Michael’s answer to “First, I want to say that Royce and Hadrian are some of the most fun characters I’ve read. Can’t wa…” > Likes and Comments
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This is great advice. I would like to emphasize the point about striking up a conversation with potential reviewers. I do a lot of reviews here on Goodreads as well as Amazon and I can't tell you the number of requests I get to review books. The problem is that 98% of them read like a form letter. It's hard for me to get enthusiastic about such requests.
I am really impressed with Mr. Sullivan for taking the time to give good, honest, helpful advice to a new author. He's earned another fan in me. I have had a lot of time between novel 1 and novel 2, with novel 2 coming out shortly, so I spent that time getting reviews and publishing short stories. I hope number three truly is a magic number, but if not 4 and 5 will follow. :) Thanks, Mr. Sullivan!
Thanks for taking the time to write a comprehensive response, Michael! That advice makes sense; there is a lot of overwhelming information out there, and it's great to see what someone with experience actually thinks about all that. My biggest mistake was that while I was really involved during the editing and polishing process, and then when it was released last year I hid under a shell so I could continue writing the sequel. I've only started scouting for reviewers two weeks ago...I have sent the novel out to those who expressed interest, so I'm hoping to hear back from them soon(ish...it is epic fantasy after all).
The comments are helpful, too--thanks, everyone. When you've done a fair bit of querying for the traditional publishing industry (about seven years before I turned indie, in my case), it's sometimes hard to step back from all that robot-like formality and just relate to people on a personal level. It's almost like you've been *drilled* to spit out the blurb and catch people's attention with that first line that you forget how far a good, honest conversation can take you. :)
And since you offered, I will definitely come back to ask again once I've met those numbers. ;)
K.S. - This may be cheeky of me, but... I'll give you an honest review in exchange for a free copy ;)
One thing Michael missed (though his advice is awesome): Giving complementary copies can help with sales of the rest of the series.
I'm not an author, but I am a reader...
Not cheeky at all, Dawn. I'll send you a message. :)
Hi K.S., I clicked on your profile (not your author page) and then on to your blog from my phone and, to be honest, the only reason I found your book is because I made an effort to find it. I think any time you mention you book on your blog it would be a good idea to make it a link to either a page about your book or to goodreads. You might also include a quick line in your profile bio here to the effect of "check out my new book Jaeth’s Eye, the first book in The Agartes Epilogues" with a link. Do you have a dedicated website for your book/series? Not a blog, but a static page? As a reader who is always looking for something fresh I read a lot of unproven authors. It's nice to have a place to go to get information about what I'm getting into and read a little bit about the author. It should be as easy at possible to find. If I'm unfamiliar with someone there is typically only so much effort I'm going to put in before I move on. In the old days we called it the three click rule.
Hi Jason...thanks for the comment. I'll send you a private message as it was never my intention to advertise my book from Michael's page. :)
@Benjamin - it's unfortunate that there are writers treating you that way. It's not about "volume" of reviews it's about the quality of reviews. When you find a reviewer that looks like they will love your book , you need to treat them with respect and form letters certainly aren't the way to go about it.
@Jason - Glad to hear it. The truth is, I love doing what I can to help authors. It's a hard life and I've learned a lot and if my words can help others get a bit of a leg up then it is time well spent. I like your attitude with regards to your own work - the only way to guarantee failure is to quick - so yes keep putting out more work, keep striving to improve - doing that will definitely increase the chances exponentially. I wish you great success.
K.S. - We all go "under a rock" from time to time...either we get burned out, or busy writing, or real life gets in the way. The good news is the coals are still there warm and ready. When you come back a little blowing will reignite the flames. It's definitely a marathon not a sprint. There is plenty of time so no worries.
@Dawn - excellent point. There are a lot of indie published authors that have built a nice fan base by making the first book free. So yeah, giving complimentary copies (assuming the story is strong and well written) can definitely lead to sales for the other books - another reason why 3 is a magic number.
@Jason - all excellent advice - having a dedicated website is sooooo important. And you are correct an author has to make it easy for the reader to get to the information they are looking for, most won't "stick with it" if the author makes it hard.
