Scott McCloskey's Blog: RainHand Books (Goodreads Digest) - Posts Tagged "amazon"
Reviews really are the bread-and-butter!
The Goldenwealth Light Just received its second official review on amazon. I recall dropping everything I was doing (though I admit it wasn't much at the time) and trotting joyfully over to read it right away.
Yes, it's only the book's second review. But as many authors who have gone the way of self-publishing know, when you're doing all your own promoting, reviews really are the bread-and-butter of your existence. You can tout the joys of your own book until you're blue in the face, and it's somewhat helpful for people to know you care enough to say something, but let's be honest -- of course you like your own book, right? If you didn't think it was well written and worthy of publication, you wouldn't have tried to publish it.
...at least I hope you wouldn't have.
At any rate, did you ever watch Reading Rainbow? What did LeVar Burton always say at the end? "But don't take my word for it!" No truer words have been spoken in a long time. You're the author. You can most certainly drum up interest in your book through your own hard work, but at the end of the day, people can't just take your word for it. That's what makes reviewing so important. Reviewing establishes credibility -- it tells people that the general public is liking what they read when they spare the time to stare at your book. Even a mediocre review at least shows others that people are reading your book.
I recall a book (which shall remain nameless) that I encountered on Amazon last week that had reviews so abysmal, I was curious to see what people had such a problem with. Man...those were some painful reviews (some of them really weren't even fair, but I digress). But all the same...the book still had 239 total reviews, and not all of them were total train wrecks. Famous or infamous...people are clearly reading this book. People are telling their friends, who are picking up their own copies to read and review.
Of course, as new authors we all hope and pray that people will like our masterpieces, and that we will receive more good reviews than poor ones. But still, folks? When you take the time out of your day to read a book, consider adding on a few extra minutes to share your thoughts in the form of a review. Are you obligated to do this? Certainly not. If you were, then the words would likely lack impact because they would be forced. See writing a review as a token of your appreciation if you liked the book, and constructive criticism (or at the very least a friendly warning to others) if you didn't. If the book has a lot of reviews already, share your voice anyway. If it doesn't, then your review might just be a pivotal decision-maker for somebody else.
Your favorite author, whoever it is, needs your voice. Writing isn't easy...but neither is brain surgery or rocket science. Still, surgeons and scientists are paid for what they do. Most indie authors aren't, until they "make it". Help your favorite author to "make it" by telling them how you feel, since they can't be there reading the book over your shoulder.
And really, you don't want them there reading over your shoulder anyway, right? That would just be disturbing.
Yes, it's only the book's second review. But as many authors who have gone the way of self-publishing know, when you're doing all your own promoting, reviews really are the bread-and-butter of your existence. You can tout the joys of your own book until you're blue in the face, and it's somewhat helpful for people to know you care enough to say something, but let's be honest -- of course you like your own book, right? If you didn't think it was well written and worthy of publication, you wouldn't have tried to publish it.
...at least I hope you wouldn't have.
At any rate, did you ever watch Reading Rainbow? What did LeVar Burton always say at the end? "But don't take my word for it!" No truer words have been spoken in a long time. You're the author. You can most certainly drum up interest in your book through your own hard work, but at the end of the day, people can't just take your word for it. That's what makes reviewing so important. Reviewing establishes credibility -- it tells people that the general public is liking what they read when they spare the time to stare at your book. Even a mediocre review at least shows others that people are reading your book.
I recall a book (which shall remain nameless) that I encountered on Amazon last week that had reviews so abysmal, I was curious to see what people had such a problem with. Man...those were some painful reviews (some of them really weren't even fair, but I digress). But all the same...the book still had 239 total reviews, and not all of them were total train wrecks. Famous or infamous...people are clearly reading this book. People are telling their friends, who are picking up their own copies to read and review.
Of course, as new authors we all hope and pray that people will like our masterpieces, and that we will receive more good reviews than poor ones. But still, folks? When you take the time out of your day to read a book, consider adding on a few extra minutes to share your thoughts in the form of a review. Are you obligated to do this? Certainly not. If you were, then the words would likely lack impact because they would be forced. See writing a review as a token of your appreciation if you liked the book, and constructive criticism (or at the very least a friendly warning to others) if you didn't. If the book has a lot of reviews already, share your voice anyway. If it doesn't, then your review might just be a pivotal decision-maker for somebody else.
Your favorite author, whoever it is, needs your voice. Writing isn't easy...but neither is brain surgery or rocket science. Still, surgeons and scientists are paid for what they do. Most indie authors aren't, until they "make it". Help your favorite author to "make it" by telling them how you feel, since they can't be there reading the book over your shoulder.
