Saturday, February 9, 2013

A needlessly nasty review

I can’t describe just how deeply distasteful it is to get a one-star review of one of my books particularly by someone who hasn’t even read the book. The other day, someone gave my best novel, THE DREAM DANCER, a one-star review on Kindle. This person was simply uninformed. She entitled her review: “Typo in the first sentence.” The problem: There was no typo in the first sentence. She was wrong in saying so; she was wrong in giving a book she had not read a rating at all, no less a purposefully damaging one. She wrote: “I didn't get past page one since the first sentence has "lounge" misspelled. Proofreader needed. Not going to waste my time.” The opening sentence in question: Coop lay back barely awake in the rickety, striped cloth chaise longue at the end of another hot August day, softened by a deliciously cool breeze. I wrote this comment on Kindle in response to the woman’s review: “Good news..., you can continue reading THE DREAM DANCER since chaise longue is correct for the piece of furniture. Please check your dictionary for "chaise longue" not the single word lounge. I was so startled by your criticism that I checked both the internet for "chaise longue" and my Random House Unabridged Dictionary. My use of the name of the furniture was correct. So please continue reading and if you find another typo somewhere within the 91,000 words or so of THE DREAM DANCER forgive me, and try to read on. The novel is well worth the effort.

A suggestion: My novel, THE PENCIL ARTIST is available as an e-book on Smashwords, Kindle, and Barnes and Noble; as a paperback on Amazon.

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