Dealing with poor reviews

I know it sounds crazy, but everyone's different, and no matter how good it is, not everyone is going to simply love your book.

I personally discovered this horrifying fact relatively recently. I won't name any names, but there were a couple of reviewers who weren’t exactly fans of my main character, Melody Jackson. One person even HATED her!! (I know, right.)

Since I have received many glowing and fantastic reviews, most of them loving Melody and her quirky but occasional admittedly surly antics, I, of course, assumed this to be some sort of literary terrorism. Perhaps an attack by hired mercenaries by some shadowy group of non-fiction writers.

Nope! Sadly it was just human nature. Everyone's different, and no two people like the same things. This is a horrifying fact which is important to realize as soon as possible in your writing career. 

Here's some simple points to follow when this inevitably happens to you:

(*) Do not take this personally: Chances are this reviewer doesn’t know you in real life, and has no vendetta against you. This is not a personal attack. It’s an honest review, which is what you were looking for in the first place, right?

(*) Whatever you do, do NOT take the low road: It's always best to be as classy as possible in these situations. Always thank the reviewer for their time, because they certainly took time out of their lives to read it -- which may have been especially arduous for them since they didn’t care for it. Keep in mind, you entered into this contract for an honest review, and simply giving someone a "free copy" of your book doesn't require them to give you 5-Stars and fourteen thumbs up.

(*) Don't argue with the reviewer: This will not change their mind, and you will only end up with a bad reputation and no one will want to review your books ever again.

I help this helps and eases some pains. 

What do you all think?

BMB