Putting Yourself Out There

First, a writing update: I've just sent off a novel for consideration, and have begun work on another, the 4th Duncan Andrews novel, Dead End. The 3rd Duncan will be released in Oct or Nov and is called The Scarlet Tide. It's an odd feeling still when a book comes out. There's some pride, it must be admitted, but also some stark terror. People you don't know will be reading your baby, and judging it! And, especially if they're on Goodreads, they will be brutal about it at times!
And that's to be expected. They don't know you, so they couldn't care less that they are criticizing, in essence, your child. I'm not talking about constructive criticism here, either. You know the ones I mean. The ones that seem to go out of their way to read books they hate just so they can trash them. I had one that began, "I admit it, I read this pile of shit..." You know when it starts off that way, the rest isn't going to be fluffy and fun. Although I must point out that one of her peeves was that she lived in Indianapolis, where the novel was set, and that "most of the places mentioned don't exist." Honey, it's called fiction. We're allowed to make things up. P.S. Hogwarts doesn't exist either. So sorry.
It's not just the negative comments, though. I got a 5 star review that raved on and on about the book, but put a political slant on it that simply wasn't there. I know, I wrote the thing. I guess it just goes to show that people read things from their own perspective and can see things that certainly weren't intended.
Since I write a lot of humor, I don't expect everyone to like my books. Humor's a weird thing. You either get it or you don't. Can't be explained. I hope people enjoy my stuff and get a chuckle out of it, maybe even a guffaw or a chortle. If not, well, there's plenty of other stuff out there.
But really...the places I mentioned didn't exist? Sigh...