“Bad Reviews: What do you do when it happens to you?”

For a long time I was riding high receiving excellent reviews of my books, especially my first novel, Homecoming. It is the first of a four book military science fiction series called Osguards: Guardians of the Universe. The 2011 Hollywood Book Festival just notified me that Homecoming was recognized with an Honorable Mention Award. In the same week, I was truly delighted to receive a five-star rating from The Midwest Book Review. I was starting to feel very good about my work. However, when I went to Amazon.com to see The Midwest Book Review, I read my first negative review right under it. This review was written by a customer and was a five-paragraph, full-page scathing assessment of my ability as an author. As I read it, I was mortified. My mouth just dropped. My heart stopped beating and the world became silent around me.

I quickly started to respond to the review, but thought better. I walked away from the review and sulked for about an hour and then came back and read it again. This time, I read it without emotion and dissected the words. As I dissected the words, I realized the review was not professional, but a personal attack on me and my wife, who is one of the four editors of my book. I also recognized the reviewer was talking about an earlier version of the book that I self-published in 2001. Since then, I hired an editor and revised the book several times to its present form, which the Hollywood Book Festival and the Midwest Book Review favorably recognized.

I talked to my family and friends about the review. Then, something clicked. The more I talked openly about receiving a negative review the better I felt. Then a couple of days later, I received another national review that was not as positive as the Midwest Book Review. However, it was professional and didn't read like a personal attack. I was more receptive to this review, understanding what in particular this reviewer found needed improvement in my work. I was able to grasp more readily the salient points and store them in my toolkit for future projects. That is what a credible, well thought-out review will do for an author...become a tool to teach, train, hone and push the author to be better. In summary, all reviews are subjective, and depending on the reviewer, they can be mean-spirited or constructive. It is the author’s choice to be discouraged or use it as a learning tool. Remember, one reviewer’s five-star novel may be another reviewer’s one-star reject. So my advice to authors is to judge the veracity of the review. If it’s professional, revise your work if able or use it as a teaching tool. But most of all get as many reviews as possible

In conclusion, after reading these two reviews, rejecting one and learning from the other, I made travel arrangements to California to accept my Honorable Award Recognition from the Hollywood Book Festival for my first novel, Homecoming.

 Malcolm Petteway,

Why Rage Books

My name is Malcolm D. Petteway, founder of Rage Books LLC. I started Rage Books in October 2009 as a family and friends operated small publisher of science fiction, fantasy and horror. Prior to starting the company and while I was still in the Air Force, I published three books from my exciting Osguards: Guardians of the Universe series through Iuniverse.com between 2001 and 2004. After retiring from the military, I began my writing career in earnest. In 2006, I collaborated with my dear friend, James Barnes, who came on board as the chief editor. Between the two of us, we saw Rage Books as a publisher for the new and struggling writers who had a unique story to tell. This led to our motto “Fighting for the Small Voice”.


Subsequently, I used my Osguards: Guardians of the Universe series, as the foundation to begin operations. I published the second editions of Homecoming and Revelations in February 2010, followed by the second edition of Armageddon in March 2010. I also published the fourth book in the series, Revenge in March 2010. Osguards is a new and fresh approach to science fiction. Seldom has science fiction detailed a space odyssey, framed in American History and peppered with intrigue, adventure and technical wizardry--UNTIL NOW! Osguards is a gripping ride through time and space detailing the horrors of antebellum south, the strife of the post reconstruction era, the grit of U.S. urban life at the turn of the century and ultimately the terror of an escalating war played out in the heavens above present day unsuspecting Earth—all surrounded by complex military and political stratagems for power.

Rage Books is dedicated to publishing great stories, like Osguards in a quality way. Our mission is to shine a light on new talented authors, by allowing them to be artists first. We want to nurture authors’ imaginations and creativity to write fantastic, wonderful and unique stories with a new and exciting voice. We want to sign fresh, innovative and stimulating authors. Rage Books’ goal is to grow and eventually contend with other trade publishers of science fiction, fantasy and horror, like Tor, DAW and Baen.

But Rage Books will be different. Many traditional publishing companies have settled into a rut. They market safe books that follow an aged formula that uses a checklist. This checklist is too rigid and inflexible and not visionary enough to recognize new voices…different voices, cutting down the ivory pillars holding up the old institutional thought. Today, most traditional authors write the same story, just with a twist, because the industry stifles imagination. Rage Books captures the reader’s imagination, and challenges the industry. There is a quiet revolution taking place in the reading world. There is a new generation of readers, touched by advanced technology. Today, technological hunger, personal experience and raw attraction are what define this audience. People will be attracted to Rage Books because they are avid readers who can relate to the characters using advanced technology as they push through electrifying adventures. These characters are normal people pushed into extraordinary circumstances.