“Literature is strewn with the wreckage of men who have minded beyond reason the opinions of others.” -- Virginia Woolf
Dixon says: There is a hard truth that some writers never come to grips with. Not everyone will fall in love with your lovingly selected words and painstakingly arranged sentences. People will give you bad reviews and one-star ratings (even when it's obvious they never bothered to read it).
But then, you haven't been enraptured with every single short story, essay and book you've ever read, have you? You have a certain genre, a certain style, a certain je ne sais quoi about the literature you prefer. Why would you expect other people to be different from you?
I have a good friend who wrote the best romantic comedy I've ever read, and she has earned over fifty 5-star reviews. Plus a couple 1-stars. The first 1-star rating hurts, but after that you can laugh them off.
The absolute worst thing to do is respond to the lousy review. This invariably ends up in a flame-war of biblical proportions, which will make you look just as bad as the (from your POV) unfair reviewer. If you must say anything, try this: "Thank you for sharing your opinion."
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