How to Handle Negative Criticism by Sophia Karlson, author of Perfect Mistake

Welcome to the book tour for Perfect Mistake by Sophia Karlson! We have all kinds of fun posts for you here. Read interviews and guest posts. Here, Sophia talks about handling rejection. You can also check out excerpts and reviews. Leave your comments and questions along the way while you also take advantage of multiple chances to enter the giveaway!

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How to handle negative criticism

When doing anything creative there will always be criticism and writing is no different. Criticism is an opinion, and highly subjective. It’s hard to receive negative criticism on something that came from the heart. I always remind myself that no statue has ever been set up in honor of a critic. Since none of us can escape negative criticism, we must make the most of any that comes our way. Go in with an open eye, a sound ear, a python skin, and your tongue in your cheek.

If you are going to get a beta reader, make sure the person you ask actually reads your genre. My husband is my biggest supporter, but hasn’t read a single page I’ve ever written. He only recently glanced over the e-book version of my book, and mentioned on the side that he likes the nice dedication. When I ask him for advice on plot (or anything really), his recommendations are limited to bringing in Pirates, Zombies, Nazis, or Harry Potter. Not in that order, and sometimes all together at once. Funny, but not very useful.

Find a serious but kind cheerleader. Friends who read your genre are great, especially if they can be honest about the writing too. Fellow writers make the best beta readers and critique partners, because they know the effort that goes into writing a book, they know when something works and when it doesn’t – but the most important thing is, they would know WHY something doesn’t work. And then how to fix it. When we get to make our baby, we get blind to its faults – everybody wants a perfect child. Some drafts need to be put away for a long time before you have the feeling for the issues in a manuscript. And then you need guts and energy to actually fix it.

Not everybody is going to like your book. Make peace with that on their behalf. Luckily they didn’t spend a fortune on your book – imagine this was a bed they bought and had to sleep on for the next twenty years. Take from their comments what you can use, and let it simmer. Some good writing advice come in the form of negative criticism and one only recognize it for what it is after having digested the negative criticism.

Some people just don’t grant you a bit of sunshine. Well, tomorrow is another day and the sun is already up in Australia! Let it go and move on and go catch a tan.

Perfect Mistake

Simone Levin had a dream job as a safari pilot until an unexpected pregnancy clipped her wings. Tired of juggling motherhood with her demanding flight schedule, Simone applies for an office job, unaware that her new boss is Carlo Carlevaro, the man who’d ditched her before finding out he’d knocked her up. Carlo returns to East Africa only to kill another fire—Ivory trafficking from his lodges threatens to destroy his company. Finding Simone back on the payroll comes as a pleasant surprise. As his employee, Simone is off-limits, but she is the only one he trusts to help with his undercover investigation. With time running out, Simone and Carlo strive to expose the trafficking ring, but working together rekindles their mutual desire. When Simone is implicated as a trafficker, revealing her daughter’s existence to Carlo seems inevitable. Acting on her instincts might come too late as the syndicate retaliate and hone in their threat. Will they survive to give their love a chance?

Read an excerpt:

She glanced at him but had to look away from the intensity of his eyes, which held her with such dearness that she knew he’d spoken of her. Inwardly she trembled, her murmur of need escalating to an oscillating quake.

“Simone, there’s something you’re not telling me. If you are in trouble, please–”

She extracted her fingers from his, but he cupped her elbow in his hand. She felt like crying, but the only sound that slipped out was a strangled choke as she jerked away from him. “I’m in no trouble, thank you.” Four years too late for that one.

She wanted to laugh but it hurt too much. She had to phone her mom, but it would only be to confirm her suspicions. Her mother had never passed on the message that Carlo had phoned. Her eyes misted over and she had to blink, looking away. “I just wish someone could show me where I’m to sleep tonight.”

With me. He didn’t say the words, but they hung between them, heavy and drenched.

She curled her fingers into her palms, her nails cutting into her skin. Any physical pain that would stop her from showing him where it truly ached. “It’s such a fine bloody line, Carlo. Please understand.” She swallowed the last words, biting hard on her lip to transfer the pain that had settled underneath her heart.

Buy links

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About Sophia Karlson

Sophia Karlson has lived in France, Germany, East Africa, Madagascar (not the movie, the country) and now finds herself back on home ground in South Africa. As a teenager, she devoured romances with far flung settings, loving to travel through books. After school her itchy feet took her around the world, but now she doesn’t get much further than the school run and the daily walk with her very demanding beagle. She writes contemporary and erotic romance, wanting to take readers on a journey of their own. She loves hearing from readers, follow her on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/sophia.karlson.5, Twitter: @SophiaKarlson, on the web at www.sophiakarlson.com.

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