…for what is after all nothing more or less than an extremely short book by anyone’s standards. Mine included…
~~~
15 April 2018
This post is aimed squarely at my fellow writers.
Since the act of reviewing a book was made available to every Tom, Dick or Harriet, and before you even think about writing one, there are a few things everyone needs to take into consideration before you hit the ‘Publish’ button.
To begin with, avoid spoilers (giving away the plot) like the plague. Next refrain from mentioning that you found errors in any given book, whether traditional or Indie published. It is extremely bad form. No one likes a smart arse endlessly droning on about it in every review they write, least of all the publisher and author of the work in question. To say the least, it becomes tiresome in the extreme. To that end there’s a highly appropriate saying which goes something like this – “People in glass houses shouldn’t throw stones.” In other words, unless your book(s) is 100% error free, say nothing derogatory. If it is, believe me, it will be a first in the history of publishing!!!
If you don’t want to give the wrong impression, especially if you want to be taken seriously as a writer, refrain from incessantly pouring scorn and finding fault with the majority of books you review. As for the content of your review, always ensure that it is error free. In other words, start the review’s title and every sentence with a capital letter. Then make sure that the content of your review is as word perfect as it can possibly be, not forgetting to make it grammatically correct.
So many reviews by writers these days are chock full of appalling basic errors which should have been knocked out of the potential reviewer when they attended primary school. Then there are the totally uncalled for comments where the reviewer tells the world about certain passages in the book they are reviewing that they objected to. All such comments are mostly penned by jealous writers hiding behind pseudonyms (trolls) on book sites like Amazon and Goodreads, hoping to destroy another writer’s reputation. What they fail to appreciate is that the only person they are hurting is themselves. If they can’t see that, they need serious one on one time with a psychiatrist.
Above all always remember this – no book is ever 100% error free. Not even your own. If all you have to offer is nitpicking criticism then maybe you need to refrain from reviewing. However if you do want to write a review, why not simply concentrate on what you actually liked about the book in question. Trust me you will feel better and your reputation as a reviewer will benefit enormously. Plus you will win the respect of your peers.
One last thing, making apologies for these sad individuals is not something you want to get involved in. There are no legitimate excuses for what some in our industry believe is their God given right to pour scorn!
While we have no say in what the general public say about our work, at least as writers we can set them an example by writing a non-toxic review.
😉
March 4, 2018
This reminder is for any of you who post your book review(s) on Amazon sites other than Amazon.com and Amazon.co.uk.
If you want the rest of the world to see what you have written, don’t just post it on your own country’s Amazon site. Whether you agree or not, as far as Amazon is concerned, the two most important book selling sites they have are the above. By all means post on your local Amazon site. But to get your thoughts on any given book well-known, first of all post them on the two main sites.
The sixth review for my extremely short historical novella Autumn 1066 was originally posted on Amazon.ca (Canada) before it appeared on Amazon.com at my urging yesterday:
Remember, when it comes to sales and readership, your thoughts not only matter, but also encourage others to want to read the book you have reviewed!
😉
Finally after almost seventy years I’ve just read George Orwell’s account of his involvement in the Spanish Civil War, fighting with the Workers Party of Marxist Unification or POUM, against the facists, until it was declared Trotskyite and therefore illegal. Inevitably this led to thousands from the International Brigade being arrested and imprisoned without trial.
Sound familiar? The same tactic is still being used today. Nothing changes…
Here’s what I had to say in my short review:
In 2012, I published the very first book I ever wrote, back in 1995 – Turning Point. Out of it came my science fiction space opera Onet’s Tale. While TP was largely met with scorn and derision by the total connards of the US, not everyone hated it. Since the rules were changed by Amazon, no-one buys it any more. They merely wait until they can get their grubby paws on a free copy.
Once again last month I offered it for free. Guess what, it’s being read again. This time here in the UK! With 209 free copies taken this time round, and one copy actually bought, the number of pages read works out at 368. Divide that number by 168, the number of pages in the book, and you arrive at 2.19 books read. A pitiful amount I grant you. But at least two and a bit people are reading it…
Here are the UK reviews:
It would appear that what I said at the end of yesterday’s post has done some good.
~~~
…but well worth the wait. Here is what the Flemish author of the award winning crime novel Baudelair’s Revenge – Bob Van Laerhoven, had to say about my extremely short historical novella Autumn 1066.
~~~
As a Fleming, I knew that my knowledge of Britain’s entry into the Middle Ages was sketchy before I started reading Jack Eason’s Autumn 1066, but, after having read his novella, I must admit that it was also based on clichés and vague concepts. Autumn 1066 remedied this thoroughly. Eason has the gift of condensing and presenting historical facts in such a way that, although manifold and thoroughly researched, they hinder in no way the suspense of his war-story. Eason paints a clear portrait of the growing tensions between various factions competing for the throne, and the leaders of various armies, but also of the common soldiers, ordinary men who were forced to fight the wars of the nobility. For his vivid, and shocking, description of the battlefields, Eason focuses on two such ordinary warriors, Aldred and Cynric. When he describes the man-to-man fights and the deadly swarms of arrows, the reader can actually feel the fear and the agony of the warriors. In spite of the extensive historical background, Eason’s cast of characters, high and low, doesn’t degrade into stereotypes. They remain people like you and me, tackling life as best as they can when they are poor, and victims of greed and the overwhelming desire for power when they are rich. Writing historical fiction is all about keeping equilibrium between a passionate story and historical facts. Jack Eason has done that remarkably well.
~~~
Hopefully Bob’s review will appear soon on all Amazon sites. So if he and Sally Cronin can deliver, why can’t everyone else who promised to write a review!
By the way, I uploaded the Kindle version yesterday at the KDP base price of US$2.99. Depending which Amazon outlet you use, determines the price you will pay. But if your quick off the mark, you will be able to get yourselves a free copy tomorrow (Friday 30th June 2017) and (Saturday 1st July 2017).
😉
If you are a book lover, then common decency dictates that once you’ve read a book, to show how much you enjoyed reading it, you post a review. That is the accepted norm…
What I’m about to tell you cannot be stressed enough – the reality of the situation is that without reviews, a book soon dies.
As I always review every book I read, it should come as no surprise that I’ve just posted one for the book pictured above. You can read it below. It’s just a shame that the few who bought a copy of my latest Autumn 1066 haven’t done the same thing. Ask yourselves one simple question – in the end what is it that attracts you to a particular book? Forget about the cover. That’s nothing more or less than window dressing designed to attract the eye of the non-reader.
Instead take a long hard look at the reviews a book receives. I’ve said it before and I’ll continue to say it until the day the cows come home. When you take the time to think about it, it’s a no-brainer. Carefully considered reviews are what sell books!!
~~~
Now here’s my review for Bernard Cornwell’s Stonehenge 2000BC:-
Which only goes to show how little people appreciate a brilliantly written novel when it is presented to them by …, 5 Jun. 2017
~~~
Have We Had Help? 