Is 'Freebie' a Dirty Word?

These days I seem to be inundated with lists offering me free books.  Often I don’t have time to look at these, but sometimes I do and occasionally might come across a new book or author that interests me.  And I’m very grateful.  My free downloads are sparing, however, and I never download a book until I’ve read the description and taken a peek inside to make sure the writing style appeals.  Life’s too short to waste it reading uninteresting or badly written books, and let’s face it, there are plenty of those out there.

I know the blood, sweat and tears that go into producing a marketable novel and for an author to then

make his or her work free is a kind and generous act, so when I’ve finished reading a free book, I try to show my appreciation by leaving a review.  My reviews are almost invariably positive, because I don’t download books I’m likely to hate.  I see reviews as showing appreciation to the author and hopefully a helpful tool for future readers.

Perma-free 'The Apple Tree'

As an author, I’ve also made my books free and in fact over the years have given away thousands of copies – I even have one book set permanently free.  What happens to those downloads is a mystery, because I rarely receive much feedback in the form of reviews as a result of these freebies.  Like all authors, I give away my stories in the hope of reaching new readers and bringing them a little bit of pleasure.  The only way I know if a reader has actually read my book is if she or he makes contact or leaves a review.  And like all authors, I know the value of reviews.  Good and bad.

It seems to me there is a growing breed of people who spend their time downloading freebies just for the sake of it.  Whenever I make a book free, downloads go through the roof.  What happens to the book then is a mystery.

Except, of course, for those people who love to complain because you’ve inflicted a free gift on them that isn’t to their liking.  Last year I participated in producing a compilation of excerpts with fourteen other authors.  Apart from giving samples of our Cinderella-themed stories, we also included recipes, party games and such.  Although we couldn’t have made it any clearer that this was a sampler, the complaints poured in from readers who felt cheated because the freebie contained only excerpts and not complete stories.  Clearly there are people out there who expect everything for free – in this case fifteen complete novels in one set. 

So why do we authors continue to punish ourselves by giving away our hard work?  Have we brought this sorry state of affairs upon ourselves?  Have we made ‘freebie’ a dirty word?

How I Read ~ A Guest Reviewer Writes ~ #ASD #Asperger's

I came across Lise Lotte when looking for bloggers to read and review my latest book, Cocktails and Lies.  I became so fascinated by Lise's story, that we struck up a kind of correspondence which resulted in me inviting her to write a guest post on her reading experiences for my blog.  As a former English teacher, I'm always fascinated to hear about readers' perspectives, and because Lise's autistic spectrum disorder, I thought her story might be of interest to authors and readers everywhere.  Over to Lise.

Lise Lotte

My name is Lise Almenningen and I am the owner of the blog humanitysdarkerside.com. Along with that I run a few other blogs on various topics. I also happen to be ASD/Asperger's/Autistic.

I did not know I had Asperger's until about the same time I started my first blog, 2012. Until then, I just figured I had some unusual quirks that I tried very hard to suppress. When I realized all of that strangeness was normal for me, I stopped fighting it so hard. Surprise. Surprise. Life got simpler.

I believe the greatest commonality in Aspies, is how different we perceive what we see/observe/feel to non-ASDs (or neurotypicals/normals as you like to call yourselves). That is both our best friend and our worst enemy depending on what we are doing and who we are with. As a reviewer (once I let myself out of my preconceived idea of a reviewer), I believe being Asperger has shed new light on texts.

I am addicted to reading and will try to read anything. That does not mean I will finish, because not all writing is worth finishing. Whether a text is worth finishing has nothing to do with the author's level of education, expertise or category. I have read academic texts whose authors cannot have been beta-ed and "trashy" authors whose writing is so poignant, I am incapable of putting the text down. Sometimes a text is so technical, I am incapable of ever understanding it. I would not know if the author is good or not in such cases. But I will give them a try.

When I review a text, I will first read it through. I need that to set some kind of anchor in my mind. Then I will do research. If the author has a website, I check out what they say about themselves. Things like where they are from, have lived, interests etc. influence my interpretation of the text. If the author is from the US, I review with a different eye than if the author is from South-Korea.

When stories are about topics I know little about, I will check out terms. Lynette's Cocktails and

Lies had police titles I needed to know the definition of so I could know if they fit into their roles. The same thing with her main character. I know little about insurance, so I looked up that title as well. If the information might be of interest to people reading my review, I will link to it.

Then I check out the net to see if any other person has reviewed the story. If their review appeals to me, I will link to it. When I can find them, I try to include up to five other reviewers and prefer it if there are both good and bad reviews. Sometimes that isn't possible, because I am doing an ARC. I try to include any art I can find on a story. If there are translations, I dig up as much as I can about them and link to that information as well. One Norwegian author, Jo Nesbø, has a huge following abroad. If you check out my review on him, you will see what I mean about translations.