And really, you don't want them there reading over your shoulder anyway, right? That would just be disturbing.
If you tag it, Twitter will come.
(Original article can be found here.)
So I'm comparing notes with a friend on Goodreads, and she asks me if I've added any tags to the kindle version of The Goldenwealth Light on Amazon. I thought about it and realized that I'd added a few categories when I first published the book, but no, I hadn't done anything with tagging. She mentioned to me that her book is now all over Twitter, simply because she'd added some tags to the bottom of her book's sale page.
Wait, what?
It's true, tagging makes that much of a difference! I didn't think much of it at first, but with a "why not?" attitude, I scrolled to the bottom of my sale page and thought about tags for the book. What tags would I use? Well, if you'll notice, there is a handy link down there that will show you the most popular tags currently in use on Amazon. I clicked on it and did some research. Not every popular tag was relevant of course (I can't very well slap "erotic romance" on a YA fantasy novel), but just above that handy-dandy link is a search box that I used to check on some other tag ideas I had in mind, just to see if there were any other books around with authors who had the same idea. Here's what I came up with:
action, adventure, book, books, childrens books, coming of age, ebook, fantasy, fiction, kindle, knights, magic, teen, young adult, novel
All relevant, and all either from the "popular" list, or they came up in my searches with sufficient results to make them worthwhile. Two hours later, I did a search on Twitter for the title of my book, "The Goldenwealth Light". There were already 23 tweets about my book, all of which had to do with the tags I'd added!
Lesson learned. Tag your book. It might seem like an afterthought to you, but at the end of the day, people use tags. Popular tags will help immensely with your exposure and the more tags the merrier, but be careful not to attach irrelevant tags to your book (you want to draw interest from your target audience, not ire from those that aren't looking for your chosen genre).
Thanks, Rachele!
So I'm comparing notes with a friend on Goodreads, and she asks me if I've added any tags to the kindle version of The Goldenwealth Light on Amazon. I thought about it and realized that I'd added a few categories when I first published the book, but no, I hadn't done anything with tagging. She mentioned to me that her book is now all over Twitter, simply because she'd added some tags to the bottom of her book's sale page.
Wait, what?
It's true, tagging makes that much of a difference! I didn't think much of it at first, but with a "why not?" attitude, I scrolled to the bottom of my sale page and thought about tags for the book. What tags would I use? Well, if you'll notice, there is a handy link down there that will show you the most popular tags currently in use on Amazon. I clicked on it and did some research. Not every popular tag was relevant of course (I can't very well slap "erotic romance" on a YA fantasy novel), but just above that handy-dandy link is a search box that I used to check on some other tag ideas I had in mind, just to see if there were any other books around with authors who had the same idea. Here's what I came up with:
action, adventure, book, books, childrens books, coming of age, ebook, fantasy, fiction, kindle, knights, magic, teen, young adult, novel
All relevant, and all either from the "popular" list, or they came up in my searches with sufficient results to make them worthwhile. Two hours later, I did a search on Twitter for the title of my book, "The Goldenwealth Light". There were already 23 tweets about my book, all of which had to do with the tags I'd added!
Lesson learned. Tag your book. It might seem like an afterthought to you, but at the end of the day, people use tags. Popular tags will help immensely with your exposure and the more tags the merrier, but be careful not to attach irrelevant tags to your book (you want to draw interest from your target audience, not ire from those that aren't looking for your chosen genre).
Thanks, Rachele!
At 4.8★, Amazon reviewers are saying: "Move over Harry Potter"
Got a brand new Kindle this holiday season? Looking for a good book to curl up with on a cold winter's night with a hot cup of cocoa? The Goldenwealth Light is available through the Amazon Kindle store absolutely FREE today and tomorrow (January 9th and 10th)!
Children, teens, and adults alike are invited to spend the post-holiday season journeying along with Theodore Ellsworth, the Traveler of Ord, as he and his sister Marie face wonders untold and dangers most foul in the magical realm of Quaylund. Saddle up your six-hoofed escarot and race along astride chipper humming-gnomes, enigmatic traversimorphs, elusive ripplewaifs, and huge, lumbering yurt. Enjoy your ordic everystew along the way, but remember to never stare at a reflectia tree!
See what readers on Amazon are saying about The Goldenwealth Light, and don't forget to pick up your free copy today!
