The Other Side of the Conversation

All of the above sounds super bleak, I will admit. But reviews do, in fact, have a function that has absolutely nothing to do with stores or book selling, and everything to do with the authors themselves. Reviews, in my humble opinion, voice the other half of the conversation.

Writing can be a very isolating job. We have so much to say, and putting those words on the page gives us a sense that we’re putting something amazing out into the world. We’re weaving characters out of pieces of our soul. We’re carving worlds out of our hearts. We’re shaping universes with our blood, sweat, and tears. It’s a cry out into the void. We send out the signal into the dark of night, and hope and pray that it gets picked up.

But if no one answers, it can sometimes feel like it was all for nothing. Why bother shouting or singing when no one’s listening, you know? Communication only works if there is a back-and-forth. You could be sharing the most profound wisdom to ever be bestowed upon humanity, or you could be making an utter fool of yourself. But if no one ever tells you, you’ll never really know.

I know it’s a big ask, which is why I don’t ask it. As a writer, all I want is for people to read and enjoy my books. As a reader, if you have bought and read my books (and not returned them), you have fulfilled that wish, and I thank you for it. I don’t expect anything more beyond that. But if you do go the extra step (for me, or anyone else), I want you to know that the review you leave, the post you make on social media, the message you send to the author to let them know their book touched your life, don’t go unnoticed. They are all confirmation that there is someone out there listening. It means our words aren’t falling on deaf ears.

And when times get tough, those little gems of validation may just be the one thing that helps the author decide to keep going for another day, rather than give up out of sheer exhaustion and defeat.

I can’t tell you how many times I have gotten low enough throughout my career to debate giving up publishing. Many times have I scoured the internet for my books just to see if maybe someone new might have left a few words in response. I appreciate the bad reviews because they tell me where I need to improve. But I cherish the good ones because they tell me I am doing something right. Something worth doing.

Writing, for me, is many things: therapy, passion, creative release, escapism, sometimes even wish fulfillment. I thrive on it.

Publishing is a whole other thing. As much as I love sharing my writing with the world, publishing is very much a business. It is heartless, and it comes at a cost. Not just financial, but physical and emotional, too. That’s what tends to weigh on me the most. Not the writing, not the publishing, but the knowledge that, because of how much the industry has changed, my books might not even be found out there in the vastness of all that exists, much less read.  

Therefore, every single new review I find when I am at my lowest is a jewel I deeply treasure. I hoard those words like the world is about to end and they will be my only sustenance. I will never meet these readers. They will never know how much that simple paragraph or two means to me, and how much I love them for taking the time to type them out.

Below are screenshots of some of my favorite reviews for one of my most popular books: Wolfen. And I am so, so grateful to each and every one of these readers for taking the time to write them.

At the end of the day, all that really matters is the conversation.

Thank you so much for listening. <3

Until next time!