Once the preliminary work has been done, I pick up the story again and try to figure out how I want to approach it. From then on, it is all character-driven and my main question to myself is: Can I believe in this person? Has the author answered their own questions? This is also vital to character-driven stories. If you claim to write a mystery, there should be a mystery to solve. Another thing I look for in my characters is some complexity. This goes for children's stories as well as adult stories. I reviewed an illustrated children's short-story called One Less Meg that exemplifies what I mean.

Romances can be troublesome for me, and this probably directly

related to my ASD. I think that has to do with the type of interaction that authors give their characters in addition to the formulaic form I find the category struggles with. One of these is "the three-some". This has become a particular problem in YA stories that must think they target young girls (preferably US girls). It certainly is not a new concept. Zane Grey wrote about them in his Romance-Westerns. But instead of being a tool the three-some often feels like a fail-safe. Aspergers is a wonderful reviewers tool in that it categorizes details and shares those categories with me when cued. Maybe it is more difficult to get away with easy solutions when your reviewer is an aspie. Maybe. But if you write excellent romance, without or without excellent sex-scenes, I'm all yours.

Violence is another area that authors seem to use as a fail-safe. Well-written violence that fits with the story is preferred. I just reviewed a story called The Broken God with a little boy in it called Zoshi who broke my heart. The violence towards him wasn't of the gratuitous type, nor was it explicit/gory. Instead, we followed his feelings while traversing a dark place. Then, the moment came, and it was quick. But the intensity of being in this eight-year old mind blew me away. Again, One Less Meg was also a violent story, but appropriately so.

Authors seem to struggle most with tightening their stories up and using their resources (betas, editors, etc.) for what they are worth. I understand the desire to keep things. It is something I struggle with as a reviewer. But both reviews and stories need to be slashed and slashed again, or re-written, or ... (you know the theory). Unless you are a "one of a kind" author, writing hurts. This article certainly did.

As a reviewer, I love authors. You are brave people who take a chance on a fickle public. I want you to succeed and want you to do your very best to deliver a product you can be proud of. That is the frame of mind I try to be in when I review your stories. And don't be too hard on yourself when something falls through. Failures do teach you where to go next. At least they have done that for me. 

Wednesday's Writer Shout Out - Author Elizabeth Rose's Top #Review

The best reviews don't have to be long and wordy to make an impact, as author Elizabeth Rose discovered when she found this review on Amazon back in July.  The review is for her recent release The Dragon and the DreamWalker (great title, Elizabeth), Book 1 in her Elemental Series.  Here's what Amazon reviewer, Ron Kell had to say about the story, which he claimed 'stayed true to form till the end':

Lots of magical story's use the magic as a way around having to plot out a good story line and rescue the characters when the author can't devise a way. Not this one, it is well and true throughout, with magic limited and characters flawed but believable. This has a little bit of good vs evil, taming of the shrew, the hulk and dream walkers rolled together to get a love story Zane Gray would have enjoyed.

The review certainly makes me want to know more about the book, and if you do too, here's the blurb:

The Dragon and the DreamWalker - Book 1 Fire

Drake Pendragon saves Brynn from being sacrificed to Dracus, the dragon of Lornoon. He is shocked to see the dragon's fire has not harmed her, and realizes she must be the Lady of Fire that the villagers fear and call a witch. 

Brynn has faerie blood running through her veins, and while fire cannot harm her and gives her power, water weakens her and can destroy her. She is thrilled to have been saved by a heroic knight, until she awakes and realizes he has brought her to her late father's castle. She knows at once her savior is none other than the infamous Dragon's Son. The feared man of all, and also the man who stormed her father's castle and claimed it as his own. And while their relationship on the physical plane is rocky, Brynn has the ability to dreamwalk, leave her body in her sleep, and their relationship on the etheric plane is much different indeed. 

Can two feared people work together to destroy the dragon, or will they be stopped by their haunting pasts as they realize they really fear themselves?

About Elizabeth Rose:

Elizabeth is a author of over 30 novels, writing mainly medieval, paranormal and contemporary romance. She loves to write strong heroines and tortured heroes. She is an also an artist and creates all her own book covers and book trailer videos. You can see them on her website by clicking on her photo or this link.

Wednesday's Writer - Shout Out - It could be You!

Every author loves to come across a great review of one of his/her titles.  We spend so much time lovingly crafting a story in the hope that someone will really enjoy it and there can be no better way than for readers to show their enjoyment by taking the time to write a review expressing this and recommending the book to others.

We all receive plenty of good reviews but that never dilutes the pleasure of reading a new one.  It makes us want to shout about it from the rooftops because it validates all our hard work.  It means we've communicated with a reader in exactly the way we set out to achieve.

I had the great pleasure of experiencing that pinnacle of pleasure in a review I came across following a Google Alert last week on Romancing the Book  and that gave me the idea of doing something a little new with this blog.

