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Originally Posted by banjobama
I do agree with you about judging on results and not effort, but if it's just as easy to tread carefully with criticism then why not do it? Something like the review the person wrote of the OP's book is not constructive in any way and it bothered her to see that. There's not much for her to learn from that review and I can see how it would be hard to disregard that kind of feedback unless a person had a naturally thick skin.
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The review the OP got was one of the first variety: "Your book isn't what I wanted it to be." The review isn't worth the pixels it's displayed with. That's the kind where you mentally say "...and the horse you rode in on" and ignore them.
When you look at that review, you realize there are two possibilities: 1) Donna's book was a tract about global warming, and 2) Donna's book was not such a tract. If the first is true, then the problem is all on the reader's end; if he didn't do his due diligence on what he was buying (that's what blurbs, excerpts, other reviews, etc., are all about) then he's got nobody to blame but himself when he finds out it's not, in fact, end-times Christian fiction. Therefore, it can be safely disregarded as the prattle of a fool. On the other hand, if the latter is true, then the reader is clearly out of his tiny little mind. He's seeing what he wants to see, not what's actually on the page. Therefore, it can be safely disregarded as the raving of a lunatic. Either way, it's worthless and demonstrates the reader's flaws, not the writer's. It's not worth the glucose it takes to power a few brain cells to care about it.
As to why not tread carefully, simple: The first sort of review -- "your book wasn't what I wanted it to be, waaaah!" -- should never be written at all. You failed at buying a book that matched your interests, tough noogies, choose better next time. The second -- "here's what's wrong with this book" -- is about the book, not the author. No professional, whether they're an author or a roofer, should need to have comments on their work sugar-coated so their poor widdle feewings don't get hurt by someone saying that competence is, in fact, not optional. Personally, I'd be insulted by a reviewer who treated me like I was an emotionally fragile child who couldn't ever be told they'd made a mistake, at least not without plenty of praise to cushion the shock.
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P.S. You aren't that rude. Try harder. 
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I'm not a nice person; I just play one on MobileRead.
