Reviews & Reviewing

Reviews & Reviewing

Reviews | Guy L. PaceI’m involved in a round-robin review group for Christian writers on Goodreads. I love writing and reading. Reviewing other’s work is a challenge.

I don’t mind getting reviews from others, be they readers or writers. I learn from them no matter how critical they might get. But, writing a review of someone else’s work … that can be a minefield.

Fortunately, the folks involved in the round-robin are honest and direct, and give good reviews.

I wrote a couple of reviews so far and they were honest, constructive reviews of stories that I liked. They aren’t my normal reading fare, but it never hurts to explore new material. I posted the reviews, then crawled into a corner until the authors responded positively to the comments.

Whew!

More Reviews

I’m well into another book that I’m enjoying and will review it soon. In addition, I have some new reviews for Sudden Mission, both on Amazon and Goodreads. In this next round, I hope to see more reviews of Nasty Leftovers. This round-robin works out well, and my reviews are increasing.

Granted, the new reviews are by other authors and not my target audience (teens). But, getting teens to review on Amazon or anywhere else is very difficult. I used a little meme on Facebook a couple of times to prod folks to review.

Reviewing | Guy L. PaceThe rules are simple, if not completely accurate today. I know Amazon has changed some of their rules for reviews. For example, they usually do not accept reviews of books by friends of the author, or family members. How they figure that out is beyond me.

The Rules

As for Rule #1, that is true. But, if you buy the book and review it, you get a “verified purchase” tag on your review. That might impact the “algorithms.”

Rule #4, though, is the most important. Authors need reviews. More reviews move a book’s status in the rankings on Amazon. They make the title more visible to other readers. They help other readers make decisions on what to choose to read.

Sure, not all reviews or ratings are five-star. Not everyone likes the same thing. My books aren’t everyone’s favorite genre. But, a review is a review and I appreciate every single one I get.

Hurts

Some comments in reviews can inflict pain in the author. That’s part of growing a thick skin–which we need to survive. No one is perfect, no author writes a perfect book. Accepting that and moving on is important.

I try to keep that in mind as I review other author’s work. No, the book isn’t my cup of tea. Maybe the book needs an editor. Maybe there are issues with the story. But, I can address that with constructive, positive comments. I made the mistake of being too blunt and critical in a review once. It hurt a relationship. That’s the minefield I mentioned earlier.

Care. You write and you read. The only way this business can get better is if we all care and comment positively and constructively.

Keep reading.

Keep writing.

 

 

 

Briefly

Just Briefly

I’ll be brief today. I’m getting ready for a reading/signing at Auntie’s Bookstore in downtown Spokane, WA, on Sept. 15, 7 pm. I hope lots of folks in Spokane and the surrounding area come to hear!

From Sept. 21-25, I’ll be at the Montana Book Festival in Missoula, MT. They’re still putting the schedule together. If you plan to attend, or will be in the Missoula area during that time, please check in and look me up! The schedule on the link above should be firmed up in the next week.

Both Sudden Mission and Nasty Leftovers (as reported in the previous post) are available in print now. You can even order print copies from Amazon (see the links). The print copies are not via CreateSpace, but Ingram, so shipping might take a couple more days. For some reason, Amazon isn’t showing the cover image for Sudden Mission, but it may show up soon.

There is a new review of Sudden Mission on Amazon by an old Madras High School friend. She was a couple of years behind me and married one of my classmates. I attended a combined reunion this summer and had a lot of fun catching up with old friends.

Any time authors or artists can get ratings or reviews is a blessing. Today’s market is so crammed with content and content providers, it is hard to get noticed any other way. So, when you read something put up a star rating if you can. Good or bad, it all counts and it all helps.

Subscribing to this blog is a good thing. Really. I don’t share your email or info with anyone else. You get updates and posts right away and won’t miss anything. I may use the mailing list in the future for contests and giveaways. If you are already subscribed, great! Thanks. Share the information with friends and family. The more subscribers, the more we’ll use this for fun stuff.

So, that’s everything, briefly.

Keep writing.

 

Reviews and Blogs

Blog Tour

The Blog Tour wrapped up this week and some guest posts were out there, as well as a few positive reviews. One site we had planned for a review broke just before the scheduled date (and I commented out the link as soon as I heard) and one other blogger just never published anything.

I updated the links on the Launch Day post, August 18.

So it goes. Still there was some activity and the book is selling in ebook and print. There is still one giveaway active on Goodreads and that closes on September 18. We’ll send two lucky folks signed paperbacks of Sudden Mission.

Goodreads Giveaway

So, make sure you are entered.

Reviews

For new and unknown writers, attention for their work from readers and other writers (like reviews and recommendations) is critical. Reviews help other readers decide if a particular book is interesting or right for them. Amazon five-star reviews are often suspect, especially early in the release cycle. Just so you know, the two early reviews of Sudden Mission were not paid for or begged for. The reviewers are friends and professionals, but would not give me more credit than is due.

You can find them here:

Amazon Reviews

Honest reviews and feedback are best. What matters is what is important to the reader. If there is something you don’t like about the book, you should say something. Another reader may like what you don’t, so a two- or three-star review may bring someone to the work who might otherwise have passed on it.

I want to thank those of you who did get the book and are reading it. Any feedback you can give will be much appreciated.

Keep writing.

 
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