Good evening! Sorry to be off schedule, been fighting a vicious bout of Bronchitis for the past two weeks. I do have some exciting news to relate though. I was recently picked as one of Jennie Reads Top Five Indie Reads! I’m speechless and thrilled to be chosen. Jennie Reads is a book reviewer/blogger who doesn’t normally read fantasy and so it is a double honor to be one of the chosen. You can read her full Top Five here:
https://jenniereads.com/2018/08/04/top-5-ok-its-really-6-indie-books-i-have-read-this-year-and-2-others/
The subject of reviews is one I’ve been meaning to broach for a while. It is one of those topics that make me cringe. Love hate relationship so to speak. I do love to read reviews of my books. Especially wonderful are the ones that say “well written” or “not really a fantasy reader, but this author has me sold.”
When someone loves my description or is swept away into the worlds of my imagination, I’m over-the-moon with joy! That, I think, is one of the best parts of writing, when someone really gets it and loves my characters!
Having said all that, getting people to actually take the time to review my books is like pulling teeth. Often times I feel like I’m standing on a street corner with a sign that says “Reviews? Anything helps!” They do give me validation and credibility as an author. Even more so as a self-published author!
Many people say, they will review my books and then don’t. I understand not having the time or wanting to take the time or not even really knowing what to say. However, it does help a self-published author who is not only trying to get their work “out there” but is trying to be a part-time marketer on the side.
The way I understand the review process is, the more the better. I may be oversimplifying but it is true, the more reviews, the higher you are on the search scale on Amazon.com, B&N, Good Reads, etc. For example, if someone searches on demons, angels, fantasy, sword and sorcery, a book with more reviews is more likely to come out on top and get noticed if they are tied to those keywords. Which, I am! Ta Da! Sadly, my review numbers on my two books are way too low to get me really noticed. So, I’m forced to trudge on and be patient, which is not one of my virtues.
Writing a review can be difficult, I get it. But actually, you don’t have to be a master word-smith to be able to write a review, just write down your first impressions or one or two things you liked about the book. Sad to say but I find people have no problem complaining and posting bad reviews, it is easy to complain, but for some reason many people have an issue saying something positive no matter how much they love the book.
I’ve been on both sides where I had a hard time pinpointing what I liked and saying it. Usually, I take notes on thoughts that strike me while I’m reading and that helps immensely as first impressions are very helpful. I’ve also written average or bad reviews on books where I was not pleased that I wasted my time reading the work. I find most of my negative (low star) reviews I save for traditionally published authors because I feel like their publishers should have known better. At the end of the day, even famous authors can put out a book that isn’t the best or was hastily written but with over 2,000 reviews, my single two/three-star review is not going to hurt them.
I truly appreciate every single review and read them often just to bolster my confidence and strive to publish more. If you have said you would review my book please do so. It helps me more than I can describe in a short blog. Reviews of verified purchases are absolutely the best, so if you actually paid for my eBook or hard copy, please go to your purchase history, press the review button and go for it!
Even if you were given the book and didn’t purchase it, it helps me so much to get my review numbers up. It also spurs me on to keep publishing. Keep-in-mind, I have four more Kingdom of Jior books ready to be published, I just need to build my reader base and reviews are an excellent way to start.
If you have reviewed my books I am eternally grateful and thank you from the bottom of my heart!
I hope you are enjoying these Greetings from the Green Chair and my series #KingdomofJior. Tune in next week for more exciting news about #OfDemonKind and #RedemptionoftheFallen. You can buy both books on Amazon.com or Barnes and Nobles.