If you’ve been anywhere within shouting distance for the past few months, you might know that CHARWOOD, my eco Jewish folk horror novel from Aggadah Try It, is finally out in the world! While this should be the time where I constantly refresh my browser to check reviews, I won’t be doing that. In fact, I won’t be reading hardly any of them at all.

And I’ll tell you why…

But first, let me make it very clear that I’m beyond grateful to anyone and everyone kind enough to take the time to read and review indie horror, whether they’re a professional or amateur, fellow author or reader. Reviews really boost sales as they raise awareness and provide social proof, and I’m forever indebted to those who share CHARWOOD with other readers.

Yet that’s the key phrase: “other readers.” Because they’re the ones reviews are for, not for those of us who wrote the dumb book.

Truly, a reviewer has every right to tell the world how much they hate a particular work of fiction. Like one’s favorite color, art is subjective (beyond basic competence), and not every work can please everyone. And, frankly, as an author—short of slander, libel, defamation, or other false statements justifying legal action—I’d never contact a reviewer after a bad review.

But that’s where things get tricky. Because an alarming number of so-called reviews these days are less honest critiques of art than they are personal attacks seeking to destroy the reputation of authors whose subject matter may or may not march lockstep in line with a reviewer’s rigid ideology. Even worse are the unhinged accusations that characters, dialogue, or plot points are somehow representative of what an author “really thinks.” (If that was the case, then every single horror writer would be pro-murder!).

I’m not sure if those “reviews” are about creating faux controversy for clicks or are simply the result of some members of the community viewing the world through the black and white lens of a fundamentalist (and I say this as a longtime radical progressive organizer). Either way, it’s becoming a real problem for the genre, and, ultimately, it’s up to readers to speak up about it.

Still, the reason I won’t be reading my reviews isn’t for fear of the bad ones—but the good ones.

It’s a natural thing for a writer who spends months (or longer) working on a book to know it’s appreciated. Yet, much as I love, respect, and wish nothing but happiness upon my readers, I don’t want to become dependent on their praise to validate my creative pursuits. While I’m very open to feedback—especially from my critique group in Denver Horror Collective—and truly want people to read and review CHARWOOD, I’m doing my best to avoid any sort of pandering, which to me is the same as writing for the market…nothing less than a muse-killer.