Step Twenty: The First Review

For Good Or For Bad, We're In It Now

There’s nothing more terrifying than sending your book baby out into the world for critical review. It’s kind of like getting into a rocket ship and hoping it doesn’t blow up on the way to the stars. It’s impossible to predict: you could have a smooth ride, or you could crash and burn. Some will be fantastic, while others will be abysmal. And you have to wrap your head around the fact that some people, for reasons both valid and specious, will not like your work. You must be tender with yourself now. While a book happens for your whole team, the reviews feel more personal. Like they’re only happening to you.

Reviews can be a relief, and they can be crushing, which is why your team is going to recommend that you DO NOT READ YOUR REVIEWS, especially those of the general consumer.

Why?

Because we are artists. We are sensitive. It’s human nature to want accolades for your hard work. And when those accolades come, they are amazing. But sometimes, they do not, and that can send your self-worth crashing through the floor. It can stifle—even murder—your creative spirit.

We as a species tie our self-worth to our acceptance in the community. In a world of likes and hearts and thumbs-ups and stars, it’s no wonder this moment is so fraught. We have been conditioned to seek, nay, crave, positive reinforcement and acceptance. Every social media and SM-adjacent website is built on this attentiveness, the dopamine hit of affirmation. And having a book reviewed is all of that on steroids.