I frequently post reviews of books I've read on this blog, but now I plan to open my Wednesday's Writer feature to any author who has received a great review that has afforded them real pleasure.  It doesn't have to be a recent release.  All I need from authors is an email with:

 a copy of the review, with its link, so we can acknowledge it correctly

the blurb and buy link 

a brief author bio and 

jpegs of the author and the cover of the title in question.

I hope it will be a great opportunity to spread the word about good books that bring readers pleasure and for us all to share that moment of happiness you felt when you first read that special review.

Please send your email to ManicScribbler@gmail.com.

To Review or Not to Review, That is the Question

"Oh no," I hear you say as you sigh, "not another whining author complaining about a bad review."  Well no, actually, it's not.  Today I'm wearing my reader/reviewer hat, not my author bonnet, to share my latest dilemma.  

Anyone who visits my blog regularly will realise that I've been AWOL a fair bit recently.  No, not busy writing, sadly, but doing the next best thing, reading.  I read for pleasure, and also for a couple of review sites and there is a vast difference between these recreations.  When I read for pleasure, I choose for myself, and I'm experienced enough and discriminating enough to make choices that rarely disappoint.  If they do, I stop reading, simple as that.  Life's too short to plod through a book I'm not enjoying for the sake of publicly humiliating the poor author with a negative review.  

But when I'm reading for a review site, both the element of choice and ease of switching to something else are taken away from me.  We all know reading is subjective (as are reviews) and what delights me may bore you and vice versa.  I'm not a nasty person and I would do my utmost to avoid being unpleasant about someone else's hard work, even if I couch it constructively.  

So what are the cardinal sins of writing that invoke wrath from readers/reviewers?  I'm sure everyone has their pet hates and I'd love to hear yours, but here are just a few of mine.

Poor editing

Surely that has to be everyone's number one?  It seems to be the most common insult hurled at self-published authors, though rather unfairly, in my opinion.  Many of the smaller presses are just as guilty of this as authors, more so, in fact, because they take payment in the form of royalties from the author for this very purpose.  An author (or publisher) who can't be bothered to edit his work simply insults his reader.  Poor editing pulls the reader out of the fictional world with a rude jolt; it can often hinder understanding or even create misunderstanding.  Either way, it spoils the flow of the writing and damages the reading experience.  

Wrong or Poor formatting

This can have the same effect as poor editing, jerking the reader out of the story at the wrong time.  There is also no excuse for it in this internet-driven age, where the answers to every problem under the sun are available at the click of a mouse.  

It's also up to the author to send the reviewer the format requested.  Your publisher should send you the appropriate copies for this very purpose, or if you self-publish, then the onus is on you to create the files from your original word document.  There is a plethora of free software out there to help you.   

Mary Sue Characters

Leaving aside all the other potential problems with characterisation, this one really is my pet hate.  As an English teacher, I often received reams of creative writing samples from students (usually teenage girls) that they handed to me with faces aglow with pride or excitement. They loved writing it; it was the best story they'd ever written and so on.  I didn't have to plough through many paragraphs of their self-indulgent fantasising to realise why. Self-insertion is usually a sign of immaturity; it creates superficial, unbelievable and unlikeable characters no one wants to read about, except the writer and possibly her bezzies.  

Unrealistic Dialogue

Convincing dialogue comes alive in the reader's head, therefore speech or conversation should sound natural. When talking, we don't say 'I do not know,' or 'I do not think so,' (unless for specific emphasis) yet so often I see such formal styles being adopted in casual dialogue.  It's not true to the character and can grate on the reader.

Stretching Credibility

I'm willing to suspend disbelief when I pick up a novel, but I resent being asked to accept fabrications because of the author's ignorance or laziness.  When a character performs unimaginable feats without any pretensions to super-human powers, I grizzle. When I'm presented with an event or situation I know to be inaccurate, I feel cheated.  Nor do I take kindly to lies because the author didn't research the truth.  I want a modicum of verisimilitude in a story, no matter how far-fetched its plot.  It may not be probable but at least it should be possible (unless it's fantasy, about which I have no opinions since I rarely read the genre).

For you it may be poor plotting, POV problems, telling not showing or any number of other hurdles we as writers have to manoeuvre   Do leave a comment and let me know, while I ponder over my dilemma of whether to tell the author I can't review his work, or simply leave him a negative review.

The Magic of Networking by Jenny Twist

This weekend and next I'm handing over my blog to my two favourite people, Jenny Twist and Tara Fox Hall who want to talk about something dear to any author's heart - promotion (and FREE promotion at that!)

So straight away...here's Jenny.

I always assumed, rather naively, that once your book was accepted by a publisher all you had to do was sit back and wait for the money to roll in. Well, it doesn't happen like that. In order for a book to sell, the author needs to have a fan base, to get fans the author needs to be actively marketed. Even the best publishers cannot spend time and money marketing an unknown author. They will only do this for new books from authors who are already best-sellers or for those whom they believe have a really good chance of becoming best-sellers - celebrities writing their autobiographies, for example.

