Books, publishing, reading list

Reviews: What’s the big deal?

Around this time of year, you will often see posts on social media saying something like, “give an author the best gift imaginable: leave a review for their book!” As an author, I agree whole-heartedly with such posts. I got to thinking the other day, though: if I weren’t an author myself, would I understand just why reviews are so important? And I realized, probably not.

So I thought I might take some time to explain why authors will often sound almost desperate in our pleas for reviews for our books.

The first reason has to do with algorithms. Ugh, I know. In the world of bookselling as it exists today, algorithms are what determines how easy it is for potential readers to find your books. On, say, Amazon, if you type “magic most deadly” into the search bar–well, I scrolled through fifteen pages before I gave up on finding my book actually titled Magic Most Deadly.

Sorry, Maia and Len–according to Amazon, you don’t exist

As for From the Shadows, well, that one remains firmly in the shadows so far as bookselling websites are concerned.

Back into the shadows with you, Riss! No joy for you!

So, why is it that my books don’t show up in searches? Because they don’t have enough reviews. The general rule of thumb is that it takes about 50 reviews for the computer programming that runs Amazon’s search pages to decide your book deserves to appear sooner and more frequently in searches.

So then, the #1 reason authors beg for reviews is simple: more reviews = more visibility, more visibility = more chances for people to buy our books.

The #2 reason is also pretty simple. The vast majority of buyers online are always going to check the reviews before they purchase. This goes for anything, not just books. I do the same! I want to make sure I’m not buying a dud. And when it comes to stories–especially self-published books, which, unfairly or not, have a reputation of being of lesser quality than traditionally published books–readers want to know if this is going to be worth their time or not.

(This is one way in which a detailed negative review can also be helpful, by the way. If I, a potential reader, find a 1-star review that says “This book is awful! The characters just talked to each other and nothing ever happened. It was well written but so boring, and there wasn’t even any romance,” I am suddenly much more interested in that book, because that sort of story is exactly to my taste.)

Visibility and buyer confidence. That’s what our need for reviews really boils down to.

But Louise! I hear you say. Reviews are a pain to write! I never know what to say.

Never fear, I am here with a very simple template you can follow for almost any type of review. Think of this as Mad Libs for reviewing. Ready?

Glowing review: “This is a [positive adjective] book! I especially liked [character or event]. If you enjoy stories with [descriptive noun], you will enjoy this book.”

For example, and I’m going to use Magic Most Deadly here because why not: “This is a wonderful book! I especially like the friendship that developed between Maia and Len. If you enjoy stories with well-developed characters, you will enjoy this book.”

Temperate review: “This is a [mildly positive adjective] book. [character or event or stylistic choice] was particularly well done. I thought that [character or event or stylistic choice] was [negative adjective], but overall, a good read. If you like [descriptive noun], you will enjoy this book.”

And the example, still using Magic Most Deadly: “This is a pretty good book. The relationship between the main characters was particularly well done. I thought that the pacing was slow, but overall, a good read. If you like stories that are more about the characters than the plot, you will enjoy this book.”

Negative reviews are a little trickier, but you can use a basic template for them as well: “I did not enjoy this book at all. It was [blank] and [blank], and it did not work for me. I am sure there is an audience for this book, but I am not it.”

And here we go fitting that to MMD: “I did not enjoy this book at all. It was slow and the writing style felt pretentious, and it did not work for me at all. I am sure there is an audience for this book, but I am not it.”

And there you have it! Obviously you will want to fiddle with it a bit to make it your own, but generally speaking, opinion of the book + one or two reasons for that opinion + why people might or might not like the book = amazing reviews.

Now you know why authors plead so much for reviews, and you have an easy template for writing those reviews, so hey: go make an author’s holiday extra bright by leaving them a review on Amazon or wherever you bought their book!

Books, fantasy, reading list

Self-Published Fantasy Month, Final Week

So, turns out the kids starting school for the first time means everyone, including Mom, has a lot of adjusting to do. Last week was a haze of trying to get everyone up on time, making sure everyone had all their assignments done in time, making sure the assignments were handed in, not just completed, and oh yes, let’s not even talk about lunches.

