The Real Value of Your Book Review

I'd bet every single one of you has—at least once—seen an author share a graphic reminding readers about how review numbers play into our success. Each image mentions visibility of a book and the importance of this new version of word of mouth, and most mention the selectivity of Amazon's algorithm.

As an aside, some vastly more experienced authors claim there in fact is no magic number of reviews that makes Amazon care more about your book when it comes to including it in "also bought" or "similar product" recommendations. So, who knows.

Some graphics, like the one below from tallpoppies.org, also try to educate readers about the reality of being an author. No, we're not all best-selling gazillionaires. (I know: you're shocked!)

There are entire businesses built around helping authors get more reviews, because we've all had it drilled into us that reviews are the only way to save yourself from being swept into obscurity by the ocean of (e)books.

But one of the things that is rarely included (though Tall Poppies did touch upon it—go them) is how important reviews are to an author as a person and not just a business. Yes, reviews help authors be considered for competitive ad placements like BookBub, and they might affect how/when Amazon shows our books, but in reality, they're so much more than that, as I was reminded late last week. 

Lately, I've been battling discouragement (to put it mildly), and trying to decide if pushing forward was nothing more than falling into the trap of the sunk cost fallacy. I'm still not sure what the right answer is, but a fantastic review for Tasting Temptation from BiblioManiac could not have been better timed, reminding me that my stories do impact people in a positive way; that, just maybe, they are worth reading. The review was so wonderful, I have a hard time choosing a snippet from it to quote! Is it any wonder, with lines like:

"This story is emotionally gripping and explosive."  Or: 

"I love Gina. Despite everything she's gone through, she really is a fighter and doesn't ever stop. She's brave and strong, and someone I strive to be."

Seriously, after reading Emma's review, even I'm sold on on this book! ;-)

So yes, please, if you've read a book, leave a review. And it's true, the numbers don't care whether you loved or hated the book, or how many words there are in your review as long as it exists. 

But if you've enjoyed a book, then all of this applies to you even more so. Not because we only want positive reviews, but because authors are people, and sometimes we need a reminder that this whole putting-our-work-out-there thing is worthwhile.

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Other Important Tidbits:

• There is still time to enter the giveaways celebrating the 1-year anniversary of Mortal Musings!
• For those who'd like an even deeper look into my writing/publishing journey, including sneak peeks, exclusive giveaways, and more (everything's still TBD!), I've created this reader group on Facebook. The group is closed so that our discussions stay private, but anyone interested is welcome to join!

Mortal Musings's 1-Year Anniversary Extravaganza!

As of Thursday, Mortal Musings will have been out in the world for an entire year! It still hasn't sunk in. 

When I first decided to publish this book independently, turning down several traditional offers, I knew I was taking a huge risk. But now, Mortal Musings is a 2016 Booksellers' Best Award Finalist—and a reader favorite. Just take a look at these lovely reader comments:

"Adorable and genuine love story between truly endearing characters. Their romance was so earnest that I couldn't stop smiling the entire time I read it." —Kris B.

"A very enjoyable read from start to finish. It’s beautifully and intelligently written, gently developed with a nice degree of whimsicality and sensuality."
—Raven

"I really enjoyed this book! I read it from cover to cover in one sitting, couldn't put it down. Very fun, lighthearted read that left me happy—the end was totally satisfying, even though part of me also didn't want to ever end."
—Jennifer

"Allie and Brett are captivating and their chemistry is magnetic. The story is sweet, magical, and marvelously twisty. “Mortal Musings” is a short Romance so the writing is tight and the angsty introspection is blissfully minimal while the character development is plentiful. In short, “Mortal Musings” was short, sweet, and steamy!" 
— Char at Lightning City Book Reviews

~ More Reader Reviews ~

I'm Back!

I'm back! Sorry for disappearing without notice—I'd planned to write a quick post, letting you all know that I was merely heading out of the country, not truly disappearing, but of course, as usual lately, life got in the way (packing, friends visiting (yay!), wrapping up work, etc.).

Stressful as wrapping everything up under a very strict deadline was (and don't even get me started on the disasters of traveling on the way there!) this trip truly came at a great time. I spent two full weeks genuinely not working, and usually not even thinking about work. The freedom from social media and worrying about marketing or deadlines—enforced by a lack of internet access—was incredible, and in many ways eye-opening.

I read eight full books, and the beginnings of two more! Two of them were by the fantastic Susan Elizabeth Phillips, one of my favorite authors ever since I first discovered romance. A few were by new-to-me authors, Nalini Singh and Anna Elliott, with a couple more by Laurell K Hamilton. I can't say I loved every book I read, but I loved being able to spend that much time reading—among sight seeing, engaging lectures on art & artists, and plenty of family time.

