Criticism is a gift.

Jeff Bezos and I are in the same business.

He calls it customer satisfaction, but what he means is reader satisfaction.

After all, Amazon started with the goal of being the worlds biggest online bookseller.

It’s grown into so much more, but for me, the core of the business is the book biz.

And to niche it down a little, it’s my little piece of it via KDP publishing.

My business is reader satisfaction with a two fold goal.

Leave ‘em happy and leave ‘em wanting more.

Pretty close to my dating philosophy!

But back to Bezos.

He says Criticism is a gift.

Which means any time someone leaves a 3 2 or 1 star review, it’s an opportunity to learn how to make your readers happy.

I haven’t seen many 2 star reviews, but there are a lot of 1 and 3 that offer insight into how to make a reader happy.

A lot of it is common sense.

My best 3 star is “Get this guy an editor. He can really write.”

One, it validated all the hard work.

Two, it told me something I already know. I need an editor.

Once I started making money.

If you are just starting out, and don’t have a budget for your business, then do your best for editing.

I didn’t have the money for an editor for two years, and I still made a living as a writer.

Would I have made more Money with editing?

Maybe.

But the thing is, I didn’t need to start with an editor.

I just needed to start.

Start writing.

Start publishing.

Start finding my readers.

Because that’s the way you need to think about customer satisfaction and using reviews as a gift.

Your readers are going to love what you write.

They will leave good constructive reviews, like lot’s of typos.

That means go back, check your manuscript and make sure to upload the corrections.

I even have had readers email me with the corrections so I can just do them.

You may get really tough reviews, like “awful. I will never read him again.”

Which is great!

That’s an awesome review.

You just discovered a person who is NOT your reader.

That means keep writing until you find your readers.

And if you let criticism cripple you or dissuade you from your goal of entertaining your readers, flip the script. 

Criticism is a gift.