PUBLIC SERVICE ANNOUNCEMENT
I’m here to talk to you today about a very sensitive subject – book reviews. Please be sure to sit your authors down and have honest, forthright conversations with them about book reviews. Your author may think the hardest thing she had to do was write the book; edit the book; publish the book; but sadly, she is mistaken. She now has to market the book. And an important element of marketing, one that I cannot stress enough, is the holy grail of book reviews. Even bad ones. Relax! Breathe! It’s going to be alright. Your author can survive some bad reviews. Just remind him that not everyone likes spinach, some people detest spinach, that doesn’t make spinach bad. And in that same vein, not everyone will like his book – that doesn’t make it bad. Taste is subjective. And reviews are not personal; including the ones that feel like they are. Don’t address them, don’t respond, and don’t throw your typewriter in the recycling bin either. REMEMBER – YOU ASKED THEM TO SHARE T...