Any author who’s going to survive for very long needs to grow a thick skin, because there are going to be people who don’t like your books. You will get bad reviews, and occasionally even e-mails telling you why they don’t like your work. This can be a positive if they are legitimate complaints that you can learn from. It’s all part of the business. But some people seem to take it a little too personally.
Here’s an e-mail I got yesterday morning. I guess I should be glad it wasn’t a review. Then again, maybe not. It might have sold a few books.
I just finished (gagged) my way through Big Lake, which I had heard so much about. I wanted to stop after the first chapter but kept thinking there must be something to it to have sold so many copies. There wasn’t. Did you write this when you were 10 or 12? Or is it an exercise in how NOT to write a novel? I keep wondering how you conned so many people into buying it and have decided that you didn’t. Either you and Amazon lied about the numbers to drive sales up or else you bought them all yourself. I can’t believe there are that many stupid book buyers in America. Don’t quit your day job. Assuming you could fill out an application and actually get a job!
Geez, who peed in this guy’s Cheerios?
Once I picked up the pieces of my fragile ego I spent some time working on my new book and then had a telephone interview with a representative of CreateSpace, Amazon’s print book division. She asked me about my future book projects, for any suggestions I had on how CreateSpace could help authors succeed, and offered a suggestion or two on ways they might help me with some upcoming projects.
About 4 p.m. we went to Terry’s sister Lisa’s house, and then to dinner with Lisa and her husband, Jim. We introduced them to JM Chinese Restaurant, and like everyone else, they really liked it. After dinner we went back to Lisa and Jim’s for a while, then stopped at Terry’s parents to pick up our mail before coming home.
We were only home a few minutes when the power went out, which it has done several times since we’ve been here. A few days ago I was talking about the problem with Daryl Lawrence from Lawrence RV Accessories, who sells the Electrical Management System. Daryl had suggested that the problem might not actually be with the RV park’s power or our EMS, but with our 50 amp power cord.
I called Greg and he came over to help me try to track down the problem (okay, I held the flashlight and he did the work). The power pedestal showed strong incoming power, so I wiggled the power cord plug at the coach end (not at the pedestal) and the power came back on.
We unplugged it and one terminal of the plug was burned. Greg thinks it probably vibrated loose over time, causing a bad connection, which led to high resistance, which would drop the incoming voltage. Tomorrow when we have daylight we’ll see if we can clean up the contacts. If not I’ll buy a new plug, so Greg can install it. (In case you haven’t noticed it yet, I like having Greg around.)
Thought For The Day – You are the result of four billion years of evolutionary success. Please act like it!
Nick Russell
World-Famous, New York Times Best Selling Author, and All-Around Nice Guy!
They wrote a song lyric for this guy “Why did you have to be so mean?”. His last sentence “Assuming you could fill out an application and actually get a job!” has nothing to do with your book. This guy gets his kicks out of acting “superior” and putting others down. My theory is that he either was bullied as a child or he was the bully. Did he give you his name? Just curious how big of a coward he is.
You never mind his caustic review. He is an ass and probably has a miserable life or he wouldn’t be so mean.
Love ya Nick!! But then again I am just one of those “stupid book buyers of America”. I buy your books because find them very entertaining. Obviously others do as well or they wouldn’t sell as well as they do.
What a Jerk!
Unless he revealed credentials which would qualify him to judge every buyer of your book, he has no credibility at all.
We have purchased all of the Big Lake series and found them an enjoyable read. Enjoyment is the key and they have all been that and more!
Keep up the good work, Nick!
Apparently you don’t have a fragile ego…you wouldn’t have put that comment on here if you did. Just because he didn’t enjoy the book doesn’t mean that others won’t. What if he were to happen on The Velveteen Rabbit? Would he condemn it for being puerile? Every book has an audience…he obviously wasn’t the right audience.
What a rude individual. I have read or started to read many books I didn’t like. I simply took the books back to the used bookseller and found a different author. Just because I didn’t like the story or the author’s style, doesn’t mean I have a right to send the author an offensive note/e-mail. Good grief, not everyone likes the same style. Obviously this person needs a few lessons in manners.
And by the way how many books has he written? When I was working as a teacher, I used to have students tell me they didn’t like my questions on a test and they weren’t fair. Since I wanted to keep my job, I was polite but basically I asked them how many tests they had written and how many classes they had had in tests and measurements. Hum, never had a student who ever could answer positively.