So is this a Catch 22 situation?

Not quite.

The answer is you have to market yourself. Ultimately books sell through word of mouth, so the more people you can get to read your book, the better chance it has of becoming well-known.

I have no money at all to spend on advertising, so all my marketing is through social networking and blogging. Don’t knock it! You wouldn’t believe how many people you reach through Twitter and Facebook.

Twitter: You are only allowed 140 characters per tweet. Make every character count. Put RT at the beginning, which is an invitation for your followers to retweet. Every retweet will reach all the followers of that tweep (Twitter-speak for one who tweets) who may themselves retweet you. See how this works?

Always put the buy-link of your book in there. For example, if you are tweeting about a review by all means put the review link in as well, but include the buy link whatever happens. People buy on impulse. Make it easy for them.

Facebook: Create your own author page and post all your book news there. Invite people to share a link when you’re doing a full-on campaign. Don’t forget to include the buy link!

Join author groups - Yahoo has dozens of them. So does Facebook. I have a master spread-sheet with all the sites I post on so I don’t forget any. I also bookmark all the sites so it’s quick and easy to post one after another. Be careful to obey all the site rules. Some have certain days when you’re allowed to post, some will only allow certain kinds of posts.

Every time anything happens that gives you an excuse to say something, tweet and post it. When a new book is launched, when you have a good review, when you write a blog. You are building your fan-base. Make them remember your name. And remember, if you want people to support you, you must be prepared to support them. Thank them for sharing your link. When they retweet you, reciprocate. You will make good friends who will always support you.

Reviews sell books. Send your book for review to any review site that seems to be appropriate. Again I keep a spread-sheet for each book, tracking where I sent it and the response. As you go along, you will find the sites that like your writing and you will end up with a golden list of those you are confident will give you a good review. Here’s a site with a comprehensive list to start you off:  http://kimberlykillion.com/writers.asp#bookreviewers

Ask other authors to review your work. Offer to review theirs in turn.

Offer to do interviews and blogs. It's time-consuming, but it really does work. When I first started I used to prefer interviews because the blogger did all the hard work. All you had to do was answer the questions. Now I’d much rather write a blog myself on some subject that interests me. It’s more interesting for me than trotting out the same answers all the time and I think it’s more interesting for my readers.

Every time you do this, advertise it on the social networks. Post the link to the site and ask people to comment. Keep revisiting the site to respond to them.

Free downloads: Finally, there is one avenue I have only recently discovered that seems to work like magic. If you have self-published a book you can put it on free download every so often. Amazon’s KDP lets you do 5 free days every 90 days. Advertise it on all the free book sites and promote it like mad.
Only a fraction of the people who download it will read it. Only a fraction of those will review it. But an even smaller fraction, the golden nugget, will become fans. They will go on to buy your other books. They will tell their friends, who will tell their friends.

Stardom, here you come!     

About Jenny Twist

Jenny Twist was born in York and brought up in the West Yorkshire mill town of Heckmondwike,the eldest grandchild of a huge extended family. 

She left school at fifteen and went to work in an asbestos factory. After working in various jobs, including bacon-packer and escapologist’s assistant, she returned to full-time education and did a BA in history at Manchester and post-graduate studies at Oxford.

She stayed in Oxford working as a recruitment consultant for many years and it was there that she met and married her husband, Vic.

In 2001 they retired and moved to Southern Spain where they live with their rather eccentric dog and cat

Jenny's first book, Take One At Bedtime, was published in April 2011 and the second, the highly acclaimed Domingo’s Angel, in July 2011. Her novella, Doppelganger, was published in the anthology Curious Hearts in July 2011, Uncle Vernon, was published in Spellbound, in November 2011,  Jamey and the Alien was published in Warm Christmas Wishes in December 2011 and Mantequero was published in the anthology Winter Wonders in December 2011.  She self-published Away With the Fairies, an intriguing modern fairytale in September 2012.

Her latest novel, All in the Mind, about an old woman who mysteriously begins to get younger, appeared in October 2012.

All Jenny's titles are available from Amazon. Just click on the following links: Amazon US and Amazon UK

Last year I gave birth to an alien...

Last year I gave birth to an alien.  It was a freakish little thing delivered after about a year of pain and sweat, so naturally we were both at a bit of a disadvantage when I gave it its first outing.  It might have been odd, but it was my creation and I loved it and was hypersensitive to certain types of criticism about it which seemed designed to be nothing but cruel. 

I was happy enough to receive constructive advice from well-wishers telling me what I'd done wrong, but there were some troll-like characters whose comments bordered on insulting.  They would (effectively) say things like 'I can't bear to look at this because it doesn't fit in with my beliefs or expectations' or point out the obvious i.e. that it had three eyes and was therefore alien.  I didn't find those kind of comments helpful, but then they weren't intended to be.  They were only intended to be destructive.  So I started comparing notes with other creators of aliens.

