In the past, I would have said yes to this. However, after taking a bit of a hiatus from social media and sites like Bookroar, Pubby, and of course review sites like Goodreads this month to just write my books, I've come to the conclusion that no we should not.
I've seen everywhere that reviews are for readers, not authors and I disagreed at first. I felt that it's my book, so I should be checking feedback.
I just didn't realize how truly thin-skinned I am, and it got to a point I was obsessing over what reviewers said, and changing some things in already published books, and I was obsessed, especially when I'd see I got negative reviews in Pubby or Bookroar, and I'd obsess about their opinions to the point I'd be posting about it on social media to see what I could change. It gave me bad writers block, and writing wasn't enjoyable like it used to be before I published.
After deciding to just write this month and not focus on the books I'd written already, I finally beat that writers block I had for Foothills and my enthusiasm came back for the series.
I loved writing the first book despite it coming off childish but I just wanted them as innocent children for at least one book before they had to grow up because each book gets darker, and I enjoyed immersing myself in this world where kids went to a school to control their elements and meet new friends.
So far, I think the third and fourth will probably be my favourite books in the series, I love writing the characters bonds. However, the first book was a joy to write, so I feel a bit defensive at times when it gets a lower rating for seeming like a children's book, and not because I'm ashamed, exactly. This series is meant for anyone who enjoys people going to a magical school.
My reason for feeling defensive is because what if it was strictly for kids? I still need adults to read through it to review, so while I hadn't intended this to be for kids, I still felt upset to see it rated as 2 or 3 stars just because people assumed it was for children.
I used to review children's books to adult books before I became an author, and I treated them differently. I'd never rate for example, a Goosebumps books as a 2 because it feels like middle grade.
So I guess I felt somewhat upset when I got low ratings for it sounding young, but I just wanted it to seem authentic to their ages rather than adult sounding 13 year olds. I wanted these books to grow with the characters like the way they do on TV shows. When I wrote Foothills, I was thinking of books like Summer Sisters where you see Vix and Caitlin grow up in that book, or Degrassi, a show I loved as a teen. You see them start as 7th and 8th graders and grow to teens or adults.
However, I found myself stressing too much about how people felt about the first book that my enthusiasm for this series disappeared and I felt stressed about it, and I even dreaded marketing it because I'd tell myself: "Well, everyone hates the first book, so one is going to read the next books, so why bother?"
As you can see from previous blog posts, a lot of them are defensive. I've decided to leave them up to look back on, but to also show people what happens when you obsess about reviews.
I finished Book Three this month, and I'm on four already. Taking a break from it all just to write like I used to rejuvenated me a lot to the point I got excited about the series again, and other then adding Sierra’s and Jared's points of view to the first book, as well as changing too many of Amber's chapters to other characters, I have no regrets how I wrote it. I'm enjoying writing and seeing their growth from 13 to adults, and I won't feel ashamed anymore for writing them so young in the first book.
For that reason, this series probably won't be popular or loved, but I've found my love for writing again when I stopped caring about reviews or getting sales. People will love them or hate them, but for my own mental health, unless the criticism is from beta readers or anyone else before publishing, I won't be taking it in... except for the extra points of views in book one. That was valuable advice because I was worried no one wanted to hear Amber’s story since she is based on me, but most reviewers seem to prefer her voice. So I've adjusted books 3 and 4 to include hers the most.
Any other extra povs belong in the special edition. If I'd known what I know now, the first book would be better, but I'll utilize that for Frost vs. Fire and my reapers story.
From this moment on though, unless I'm tagged in a review, I will not be reading any. I'm more thin-skinned than I realized, so I've learned I'm not an author who should read my reviews.