Every successful business, service
or book
receives 1 star (bad) reviews.
1 star reviews garner attention
and there are trolls who relish this attention,
who enjoy stirring up negativity.
Having published over 60 stories
under one of my pen names,
I have some experience with trolls
and their games
so I usually take action to block them.
For example:
In romance,
the number one sales killer is
no happy romantic ending
(which is the ONLY definition of romance).
Trolls will leave a 1 star review
and state the story had no happy ending.
To prevent this,
I put that this story is a romance
and has the expected romance ending
in the blurb or From The Author information.
Mike Michalowicz
shares
his tips for dealing with trolls
“First of all,
your response should never
be argumentative,
and you should never justify your behavior.
Most times
—especially when you suspect the complaint
isn’t from a legitimate customer
—your first step should be to professionally
and clearly ask them
to help you sort out the problem.
Explain that you have no record
of the transaction
(or of them as a client)
but that you’re committed to
making the situation right.
Give them your contact information
and ask them to contact you.
If a reasonable period of time elapses
without contact from this “customer,”
then you can post a follow-up,
explaining that you have done
everything in your power
to locate the customer
and have been unable to.”
This is a brilliant strategy
as many trolls are NOT customers.
Learn how to deal with trolls.
They exist
and they WILL target your business.