I attended the 2024 New York Comic Con and one of the panels was a delightful time with great authors discussing how they handle criticism, bad reviews and general bad vibes. The authors in the panel were:

  • Alex Segura, known for his comic books and novels for series like STAR WARS, DAREDEVIL, among many others.
  • Gregory Maguire, known for writing the book, Wicked
  • John Scalzi, known for his science fiction novels
  • Libba Bray, known for her young adult novels
  • Kyle Prue, known for his book, How I Piss Off Men

When it came to how they dealt with criticism, John explained that he was a reviewer of books first, so he knew how the sausage is made, so to speak. That helped him deal with reviewers when it came to his own published books.

Libby grew up with a mother who was an English teacher who critiqued any grammar from homework to small notes so she was used to it.

Many admitted that while it took a while, they don’t read reviews. Alex said it took ten years to learn this tip. He just asks his wife’s opinion and she sometimes asks, “Does Michael Connelly do this?” which is a tell for him.

Greg shared that his mother was really the only one who did read his work and that she was nice about but she is not dead, so that is done with. The others with children, along with Greg agree that for the most part, their kids don’t read their work and just wait for the benefits of the check!

Then we got into some of the bad reviews. A quote from a bad review for her book, Beauty Queen, Libba Bray quoted:

“I would rather have a slug pull through my entrails with a long piece of twine, thank you very much. I should hire a personal injury, law firm, and scholastic press for mental cruelty for publishing this book and Libby for writing it all. A waste of time, save your money for something worthwhile instead such as a Starbucks Frappuccino.”

John Scalzi’s book Old Man’s War was voted the best science fiction/fantasy novel of the last decade but one review stood out that he quoted to us:

“This macho fantasy reads like the work of a clever but disturbed schoolboy and exists only for the scenes of nasty meaningless violence that punctuate the tedious cliches. There are no characters to speak up of, no psychology, no development, no suspense. The brief attempts to provide some sort of scientific background are just silly and ignorant. The professional reviewers who have praised this horrible little book aught to be ashamed, it is the literary equivalent of pulling wings off flies.”

You really can’t please them all.

For Kyle Prue, he shared that he has received 43 death threats today alone! After his video went viral with 17 million views, he knew he was in for a time, “I am from the internet and I know what that means.” He checked his sales on Amazon and it didn’t help. Most reviews were, “A tree died for this,” to which his response is, “There is an e-book and an audiobook if you are that concerned.”

But Alex pointed out, “Once the book is done, it’s not mine anymore.” The authors agreed, ultimately reviews and their work is not about them. Reviews are for the traders and other readers. This is what is key to remember because you as a writer wanted to share something to educate, entertain. Sometimes it did, sometimes it didn’t, but you can’t be there for everyone.

“Reviews are not about you and it’s hard cuz it’s about your work which is an extension of you but it’s not about you,”

John Scalzi

In an analogy, the panelists pointed out, a review is like being in a party you were not invited to and people are talking about you and you are the weirdo that party-crashed. Plus, if you write medicore work, it can make it work for the average person to like it. But the more niche or even the genres like comedy or fantasy like these authors work on, they know not many will like it and that is par for the course.

Books after all, are about to opening up worlds to anyone and everyone. Libba saw that most parents bought her books for girls and not boys. When she asked why, it was because the book cover was pink and they thought the boys would be less likely to read it. She also knows that it translate it as a “girl book” is considered less worthy. “We need to change that mindset and invite all to read these books.”

As we finished our time, Kyle talked about how he started the Sparking Literacy Foundation to address the issues of literacy because “Literacy is the ability to advocate for yourself.” When he went around to schools, they asked if he made money with his work and he replied “It doesn’t matter!” (He did admit to us that really, it didn’t make him much money but ultimately it doesn’t matter. What does matter is that you can read and write. Then sky is the limit.

Closing off my time at the panel, we were a month shy from the release of the film version of Wicked so Gregory shared the story of his most famous work. He wanted to explore the nature of evil and how society views it. Inspired by The Wizard of Oz, he wanted to use it to explore this idea. 

“I am climbing on the shoulders of another writer who is dead and copyright is done so I had carte blanche.”

Gregory Maguire

When Stephen Schwartz approached Gregory to turn his book into a musical, Gregory wasn’t sure. But the first song Stephen shared with him, which is the first song featured in the show proved to him that Stephen got the point of the book. He gave his blessing and let Stephen do his thing. “I respect the tools of the trade. (Lyman Frank Baum), the original writer didn’t haunt me so I wasn’t going to haunt Schwartz and I didn’t haunt them while making the film.”

Jokingly but also truthfully, the other panelists pointed out, he just reaps the benefits of the paycheck that comes with the musical and the film. Greg smiled and coyly nodded.

In the end, we learned, some will love your work, hate it, or be indifferent but at least you expressed yourself. If it can make you money, so much the better.