As of 16th December I have 154 Ratings for:-

'Deathsworn Arc: The Last Dragon Slayer'







And they are pretty mixed.

25% (40) = 5 Star
35% (54) = 4 Star
22% (35) = 3 Star
11% (17) = 2 Star
5% (8) = 1 Star

Now ratings like this probably aren't going to send my work flying off the virtual shelves of Amazon. I know why these ratings are the way they are and I offer the explanation here, so any other writers thinking of publishing can perhaps learn from them.

1. I had a minor run with the affectionately named 'Goodreads Bullies'. I don't know, but I suspect some of the hidden low ratings are a direct consequence of this. I'm not going to bitch and whine about it, I just wish I'd understood the situation before I entered the conversation. All I would advise anyone is, if you see a heated debate going on - bury your feelings and scroll on by. Even if the GR bullies are actively sabotaging authors ratings - and I don't think they are, at least not any more. I almost suspect this group has more or less disbanded after a couple of prominent members appear to have been banned. I don't think you'll get anywhere complaining to GR about it. I didn't, I took it on the chin and forgot about it. It would have been better not to have interacted at all with them though.

2. I released 'The Last Dragon Slayer' long before it was truly ready. Those who read the first version of the book read an unfinished product. Thankfully now, after many, many updates and hiring a professional editor and proof-reading it nearly to death it IS a good product. It won't be to everyone's taste, but at least I'm not throwing ratings away by people marking it down for editing problems, spelling mistakes, typo's and bad grammar. I released it in 2012 and to my folly thought if I updated it, everyone would automatically get the updated version. The truth is updating to the latest version is a pain and not straightforward. This is partly why book 4 'Rise of the Archmage' is taking so bloody long to finish! I HAVE to get it right first time. Don't make my mistake, only release it when YOU and three other people who've read it are ALL 100% Sure it's ready!

3. Themes will divide people. Even if your writing flows and your descriptions are vivid, if people don't like the story they will give you a bad rating. You can't do much about this, particularly if you feel strongly about the story. The things that might divide opinion on the Deathsworn Arc books are:-

A - The atheist tone of the books, particularly as the theme progresses. Fundamentalist theists won't like the direction these books take. There's an element of questioning your faith, losing your faith and coming to terms with it.

B - The pro-LGBT rights theme of books 3 and 4. There is a tone of being pro LGBT rights in the later books. Oppression of LGBT characters is strongly criticized. Some people actually still carry their instinct to hate on LGBT. If those people read my books, there might come a point where they disagree with the tone. I'd like to think most rational, sane people would agree people being burned at the stake for being homosexual is wrong, but you'd be amazed how strongly some people believe some quite distateful things.

C - The slightly feminist tone. One of my books protagonists is a female who at least for a good chunk of the books appears to be the most powerful character. She's also bold, bossy, and likes to be in charge. She's certainly no damsel in distress and strongly dislikes the few occasions when she needs other's help. She's very independent. If you think fantasy stories need a swarthy, muscle-bound hero doing all the heroing - you won't like these books.

D - The grittiness. I'll be straight these books are not Game of Thrones-alike. If you're looking for brutal murders, incest, torture, bodily mutilation, more incest, attempted child-murder, more brutal murders, child-killing, more torture - you get the picture - Just stick to G.R.R Martin! They are NOT however flowers and fairies in the woods. Characters get badly injured and killed. It's not GoT, but it's probably a step up from soft fantasy.

E - The talkiness. My characters talk alot. Some of them talk TOO much. Brael is a classic example, he's one of those people who do't know when to shut up at times and is inclined to start boring people to death. It's who he is. The other's talk too. If you wan't non-stop action and hate long conversations, these might not be the books for you.

F - The elvish language. Some love it, some hate it. But there are times when certain characters break into Elvish. There's even an unusual character in there - the section symbol.

There's probably more. The problem you have, is if you don't have these sort of elements in - you're writing might come across as bland. It's better to be loved by 50% and hated by 50% than everyone just thinks 'It's okay'. If you're dividing opinion, you're writing strongly. You're expressing yourself. You're sharing your ideas and getting readers to think.

I hope you find this of interest. It's all only my opinion. I would like more positive reviews of course and I'd love for more people to read beyond the final chapter of book 1. However I'd rather 40 people love it and 8 people hate it than I had 154 3 star 'It was okay' reviews.

Ultimately if some people love it, you have to look at the way you're presenting your book. One good explanation for very divided reviews is that your book often lands in front of the wrong pair of eyes. Make your blurb and cover convey what the book is like accurately and clearly. It might not help sales, but it should help your ratings and reviews and ratings and reviews may translate into sales one day.