Hi Reader,
It's a rite of passage for authors. You always remember your first.
The one-star review.
In layman's terms, it means the reader spent a few days with your book, threw it in the trash, and wanted to make sure the world knew it was garbage.
I remember mine.
It was prior to the launch of Fortunate Son. I'd sent out 50 advance copies for readers to review on Goodreads.
The reviews started streaming in and I was feeling a bit chuffed that everyone seemed to be enjoying the book until...(cue spooky music)
You guessed it.
⭐ "Very slow."
Two words. One star.
Then I checked my list and realized the reviewer hadn't received an advance copy of my book.
Naturally, I pictured some guy drunk or high, alone in his basement, firing off bad reviews out of boredom.
Thanks, dude.
After two years and thousands of ratings, most readers have been considerably kinder.
As an author, the only time you DON'T want to engage with a reader is to challenge their review. Never. No exceptions.
But if you have a newsletter? Well, WE can talk about it.
Last week I was reminded what a strange business publishing can be.
On October 20, BookLife, the indie arm of Publishers Weekly, named Noble Reckoning an Editor's Pick, calling it a:
"Killer espionage thriller in a series that keeps getting better."
Two days later, I received my first one-star review for the same book on Amazon.
⭐ "What on Earth happened? My copy stopped in the middle without an ending."
The reviewer went on to say she was very disappointed and wouldn't make the same mistake again.
Ouch.
Same book. Same week.
One reviewer hands you flowers. Another throws a brick.
Welcome to publishing.
So how does an author feel when someone hates their work enough to exclaim it to the world?
I'd like to say somewhere on the low end of ambivalent.
But that's not entirely true. We're not robots.
The Editor's Pick felt good. And yeah, the one-star review stung a little. But not much.
It's art. It's creativity. And it's out in the world.
I put it there.
So, you gotta pull up your big boy pants and deal with it. And it's not like I didn't know I was going to catch some heat.
I made a decision with Noble Reckoning that I knew would be controversial.
I decided to tell one big story across two novels.
It's no secret that if you tell a really good story and then make the reader wait for the rest...they're going to get a little pissy.
Usually not one-star pissy. But aggravated. Impatient.
I get it.
When a reader invests ten or twelve hours in a novel, they're entitled to their expectations.
But what does that mean?
To my mind, there's a difference between ending a novel and ending every storyline.
A gun fired into the darkness. An unknown body drops.
The End.
Yeah. Those are the worst.
I believe each novel should have its own story to tell. A complete narrative arc. Characters who change. Something important that gets resolved.
Even if the larger story continues, the novel should have a wholeness to it.
That's what I tried to accomplish with Noble Reckoning.
Did I succeed?
Well, that's for you to decide.
I think I ended the novel in the right place. And I stand by that decision.
Now, in my defense, I had planned to keep racing into the next book, Noble Legacy, and have the conclusion in your hands six months later.
Then Kath's cancer diagnosis came along and rewrote our year. (Yes, I'm throwing down the cancer card. Sorry.)
So that six-month timeline isn't going to happen.
And I recognize that makes my decision to split the story a little harder on readers.
I'm not the first author to do this. Not the first to leave readers frustrated. And I certainly won't be the last.
My hope is that when Noble Legacy comes out, you'll understand why I chose to end Reckoning where I did.
But until then?
I get it.
And I appreciate that you're invested enough in Emma Noble to care about what happens next.
Which brings me back to those little stars.
Here's my call to action.
If you've read one or all of my books, please take a moment to rate or review them on Amazon. I provided links below.
I'm not telling you how to rate them.
And while you're at it, make a habit of reviewing books by other authors. Especially the ones you love.
It's a vote. A thumbs-up or thumbs-down for an author who likely spent the better part of a year wringing out their brain to put something on paper.
But it's also something more important.
It helps the next reader decide whether a book is worth their time.
And when you find a book you love, telling someone else about it is one of the nicest things you can do for the person who wrote it.
Even if the author is a bastard who makes you wait for the ending.
Happy Friday!
Andy
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Fortunate Son | A Noble Sin | Noble Reckoning
