Reviews

by Bethany Maines

Ahhhhhh... The soothing feeling of not being in a mad marketing scramble.  

Being in a post-book release time frame is both relaxing and a little bit of a let-down.  The majority of sales happen around the book release week and after that, there’s just general marketing and gulp, waiting for reviews to come in. Reviews, believe it or not, are quite hard to come by.  In a world where literally every service seems to ask for you to thumbs up, rate, review, rave about, the good old fashioned recommendation of a book has become both more important and yet, even harder to get.

Readers get intimidated by the process – do I need to write a book report? Ahhhhhh!!!!  The answer to that one is no.  Short reviews are frequently the best.  For example, here’s the latest review for The Second Shot…

“A drunken mistake in college cost U.S. Marshal Maxwell Ames the love of Dominique Deveraux and six years later, he’s determined to fix the slip-up. But there’s just one tiny problem. When I started reading I couldn't put it down. Bethany Maines is magnificent and amazing writer. I cannot wait to read more of her books. Keep up the great work. You should definitely read this book. Can't wait for the next book.”

Now obviously any review that calls me an amazing writer is going to be tops with me, but beyond that, the reviewer did the one thing that is required in a review – said what she liked. Then she gave it a rating and moved on with life. No synopsis, spoilers, no over thinking or hard work.  Read the book, reacted, bam, done.

Then readers think – does it really matter if I leave a review?  Short answer, yes, it really, really does.  Even on older books?  YES!!  There are some marketing options that I can only get if I have enough reviews or a high enough rating.  Your kind words really matter.  And of course, saying I’m an awesome writer is the kind of thing that keeps me going when some meanie leaves me a two star review. (It happens to everyone, we are breathing, we are breathing, and letting it go…)

So to anyone who has left a book review, even if it wasn’t for one of my books, I say thank you.  And if you’d like to give a writer a gift… may I suggest leaving a review on Amazon, BookBub, or Goodreads.

***

Bethany Maines is the award-winning author of the Carrie Mae Mysteries, San Juan Islands Mysteries, Shark Santoyo Crime Series, and numerous short stories. When she's not traveling to exotic lands, or kicking some serious butt with her black belt in karate, she can be found chasing her daughter or glued to the computer working on her next novel. You can also catch up with her on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, and BookBub.

Equal Rights for Positives

by Bethany Maines

A funny thing happens when you read your own reviews – you start thinking about them. 

I’m about a month away from completing the manuscript for Glossed Cause, the fourth book in the Carrie Mae Mystery Series, and I made the mistake of checking out a few of the reviews on High-Caliber Concealer (CM #3).  I knew it was a bad idea.  It’s always a bad idea.  What happens when I get to a bad one, hmmm?  It’s not like I can look the reviewer up, knock on their door and explain how monumentally wrong they are.  But you think, “I’ll just look at the good ones.  Just one.  I can stop there.”

You know this a total lie, right? Reviews are like Pringles for the eyes.  Like I can stop with just one.  I open up Amazon, I’m looking and… then I read this: “If you enjoy reading about Stephanie Plum, you'll love Nicki! Maines is getting better with each book.”

And I thought, “Hell, yeah!” <insert fist pump here>

Just one?  But I have popped – I cannot stop. I should read more! 

Eventually, of course, I got to one with a complaint. I’d spent too much time on Nikki’s personal life. Gah! But, but, but… Glossed Cause is about her FATHER (among other things).  What do I dooooooo????

Now I’m stuck staring at the screen, half way through the book, trying to figure out if I should turn the ship or stay the course.  “Stay the course!” my internal editor yells.  But it’s hard to hear over the crashing waves of doubt. 

I was complaining a negative comment on another project to my husband he said, “Well, I think it was awesome and my vote counts more.”  <insert lightbulb going on here>

Why do the negatives get more votes?  Shouldn’t the positives get equal rights?  Here’s what I and anyone else who is stuck in this trap are going to do:  We’re going to go back, we’re going to read the first positive review, and we’re going to believe that one.  Because Maines really is getting better with every book.

Signal Boosting

by Linda Rodriguez

I have piles of books sitting on my coffee table right now. None of them are mine. Some of them are from people I know, even people I consider dear friends. Many of them are from people I’ve never met and have little connection with. Some are mysteries. Some are thrillers. Some are literary fiction. Some are poetry. They all have one thing in common, though. I’m planning to give their authors a signal boost in one way or another.

Today’s publishing environment is tough for authors in many ways, but primarily in finding ways to bring the attention of readers to their books. With the advent of easy self-publishing, everyone who finishes a NaNoWriMo book can pop it up on Amazon with little or no editing, and amid the flood of poorly prepared and written books, it can be difficult for the writer who has put in the time, effort, and money to make their book the best it can possibly be to let the potential reader know that hers/his is a good, high-quality book, worth taking a chance on. The problem is the same for everyone, whether self-published or traditionally published. It’s Gresham’s Law applied to books rather than money—“Bad books drive out good.”