We had a wonderful weekend, spent hiking a mountain and tidying up around the house and getting some pumpkins and mums on our front walkway to welcome autumn, and it was the perfect reset button–this school morning went much more smoothly. We’ll see how managing assignments goes!

So, onto the final week for the Self-Published Fantasy month! We have five reviews today, instead of four, since I missed posting this last week and was therefore able to add one more book to my reading tally.

First up, Intisar Khanani and her Sunbolt Chronicles. Khanani is probably better known for Thorn, her Goose Girl retelling (which I also highly recommend), but as that is now published by a traditional press, it doesn’t quite fit the criteria for this review series (but seriously, you should still read it).

Her Sunbolt Chronicles, though, are equally brilliant. Although here I have to add a disclaimer–I have only read Sunbolt, the first book. The second, Memories of Ash, is another one I’m saving for a time when I really need a thoughtful, deep, hopeful book. Because that is what Khanani does with her books. They are not afraid to look into the darkness, but they unflinchingly declare that the light is better, and that in the end it will be triumphant.

Next we have Tara Grayce, whose Fierce Heart was sheer delight to read.

Fierce Heart gives us an extroverted princess who has no super-special abilities aside from the determination to look for the good in every situation and find a way to be happy in it. I didn’t know how much I needed a cheerful protagonist after so many Angry Girls in fantasy fiction until I started reading this–but Essie soothed my weary soul as much as she did the–well, I won’t spoil it for you. But if you’ve ever watched LOTR and wondered how the elves manage to keep their hair so perfect, Tara Grayce has the answer for you–and it might just stop an interspecies war. (Seriously, I love how she was able to take a common trope in fantasy, poke gentle fun at it, and then turn around and use it as a major plot point in the story. Brilliant!) I haven’t had a chance yet to read the rest of the series, but I’m looking forward to it.

Next is another middle grade author, Stephanie Ascough, and her debut novel Light and Shadow.

Ascough tackles a lot of challenging themes and topics in this novel, first in a planned series. She shines at world-building, creating a wonderful universe with unusual magic and a rich mythology. I love that, despite this have a very fairy-tale feel, both the protagonist’s parents are alive, and she in fact has a warm and loving, if challenging, relationship to them both. All the relationships are well drawn, in fact, from the friendship between the cousins (having grown up with wonderful cousins myself, I am always a suck for cousin friendships in stories) to the friendships that Ardin, the princess protagonist, develops throughout the course of the story. Oh, and did I mention that Ardin is visually impaired? And there’s no magical cure for it? Ascough handled that difficult topic so well, and all of these things combined mean I am very much looking forward to the next book in the series whenever it comes out!

Next is Rene Sears, author of the novella duology Crossroads of Worlds.

I love fantasy stories with a female protagonist in her thirties or older. Possibly this is a result of my own aging, but also, I don’t know, sometimes you just appreciate a slightly wearier, warier, more mature standpoint to view the world from, rather than the all-or-nothing, ride-or-die mentality of teens and twenty-somethings. A protagonist in her thirties has generally learned caution and understands responsibility, and while she might still feel passionately about individuals or causes, she’s not going to rush right into anything without taking stock of the sacrifices first, and not without first calling in sick so the people who are depending on her in ordinary life aren’t left high and dry. I like that. Strangehold definitely gives us that kind of protagonist, one with nieces who need her help and a sister who might be beyond her help, and two worlds that are threatening to collide and destroy what she loves. Sorrow’s Son, the sequel, continues the story, but I confess my heart really belongs with Morgan, the protagonist of the first story. Like I mentioned before, these books are novellas, so they are a nice short read for when you don’t have time to dive into an 800-page tome.