Nick, I’m gonna chime in with my comments about this rude, ill-mannered individual who decided to email ya also. While this person may have a few credentials, tact and manners aren’t there, and I doubt that he has enough compassion to want them either. It’d be interesting to find out how he feels after the barrage of comments supporting you and your books come in today after other readers read his comments. Sadly, while I’m hoping that this person might gain a little bit from the constructive criticism everyone will offer him, I don’t think that he or she will be able to learn from those criticisms. I feel sorry for this individual, and I’m gonna pray for whoever this person is.
Keep up the good work, Nick. You and your work are enjoyed by so many others than this one person.
Try this again, sleepy fingers this morning. This person is a total jerk, he is probably a failed author and cannot stand your success. When most folks me included do not like a book we quit reading it. We love your books and anxiously awaiting your new series. As for the power problem most of us have been there. Mike has replaced the plugs a few times. Two years ago we were at GNR and lost power, Mike went to the little store and told them the problem not knowing if it was us or them. Winnebago sent a crew from the factory to check out the system. It was our cord that had shorted out and thank heavens for our EMS who caught it before we had damaged anything, they replaced the cord free of charge except the made up for it in the cost of the cord. You are so lucky that you have Greg to do the work for you. Keep up the good work on your books. Love you
Some people just have such low self esteem they spend their time putting others down so they can feel better or superior. He has probably been ignored all his life, and this is his way of getting attention. I’m sure he has sent hundreds of these “critiques” to other authors. Best reaction to him would be to say how much you appreciate his point of view. Takes all the wind out of his sails!!!
Wow! I don’t get some people. I had a review like that once and I let it ruin my day. It actually got me down for a few days. My mother told me to read the reviews from my favorite book of all time. It has over 100 bad reviews! I didn’t take comfort in somebody else’s misery, but had my eyes opened that you can’t please everyone. Shake it off, Nick – I love your books!
I second all the previous comments about this “reviewer”. If he had given constructive comments rather than blathering insults, you could take them into consideration or just trash them. As it is, I know you’ll keep moving forward because you aren’t living your life for his reviews! P.S. Did he say where he was from so that we can stay out of his negative energy?
Another successful author found that the same book some of her fans said was her best, was one other fans said was her worst, and vice versa. The author is happy, the books were finding their readers.
He’s just jealous! I bought the first BL book to support your efforts. Since i am not usually a mystery reader I was surprised at how quickly i wanted to read more about the town and its residents.
The second book is was a bit too descriptive for me, but i still enjoy the series.
Keep em coming Nick. We enjoy them. He can go write a how to book … or not. To each his own.
Yikes . Pay no attention to that happy camper. I sure would hate to have to deal with his unhappy *** on a daily basis. But I suspect he is not so bold in person.
Got to go, I’m getting ready to download your latest book.
Take care.
acheapguy
We had the same intermittent problem. After Camping world charged us over $300 and it still wasn’t fixed a guy parked next to us at the fairgrounds in Tucson diagnosed the problem and fixed it by cleaning our power plug contacts.
That person who wrote you an e-mail and commented on your book sounds like he didn’t pass grammar in his English class. Two lines are not even sentences. The one that starts with ..Or… and the last sentence that starts with …Assuming… are not sentences. I am not an English teacher but was a math teacher and I would never dream of starting a sentence with “or”. The message bothered you and now you need to get over it because I and everyone that has read your books have enjoyed them and can’t wait until the next one is published. The world is full of idiots like this person so don’t let it bother you. I have been in the position where I was criticized many times during my career as a teacher and I got to the point where I knew my job. The people who criticized me were being defensive because they had no idea about the subject matter of math that I taught and couldn’t help their child. They bashed the teacher instead. Rise above those types and say the heck with those morons.
Toilet trained at gunpoint?
Nick, put this fellows name and email address on here so we can apprise him of his ill manners… Maybe he needs 60 to 100 emails that don’t agree with his positions on your works….. Ya think?
I just finished three of your booksand enjoyed each of them. I never understand why grumpy people feel the need to spread their negativity. Just ignore him and keep writing.
Nick, read Big Lake and Lynching, found them both to be enjoyable. Reading Crazy days now.