I also watched at least 5 movies on the plane rides (definitely more, but I only remember one during my flight there, which can't possibly be right). It was almost like coming out of a haze of work and catching up on what was happening in the rest of the world—while simultaneously being completely separate from that world.

I did miss the Olympics, which I am pretty bummed about, especially since I don't have cable in ay form at home and so can't watch the replays on NBC (boo).

Now that I'm back, of course I'm focusing full-force on the celebration for the 1-year anniversary of Mortal Musings, which is next week! I have lots of fun in store, and I hope you'll come celebrate with me. You can get a head start by joining my newsletter so that you'll be the first to know about everything going on. (And because I can't keep a secret, I can tell you there'll be a special giveaway open only to newsletter subscribers!)

I have a good excuse!

I meant to have a full post written by this morning, one about publishing, even. But yesterday I threw a baby shower for a friend, for which another friend flew out from the East Coast, and so the entire weekend was dominated with lovely social time. Both friends are writers, though, so that counts for something, right? Of course, it would be good if I was ahead enough in life to have already written a post for today, but let's not kid ourselves.

However, for those of you who may not have yet grabbed your copy, I wanted to make sure to let you know that The Whedonite is free for a very limited time (ending Tuesday night)!

Grab your copy here!

My First Solo Book Signing!

Another day and another post have gotten away from me, but I promise I'm aiming to return to my regular Monday schedule. Really.

This past Sunday was my very first solo book signing. Though I've participated in author events before, this was entirely different, and much less structured. There was a table on the street set aside for me, right outside the door to Recycle Books in Campbell, but absolutely everything else was up to me. Here's how I set that table up:

As you can see, I had all three novels set upright to (hopefully) catch attention. I also had trading cards and two different magnet designs people could grab, a few print copies of The Whedonite, signups for my newsletter, and some chocolate kisses. What do you think? Any suggestions for the setup of future events?

Why Publish? Facing Some Hard Truths

This post is coming a little late in the day. There are many reasons, including some health issues and the fact that I've been fighting with Ingram Spark—again—to get correctly printed copies of my latest book. I always question how much of the "real" world to share here on my blog, how big a window to open for you all into my life, including into my life as an author.

We're so often taught that any "negativity" will only come back to haunt us, whether it's admitting our weaknesses or addressing a less-than-stellar experience. It's a big part of why I stayed mostly quiet about my time with GMMG. (And no, that's not what this post is about; for me, that's all ancient history.)

At the same time, we're advised to be honest, genuine, and vulnerable. I try to focus on the first two, giving you all a glimpse behind the scenes and sharing all the excitement without going too far into all the anxiety, and heartbreak, and feelings of failure. Today, for better or for worse, is different.

I've published 3 novels in 10 months (August 2015–June 2016), independently. I've spent a significant amount of both money and time to make that happen. One of my novels (Mortal Musings) is up for an award, which is incredibly exciting (and nerve-wracking, since the results will be announced Wednesday). But readers aren't buying it. My other novels aren't doing so well either, with my latest release, Tasting Temptation, doing the worst of them all in terms of sales, though personally I think it's my best to date. I'm not kidding or exaggerating, folks: it's sold fewer than 15 copies total so far.

I've always known I was terrible at marketing, so I've tried hiring companies to do it for me or paying for ads, as much as I could afford. Those seemed to do as poorly as my own attempts. So lately I've had to confront the question of why I publish my work, as opposed to just writing it and letting it go. Why spend months torturing the draft into something readable and then something decent and then something (hopefully) enjoyable? Why spend hours agonizing over marketing decisions, and cover design ideas, and how to pay for it all?

And part of the answer is that I'm a perfectionist, but the real reason is: you. Readers. And yet the hardest thing for me has been simply getting my books read. So I'd like to try something new, just for those of you who read my blog.

A limited number of copies of Tasting Temptation are available for free right here—first come, first served. All you have to do is click on the link and choose your format. Fair warning: this book contains explicit scenes; please do not download it if that makes you uncomfortable.

I'm truly only doing this because I hope you'll enjoy this book. I'd really appreciate if, after reading it, you'd take the time to leave your honest review. I am toying with the idea of a reviewer appreciation giveaway to come (I'd love your thoughts in the comments on that one). If you have other budget-friendly ideas you think may help, I'd appreciate hearing those too.

Regardless, I will be taking a brief break from publishing for the foreseeable future (at least several months). Partially, this is because I need to have time to work on the actual writing and revising that precedes the publishing, and partially because I have a lot of thinking to do. I don't have any plans to stop blogging, however, and regardless of anything, there are festivities planned for Mortal Musings' anniversary in August. I hope you'll join me.

Thanks as always for reading!