C.P. Moore's Blog
March 16, 2013
Print on Demand - taking the plunge!
First entry in a heck of a while, but one I thought well worth mentioning.
I've decided to make my book available for purchase via print on demand. Through Createspace (which works with Amazon), self-publishers can sign up for their books to be printed and bound one at a time as each purchase happens. This means no taking a big risk on printing a thousand copies off your own back with no guarantee of them all selling (especially in the growing Kindle-Age), but it does offer the opportunity to expand your audience somewhat for those people who still love the feel of paper in hand as they turn the page. It also allows you to retain full ownership and rights to your work, so if an agent or publisher does pick you up, you don't need to fight with Createspace or Amazon for the rights to print it elsewhere.
The only downside as far as I can see if the minimum selling price you are forced to put it up for. Because print on demand is a one at a time process (and therefore requires frequent changes to materials settings, and parameters of the printing/binding equipment), the cost of production per book is much higher than setting the printer to "make a thousand" and letting it fly. This does however mean (in addition to Createspace taking their cut) that you have to set your book somewhat higher in price than you may have liked. For the most part I don't tend to buy books that are above £7.99 nowadays anyway (certainly not in Kindle format), but I was always happy to spend this much on a hardback copy. I'm hoping therefore that the £9.99 ($14.99) cover price is not too high that it puts potential buyers/readers off giving Greg, Leonard, and Leyana's adventures a try. If anything, I hope my cover design and description are professional enough that they draw in the reader and are enough for them to have a little faith in my work.
The main reason for doing this, aside from of course widening my audience, is the hope that with more formats of purchase there will follow more chances of my work showing up in search lists when shopping on Amazon. There is of course also the instances of seeing a book is only available in Kindle format, and therefore assuming it must be self-published and by default probably complete tosh. Now while the seven agents I submitted to were unable at the time to take me on as a client (either through a busy current client base, not quite their genre, or actually did not like it but did not want to tell me so), I still like to think that the work I have produced is significantly above a considerable amount of the self-published work available out there now that it has become so easy to do so. So many of the books available on Amazon in the "Kindle only" category include covers and descriptions of such shocking amateurism that I worry of being lumped in and ignored. Authors who think using Papyrus as a title font is being creative and edgy, or by slapping together some helicopter photos and a fiery background constitutes a professional effort in cover design; or those whose descriptions force in as many "quotes" from happy readers as possible, just make me worried for those who chose to go the self-published route but risk getting lost in the sandstorm.
It seems like a nothing to lose way to go, and I really hope it provides a means to be recognised more as someone who is trying to get their work read for the enjoyment and not because they think writing should be an easy way to make money. But as with all things, time will tell, readers will vote with their shopping basket clicks, and reviews can make or break a book.
I just hop in a few months there are one or two copies of Secret of the Nexus sitting on bedside tables somewhere in the world, and entertaining night time readers as much as the Kindle formats steadily (though less so this past month...) trundling their way out of the digital storage of Amazon's servers.
I've decided to make my book available for purchase via print on demand. Through Createspace (which works with Amazon), self-publishers can sign up for their books to be printed and bound one at a time as each purchase happens. This means no taking a big risk on printing a thousand copies off your own back with no guarantee of them all selling (especially in the growing Kindle-Age), but it does offer the opportunity to expand your audience somewhat for those people who still love the feel of paper in hand as they turn the page. It also allows you to retain full ownership and rights to your work, so if an agent or publisher does pick you up, you don't need to fight with Createspace or Amazon for the rights to print it elsewhere.
The only downside as far as I can see if the minimum selling price you are forced to put it up for. Because print on demand is a one at a time process (and therefore requires frequent changes to materials settings, and parameters of the printing/binding equipment), the cost of production per book is much higher than setting the printer to "make a thousand" and letting it fly. This does however mean (in addition to Createspace taking their cut) that you have to set your book somewhat higher in price than you may have liked. For the most part I don't tend to buy books that are above £7.99 nowadays anyway (certainly not in Kindle format), but I was always happy to spend this much on a hardback copy. I'm hoping therefore that the £9.99 ($14.99) cover price is not too high that it puts potential buyers/readers off giving Greg, Leonard, and Leyana's adventures a try. If anything, I hope my cover design and description are professional enough that they draw in the reader and are enough for them to have a little faith in my work.
