My Worst Review

Most writers are very possessive and protective of their books. Each one is like their child. You can tell me what you think about me, but don’t pick on my child—err my book. We want reviews but we fear reading them.

Early on, I found a website where I could pay a small amount and get a review of a section of my book. I sent in an excerpt from The Legacy. If you have read it, you know I used a Southern dialect for the old great-grandmother. I had better responses from several readers, except for the one I paid to get. He (shall go unnamed for I didn’t know him) said he had to quit reading because the misspelled words were not to his liking. They weren’t misspelled words. They were written in a Southern dialect, such as ain’t, ya, nothin’, sumthin’, if’n, etc.

What I learned from this experience was not to pay for reviews and to realize that not all readers understand dialects. Other unpaid reviews were more positive. I now believe the experts who say, “Don’t pay for reviews and don’t pay to enter a writing contest.” Enough said.