By Brian Clark

It isn’t hard to write about something you hate.

What’s hard is to do it well.

Hello, my name is Julien Smith, and I have a sickness — I’m absolutely obsessed with 1-star Amazon reviews.

It started with reviews of my book, Trust Agents, but it has since developed into a full-blown addiction.

Now I can’t stop reading them. I seek them out. I even bookmark them.

But here’s the thing: much as they can hurt, those 1-star reviews have made me a better writer. In fact, I suspect it’s one reason I’ve gotten good at writing about things I hate.

Now, you too can learn from 1-star reviews. I’ve even packaged a few of them here for your convenience.

These reviews are from books of friends... More...