Meredith's Monday Musings: Troll Reviews

Hi Everyone!

Happy Monday! How are y’all doing? I’m doing fantastic! I got a lot of stuff done this weekend, which is awesome! :-) 

Today’s Meredith Monday Musing post is all about: Troll Reviewers!

For those of you who don’t know, a troll reviewer is a reviewer who constantly only leaves 1-2 star reviews on books. I’m sure this sounds crazy to some of you. Who would waste their time buying all these books only to leave nasty reviews for the authors to read. Sadly, this happens to authors more than I’d like to admit, especially since more and more authors are listing their books in Kindle Unlimited. 

I’ve been an author for over three years now and I still can’t really figure out why someone would go bashing an author’s books. There’s only one conclusion that I’ve come to. The troll reviewer is a hateful person, who is very upset with their own life and instead of trying to fix themselves, they take their anger out on authors. 

Let me make one thing clear. I know that as an author, I’m going to receive a couple 1-2 star reviews on my stories because not everyone is going to enjoy what I write. That’s okay with me. In fact, the 1-2 star reviews that leave constructive criticism on ways for me to improve my stories are actually very helpful to me as an author. The 1-2 star reviews that are left by troll reviewers are different though than someone who just plain doesn’t like my book. These reviews will sound something like, “This book sucks.” Or “I only read a couple pages of this book and had to put it down because it was so gross!” Or, and this is my personal favorite, “I read the blurb and knew I was going to hate this story even before I read it.” 

Do any of the three examples of reviews left by troll reviewers sound constructive at all? No, they don’t because they aren’t. Like I said earlier, I think that the people who are known as “troll reviewers” are just very unhappy people and are taking their anger and unhappiness out on us authors. 

Honestly, I pity troll reviewers. I try to imagine myself ever being in a position where I am that depressed about my life where I have to go attacking someone else and making them feel bad to make me feel good. I really hope to God that I never feel the need to do this. In the end, these reviewers are upsetting authors and worst, they’re going to end up feeling bad again in a few minutes, so why keep doing something that doesn’t help make them feel better? Plus, when a troll reviewer buys a book just to trash it, they’re spending money that could be used on more enjoyable things. Seriously, why spend your money on something you know that you don’t like. For real, what’s the point? 

My advice to troll reviewers is go get some help. Therapy is awesome! Or if you don’t want to go to therapy, go exercise. I know, people hate exercising, but seriously, this is one of the best ways to naturally make yourself happy. 

My advice to authors is to ignore these reviews. Honestly, they don’t mean anything. In fact, 1-2 star reviews actually help sell books. Readers will read them and want to know if they’d feel the same way as the troll reviewers, so they buy the book. In most cases, they don’t and then they end up buying the rest of your books. So, I guess there is a small positive to these awful reviews. Anywho, just remember to ignore the reviews and not let them get to you. Each of us is a great writer and we just need to remember that, no matter what the troll reviewers would like you to believe instead. 

Well, that’s all I got for now! I hope y’all have a great week!