The main reason for doing this, aside from of course widening my audience, is the hope that with more formats of purchase there will follow more chances of my work showing up in search lists when shopping on Amazon. There is of course also the instances of seeing a book is only available in Kindle format, and therefore assuming it must be self-published and by default probably complete tosh. Now while the seven agents I submitted to were unable at the time to take me on as a client (either through a busy current client base, not quite their genre, or actually did not like it but did not want to tell me so), I still like to think that the work I have produced is significantly above a considerable amount of the self-published work available out there now that it has become so easy to do so. So many of the books available on Amazon in the "Kindle only" category include covers and descriptions of such shocking amateurism that I worry of being lumped in and ignored. Authors who think using Papyrus as a title font is being creative and edgy, or by slapping together some helicopter photos and a fiery background constitutes a professional effort in cover design; or those whose descriptions force in as many "quotes" from happy readers as possible, just make me worried for those who chose to go the self-published route but risk getting lost in the sandstorm.
It seems like a nothing to lose way to go, and I really hope it provides a means to be recognised more as someone who is trying to get their work read for the enjoyment and not because they think writing should be an easy way to make money. But as with all things, time will tell, readers will vote with their shopping basket clicks, and reviews can make or break a book.
I just hop in a few months there are one or two copies of Secret of the Nexus sitting on bedside tables somewhere in the world, and entertaining night time readers as much as the Kindle formats steadily (though less so this past month...) trundling their way out of the digital storage of Amazon's servers.
January 3, 2013
Reading list - running low
Been a while since I posted anything on here - been wondering what impact this has on drawing attention to my first novel to be honest with you. But this morning I've spent the last half hour or so trying to find a good book to read for my upcoming trip on Saturday; and would you believe I just can't seem to find one.
For the most part those I've seen in the "recommended reading" section on Amazon appear to still be Templar and Vatican related. This is a trend I thought died out a year or two after the first Dan Brown film came out, yet here they still are, being churned out at a significant rate of knots. How many more secrets can the Vatican possibly have to hide from civilisation, and how much longer can we really care?
Viral threats also seem to be popular at the moment, or at least there are a lot of books published on the subject (I can't say for sure how well they're being received as the reviews appear mixed). I like this as a concept, especially when the source is something from the past that can be explored. But there have been far too many instances of Nazi bunkers being found that contain some long lost virus (that apparently despite our greater understanding of virology and genetic sequencing since WWII we are still incapable of reproducing the effects of), or a Vatican team being responsible for retrieving it should it go missing.
I think what prompted me to jot down a brief entry for the blog though, was a review about "Gods of Atlantis" by David Gibbins. I had clicked on it to see if others were thinking along the same lines as I had when I tried it = that they found themselves unable to finish it due to the sheer number of consecutive chapters that involved the main characters sitting in the briefing room on their boat talking endlessly about mini-submarines and the history that links what they're looking at on the screen. It just slowed things down too much for me. The review I was looking at said that the reader had found with a previous book that they had to put down for a few days at a time because they found it difficult to get into, but in the case of Gods of Atlantis they had to do so for weeks at a time.
And this is what rang alarm bells for me - because I too don't think I've read a book in about six months where I've found I actually wanted to go to bed before I was tired each night in order to read more of it. They've all been books that I've either not been able to finish, or dropped in on every few weeks and only managed a chapter at best before finding nothing was gripping me. This is making it considerably more difficult to choose a book to buy, as I am now half expecting the same dragged out stories and genetically altered Nazi virus that will get me as far as meeting the main characters before becoming bored and feeling I've walked the same weary fictional path so many times before. The background of the history to the threat of so many of these archaeological thrillers isn't even clever enough to keep me ticking over.
I must say some of my favourite books of this archaeological thriller genre have been the Andy McDermott series where okay a couple of the treasures they've sought have not been so much threats as they were simply means of funding a more modern diabolical plot (or saving some history from one), but the connections to myth and legend intermixed with factual history and some nicely executed action have always been might impressive. And the other major one (aside from the Matthew Reilly: Jack West series that sadly ended a few years ago) was the "Genesis Plague" by Michael Byrnes, because it had a fantastic cliff hanger and a very nice link between fact and fiction that just got me thinking as I read it, and therefore made me want to keep reading to see if he took the story in that direction.
