Oh God People Are Going To Read My Book
And other new-found horrors
Hey Friends,
I have a confession. I looked at Goodreads. For my own book. I KNOW! I tell all authors who’ve published a book not to look at Goodreads because the reviews there can be completely unhinged. Things like, I didn’t like the font, two stars and AHEM, there is no way a woman in this time period wore that dress to a ball. That kind of dress wasn’t popular until TWO WEEKS after this ball supposedly takes place, one star. Am I exaggerating? Only a little.
I am sure people are going to criticize me and/or my book. I bet they’ll say stuff like this is all fine and good if you want to stoop to TRADITIONAL publishing. You can skip all this bullshit and self-publish, one star. (Which, true!) Or This agent is lying. She obviously had enough time to write this book so she can certainly respond in detail to my declined query and give me 1,000 words of personalized feedback, for free, three stars. Or even things about my casual writing style or god forbid a typo slips through into the final copy. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ I am preparing for this kind of stuff. I plan to let it roll off my back. You can’t please everyone.
But you guys. On Goodreads, there was this amazing review for my book!!! It was so nice! But moreover, this reviewer got it. Michelle Ardillo (reposted here on her blog) understood everything I am trying to do in this book. She wrote:
“Her candid, straight forward prose is no holds barred advice, to get to the Holy Grail you must go through the jaws of hell, one word, one sentence, one paragraph, one page, at a time. You actually have to sit down and do it. LOL, easier said than done, but at least here is someone who is being completely realistic about it. Whether you are a “pantser” or a “plotter” she lays it all out for you. Step by excruciating step.”
YES! This is what I was trying to do! It’s what I do here, and what I set out to do in the book, at length. Guys, I cried. I didn’t expect to cry over a review, especially this far out from publication. But here we are. I think this is what people mean when they say they feel “seen.”
Then yesterday, I had an interview with an awesome podcast, Write Minded with Brooke Warner and Grant Faulkner, and it was great fun. They’re lovely people and asked great questions and I can’t wait for it to come out. I’ll def share a link when it’s up. But Grant said at one point “you wrote in your book” and then quoted it to me and I had another pang of oh shit, people are going to read this book!!! It got very real in that moment. My words! Out of someone else’s mouth! Ack! How did I not prepare for this?
The only thing I need to prepare for, though, is my own reactions to all this. To quell the anxiety and fear, to steel myself for the nice or not-nice things people are going to say about it. That’s literally all I can do. Starting now, since galleys are going around and reviews are trickling in, the book is no longer only mine. It’s the reader’s. It’s yours. You and other readers get to take what you want or need from it, and leave the rest. You get to absorb every word, or not. You get to misunderstand what I meant or take it all as gospel and all I can do is answer questions or provide clarification, if asked. I don’t have to go out there an avenge my book in the comments and reviews because, well, who has the time? But also, it’s between the reader and the book now, not the reader and me, Kate McKean. It’s not that I don’t take responsibility for what I’ve written, or that I don’t own it, mistakes and blindspots and all. But I have done what I thought was best, what I thought needed to be done, what fit in there, what is true and useful as I see it, and once it enters the reader’s mind, well, that’s their business. It’s none of my nevermind.
I welcome all opinions about my book. I might not read them all but you can think whatever you want about it. When it’s your turn, I wish you this healthy distance from what readers have to say about your book. If someone is completely off base about something you can think oh! what an interesting opinion! and close the tab. If someone’s tagged you in a negative review online1 you can mute them! Some people’s opinions are just none of your business.
You can also copy and paste all the praise into a document and look at it when you’re feeling low. I absolutely plan to do that. Starting with Michelle’s review.
NEW BOOK ALERT!!!!!!!!
PREORDER NOW! Coming next Tuesday, April 1 is the CUTEST picture book about a dinosaur who loves surprises. The problem is, not a lot of people like to be surprised by a big dinosaur with pointy teeth! SURPRISE DINO is Lucas Klauss’ debut picture book and you’re going to want to watch this author closely. We already have another one in the pipeline that’s just this hilarious, and plans for more! Who needs bunnies for Easter? Dinos are better.
And another thing! You might notice, if you’re reading this on the web, that the URL has changed. I tested my technical prowess and successfully got a dedicated URL for Agents & Books. It’s www.agentsandbooks.com, obvs. Tell your friends! Change your bookmarks! katemckean.substack.com will still get you where you want to go. But now the URL does what it says on the tin.
Take care, friends. Go write a review of a book you loved and make an author’s day.
XOXOXOOXX,
Kate
FOR THE LOVE OF GOD DON’T TAG AUTHORS IN NEGATIVE REVIEWS ON SOCIAL MEDIA. Geez.
We loved having you on Write-minded and can't wait to share your book with our audience. Thanks for all your hard work on behalf of writers and authors, Kate!
It doesn't just extend to books -- anytime I read an article, or hear a podcast, that I especially enjoyed, I try to make sure the creator knows I loved it, full stop, no expectations that they need to acknowledge my missive or be my friend or whatever. It's one of the things I miss about Twitter in its heyday: whenever I was having a bad day I had the ability to fire off a compliment to someone whose work I admired and make THEIR day a little better.
And I've become very careful about leaving negative reviews because I've been a content creator for more than a decade and I'm the kind of person who can quote, chapter and verse, every single mean thing that's ever been said about me on the Internet. (I've coached a couple of reality TV contestants on social media management before their seasons aired.) Unless I'm punching WAY up or there's a legitimate issue with a book, I try not to live rent-free in anyone's head. :)
So I guess...I love this post. I'm excited to read your book. All of what you just said is awesome.