I had to laugh. I got my first one-star review the other day. It’s not really funny, though it kind of is. I’ll explain in a minute.

I’ve been writing for a number of years, but I have only recently – how shall I put it? – ‘gotten into the game.’  What game? The game of indie-authorship with the sincere hope that I’ll find some readers who will like my stories.

I’m starting to realize that being ‘in the game’ means much less than I anticipated because there are only a few things that I can control.

First and foremost, I control what words I put on the page and in what order. (decisions, it’s all about decisions – but that’s another blog post for another day) The work I create, good or bad, is wholly my creation. I love this part of being an author. I get to decide where my story goes, who is in it, and what happens. I’m like my own private little dictator. (I’ve had students who claimed I had dictatorship-leanings. Hmmm. But I suppose all teachers are somewhat predisposed to fascist power grabs and authoritarianism. I’m sorry. I digress – another wonderful trait of teachers.)

Second, I can control how much time and effort I put into building a brand (don’t you hate that phrase) and promoting my work. I can contact X number of reviewers or bloggers, I can put down X number of dollars on adds, I can giveaway X number of books, and I can continue doing this for X number of months or years, but beyond that, what do I really control?

Not much.

Case in point. I got my first one-star review for my novel. I knew I would eventually. Not everyone will or even should like my work. No author can bridge the wide span of expectations and desires of the free-wheeling readership of the world. All authors, famous or indie, have their detractors.

But then I looked a little closer. My one-star review is actually a good review. The well-intentioned reviewer writes that he wishes more people will read my book. He said a few other nice things and then for some reason, most likely by mistake, just left one star.

Out of my control. But that’s fine. As someone says, perhaps it will work to my advantage. If someone wants a counterpoint for the good reviews they flip over to see another good review.

I’ve decided not to take everything so seriously. I love to write. I’m going to continue creating the stories I want to create. I’m going to control that aspect of my life, and then I will release them into the atmosphere and let them find readers where they may.

So until I get another one-star review, please allow me to savor this one.