One of the best things about this little community is that everything is so immediate and close. This is also one of the double edged swords. Since the genre is so incestuous – authors mingling with readers and reviewers to an almost obscene degree – but it also lets readers’ in on how authors think and act. Sometimes good, sometimes bad, and sometimes baffling.

This latest category happened to me the other day on twitter. A couple authors were talking about how much they hated to hear a reader say they were “disappointed.” They felt it was almost a slap in the face to the author. I was pretty shocked to hear that since to me, being disappointed in a book is well yes bad but it shows a level of commitment to the author and book you don’t always see. Usually readers only have expectations to get disappointed if they like the author to begin with or the book is being hyped (and thereby beloved already by many).

So is being disappointed in a book the worst criticism it can get?
I think it’s actually a compliment (ok maybe backhanded) in that the reader was more invested than usual. But perhaps it’s really the worst thing a reader can say.

What do you think?