These are the kinds of books that I'm trying to find, but with so many books out there in the couple of quid price bracket, it just makes me loathe to spend £4.99 on the kindle versions of more obviously major authors (Trudi Canavan, what the devil are you playing at with your £8.99 kindle price tag - I loved the Age of Five and Magician's Guild trilogies, but I'm not paying above print price for kindle books in your Traitor series; that's just nuts!) on the off chance they've still got the good above the self-publishers that I'm having to take more of a risk on.
I've got two days until my trip - thankfully I will have the "Expectant father survival guide" to read that I know I'll enjoy and finish simply because I need the info within for my upcoming new baby. So at least that's one book I can rely on - where are the rest?!?!?!?
For the most part those I've seen in the "recommended reading" section on Amazon appear to still be Templar and Vatican related. This is a trend I thought died out a year or two after the first Dan Brown film came out, yet here they still are, being churned out at a significant rate of knots. How many more secrets can the Vatican possibly have to hide from civilisation, and how much longer can we really care?
Viral threats also seem to be popular at the moment, or at least there are a lot of books published on the subject (I can't say for sure how well they're being received as the reviews appear mixed). I like this as a concept, especially when the source is something from the past that can be explored. But there have been far too many instances of Nazi bunkers being found that contain some long lost virus (that apparently despite our greater understanding of virology and genetic sequencing since WWII we are still incapable of reproducing the effects of), or a Vatican team being responsible for retrieving it should it go missing.
I think what prompted me to jot down a brief entry for the blog though, was a review about "Gods of Atlantis" by David Gibbins. I had clicked on it to see if others were thinking along the same lines as I had when I tried it = that they found themselves unable to finish it due to the sheer number of consecutive chapters that involved the main characters sitting in the briefing room on their boat talking endlessly about mini-submarines and the history that links what they're looking at on the screen. It just slowed things down too much for me. The review I was looking at said that the reader had found with a previous book that they had to put down for a few days at a time because they found it difficult to get into, but in the case of Gods of Atlantis they had to do so for weeks at a time.
And this is what rang alarm bells for me - because I too don't think I've read a book in about six months where I've found I actually wanted to go to bed before I was tired each night in order to read more of it. They've all been books that I've either not been able to finish, or dropped in on every few weeks and only managed a chapter at best before finding nothing was gripping me. This is making it considerably more difficult to choose a book to buy, as I am now half expecting the same dragged out stories and genetically altered Nazi virus that will get me as far as meeting the main characters before becoming bored and feeling I've walked the same weary fictional path so many times before. The background of the history to the threat of so many of these archaeological thrillers isn't even clever enough to keep me ticking over.
I must say some of my favourite books of this archaeological thriller genre have been the Andy McDermott series where okay a couple of the treasures they've sought have not been so much threats as they were simply means of funding a more modern diabolical plot (or saving some history from one), but the connections to myth and legend intermixed with factual history and some nicely executed action have always been might impressive. And the other major one (aside from the Matthew Reilly: Jack West series that sadly ended a few years ago) was the "Genesis Plague" by Michael Byrnes, because it had a fantastic cliff hanger and a very nice link between fact and fiction that just got me thinking as I read it, and therefore made me want to keep reading to see if he took the story in that direction.
These are the kinds of books that I'm trying to find, but with so many books out there in the couple of quid price bracket, it just makes me loathe to spend £4.99 on the kindle versions of more obviously major authors (Trudi Canavan, what the devil are you playing at with your £8.99 kindle price tag - I loved the Age of Five and Magician's Guild trilogies, but I'm not paying above print price for kindle books in your Traitor series; that's just nuts!) on the off chance they've still got the good above the self-publishers that I'm having to take more of a risk on.
I've got two days until my trip - thankfully I will have the "Expectant father survival guide" to read that I know I'll enjoy and finish simply because I need the info within for my upcoming new baby. So at least that's one book I can rely on - where are the rest?!?!?!?
September 28, 2012
99c Saturday!
For this weekend only, the first book in the series "The Order of the Nexus" is on sale for only $0.99 instead of the normal price of $2.99. Snap it up quick and get reviewing - Greg Cross needs some more stars if he's going to climb back to the top!