Thanks for the time again, Michael. This was two months ago--I have, since then, gathered three reviews on Goodreads, am patiently waiting for feedback from about thirteen other people, and finished the sequel. Am taking a bit of a break in the form of editing work for our other releases, but I'll be back on it again soon. It was great interacting with potential readers/readers, and I would've never realized that without your advice. :)
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Benjamin
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Mar 17, 2015 09:58AM
This is great advice. I would like to emphasize the point about striking up a conversation with potential reviewers. I do a lot of reviews here on Goodreads as well as Amazon and I can't tell you the number of requests I get to review books. The problem is that 98% of them read like a form letter. It's hard for me to get enthusiastic about such requests.
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I am really impressed with Mr. Sullivan for taking the time to give good, honest, helpful advice to a new author. He's earned another fan in me. I have had a lot of time between novel 1 and novel 2, with novel 2 coming out shortly, so I spent that time getting reviews and publishing short stories. I hope number three truly is a magic number, but if not 4 and 5 will follow. :) Thanks, Mr. Sullivan!
Thanks for taking the time to write a comprehensive response, Michael! That advice makes sense; there is a lot of overwhelming information out there, and it's great to see what someone with experience actually thinks about all that. My biggest mistake was that while I was really involved during the editing and polishing process, and then when it was released last year I hid under a shell so I could continue writing the sequel. I've only started scouting for reviewers two weeks ago...I have sent the novel out to those who expressed interest, so I'm hoping to hear back from them soon(ish...it is epic fantasy after all). The comments are helpful, too--thanks, everyone. When you've done a fair bit of querying for the traditional publishing industry (about seven years before I turned indie, in my case), it's sometimes hard to step back from all that robot-like formality and just relate to people on a personal level. It's almost like you've been *drilled* to spit out the blurb and catch people's attention with that first line that you forget how far a good, honest conversation can take you. :)
And since you offered, I will definitely come back to ask again once I've met those numbers. ;)
K.S. - This may be cheeky of me, but... I'll give you an honest review in exchange for a free copy ;)One thing Michael missed (though his advice is awesome): Giving complementary copies can help with sales of the rest of the series.
I'm not an author, but I am a reader...
Not cheeky at all, Dawn. I'll send you a message. :)
Hi K.S., I clicked on your profile (not your author page) and then on to your blog from my phone and, to be honest, the only reason I found your book is because I made an effort to find it. I think any time you mention you book on your blog it would be a good idea to make it a link to either a page about your book or to goodreads. You might also include a quick line in your profile bio here to the effect of "check out my new book Jaeth’s Eye, the first book in The Agartes Epilogues" with a link. Do you have a dedicated website for your book/series? Not a blog, but a static page? As a reader who is always looking for something fresh I read a lot of unproven authors. It's nice to have a place to go to get information about what I'm getting into and read a little bit about the author. It should be as easy at possible to find. If I'm unfamiliar with someone there is typically only so much effort I'm going to put in before I move on. In the old days we called it the three click rule.
Hi Jason...thanks for the comment. I'll send you a private message as it was never my intention to advertise my book from Michael's page. :)
@Benjamin - it's unfortunate that there are writers treating you that way. It's not about "volume" of reviews it's about the quality of reviews. When you find a reviewer that looks like they will love your book , you need to treat them with respect and form letters certainly aren't the way to go about it.
@Jason - Glad to hear it. The truth is, I love doing what I can to help authors. It's a hard life and I've learned a lot and if my words can help others get a bit of a leg up then it is time well spent. I like your attitude with regards to your own work - the only way to guarantee failure is to quick - so yes keep putting out more work, keep striving to improve - doing that will definitely increase the chances exponentially. I wish you great success.
K.S. - We all go "under a rock" from time to time...either we get burned out, or busy writing, or real life gets in the way. The good news is the coals are still there warm and ready. When you come back a little blowing will reignite the flames. It's definitely a marathon not a sprint. There is plenty of time so no worries.
@Dawn - excellent point. There are a lot of indie published authors that have built a nice fan base by making the first book free. So yeah, giving complimentary copies (assuming the story is strong and well written) can definitely lead to sales for the other books - another reason why 3 is a magic number.
@Jason - all excellent advice - having a dedicated website is sooooo important. And you are correct an author has to make it easy for the reader to get to the information they are looking for, most won't "stick with it" if the author makes it hard.
Thanks for the time again, Michael. This was two months ago--I have, since then, gathered three reviews on Goodreads, am patiently waiting for feedback from about thirteen other people, and finished the sequel. Am taking a bit of a break in the form of editing work for our other releases, but I'll be back on it again soon. It was great interacting with potential readers/readers, and I would've never realized that without your advice. :)
