How Should You Take Bad Reviews as an Indie Author?

You suck!

Bad Reviews, Everyone Gets Them

Bad reviews are inevitable. It is the natural way of things, because people are different and tastes are different. Early on in my writing, I got slammed by readers on B&N. The reviews were harsh and made me question myself as a writer. It forced me to decide why I was writing. Was I writing for others or was I writing for my own enjoyment?

Turns out, I am writing for me. I love bringing my characters to life and seeing how their stories unfold. It is a high like no other. At the time, I chose to ignore the reviews even though they hurt. I chose not to let someone else decide what I would do with my life.

Had I listened to those depressing reviews Luke and Tesse, Dan, Jenny and Ryan, and sassy little Brie would never have been born into the world. Their voices would have remained silent.

Follow you heart, authors. Ebooks allow us to write without anyone losing money if we fail. We have the freedom to let our imaginations soar. Yes, look at the bad reviews to see if there is something you can improve on. You should always be willing to grow. However, don't let it kill your dream if you know you are meant to write.

Something else to keep in mind: The people who write bad reviews are generally not your audience. It is okay if they don't like your work, because they aren't the people you are trying to reach. 

* If you want to check out my nasty reviews (you know you want to), here's a link. FYI, Amy does NOT do her cousin.

Should Indie Authors Charge $2.99 for Short Books?

You Want to Charge $3 for 35 Pages???

I charge .99 because I am a reader as well as a writer, and I want to make my books affordable. However, I wonder if am I losing potential readers because of my price.

I really want to know what readers think on this one. If you are familiar with my work, you know I normally write novelettes (between 12,000 - 18,000 words). I personally like erotica at that length and feel comfortable charging .99. I am confident it is worth at least that much for the hot sex scenes. ;)

I have been noticing other erotica authors charging 2.99 for the same length novelettes and I am a little shocked, especially if it is part of a series. If an author charges that much for five novelettes within a series, he/she has just made the reader pay $15 bucks for what ends up being a simple novel by the end. That is a lot of money!

* For those not in the industry, an indie author makes 35% for books under 2.99 and 70% for any books sold 2.99 or higher on Amazon. There is a financial incentive for charging more.

However, I think 2.99 is too much for books under 20,000 words. Yet if you look on Amazon's erotica list right now, you will see the series Anything He Wants is doing VERY well, even though reviewers are complaining about the price of the last two novelettes.

So, my question is this:

Do you generally feel that a book is more viable if there is a higher price attached to it - no matter the length?

Let me put it more bluntly...

Do you feel a  .99 book is normally not worth reading?