I was so happy to find out that Alphabet Soup is a Bestseller on Fictionwise - it's actually number 2 in its category at the moment! And it's selling very well on other sites, too.
Perhaps it's because I'm a relatively newly published author (it has only been a year since my first book came out) but I still think it's a little bit of a miracle that people read what I write. Not only because I feel flattered (even though I do, big time!), but because it's an amazing thought that there are people all over the world, sitting in their sofas or beds and reading about MY characters, sharing MY fictional world. And the whole e-book thing makes it even crazier; I got the first reader mail less than 24 hours after Alphabet Soup was published. Writing in itself is wonderful, but getting read and appreciated? Words can't describe it. And that's saying something, coming from an author:).
Lately, I've heard authors talking about reviews. There are some different approaches.
First: Those who claim they never read reviews. When I heard that, my first thought was "yeah, right!". My second thought was that they lie. Because honestly, we all comb the Interwebthing regularly to search for something about our literary babies. Whether we want to admit it or not.
Then there are those authors who claim that you shouldn't read reviews because the readers are too stupid to understand your work of art anyway. To my astonishment, there seem to be a lot of those types in some forums. I might be able to understand the reaction as some sort of defense; it hurts to get a bad review. Still, it's not exactly the best approach in my opinion. Especially not the part where you call your readers stupid.
Then there are the defensive authors who comment on every review on the net and explains why the reviewer is wrong. I do see why that is tempting; readers are people, and sometimes, people do get things wrong. But here's the deal: It's the author's responsibility to write in a way that ensures that people don't get it wrong. This is where a good editor is crucial, by the way; at the end of writing 85,000 words, you're completely incapable of seeing what's wrong with your story.
Of course there are reviews that annoy me as well (I am only human. And an author), but generally, I find it really interesting to see what people get out of reading my books. I learn a lot about what readers notice and appreciate - and sometimes about what they hate (note to self: Do not end story abruptly). And most of all, it's amazing to realize that people actually read what I've written. That never ceases to amaze me.
So, my point? All those authors who don't read reviews should begin doing so. And to the readers: Please keep reviewing. I read them, I learn from them, and I really appreciate them.
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