Okay, yes!  You've worked it out.  I'm rabbiting on about reviews again.  The shores of the mighty Amazon (that's the shop, not the river) seem to be infested with certain barbaric, troll-like creatures who gather in tribes in certain forums to plan attacks on unsuspecting authors.  And I've heard some horrendous stories about their war tactics.  These marauding troops roam the kindle bookshelves, self-appointed troll-police, searching out writers with too many positive reviews in order to try to destroy their reputations by posting or up-voting mean-minded negative comments, that often bear very little relation to the work in question.

This behaviour can make a writer feel like the story he or she has tried so hard to produce for the pleasure and entertainment of others is some freaky little alien that should never have been born.  The warring armies will almost certainly not have read the book and are therefore in no position to decide whether a negative comment is helpful or not, but that doesn't stop them.  They are exempt from normal scruples.

A solitary author up against such an army can feel demoralised and worthless.  He or she has been accused of cheating - of enlisting friends, relatives and worse - far worse, other authors to write positive comments about the work in question.  We all know other authors are not expected to be readers with their own opinions.

But there is a solution - and it came from the mouth of the mighty Amazon itself.  The lone writer should join forces with other writers and beat the trolls at their own wargame by up-voting the positive reviews to such an extent that the nasty negative one becomes less prominent.  Dirty tactics?  Possibly, but then if all's fair in love and war, arguably the same could be said about reviews as these relate to one's love-child - even if it is an alien.

Have you been 'trolled', and if so, how did you deal with it?

Wednesday's Writer: Jenny Twist

As a UK resident, reader and writer, I've occasionally run into difficulties when dealing with THAT SHOP across the pond.  They recently withdrew all the book reviews I'd written without explanation, much to my chagrin.  When I'm not writing, I'm reading - those are my two priorities in life.  And when I read a book I've really enjoyed, I want to share it with the world and try to encourage everyone else to read it too.

So I thought: I have a blog, why not post my reviews on that?  It may not attract as many readers as that shop, but who can tell?  From little acorns and all that.  My only difficulty here is in choosing where to start.  Not terribly difficult though.  

One story that has seriously impressed me is Domingo's Angel, by Jenny Twist.  Since reading this book, I've had the privilege of getting to know this delightful author and have read more of her works.  She never lets me down, but Domingo's Angel has set the bar very high for me.  This will be the first recipient of my cut cats award.

Domingo's Angel by Jenny Twist

Jenny Twist is a wonderfully talented storyteller and ‘Domingo’s Angel’ weaves a spell of enchantment around the reader from start to finish.  Although set in the 1950s (when the English woman, Angela, first arrives in the remote mountain village of Amendillas), there is nonetheless a timeless quality to the story.  Through seamless flashbacks, the narrative takes us through the dreadful days of the Spanish Civil War and Franco’s despotic rule, then forwards into a happier, hopeful future. 

The small, self-sufficient community seems untouched by the outside world and, on the surface looks like paradise. However, every character has been affected and deeply scarred by past tragedies and each nurses his or her own secret pain.  Widows, who have long ago stopped weeping and have put away their smiles - seemingly forever, are the backbone of this community now devoid of men of a certain generation.

The English Angela is escaping from her own tragic secrets, but her healing process begins when she meets Domingo who worships her as his angel, then little by little, the healing magic begins to spread.  But it is Rosalba, the excellently–drawn village matriarch, whose complex life-journey really captivates our hearts.  Angela is quick to realise that “Whatever Rosalba thinks today, the village will think tomorrow” and the true love story is the growing bond between these two women, who learn to heal each other.

I read the latter half of the story almost entirely through misty eyes as the main characters grew larger than life with every page, unfolding their astonishing stories to me like good friends trusting me with their heartfelt secrets.  When I reached the final page, I felt bereft and lonely, though completely satisfied that I had left them all in very good hands.  Domingo’s Angel is a story I will certainly read again and this author goes straight to the top of my favourites list.

Domingo's Angel deserves a straight 5 cute cats award!

About Jenny Twist

Jenny Twist was born in York and brought up in the West Yorkshire mill town of Heckmondwike,the eldest grandchild of a huge extended family. 

She left school at fifteen and went to work in an asbestos factory. After working in various jobs, including bacon-packer and escapologist’s assistant, she returned to full-time education and did a BA in history at Manchester and post-graduate studies at Oxford.

She stayed in Oxford working as a recruitment consultant for many years and it was there that she met and married her husband, Vic.

In 2001 they retired and moved to Southern Spain where they live with their rather eccentric dog and cat

Her first book, Take One At Bedtime, was published in April 2011 and the second, Domingo’s Angel, was published in July 2011. Her novella, Doppelganger, was published in the anthology Curious Hearts in July 2011, Uncle Vernon, was published in Spellbound, in November 2011,  Jamey and the Alien was published in Warm Christmas Wishes in December 2011 and Mantequero was published in the anthology Winter Wonders in December 2011.