Amazon US - Secret of the Nexus
Amazon UK - Secret of the Nexus
Amazon US - Secret of the Nexus
Amazon UK - Secret of the Nexus
September 6, 2012
Superhero movie costumes - just a few tweaks please
I've had a couple of comic/superhero issues rolling around in my head today, and I thought I'd write a quick entry to discuss the second (as the first is more an actual comic one than a movie one, and so I'm not sure how far the appeal would reach). It's the faithfulness of cinematic costume designers to the original costumes we see in print.
Now I'm not against changes to comic suits for the film versions at all, and in fact despite the obvious iconic designs of Superman and Spider-Man's suits (below) and how well they worked in live-action, the new designs for both Spidey and Supes' suits in Amazing Spider-Man and Man of Steel actually work really well
Christopher Reeve
2002 Movie SpideyBut the thing with these changes, is they are quite a dramatic departure from what we're used to. True, the only major change for Man of Steel is the loss of the red pants on the outside. But it is such a fundamental change that it completely changes the tone of the outfit.Iron Man on the other hand, has changed his own suit in the comics on so many occasions, that provided you stick with some combination of red and gold for the movie, you're quids in with the fans.
But there are two semi-exceptions to this minor change/major change that do work, and I did enjoy them and felt they brought the characters to life, but didn't quite nail it when they could have. This was highlighted to me earlier when I saw a pic of a new action figure/model of one of these characters, and I couldn't help but see the bits they left out or adjusted from the original that to my mind could have stayed in, been more akin to the comic version, and done a beautiful job.
I'm talking about the Dark Knight/Rises Batman, and the Avengers Cap suit.
On fist glance they are pretty impressive, and they have the right elements. Bale's Dark Knight suit is by far and away the best live-action version there's ever been, and they certainly could not have done anything like the comic version. A hyper-realistic, no superpowers world of Nolan Gotham would never accept grey lycra and black pants. And Cap's in contrast is more form fitting and colourful, as befits the Marvel movieverse.
There are just a few misteps; a few original details that could have been easily included, worked well in live action, and made both suits all the more faithful.
Batman: The bat symbol could have been slightly bigger, and definitely more actual bat shaped. Surrounding it in jet black makes it look more like a chevron. The cape (minor point) could also have happily extended to the sternum to give more of a drape look when he's standing in shadows.
Captain America: Why not make the gloves to the deltoids all white? The bicep only white looks slightly off. As does the gap in the back where the stripes just seem to stop. The belt could also have been better in red or black, and the mask/helmet combo is fine, but the mask part of it is just badly fitted.
Here's the kind of image work some fans have done that I think shows what could have been included.
So what do you think - can a bit more faithful make a lot of positive difference?
Now I'm not against changes to comic suits for the film versions at all, and in fact despite the obvious iconic designs of Superman and Spider-Man's suits (below) and how well they worked in live-action, the new designs for both Spidey and Supes' suits in Amazing Spider-Man and Man of Steel actually work really well
Christopher Reeve2002 Movie SpideyBut the thing with these changes, is they are quite a dramatic departure from what we're used to. True, the only major change for Man of Steel is the loss of the red pants on the outside. But it is such a fundamental change that it completely changes the tone of the outfit.Iron Man on the other hand, has changed his own suit in the comics on so many occasions, that provided you stick with some combination of red and gold for the movie, you're quids in with the fans.But there are two semi-exceptions to this minor change/major change that do work, and I did enjoy them and felt they brought the characters to life, but didn't quite nail it when they could have. This was highlighted to me earlier when I saw a pic of a new action figure/model of one of these characters, and I couldn't help but see the bits they left out or adjusted from the original that to my mind could have stayed in, been more akin to the comic version, and done a beautiful job.
I'm talking about the Dark Knight/Rises Batman, and the Avengers Cap suit.
On fist glance they are pretty impressive, and they have the right elements. Bale's Dark Knight suit is by far and away the best live-action version there's ever been, and they certainly could not have done anything like the comic version. A hyper-realistic, no superpowers world of Nolan Gotham would never accept grey lycra and black pants. And Cap's in contrast is more form fitting and colourful, as befits the Marvel movieverse.
There are just a few misteps; a few original details that could have been easily included, worked well in live action, and made both suits all the more faithful.