One helpful thing is for another author to lend a hand in some way. Four of the books in those piles on my coffee table are books I’ve agreed to blurb, that is, books for which I’ll write a short pithy review of several sentences that will be placed on the cover of the book to entice readers to pick it up. Blurbs can be terribly important. They help in getting reviews and orders from bookstores, as well as in persuading browsing readers to try the book. When I was starting out as a mystery novelist, established writers volunteered to blurb my book, for which I will always be grateful. When reviewers read brief raves from top writers, they became eager to review my unknown debut novel. I try to pay that favor forward as much as I can within the confines of time and scheduling. I’ve seen some writers who have benefited from great blurbs by famous authors and then refuse to give blurbs to anyone themselves. I can’t understand that attitude.

I have a blog, http://lindarodriguezwrites.blogspot.com, and on it I have a long-running series called “Books of Interest by Writers of Color.” I began that series as a resource for librarians and teachers who would approach me after readings or conferences and ask for suggestions of books by diverse writers. If it’s tough for all writers to get attention while buried in the crowd, it’s nigh impossible for writers of color, who tend to be invisible in modern American literature. I’ve been showcasing writers of color on my blog for the past six years. Just a little way to pull an author or book out of the throng and hold it up, saying, “This is good. Take a look.” The rest of the books on my coffee table are books that I intend to signal-boost on my blog.

Like writing a blurb, this showcasing on my blog is time-consuming. I could write an article or a good day’s pages on my current novel or short story in the time I spend on reading, making notes, and writing a blurb or review on my blog. So why would I bother?

I see the literary world as one large community and a set of smaller communities, and I believe that building these communities and making them stronger benefits all of us in the long run—writer and reader. I see my work as all part of a spectrum, writing my books and poetry, writing my blogs, teaching workshops, connecting with other writers and readers on social media, and signal-boosting other writers who deserve attention. I believe we make the world we want to have. And so the piles of books on my coffee table continue to exist, no matter how many reviews or blurbs I write.

Do you believe in signal boosting? How do you feel when an author often blurbs or praises another writer’s book to you? 

Linda Rodriguez’s third novel in the Skeet Bannion series, Every Hidden Fear (St. Martin’s Press), was a Latina Book Club Best Book of 2014, a selection of Las Comadres National Latino Book Club, and received an ArtsKC Fund Inspiration Award. Her second novel featuring the Cherokee campus police chief, Every Broken Trust (St. Martin’s Press), was a selection of Las Comadres National Latino Book Club, took 2^nd Place in the International Latino Book Awards, and was a finalist for the Premio Aztlan Literary Award. Her first Skeet novel, Every Last Secret, won the Malice Domestic Best First Traditional Mystery Novel Competition and an International Latino Book Award Honorable Mention, was featured by Las Comadres National Book Club, and was a Barnes & Noble mystery pick. Her short story, “The Good Neighbor,” published in the anthology, Kansas City Noir, has been optioned for film.

 

Find her on Twitter as @rodriguez_linda, on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/LindaRodriguezWrites, and on blogs with The Stiletto Gang http: http://thestilettogang.blogspot.com/, Writers Who Kill http://writerswhokill.blogspot.com/, and her own blog http://lindarodriguezwrites.blogspot.com

REPLIES TO COMMENTS (because Blogger hates me, and even though I managed to comment from another browser twice, now it won't let me comment even that way--huge sigh):

Paula, I write about a lot of different topics on my blog, but I've had a running series on Books of Interest by Writers of Color for 6 years. If you click on the tag "writers of color" on one of the latest posts, it will pull them all up to read.

Cyndi, I'm glad you agree and also signal boost. I'm always grateful for all of the writers who try to build the literary community they want to live in.

Readers Review!

By Bethany Maines

PUBLIC SERVICE ANNOUNCEMENT: Help a starving author – leave reviews for the books you read today!

There’s a lot of talk these days about shopping local with the goal of supporting actual people instead of massive corporations.  Well, you can’t get much more small, local, and actual than author.  Reviews really do help authors. It’s through reviews that their books percolate through the great Google and Amazon algorithms and get recommended to other readers.  And new readers means new buyers, which translates directly to an author’s pocket book.

That being said, I don’t often leave reviews for books. An author, I know that harsh reviews can be devastating to writers.  I also think that after working on the craft of writing for more than a few years, that I’m pickier than the average reader and that can make for some rather negative reviews.  But since I truly value an honest review I have adopted a “If I can’t say anything nice, then I don’t say anything at all” policy when it comes to reviews.  Which means that my reviews on Goodreads are further a part as my life becomes busier with less time for reading, and I find it harder to find a book that I love with the same passion I did when I was younger.  Hopefully, that means that if you see a review from me, you’ll know that I truly enjoyed the book. 

So keep on leaving reviews, try not to be too mean, and definitely, definitely keep on reading. 

Bethany Maines is the author of the Carrie Mae Mystery series and Tales from the City of Destiny. You can also view the Carrie Mae youtube video or catch up with her on Twitter and Facebook.

