How I Turned My One Star Review Into My Most Succesful Advert

Whether you read every one or ignore them completely, there’s no denying that reviews can impact a book’s success—especially negative ones. So how do you handle that horrendous 1-star that makes no sense and is pulling down your overall rating?

Well, this week I decided to turn it into my most successful advertisement. 

Let’s start with some background. I write female-led military fantasy. My debut novel, The Last Faoii, has garnered a lot of reviews since its release, and I’m grateful for the feedback and support I’ve gotten from so many different people. And, even though they can be difficult to hear sometimes, I’ve learned to appreciate negative reviews as much as positive ones. Negative reviews offer a sense of legitimacy to an indie book, and most of the time I can learn something from them and improve my craft. 

Most of the time. But right at the beginning of my author journey I got a review that seemed solely based in bigotry and hatred. There was nothing to learn from it. There was nothing to gain from writing it. It was only created to hurt.

“There should have been a warning that the protagonist is gay.”

I’m not going to lie. I was originally crushed by this review. I had so few at the time and I didn’t think my rating would ever recover. I was so hurt that one person’s opinion could have such an impact. I began to reach out to others for suggestions or advice. And every time I did, it sparked a conversation and support. Something positive sprouted from the negative.

Now I see the humor in that single, stupid statement. The absurdity. If I wrote romance or erotica or anything even close to that I would probably understand someone maybe wanting to know about the main character’s sexual orientation. But my military fantasy stories have little to no romance. There’s one kiss in the last chapter. One kiss. That’s it. And that was apparently TOO MUCH for this person. 

Can you imagine being a fly on the wall for this scenario? This reader apparently enjoyed the book enough to get to the LAST chapter. They watched these strong women lead armies and bring down tyrants together. They supported Kaiya until the very end, blissfully unaware of what was coming. And then… a kiss. Without WARNING. How DARE I trick someone into seeing a GAY PERSON AS A PERSON. 1 star! There should have been a warning! 

It’s ridiculous. And people respond to ridiculous. Of all the reviews I’ve gotten and posted in the last two years, this single, stupid 1-star is STILL the one that has the most comments. The most laugh reacts. The most support.

And I realized that it didn’t have to be a negative. So, as my first ad of 2021, I took the words of a bigot who was trying to tear me down and decided that they were going to be my biggest unintentional supporter. I turned their comment into a pretty graphic and made a paid advertisement about it. And it WORKED. I made more in the first 3 days than I usually make in a month.

Listen to me. Love will always be stronger than hate. For every person that wants to tear you down or make you feel worthless there are A HUNDRED people who are ready to support you instead. No matter how deafening the bigotry might seem, our battle cries are louder. So keep your shields up and keep going. What’s the worst that can happen? Your ad gets a negative review, too? You’ve already proven that won’t kill you. And maybe it will turn into something wonderful. 

Today I decided to make lemonade out of someone else’s lemons. Max P, if you read this, you’re welcome to a glass whenever you’d like.

—

Tahani Nelson is an author and English teacher in Billings, Montana. With hundreds of 5-star reviews and an ever-growing army of Faoii at her back, Nelson has become a common attendee at author events, Renaissance festivals, news programs, and conventions across the US– always wearing full armor and a face resplendent with warpaint. While her most notable appearances have been at the Indie Audiobook Awards and Fantasycon discussion panels, she most frequently gives presentations about empowerment and creating strong, healthy female role models in modern media.

Find out more about her on her website https://tahaninelson.com/

Follow her on Twitter https://twitter.com/TahaniNelson

The Last Faoii: Book 1 of the Faoii Chronicles  

After her monastery is attacked and her sisters slaughtered, young Kaiya is left alone to fight back against a dark army and darker betrayal.

The Faoii have protected Clearwall for generations. With militaristic order and magic granted by the Goddess Illindria, these women have reigned in unopposed prosperity. But when her monastery is attacked and her sisters slaughtered, only young Kaiya-Faoii is left alive.

Forced to cope without the traditions of her Order, Kaiya travels the country on a mission to avenge her sisters and preserve her heritage. The search brings her not only to dark discoveries and ancient family secrets, but also to something she never wanted or dreamed of: an estranged brother.

Thrust into a war at the heart of a broken empire, the siblings stand together in order to face a dark past and even darker future as Kaiya learns the true state of the world outside her monastery’s walls, the dangers of the poisonous army creeping across the land, and her own innate abilities gifted by the Goddess.

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Category: How To and Tips