Leanne Dyck: What to Do with a Negative Review

by Leanne Dyck

Way back when, in 2006, I self-published an audiobook collection of short stories. It was my first published piece of size and I was a bundle of emotions. One of these emotions was doubt—would anyone really like it? Well, I was relieved to discover that most did.

“Intriguing…delightful…many truths…  A lot of great insights…It’s upbeat, enthusiastic.”

—Celia A. Leaman (Writing Creatively)

“Novelty Yarn contains a collection of small, tasty morsels that will continue to surprise you right up until the last bite… Many of the stories made me laugh out loud, while others made me pause…to mediate for a few minutes.”

—Donna Druchunas (Ethnic Knitting Exploration

‘There is a story…for every taste…[T]here are bits of knitting instruction interspersed in these stories, with plenty of encouragement for new knitters and shared experiences for those who have knit longer.’

—The West Coast Knitters Guild

‘There are few things that are more enjoyable than being read to while you knit. Being read pithy knitterly prose by Leanne’s engaging and deliberate voice, punctuated with soothing guitar music is even harder to beat.’

—Palomara Parra

Yes, most reviews were positive. But one wasn’t.

No. No quote. I didn’t keep that review. But I do remember it. The reviewer wrote that she felt that some of the stories were too short.

Too short? Well, I ranted and raved to myself and to my husband. “It is a short story collection.”

“Don’t worry about it,” my husband said. “You can’t please everyone.”

I knew he was right. But I couldn’t shake the negative review. Too short. Too short.

I’ll show her, I told myself, I’ll write something longer. And I did—novellas and then novels.

Would I have made this leap without her negative review?
Maybe. Probably. But that’s not my point. My point is that sometime if you’re able to endure the sting you can learn something from a negative review.

About Leanne:

Leanne Dyck is a women’s fiction author. She writes stories about outsiders facing challenges. Within the last five years, Leanne’s writing has been published in Island Writer, Kaleidoscope, Canadian Stories, Icelandic Connection and Island Gal magazines. To follow Leanne’s author journey, please visit her blog:

http://sweatercursed.blogspot.ca

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