Dealing with Bad Reviews- Amazon

What I really like is an intelligent review. It doesn't have to be positive. A review that has some kind of insight, and sometimes people say something that's startling or is so poignant. -Patti Smith

Other writers, friends and family all told me to be prepared for bad reviews. I never thought when I was writing Quilts in the Attic that it would be loved by everyone. However, I have had two one star reviews on Amazon and both of them made me crazy. I could not just "let it go."

The first review stated that I had not done my research which simply was not true. She also had my name wrong. I decided to see if I could track the person. I did and I called her. This shocked the crowd and the other authors at the On the Same Page Literary Festival. Why? This is my problem with anonymous reviews. It's not fair. Anyway, I called the woman and asked her to explain her review to me. It turns out she had not even read my book! When I explained to her that I did not take the story that her family member gave me as fact (family feud), she removed the bad review. Success!

The next bad review happened just a week ago. This time it had nothing to do with my book or even Amazon. It seems the guy had bought my book as a gift and it arrived damaged. Really? This time I contacted Amazon directly asking them to remove his review since it had nothing to do with my book. I was shocked at how quickly (less than 15 minutes after my email) that his review was gone and an apology from Amazon arrived in my inbox.

So my advice when asked about bad reviews is to accept them if they have merit (too few and too small photos is one I have gotten and actually agree) and challenge them if they do not.