Batman: The bat symbol could have been slightly bigger, and definitely more actual bat shaped. Surrounding it in jet black makes it look more like a chevron. The cape (minor point) could also have happily extended to the sternum to give more of a drape look when he's standing in shadows.
Captain America: Why not make the gloves to the deltoids all white? The bicep only white looks slightly off. As does the gap in the back where the stripes just seem to stop. The belt could also have been better in red or black, and the mask/helmet combo is fine, but the mask part of it is just badly fitted.
Here's the kind of image work some fans have done that I think shows what could have been included.
So what do you think - can a bit more faithful make a lot of positive difference?
August 14, 2012
A simple plea
Not a blog entry from me today I'm afraid, not that there's been one for a while unfortunately. Just a simple plea to any who stumble across my little musings and wonderings here - please visit Amazon.com or Amazon.co.uk and buy the Secret of the Nexus by me, C.P.Moore. Not so much for the individual sales (though my aim is of course to have many as proof that my writing is enjoyed and that I'm entertaining people on the look out for a good adventure), but to hopefully generate more reviews that don't hang on the fact that I'm not the humorist author Christopher Moore and that therefore no, my thriller/adventure is not intended to be funny so don't claim disappointment when you find it instead to be a riveting ride of action, history, and intrigue.
On the US site it is currently at 3.5 stars, and the rank is slowly dipping. People are not able to see it when they filter their e-book search results, and it appears to be solely due to two people who have reviewed in the negative because they incorrectly downloaded a different author and genre to the one they were expecting. I need at least two more 4 star reviews to counteract the few nay sayers - you would be amazed how much damage to little low ratings can do, and how much wind they can know out of the 4 star reviews that were flying my flag high.
I know this work can do better, and I know it has been popular among those who have read it - but the praise and critique has to go down on screen as reviews to do anything to help me and my story.
So please - buy it, read it, and review it. Don't remain one of the many customers of fiction out there who care little for spreading the word about something they've enjoyed.
Thank you.
On the US site it is currently at 3.5 stars, and the rank is slowly dipping. People are not able to see it when they filter their e-book search results, and it appears to be solely due to two people who have reviewed in the negative because they incorrectly downloaded a different author and genre to the one they were expecting. I need at least two more 4 star reviews to counteract the few nay sayers - you would be amazed how much damage to little low ratings can do, and how much wind they can know out of the 4 star reviews that were flying my flag high.
I know this work can do better, and I know it has been popular among those who have read it - but the praise and critique has to go down on screen as reviews to do anything to help me and my story.
So please - buy it, read it, and review it. Don't remain one of the many customers of fiction out there who care little for spreading the word about something they've enjoyed.
Thank you.
July 22, 2012
Secret of the Nexus - cover redesign
An update to the cover design of the 1st book in the "Order of the Nexus" series. More in the same tone and style of book 2, and just looks a lot more professional, don't you think
July 20, 2012
Book 2 in the Order of the Nexus series - Cover draft
Design by me again (also did Secret of the Nexus cover myself). Background may change (sandstone? craggy rock?), but pretty happy overall
[image error]
[image error]
July 13, 2012
Secret of the Nexus weekend promotion
Free this weekend! Secret of the Nexus - free on Amazon.com Hoping for some good reviews to boost visibility. Go, click, download, read, enjoy, and tell me about it!
July 6, 2012
What a difference a review makes
Something that's been niggling me for a couple of weeks is on the table today. Reviews and the subjective nature by which the reviewer matches stars to their words. Now I'm fine with reviews, and welcome as many as possible. But the Amazon page of my book has crossed over the line from "reviews would be great to get it more visible" to "I need another four star review to get my Amazon page back onto an average of four stars".
By this I refer to the monumental impact one little review can have. Let me explain.
Not too long ago, I got a two star review from someone, which is fine. Two stars are absolutely fine. If you didn't like it, you didn't like it and you are welcome to your opinion and I value it. However this review had been preceded by a 3 star review (and again, absolutely fine to have them), and the combination of them both, despite two four star reviews (and most recently a 5 star, which is nice to see but I worry when I see 5 star reviews on Amazon products as it's almost too good to be true and I hope people aren't thinking the same thing when they're looking at my product) has knocked my average rating to 3.6. What's the problem with this? Well, this means that despite three out of five people loving it, it no longer appears in the filter of 4 stars and up; the filter by which the majority of Amazon users shop. This means I don't appear in searches so readily, which means fewer people are going to be aware enough to be willing to give my work a chance.
