Other authors have come to the same conclusion.
I still remember a one-star review my first novel got on Goodreads.
It simply said, The problem with this book is that its bad.
At least I think thats what it said.
It was a good idea.
Fruitless, but good.
This ecosystem has caused so many authors to ask themselves the question:Should I read all my reviews?
The other opinions, I venture to make them white noise as much as possible.
Her solution has been to avoid seeking out online reviews out of my own sanity and mental protection.
She says, I usually only read the things that people tag me in.
She says, I may read a little but generally I don’t read the full thing.
I might still share it though, because this person engaged with [my book].
I do want to acknowledge that.
And yes, a lot of times, online dialog with readers can be good even great.
It’s a constant battle.
That feels so good and reminds me who I was writing for.
If it begins to feel like it’s too much, sign off.
That pressure to be online also opens authors, specifically authors of marginalized identities, to receive hate speech.
The internet ideally acts as the great equalizer, says Johnson.
I made a decision to have a public facing career.
And so, that means people have public opinions about how I behave.
I had to figure out what belongs to everybody and what just belongs to me.
She also turns to a data pipe of peers for support.
I’m very cognizant of author-reader boundaries, or power dynamics, says Gong.
Though she will clarify factually incorrect reviews with screenshots that block out the writers names.
I don’t want anyone being attacked.
The internet is messy.
(Lauren Hough’s publicist did not respond to our request for comment.)
Theyre places where online trolls would never dare show their faces.
Is that totally naive?
And those moments would, of course, never make the online critiques authors face ever go away.
But Harris has had a few IRL events in recent months, and theyve gone well.
Having in-person interactions with five people outweighs a lot of the negative stuff, she says.