Children, teens, and adults alike are invited to spend the post-holiday season journeying along with Theodore Ellsworth, the Traveler of Ord, as he and his sister Marie face wonders untold and dangers most foul in the magical realm of Quaylund. Saddle up your six-hoofed escarot and race along astride chipper humming-gnomes, enigmatic traversimorphs, elusive ripplewaifs, and huge, lumbering yurt. Enjoy your ordic everystew along the way, but remember to never stare at a reflectia tree!
See what readers on Amazon are saying about The Goldenwealth Light, and don't forget to pick up your free copy today!
From Moleskine to Microsoft
I think I've discovered the trickiest part of writing. It's not the character development. It's not smoothing out the plot inconsistencies. It's not even editing and proofreading (though I am a firm believer in the fact that you can only achieve 99% on this -- even professionally edited books from the big six will always have a few small problems).
What is it?
Microsoft.
Your opinion may differ from mine and that's just fine, but I find that the only part of the writing process that leaves me arguing with my computer screen and wanting to just walk away is making programs like Word, Libreoffice, and all the other assorted clones out there (I've tried a few) that have become the namesake of modern word processing do what I ask of them. And I'm not computer illiterate, either. I've been opening up CPUs and rooting around in them since I received my first 100mhz Pentium back in 1995 for $1400. I can build a working system from a pile of parts, and though I am not exceptionally proficient with software, I can follow directions with enough competence to create my own basic programs.
Yet despite that, I find battling with modern word processing to be exceptionally tedious. Even with the exceptional help of Gregory Mahan, it took me three solid days to get the paperback version of The Goldenwealth Light up to the point of proper polish for something you might find on a shelf at your local bookstore. And don't even get me started on translating that back into a workable Kindle version!
Well, things are a bit easier now that I've figured it all out, but at some point I think I'm going to have to write notes just so I can remember what I did. Once upon a time when I was young, I wrote down story ideas in a notebook. I doubt Hemingway would have had much use for filling papers with Word formatting reminders, and though modern convenience is a wonderful thing...I can't help but have a bit of envy for the way he probably did it.
What are your thoughts?
What is it?
Microsoft.
Your opinion may differ from mine and that's just fine, but I find that the only part of the writing process that leaves me arguing with my computer screen and wanting to just walk away is making programs like Word, Libreoffice, and all the other assorted clones out there (I've tried a few) that have become the namesake of modern word processing do what I ask of them. And I'm not computer illiterate, either. I've been opening up CPUs and rooting around in them since I received my first 100mhz Pentium back in 1995 for $1400. I can build a working system from a pile of parts, and though I am not exceptionally proficient with software, I can follow directions with enough competence to create my own basic programs.
Yet despite that, I find battling with modern word processing to be exceptionally tedious. Even with the exceptional help of Gregory Mahan, it took me three solid days to get the paperback version of The Goldenwealth Light up to the point of proper polish for something you might find on a shelf at your local bookstore. And don't even get me started on translating that back into a workable Kindle version!
Well, things are a bit easier now that I've figured it all out, but at some point I think I'm going to have to write notes just so I can remember what I did. Once upon a time when I was young, I wrote down story ideas in a notebook. I doubt Hemingway would have had much use for filling papers with Word formatting reminders, and though modern convenience is a wonderful thing...I can't help but have a bit of envy for the way he probably did it.
What are your thoughts?
TGL Featured on WiLoveBooks
Hello all!
TGL was recently featured on the WiLoveBooks book blog! Read all about it here!
Progress on book II continues. It's right around time to find out just what became of poor Theo after his ordeal in the reflectia woods. More to come!
TGL was recently featured on the WiLoveBooks book blog! Read all about it here!
Progress on book II continues. It's right around time to find out just what became of poor Theo after his ordeal in the reflectia woods. More to come!
The Cusp of a Sequel
For those of you who have been waiting patiently for Everywhere the Road Ends, I offer my apologies. We're literally just trying to get the paperback version's spine to line up correctly with the guidelines so the the book won't go to print crooked. This was a tumultuous issue with TGL as well which I attribute to the "machine" - not the illustrious efforts of the dedicated cover artist. Unfortunately the files have to go through multiple checks and reviews each time we try, and we need to have a look at a physical proof copy that takes a few days to ship, to ensure that you, the reader, are getting the best possible product. I won't settle for anything less and I don't expect you to.
So...any day now. Ord awaits!
Don't forget to like the Traveler of Ord on
Facebook! The road home is darkening, and the Ellsworth siblings need your support!
So...any day now. Ord awaits!
Don't forget to like the Traveler of Ord on
Facebook! The road home is darkening, and the Ellsworth siblings need your support!
RainHand Books (Goodreads Digest)
A digest of posts from my writing and review blog, RainHand Books. Check out rainhandbooks.com for more!
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