Books are like Blue Jeans

I had a pair of green jeans in high school. I thought I was pretty cool.

I think I've figured it out. When my first book first hit the shelves, I'd get very upset whenever I read a review that was, well, not so nice. It really used to hurt me that someone didn't like something I put my very heart and soul into. It's like calling your child ugly or something.

Mom jeans rocked 90210!

Since then, I've learned to let that stuff roll off my back. If it's bad, it's bad, and there's nothing you can do about it--or at least nothing you should do. You may have noticed over the last couple years, there have been several author online meltdowns, wherein an author gets a bad review on goodreads or someone's blog and takes out their anger on the reviewer and all sorts of mayhem follows. I don't need to tell you that's not a wise thing to do for several reasons, but I do get it. I understand how a writer can feel personally injured after reading a scathing review. It's never fun. 

All I can say is, wow, just wow.

So, for any of you out there who have books available to the public and have gotten bad reviews, even nasty ones, or any of you who've gotten a rejection letter or two or three or a hundred, maybe try to think of it in these terms: Books are like blue jeans. If ever there was one thing in a person's closet (male or female) that is hard to buy and open to wearer interpretation it's blue jeans. Never in my life have I tried on such similar articles of clothing and looked so bad or so good (or so ridiculous) from one pair to another. It's almost as if the jean gods are playing tricks with the mirrors. These jeans make you look hippy, these jeans make your butt look big, these jeans make you look like you have no butt, the list goes on and on. Well...books are like that too.

Yeah...never gonna happen--NEVER!

I've tried on jeans from top designers, willing to shell out the cash to get the look of jean awesomeness I'm hoping for. I've bought the exact same pair of jeans my friend looks great in, only to find out, on me, not so great. I've bought cheap jeans, vintage jeans, boys' jeans, still without much luck in the "you are rocking those jeans!" department. Okay, I'm sure by now you're starting to get my point. Books are very much like blue jeans. What I think is a top ten book, may be so utterly boring to you, you want to hurt yourself at the thought of reading it and what you think is the greatest achievement of literary genius ever written, I may think is about as exciting as forensic accounting. 

Does he know we can see his undies?

We don't all like the same things, we just don't. It's human nature. So the next time your partial manuscript gets rejected or you read a biting review about your latest middle-grade novel, don't sweat it! At least it doesn't make your butt look big! ;)

Create as though there are no Critics
Amen to that!

Thanks all!

Hilary