Literary Genome Project?

by Bethany Maines         

As I was furiously hitting the “thumbs down” on Pandora this morning, I wondered just how their stupid blankity, blank, blank, algorithms could get my musical tastes so wrong. Pandora, for those unaware, is a free music service that plays “stations” based on songs you select or “like.” I doubt that I have ever “liked” an Audio Slave song, and even if I have, at no point in my entire life, will I ever feel like Audio Slave at eight in the morning.

An internet search reveals that Pandora algorithms ignore such things as genre, artist, or what other members also like those songs. Instead, they run of Music Genome technology that analyzes each song and suggests songs that have similar characteristics. Which, in theory, is awesome.  At eight in the morning, it sucks major hind tit.

But isn’t that the problem with algorithms? There is always one more factor you wish the algorithm had been programmed to consider.

I used to read the newspaper movie reviews and I became attuned to interpreting the reviewers taste to mine. A one star comedy was really a two star comedy. A two star action movie was really four star awesomeness. And a three star drama was a three star drama. The man really did not fully embrace the action movie ethos. 

Finding a book to read is another exercise in mental jujitsu. We all do it - weighing what we know about the author, the person recommending the book, the book blurb, and any reviews, all before buying or borrowing. All I really want is a book with minimal plot holes that makes me laugh, fall in love, and thrill to moments of action. We need a Literature Genome project! Something who can tell us all about the tone, the writing quality and the basic je ne sais quoi of a book. Although, now that I think about it – that may just be currently known as “a Librarian.”

The Stiletto Gang is now on Facebook!  Please come join us!

  

Bethany Maines is the author of the Carrie Mae Mystery series and Tales from the City of Destiny. You can also view the Carrie Mae youtube video or catch up with her on Twitter.

I'm Glad You Asked...

By Laura Spinella

My original thought was to do a post about the upcoming RWA conference and RITA awards. I’ll be on my way to Anaheim at the end of the month for their annual gathering of romantic-minded authors and accompanying soiree where the RITAs are bestowed.  However, I realized that a dress, shoes and an airline ticket do not for a blog make.

Then, yesterday, I heard from a reader. Derek first wrote me about a year ago, and we’ve been chummy ever since. He’s a voracious reader, who visits Goodreads more often than I frequent my liquor cabinet. In fact, he reads so much, I worry about his vitamin D consumption and terminal paper cuts. Derek sent me this link to an article in Publishers Weekly. For the full effect, please give it a read.  The main gist of the article is Goodreads dialogue, and not necessarily pleasant dialogue, between readers and authors. Whether you are an author, editor, agent or the most important component: a reader, the article is thought provoking.
Direct from Facebook, the other social media Kool-Aid, is my conversation with Derek.  I would however, love to hear your thoughts on the Publisher’s Weekly article. If you’re a reader/reviewer, is it license to say whatever you want?  If you’re an author, how do respond, if you respond? 

            Oh, BTW, about that RWA RITA thing… If you could all keep fingers and toes crossed on the 28^th, it would be very much appreciated! 

           Derek: I know we haven't talked in awhile but I stumbled upon this article about reviewers and authors and backlash on Goodreads, and was wondering what your thoughts on it?

Me: Derek, it's always great to hear from you! And you sure picked an interesting question for me... I feel like a Miss Universe contestant in the dreaded question round! Interpreter, please! Well, interpreter if one is going to spend a lot of time dissecting reviews anywhere, including Goodreads. 

Here's my take for whatever it is worth: I don't read them. I don't read reviews anywhere, Goodreads, Amazon...  I don't read them if they're glowing or a one-star kick in the teeth. I made that rule right after BD came out. It just struck me as "awkward" to sit around reading judgments about something that could never mean as much to someone else as it does to me. I spent six years of my life with that book. It's like toting your kindergartner to school, shoving him/her in front of the student body and saying, "OK, tell me what you think?" Reading is SO subjective, and no two opinions are going to be the same. To say that an author reads a negative review looking for ways to improve their writing, I wish them luck with that. What happens when the next reviewer says the exact opposite? I don't read the good ones b/c there's always a risk I might believe what they're saying. Seems like slippery slope to me.  

Lastly, I'd never get into a dialogue with a reviewer. To what end? If they disliked my book (and I'm sure some have), is a word war with me going to change their opinion? Maybe I'm just not any good at dealing with negativity, or maybe i just think life is too short. I do what I do. I love my book/s. Are they perfect? Heck no. But they’re mine. Part of the job involves putting yourself out there for the masses to comment on, like it or not. It's a strange caveat you learn as you go. 

Well, I hope that answers your question to some extent. Ask the next author and you'll probably get a completely different answer! I hope you're having a wonderful summer!! I'm off to CA in a couple of weeks... Again, I'd probably be happier alone in my sunroom with my laptop. Writers are strange people (-;

Laura


Laura Spinella is the author of the RITA nominated novel BEAUTIFUL DISASTER. Visit her at lauraspinella.net.