Her new novel, All in the Mind, about an old woman who mysteriously begins to get younger, will be published in September/October 2012.

You can contact Jenny Twist via her website:  https://sites.google.com/site/jennytwistauthor/home

That Old Chestnut - Reviews!

Dear Amazon, It's only worth half a star... 

Okay, I know I’ve talked about this in the past but it’s a subject of endless interest to writers, if not to readers.  Reviews!  I think we’ve all established that every reader is entitled to his or her opinion and that the purpose of reviews is to enlighten other would-be readers and possibly encourage or warn them off products, books etc. 

To writers, they are manna.  Getting feedback from their readers is crucially important to most authors.  After all, we don’t write for ourselves, we write in the hope that others will receive some enjoyment from our efforts.  And if we can make a living out of pleasing people in that way, the vast majority of writers will describe that being in or very close to heaven.

You hated my book that much, huh?

But there seem to be some reviewers who turn the review process into something similar to hate mail.  They use it to attack, not to inform, explain, enlighten etc.  When it comes to books, there are some readers who think nothing of attacking a writer’s skill because the book didn’t live up to their expectations in the first chapter and therefore they didn’t bother reading any further.  I’ve seen such reviews and can only feel pity for the writer who probably spent the best part of a year writing something for some impatient reader to slander in five minutes.  And I say slander because some negative reviews are exactly that.

But then there is this other category of negativity that helps neither party.  I recently received a review which said, quite simply and succinctly:

“This book sucked and I can't believe I read it all the way through.”

What is anyone to make of that?  Hopefully, like me, potential readers might not believe it either.  Why would someone bother to read 200 pages of a book that “sucked”?  I just want to ask this reviewer what it was that kept them turning the pages.  I’d ask her: What “sucked” but kept you “sucked” into its pages all the way through?  Tell us more, please!

I couldn't get past the first chapter...

If I know a book “sucks”, I abandon it after the first ten or twenty pages and forget all about it.  I don’t waste my time struggling through the next 200 pages for the dubious thrill of writing a one-sentence one-star review on it. 

Recently I saw a 1* review written by someone who hadn’t even bought the book being reviewed (no, not mine, thank goodness) because s/he didn’t like what they saw from the ‘Look inside’ feature.  Next thing we know we’ll be seeing 1* reviews because someone didn’t like the look of the cover.

*Shrugs*

Some people are so hard to please...

I love hearing from readers.  I certainly don’t expect them all to like my stories and nor do I consider it their responsibility to teach me my craft, but I’m always willing to listen and learn from them.  That way I can hopefully improve and next time write something that will give them greater enjoyment.  I think most writers feel the same way.  Reading and writing is a kind of symbiosis.   It really shouldn’t matter if a book is self-published or the product of a major publishing house.  Its aim is exactly the same – to entertain readers.  And sometimes, just sometimes, those readers should think before they launch their attack.

Another thought about Reviews

Readers and Writers - a loving relationship

There is a body of opinion that believes it’s wrong for authors to review the work of other authors, and I confess, this baffles me.  Aren’t writers readers too?  Are their opinions less valid because they are ‘in the trade’?

I've been an avid reader all my life – to such an extent that all my favourite people in history (except one) were writers of some description.  From as early as I can remember being aware of an author behind the words that brought me so much joy, I fantasised about sitting down to tea with that writer and discussing his or her story, thereby prolonging my delightful experience in the fictional realm s/he had created.  But, of course, it never happened.

I did try writing to one or two authors, the old fashioned way – you know, pen on paper, envelope, stamp – all now becoming relics of a bygone age – via their publishers.  Well, in the dark ages pre-internet, how else could readers ever hope to make contact with their favourite authors and tell them what they liked and disliked?  I don’t think I ever received any replies and authors both living and dead were shrouded in the same aura of mystery and inaccessibility. I entered my teens no less an avid reader but much more of a cynic.  If only I had known then what I know now: that writers love to hear from readers.

The fact is that historically, writing book reviews was the privilege of other writers – journalists.  Ordinary readers rarely had a public voice no matter how passionate their opinions.  A reader might daydream about having tea with an author and discussing his or her character and fictional realms – though I suspect never in a very critical way – but they didn’t contemplate writing actual book reviews for other people – including the author – to read. 

The internet and e-publishing has changed all that.  Now authors have become accessible to their readers and lo and behold they tell us they love to hear from us.  They long to hear what we thought of their latest creation.  Having joined those ranks myself, I know I do and I’m fortunate enough to know quite a number of writers- and they all feel the same.  To date I haven’t met one who doesn’t value constructive feedback from readers.  And being a writer doesn’t make me any less avid a reader.

Despite the ease of it, many readers still feel reluctant to air their views in public.  Out of every 10,000 sales, a writer might receive as few as 10 reviews.  That seems very surprising to me.  The internet has given everyone a voice…but how many people bother to use it?  I can only assume that the culture of writing reviews hasn’t yet caught up with the technological advances of e-publishing or that the vast majority of readers simply don’t have the time to sit and compose missives explaining their likes and dislikes.

