book in the series.
Even more, a stay-at-home mom who practices attachment parenting (or natural
parenting). God forbid.
Quite a few readers who absolutely
LOVED my books when Gail was a single veterinarian were very unhappy when I
gave her a baby. Childless women themselves, they found the topic of motherhood
boring, and the idea that Gail would actually stay at home to take care of her
baby rather than go back to work as a vet was repulsive to them. All I can say
to this is oh well. Before I was a mother, I found the topic of motherhood
boring, too, so I get it.
To explain why I transformed my
busy, dedicated horse vet into a mom (Gail still has horses, and the later
mysteries in the series are all very horse-themed, by the way), well, I wanted
to write about motherhood because it has been a huge and fascinating part of
the last fifteen years of my life. I had said all that I had to say about the
life of a veterinarian (and more than a few horse vets have told me that I was
writing their lives, so I think I did a decent job on that subject), and I
decided to write about a topic that interested me now, in order to keep myself
engaged with the series after turning out eight previous books. The fact that
not everybody was going to like this motherhood theme was absolutely something
I understood going in. I found I was less interested in pleasing people than in
portraying small truths and insights about life that I have learned over the
years, through/in my fiction. If some don’t like my last four books because of
the “mama” theme, so be it. Lots of people do like these books—and I am
guessing that other moms are probably more likely to like the stories than
non-moms. However, judging by the reviews, there are exceptions to this rule.
One of my absolute favorite reader reviews of Chasing Cans (which is the book
in which Gail has a nursing baby to deal with as she solves a mystery at the
barrel racing trainer’s ranch next door) is as follows:
I was
prepared to not like this book so much based on previous reviews. People have
pretty harshly judged this story because of the new mom theme running throughout the book. So I read it, and
to the Neigh-sayers, I say, "SO WHAT." We have read about Dr. Gail
McCarthy throughout many ages and stages of her life, and becoming a new mom is
just another one of her ages and stages. It's one of the things that apparently
makes Gail, Gail. In the meantime, the author still weaves a credible mystery
and an interesting story, and no matter what, the author's writing style always
wins me over because her dialogue is so well crafted. I feel like I really know
her characters and their personalities, and the same cannot be said for very
many authors I have read recently. I hope Laura Crum continues to write, and I
will continue to read them, even if Dr. Gail McCarthy (or any other character
she conjures up) goes into pre-menopausal nervous breakdowns, joins religious
cults, and just sits in corners and drools and babbles. Yes, Laura Crum's
writing is skillful enough to make even that into a mystery and make it
interesting as well.
Now that is
a review that makes me smile. She gave the book 5 stars, too.
Anyway, I
know all authors deal with this issue (surely there isn’t anyone who gets ALL
good reviews)—anyone have any insights on your own experiences dealing with
negative reader reviews?