Like I said, I have no problem with low rated reviews. But the two I have had just don't tally with the words the reviewers actually use. The 3 star says the occult slant was interesting, but that I was not the humorist author "Christopher Moore". Did they give me 3 stars because they only kinda got through the book and the occult slant was the only interesting thing? Or did they not read the genre listing and product description before they bought it and therefore are blaming me for having the same name as a guy who write humor novels rather than the genre in which my book so obviously sits; thrillers?
And the 2 star person says the following: "Too preachy, good read for free. It becomes muddled with all the facts he wants to enter which are good. Just loses it self along the lines". This is not so much a review of my work (as it is not a complaint I have had from any other readers) as it is of their reluctance to think through something and make sense of the story. I don't feel I am being particularly harsh here, as the deliberate approach I took with some of the more history lesson heavy elements was to have the main character, Greg express his own confusion and sum things up in his own words. This is also a primary reason I chose to use Greg as the only "eyes of the reader" so that we experience what he experiences and have no more information on something happening than he does.
Regardless of their reasoning, given the wording, and the use of good twice, 2 stars seems a tad much (or little depending on your point of view) and is the reason I'm now stuck in 3 star limbo with my rankings falling to the low 20,000s every day as opposed to the 5-6,000s it was experiencing before Mr 2 star came along. Though I had a look at their other reviews and the best they've give is a 3 star, with mine at a 2 and one other at a 1 star - they don't seem to like books much.
It makes me wish Goodreads (fantastic site) could blend the reviews people give with Amazon ones. For those of you who have not been to Goodreads.com, this site is essentially for readers to list, comment, rate and review books they have read. You don't have to review of course. But simply adding books you have read to your bookshelf goes a long way in informing other readers and members of the kind of books you like and therefore which ones might suit their tastes too. So far (considering my book wasn't purchased through goodreads.com as this is not allowed), 14 people have added it as "are reading", "to read" or "has read", and 4 of them have rated it, with one 5 star, two 4's and a 3. I really feel if these could be added to Amazon, it would go a long way in bringing me back to the top.
The point is, though negative reviews can be good (and often helpful to an author), if you review in the negative and positive but rate it badly or for the wrong reasons, then really you are just preventing people from even having a chance to judge it for themselves - because as customers we trust reviews and so search by them. So think about your words and match them fairly to your rating. If you couldn't finish it, then that's a 1 star. If you got through it but hated the ending, that's a 2. If you thought it was missing some bits but enjoyed it overall all, be a 3 star man. And if you loved it but cannot in good conscience compare it to the greatest works of literature eve conceived, keep it at a 4.
Fairness to live by.
By this I refer to the monumental impact one little review can have. Let me explain.
Not too long ago, I got a two star review from someone, which is fine. Two stars are absolutely fine. If you didn't like it, you didn't like it and you are welcome to your opinion and I value it. However this review had been preceded by a 3 star review (and again, absolutely fine to have them), and the combination of them both, despite two four star reviews (and most recently a 5 star, which is nice to see but I worry when I see 5 star reviews on Amazon products as it's almost too good to be true and I hope people aren't thinking the same thing when they're looking at my product) has knocked my average rating to 3.6. What's the problem with this? Well, this means that despite three out of five people loving it, it no longer appears in the filter of 4 stars and up; the filter by which the majority of Amazon users shop. This means I don't appear in searches so readily, which means fewer people are going to be aware enough to be willing to give my work a chance.
Like I said, I have no problem with low rated reviews. But the two I have had just don't tally with the words the reviewers actually use. The 3 star says the occult slant was interesting, but that I was not the humorist author "Christopher Moore". Did they give me 3 stars because they only kinda got through the book and the occult slant was the only interesting thing? Or did they not read the genre listing and product description before they bought it and therefore are blaming me for having the same name as a guy who write humor novels rather than the genre in which my book so obviously sits; thrillers?