This is a pity as constructive feedback is manna to most authors.  For my part, as a writer, I live and learn by it; while as a reader it informs me about the pros and cons of a new book and can be extremely useful.  I often read reviews and think I’d like to sit and chat to the reviewer over a cup of coffee and swap opinions and ideas.  There I go again!

When I’ve enjoyed a book, I still want to let the author know and if the book surpassed my expectations, I want to shout it from the rooftops and let other potential readers in on it.  And if that can help the writer who has brought me so much pleasure at so little cost, so much the better.  It’s quite a tough world for writers, especially the new ones who are struggling to make a name for themselves.  

The internet is enabling me finally to realise my childhood dreams of communicating with good writers who have brightened up my day.  I don’t do it for any ulterior motive, except to show my appreciation in the same way I will applaud a good play in the theatre or music at a concert.  The fact that I’m a writer too should make no difference to my opinions as a reader.  And those cynics who think reviews from other writers are suspect, should really just…go away and pick up a good book and stop complaining.

It's not what you say, it's the way that you say it...

I know a lot has been said on the subject of reviews recently – and most of it very eloquently too – but it’s a subject I’ve wanted to discuss for a long time, so am about to add my two pence worth.

 Every writer values honest reviews and when they are good, they can make one’s day, or week. Even ones that are not so glowing can offer constructive feedback, which is manna to authors. But there are certain people who seem to use the review platform for a rather different agenda.  And these reviewers really make my blood boil.

I’ve been doing a fair bit of reading and reviewing myself recently and I discovered something interesting. The glowingly good and gloweringly bad reviews often seem to have something in common – something that begs me to take both with a pinch of salt and read and judge for myself. That’s me with my reader’s hat on. But when I’m reading, I sometimes switch hats.

Three times recently I’ve downloaded a book on the strength of a very bad review which sits like a thorn beside a number of four or five star accolades. The chances are, if a book has a number of good reviews and then one scathingly bad review, either the negative reviewer simply didn’t understand the book or has written it in the hope of damaging the author’s reputation. And sadly, I know of several instances where this has happened to very good writers and the motivation mainly seems be jealousy – by other writers!

Being a champion of the underdog (a typically British trait I’m told) I feel a vitriolic review sometimes calls for further investigation. The “Click to look inside” option on Amazon is a great idea. Anyone with any experience as a reader can quickly judge the potential of a book from the first few paragraphs, or certainly the first chapter; and Amazon is pretty generous in what it offers as a taster.

If my curiosity is piqued to a sufficient degree, I might also click on the “See all my reviews” option beside the reviewer's name to see if this reviewer is genuinely hard to please or just venting spleen. If there are no other reviews, my hackles rise and the gloves are off. I really hate unfairness and injustice. Who doesn’t?

Reviews should be honest or they have no value, but I see no reason for them to be downright mean. Criticism that isn’t constructive is simply cruel when levelled at one person. If you buy a product and it doesn’t work, you won’t improve that product for others by attacking its manufacturer or inventor. If you can’t reasonably explain the faults, you can’t hope to be taken seriously and get the problem rectified. I’m not denying a customer/reader’s right to complain about an unsatisfactory product, merely questioning the motive and manner of execution of that complaint.

Many writers see their novels as their babies

Of course, when it comes to a novel, it’s the author’s personal ideas and skills which are under scrutiny. There are very, very few writers who receive any kind of sponsorship for their product. They invest their time and energy (often in vast quantities) in creating a product whose sole aim is to please.   The review process is their feedback and it is unfiltered and something they can’t share with a team of colleagues, peers, subordinates etc. They have no buffer. The damage done by an inconsiderate verbal assault really hurts and sometimes causes irrevocable damage.

I’m not suggesting that writers should be allowed to influence the review process, but simply that reviewers recognise their power and use their platform judiciously. The whole subject of reviews is a bit of minefield. It reminds me of that rhyme about the volatile little girl with a curl.

Reviews: 

  When they are good, they are very, very good

But when they are bad, they are HORRID!

Is My Sweet Romance Too Dirty?

Stick with Ted until you're wed?

-  I like it when books leave it to your imagination as to what goes on between the sheets or in the privacy of one's home - that's what relationships are - private - and should stay that way, so congratulations on keeping the book clean and sensitive. Amazon.co.uk review

-  This is a clean read no sex (just reference to) and no swearing!  Amazon.com review

It seems a little ironic that after my last post ‘Is My Romance too Sweet for You?’ (see below), I should now be asking if my ‘sweet’ (and I’m still mildly uncomfortable with the term) romance is clean or…well whatever the opposite is – dirty, I presume?  Can a sweet romance be dirty?  That sounds like a contradiction in terms – an oxymoron, even.  Either way, it seems I have been deluded in glibly thinking that I write ‘clean’ romance!

