My First Blog!
This is my first time sticking my toe in the blogosphere (did I even spell that right?) so please be forgiving of me. After all, this is just my opinion and who the hell am I, anyway, right?
As someone new to the Indie publishing realm, I will admit it has been a steep learning curve. Formatting, book covers, marketing, Analytics (WTF?) etc. When this all started, I just wanted to write a book! But, this is a 'Brave New World' where the author controls the destinies of their work, so I dived right in.
One of the first hard lessons I learned came just a short time ago. I published "Viral House" in the middle of June, and for the last three months it has been a slow boiler, steady but with not many spikes. It has maintained a 4 star or better rating since it launched, and I have enjoyed many of the comments made in the 14 reviews I have garnered along the way.
Then came the dreaded 1 star review.
For those (like myself) not familiar with the psychology of book buying, let me cram this in a nutshell for you. A single, 1 star review can do more damage to a books sales and ranking than ten 5 star reviews can do to boost them. "Viral House" had been selling steadily for about three months until that 1 star review ground it to a halt.
Now I am not devastated; the book will recover, as do other books. I am speaking now to those who love to read and review books. First of all, authors cherish reviews, even the not so good ones. The feedback they supply is invaluable for any author who strives to write good books. We know the time it takes to form and post a review, and we greatly appreciate those who make the sacrifice. Keep 'em coming!
But, a word of advice: if you are going to review a book; REVIEW the book!
Please don't post, "I didn't like it" and then punch the 1 star. If a book is awful enough to deserve only 1 star, then you must have a laundry list of reasons why. Tell us why! We really want to know! That's the only way we can become better writers!
Lastly, please understand that with a great review comes great responsibility. Your words and stars effect the life's blood of an author's work. For many Indie authors, this is their livelihood. Please review responsibly!
Hopefully by next week, I'll have something more interesting to say. Until then, keep reading and reviewing!
Joe Sharp
As someone new to the Indie publishing realm, I will admit it has been a steep learning curve. Formatting, book covers, marketing, Analytics (WTF?) etc. When this all started, I just wanted to write a book! But, this is a 'Brave New World' where the author controls the destinies of their work, so I dived right in.
One of the first hard lessons I learned came just a short time ago. I published "Viral House" in the middle of June, and for the last three months it has been a slow boiler, steady but with not many spikes. It has maintained a 4 star or better rating since it launched, and I have enjoyed many of the comments made in the 14 reviews I have garnered along the way.
Then came the dreaded 1 star review.
For those (like myself) not familiar with the psychology of book buying, let me cram this in a nutshell for you. A single, 1 star review can do more damage to a books sales and ranking than ten 5 star reviews can do to boost them. "Viral House" had been selling steadily for about three months until that 1 star review ground it to a halt.
Now I am not devastated; the book will recover, as do other books. I am speaking now to those who love to read and review books. First of all, authors cherish reviews, even the not so good ones. The feedback they supply is invaluable for any author who strives to write good books. We know the time it takes to form and post a review, and we greatly appreciate those who make the sacrifice. Keep 'em coming!
But, a word of advice: if you are going to review a book; REVIEW the book!
Please don't post, "I didn't like it" and then punch the 1 star. If a book is awful enough to deserve only 1 star, then you must have a laundry list of reasons why. Tell us why! We really want to know! That's the only way we can become better writers!
Lastly, please understand that with a great review comes great responsibility. Your words and stars effect the life's blood of an author's work. For many Indie authors, this is their livelihood. Please review responsibly!
Hopefully by next week, I'll have something more interesting to say. Until then, keep reading and reviewing!
Joe Sharp
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