And the 2 star person says the following: "Too preachy, good read for free. It becomes muddled with all the facts he wants to enter which are good. Just loses it self along the lines". This is not so much a review of my work (as it is not a complaint I have had from any other readers) as it is of their reluctance to think through something and make sense of the story. I don't feel I am being particularly harsh here, as the deliberate approach I took with some of the more history lesson heavy elements was to have the main character, Greg express his own confusion and sum things up in his own words. This is also a primary reason I chose to use Greg as the only "eyes of the reader" so that we experience what he experiences and have no more information on something happening than he does.
Regardless of their reasoning, given the wording, and the use of good twice, 2 stars seems a tad much (or little depending on your point of view) and is the reason I'm now stuck in 3 star limbo with my rankings falling to the low 20,000s every day as opposed to the 5-6,000s it was experiencing before Mr 2 star came along. Though I had a look at their other reviews and the best they've give is a 3 star, with mine at a 2 and one other at a 1 star - they don't seem to like books much.
It makes me wish Goodreads (fantastic site) could blend the reviews people give with Amazon ones. For those of you who have not been to Goodreads.com, this site is essentially for readers to list, comment, rate and review books they have read. You don't have to review of course. But simply adding books you have read to your bookshelf goes a long way in informing other readers and members of the kind of books you like and therefore which ones might suit their tastes too. So far (considering my book wasn't purchased through goodreads.com as this is not allowed), 14 people have added it as "are reading", "to read" or "has read", and 4 of them have rated it, with one 5 star, two 4's and a 3. I really feel if these could be added to Amazon, it would go a long way in bringing me back to the top.
The point is, though negative reviews can be good (and often helpful to an author), if you review in the negative and positive but rate it badly or for the wrong reasons, then really you are just preventing people from even having a chance to judge it for themselves - because as customers we trust reviews and so search by them. So think about your words and match them fairly to your rating. If you couldn't finish it, then that's a 1 star. If you got through it but hated the ending, that's a 2. If you thought it was missing some bits but enjoyed it overall all, be a 3 star man. And if you loved it but cannot in good conscience compare it to the greatest works of literature eve conceived, keep it at a 4.
Fairness to live by.
June 27, 2012
House loss - an update
We finally got a straight answer to our estate agent/sneaky buyer woes on Monday afternoon. Though straight, I'm still not entirely convinced at its measure of truth. But unless the contract falls through or someone backs out, I can't see us having a shot at making an offer of our own. This is a huge shame for us as there really isn't anything else out there that even comes close to what we saw, and lost.I spoke to the agent again, and this time got the director. He explained that he had put the various pieces together and found where the problem lay. Apparently, due to their recent sale of a property a few doors down (which, I have to admit there was a sold sign for that agency outside another house on the day we viewed), the lady I spoke to on the Saturday to arrange a second viewing mistook the house we were interested in for the one a few doors down. This in itself is strange, as was she not aware that it had already been sold?
The final story of how we lost the one we loved goes as follows (according to the agent): The person that viewed it the day after us went back on his own two hours after his viewing and made an offer direct to the vendors. Apparently he didn't have a second viewing on the Sunday as we were originally told.
Nice and tidy, yes? Well, the problem with this story is really just that - it's nice and tidy. It's taken all the elements of chaos from the other two tales we were spun and created a nice simple story that ended with the line "They really should have told you immediately on Saturday that an offer had been accepted."
Thing is, apparently on Monday when I got the e-mail from the agent telling me an offer had already been made, this was the first he was hearing about it. Further, there was a viewing arranged on Saturday for 2:45pm, so why at this viewing was the agent not informed about the offer? Certainly the lady I spoke to on Saturday who apparently after the fact thought I was talking about a different property (apparently explaining how they could not get hold of the vendors) confirmed a viewing was due that day by someone else.
What I believe and what really happened are now immaterial, as the house is under offer by someone else, who has also already arranged for a survey to be carried out. I'm told they are on their own (thank god they're buying a 3 bed family house to rattle around in by themselves) and are a first time buyer, and not doing a buy to let. I'm not entirely sure how much truth an agent has to pass onto a potential buyer regarding other buyers, but for some reason - I'm not buying it.
While we are now continuing out search, both sides of the family as well as ourselves are all collectively thinking, in an attempt to force and outcome through willpower, "Deal fall through, deal fall through."
![[image error]](http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-vYwihAL4KAg/UAnQe8E13vI/AAAAAAAAAD4/ua0v3eyYxbI/s1600/lotg_cover_draft_2.jpg){kind=link}