The Riyria Revelations discussion

I attribute so much of my success to goodreads that I wanted to showcase some other authors that I would like to give a "boost" to. These are newer, younger players that I think deserve to find a larger audience and I'd like to do whatever I can to lend a hand.

That's a very nice idea, Michael. Do you read many newer authors? I get a dozen or two ebooks to read for free each year. I only publicly review a few of them since I can't give them 4 stars or better. I give them a private review, though.

That would be Fantastic!
Especially when I take into consideration how very few authors we actually get in S.A!!
If it wasn't for Goodreads, I'd still be sitting waiting a year in between releases for the authors I already knew... :D

@Jim - How would you go about a private review?
As I tend not to give a review/my thoughts if I rate the books 3 stars or less... I just feel bad...

Jax, I'm just honest with the authors & try not be harsh or nasty, but supportive. Most new authors rush their stuff to print & have great ideas, but their editing just isn't up to snuff. It's often stuff that drives me nuts, but that's not a terribly long trip in some cases.
;-)

Maybe it would be best to ask Michael his opinion of my thoughts. I ARC read 4 of his books. We had a couple of disagreements, too. Like most authors I've read for, we're still friendly. I've only had one author who blew a gasket & after 50 or so reads of this type, I doubt that was my fault. Some people don't take criticism of their children well...

What does showcasing mean, Michael? Is this a topic for an author to link & promote their book(s) or would you be doing it?

Jim wrote: "Jax, I'm just honest with the authors & try not be harsh or nasty, but supportive. Most new authors rush their stuff to print & have great ideas, but their editing just isn't up to snuff. It's of..."

LOL - Thanx! At least now I know I'm not the only one!
Though I think you've put me off!
I'd rather just keep my thoughts to myself then...

I've had a few books where the main reason I couldn't give them more than 3 stars was because of "little" reasons - grammatical or spelling errors...
Those really bug me! :D
But I've had a few, where I think with just a little more attention (especially to detail) the story could be Great instead of just being 2/3 star material.

Though I have to say, I'm glad to hear you're not harsh or nasty - I hate it when people write bad reviews because they didn't enjoy the book, or in most cases - just didn't get it.
It Irritates the bejeebers outta me...
There are valid reasons for bad reviews - and personal issues with characters/plot are not good reasons! :D
Those are reasons to put "not my cuppa Tea" not rant and rave and pick apart the authors work!

Sorry - okay, I'm done ranting now... :D

I'm not sure Michael wants us to clutter up this topic with how we review, but I'd be interested in discussing it more. I do hand out 1 star reviews occasionally, but my average, last time I looked, was 3.31.

:D

@Jim - I'm always reading (but I go slowly so don't get through as many books as I would like). I try to balance my reading between "new" kids on the block (both indie and traditional) and the giants of the industry that I'm not "plugged into."

@Horace - I'm going to start threads for people I want to highlight and then those in this group can discuss it there. I'm going to do this in an organized way, in that I'm carefully selecting who I spotlight. It's really not an "open" forum kind of thing. I want so that if I bring up a book it REALLY is worth the attention of people who like my style of writing.

That makes sense, Michael. Thanks.

Michael, can we suggest a book for you to consider highlighting here?

Absolutely!!