Finally, the author for whom I am bending the rules a little bit: Arielle M. Bailey, and The Icarus Aftermath. Bailey has written an unabashed tribute to Star Wars with The Icarus Aftermath, which might make some people want to classify it as sci-fi. But she has blended Star Wars with Greek myth, which combined with the fact that Star Wars itself is basically fantasy-in-space is enough for me to claim it as fantasy, and therefore include it in this post.

I loved this story. I adored the Greek myths when I was a kid, and I have loved Star Wars ever since my first exposure to it, so I’m pretty sure Bailey wrote this just for me, specifically. Plus it starts out, as the title says, in the aftermath of a tragic event, the death of one of the Rebellion’s brightest, most charismatic leaders, their hope for the future (this is not a spoiler–you can pretty much assume what is going to be the inciting event from the title if you know anything about the Icarus myth), and the rest of the story is as much about the people he left behind dealing with grief and trying to heal as it is about the Rebellion striking a blow against the Olympians. Although the latter part was great, too. Space fantasy, Greek myths, and a story more focused on interpersonal relationships than about flashy battles and ever-bigger galactic threats? Yeah, like I said: I’m pretty sure Bailey wrote this story for me. You know that story about Lewis and Tolkien deciding they had to write the stories they loved to read because no one else was? Well, this is a story I love that I didn’t have to write for myself, and that just makes it even better.

And that brings us to the (belated) end of this series! Thanks for sticking with me, guys, even after I missed last week. I hope this has provided you with lots of new reading material! These four blog posts are by no means an exhaustive list of the amazing self-published fantasy out there. I might do this again sometime even aside from the larger event hosted by the Self-Published Fantasy Month blog (loads of other authors mentioned there, by the way, most of whom I have not yet had a chance to read myself and so couldn’t include in this series), so feel free to let me know of your favorite author who got missed this month, and hopefully I’ll be able to include them at a later date.

Happy reading, friends!

1920s, Books, fiction, publishing, writing

Giveaway Time!

Hello friends! It’s been a long time since I’ve done a giveaway, and I think it’s time I changed that.

m&m_cover

The Prize: A signed paperback copy of Magic & Mayhem, my newly-released short story collection (if you already have M&M, contact me and we can work out a substitute of one of my other works).

The Rules: Between now and next Saturday (5/19), leave an honest review on any or all of my books on Amazon and/or Goodreads (links below).

Come back here and leave a comment with a link to your review(s).

Each review is one (1) entry into the giveaway. (Four books, two places to leave reviews, means you could potentially have up to eight entries.)

On 5/20, a winner will be randomly drawn, and on 5/21 they will be contacted about how to claim their prize.

The Reason: Glamours & Gunshots, Book 2 of the Whitney & Davies series, is coming out this year. THIS YEAR. Hopefully even this summer, though let’s not get too carried away.

I would love to stir up a lot of interest for this release, and one way to do that is by having enough reviews on my other books for potential readers to take note of the series and consider purchasing the new book when it comes out. Reviews are an author’s lifeline! Without them, our books tend not to show up in searches, they don’t get featured anywhere, and we lose so many potential readers.

Extra Stuff: If you have already left a review on all of my books but would still like to enter the giveaway, that’s fine, too–send me a link to them and you’ll be entered. Winning does not depend on the quality of the review–even if it’s one-star because you really didn’t like it, BE HONEST. All I’m looking at is that a review has been left, not its content. This contest is open to international participants as well as US!

Easy links for reviewing:

Magic Most DeadlyAmazon and Goodreads

From the ShadowsAmazon and Goodreads

Candles in the DarkAmazon and Goodreads

Magic & MayhemAmazon and Goodreads

To go over the rules one more time:

Between now and 5/19, leave a review on any or all of my books on Amazon and/or Goodreads.

Come back here and leave a comment with a link to your review(s).

Each review is one (1) entry into the giveaway.

On 5/20, a winner will be randomly drawn, and on 5/21 they will be contacted about how to claim their prize.

Prize is a signed paperback of Magic & Mayhem. (this is negotiable if you already have a copy and would like one of my other books instead)

Go forth and review, share this post with all your friends-and-relations, and good luck!