Worry about reviews, awards, etc.—or don’t—it doesn’t really matter
I just read a very interesting (and somewhat shocking) blog post written by successful indie author Ja Konrath a few years ago. I’m going to tell you about it because it basically spits in the face of many of the things experts in the self-publishing field have been saying for years. To me, this only proves that for every rule out there, there is an opposing belief that renders it null and void. In other words, we’re all on a journey of our own making, and there are no surefire ways of bringing about success.
That said, here’s what Konrath says (I’ll be both paraphrasing and quoting) in his July 19, 2019, blog post titled:
“Six Things Writers Need to Stop Worrying About.”
REVIEWS. What? Don’t worry about reviews? Are you serious? But they’re the most important thing!
For some time now, I’ve been telling you that we all need Amazon reviews, and while Konrath agrees, he recommends not worrying about—or reading—your reviews because, as he says, “Someone else's opinion of you and your work is none of your business.”
So, do what you can to get the reviews (he suggests setting the price of your book as free), and then please don’t read your reviews—and don’t worry about what they say.
Later he says you should read them only if you have fifty or more reviews and an average rating of three stars or less. In that case, he says, the reviews might tell you where you’ve gone wrong.
Here’s my blog post on Getting Amazon Reviews.
CRITICS. I don’t know if I agree here, but I find Konrath’s rebellious nature appealing. He says, basically, F the critics, and, “Anyone who is paid to review a book is a bottom feeder.” He spouts some very strong words for critics that I won’t repeat here.
The problem I have with this is that if you discredit all of the critics, and then you get a good review from one of them, do you still want to discredit the critics? I certainly don’t because I received several good, well-written reviews. Granted, some were more thoughtful and well written than others.
But if you pay for a professional review and the reviewer doesn’t like your work, I can understand why you would consider that maybe that particular reviewer isn’t too good at his or her job.
Perhaps the key here is that you can’t generalize. Just like there are good novels and not so good ones, there are good critics and less-talented ones. If you don’t like a review you’ve paid for, you’re given the option of not publishing it. At least there’s that. Here’s my blog post about Reviews.
YOUR PEERS. Konrath says, “I remember starting out, and how important the acceptance of my peers was. I wanted blurbs. I wanted to be praised. I wanted to be liked.
“Unnecessary, all of it.”
Who doesn’t want to be liked? We all want to be welcomed with open arms (or at least most of us do, I assume), but being welcomed or popular is not necessary to your success as a writer. Isn’t that somewhat comforting? Maybe you don’t have to try so hard or worry so much about getting those blurbs (which are very hard to come by) or Instagram book reviews (the reviewers often say yes to the book but then don’t come through with the review). Here’s my blog post about Blurbs.
“Friends in this biz are great,” Konrath says, “but don't worry if you don't have any.”
That’s a new and freeing perspective, no?
AWARDS. Is it good/helpful/nice to win an award? Yes, it is. For a short time, winning a contest will give you a writer’s high. Will it make or break your career? Here’s my blog post about Contests.
I answer this with a set of questions: Have you seen how many contests are out there, and how many awards are given in each contest? Do you know who the winners are in any of these contests? Unless you’ve entered the contest, would you even check to see who won? Have you ever bought a book because it won a contest that you may or may not have heard of before?
Probably not.
As Konrath points out, “The subjective opinions of a certain group of people at a certain moment in time say nothing about the value of your work. Having won an award won't do much (or anything) for your career.”
Okay, next subject please.
BESTSELLER LISTS. Back when I was in college, one of my professors went around the room and asked what each student’s biggest dreams for the future was. “If you could do anything at all, what would that be?”
I said, “I want to write a novel and get on the bestsellers list.”
What writer wouldn’t want that, right? The question is, do you know how books end up on the bestseller lists?
Here’s Konrath’s take on The New York Times Bestseller list: “Once upon a time, every author I knew hoped to hit the NYT bestseller list. Me included.
“Then I figured out how the NYT list worked and realized how stupid it was.”
In a nutshell, it’s not necessarily about the number of books that readers buy and take home. It’s about how many books the bookstores and other outlets like Walmart pre-order and purchase.
In other words, if you can get Walmart or Costco to put in a huge order for you, you’ll get on the list.
The bestseller list isn’t one of my dreams anymore, so this isn’t a heartbreak for me. Of course, if it ever happens, I’m sure it will give me that writer’s high I spoke about for a few weeks or years, but I’m not sitting around dreaming about it.
Better to do less worrying and put your energy into more realistic endeavors.
As Konrath says, “Instead, focus on finding the sweet spot between ebook price and sales.”
Now, that’s good advice.
For Ja’s full article, go to https://jakonrath.blogspot.com/.
Kim Catanzarite is a writer, editor, and instructor for Writer’s Digest University. Her sci-fi thriller, They Will Be Coming for Us, published June of this year to strong positive reviews. She is currently making an attempt to worry less than usual.
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