But that is what I stand accused of now!  You can imagine how surprised I was to receive an email this week from a reviewer who claimed she was unable to finish reading The Apple Tree because, effectively, it was not ‘clean enough’ for her tastes!  My disappointment, I hasten to add, was short-lived.  Since it took her more than four months to make her monumental decision, it was hardly at the forefront of my mind. However her comment did shock me and make me wonder, yet again, about romance sub-genres and whether we poor writers will ever be able to please all of our readers all of the time.

The two reviews quoted above both relate to The Apple Tree and both clearly refer to it as being ‘clean’.  A little research into the first reviewer shows her (or him) to be a discerning reader while the second is a reputable reviewer.  Could they have got it wrong?  How many more classifications can the ‘sweet’ sub-genre be broken down into?

A look at another romance writer’s blog was extremely helpful.  In her delightful blog (http://Sweetnotspicy.blogspot.com), Morgan Mandel describes Sweet as showing attraction between the sexes but with intimate contact being limited to sweet kisses, while Sweet Discreet allows implied but not detailed sex between the hero and heroine. This must be “either understood to be behind closed doors; or, if it's mentioned in the here and now, no graphic and/or overly long details dwelling on body organs and body responses.”  Morgan’s definition is extremely useful and it places The Apple Tree very cleanly (sorry!) in the Sweet Discreet category.  But is this a category universally understood by readers, writers and, indeed everyone else?

The condemning of my novel to some unclean category also raised another question in my mind.  Am I being hypocritical in allowing my characters to have sex, but refusing to describe it?  As discussed previously, it's a conscious decision not to describe their intimacy, but should I also refuse its existence?  Hmm.  

In The Apple Tree my heroine is on the threshold of her twenty-seventh birthday; she has already been married and is a doctor, to boot.  The hero is at least the same age, possibly even in his early thirties, absolutely gorgeous, eligible and with girls falling at his feet on every street corner.  Would it be realistic for these healthy heterosexuals, with no religious or cultural constraints, to resist their powerful sexual attraction for each other until after they are married – i.e. throughout the course of the entire novel, especially when their two best friends are living together quite openly?  

I would love to know what other romance writers feel about this and I would especially love to hear from readers of romance – after all, they are the ones whose preferences really count in such matters.

The Painful Cost of Self-Publishing

The internet is full of people blogging about the wonders of self-publishing.  Ebooks are cutting edge and, according to many, the only way forward for writers old and new.  Most bloggers, however, acknowledge that chasing success is a very difficult race to run.  For some it’s punishingly painful.

Producing your ebook is the easy part in this almost-impossible quest for fame and fortune.  Once you’ve uploaded your precious novel to the various portals that will sell it for you, your work then begins in earnest.  Amazon won’t promote it for you, of course, and without promotion you are literally lost.  After your loyal band of friends and family has bought their copies sales will grind to a halt unless you become very active.

So what do you do?  Well you can sit on social network sites like Twitter and Facebook all day telling as many people as you can how wonderful your book is and begging them to buy it.  Some people might find that easy enough to do, but I’m not one of them.  Perhaps it’s my natural British reserve, but I never was good at blowing my own trumpet.  I want people to discover the good things about me for themselves. Fat chance!  With over 1.6 billion search queries a day, what chance does little old you stand of being noticed by the masses?  Well, unless you have 1.6 billion willing followers, that is.

Of course there are success stories, but they are the exception, not the norm.  The grim truth is, you have to put yourself out there, raise your followers up into the thousands and then, if you can bear it, spam them to death with tweets about your wonderful work in between thinking up  encouraging or witty tweets to keep them interested!  Now I can tweet like a good ‘un about other people’s achievements but when it comes to self-aggrandisement, I cringe with embarrassment.  Writers need nerves of steel, but all the ones I know are as sensitive as dormice.

Review blogs are a great solution, but by no means an easy one.  I’m an ace writer of polite - even grovelling - requests for superior bloggers to review my work of art in the hopes that a kind word from them will send readers flocking up the Amazon in their boatloads.  The fact is that attracting the attention of popular review blogs is almost as difficult as finding a literary agent, which of course, if you had in the first place, you wouldn’t be self-publishing!  Of those that do reply, some can be so abrupt, it’s like a slap in the face.

 

Of course there are some kind altruists in blogland who will accept your work, though they almost always begin with a warning about how busy they are.  I had one who informed me she would get around to reading my opus in six months’ time.  That’s genuinely how busy and in demand this wonderful and rare species of the human race is.  After all, most do it for love in their spare time and who, nowadays, has an abundance of that in their lives?

Keeping up your own blog (and persuading people to read it), responding to others, writing interviews and guest articles to generate interest in your work is time-consuming indeed.  Meanwhile your next piece of literary excellence sits on your computer neglected and reproachful.  And of course, when you do finish it, guess what?  You have to start all over again…