After self-publishing my first book--an audiobook
collection of short stories, I worried about what the world would think about my baby. Would anyone read it? What would the reviewers write?
To my relief, most of the reviewers were very kind--most but not all. One reviewer's words stung. She wrote, 'Some of the stories are too short.'
Well, I ranted and raved to myself and to my husband. “Too short? Too short! It is a short story
collection.”
“Don’t worry about it,” my husband said, “You can’t please
everyone.”
I knew he was right, but I couldn’t stop thinking about that bad review Too short, rang in my ears.
I'll show her, I thought, and picked up my pen and wrote longer and longer stories.
Would I have made that leap without her bad review? Maybe, probably, hopefully. But that bad review helped me to make the leap sooner.
