Maegan Provan's Blog, page 25
June 7, 2014
Self-pub authors beware! There are scammers afoot.
On March 31st, 2013, I posted an entry entitled “Reviews, Truths and Extortion” talking about a first time author getting a message from a reader claiming that the book in question with practically unreadable due to typos and grammatical errors. The reader said that if the author would pay her, the reader would edit the book and rate the book 5 stars. At the time, that was something that was completely new to me. I had never heard anyone attempt to do something like that before. Of course, that same reader picked up my book and after my post, gave it a bad review. Now, I’m not saying that Celine is completely flawless, because I know it’s not. However, the timing of that review put a pin in my stance. I am hearing more and more about this as I grow and talk to more people within our self publishing community, and it’s a real problem. So I decided to make this post for those of you that have had this issue and aren’t sure how to address it, or are on the look out for this type of scam.
1. Know your beta readers
The reader in question had been a beta reader for both Celine and the other book. She was very nice about asking to receive a copy, and we expected honest feed back. There is a problem in the self publishing community when it comes to authors publishing work that could use a couple more looks, and we’re all aware of it. However, neither of us knew the reader. She had been a friend of a friend and typically was very ethical with her reviews. We saw no problem letting her look at our work. Then… that happened.
So, if you’re in the market for beta readers, do some checking around. Heck, if they’ve been unethical at all, there will be a blog post somewhere about it. Keep in mind that I’m not talking about doing any kind of background searches or anything major. That would be crazy. Just a simple search and if you don’t find anything in the first two pages, I would say you’re good to go. I know that this may be too much work, so don’t take this as gospel. I just mean that if this is a real concern of yours, you have the power to educate yourself.
2. Respectfully decline
If you do receive any kind of message, be it from a beta reader, or just a reader that picked up your book from Amazon, B&N, etc. there is no reason to be rude. Getting into a fight with someone over the fact they want money from you for a good review makes you no better than they are. Just keep your chin up, keep that smile on your face, and say “no thank you.” It may be the only time you get a message like that, so why let it get you down? If they continue to message you, just report spam and move on. It really is that simple.
3. Don’t worry about it
Something that a lot of self published authors do is worry too much about the negative reviews. If the reader retaliates with a bad review, just keep in mind that there are people that like your book and didn’t have the problems that the reader claimed to have. And even if they did, they still liked it and that’s a good thing. Worrying about scammers taking that kind of action will drive you up a wall, and you don’t need that.
I know that this was pretty simple, but I had to share it because scammers are out there in forces and you have to be able to keep your head through it. Good luck, you beautiful blogophiles and graphophiles!
June 6, 2014
June 5, 2014
Etiquette for an Apocalypse by Anne Mendel- Book Review Thursday
Click here for the buy link
Before the end of the world, Sophie Cohen was just like any other mom. She took care of her two kids and her husband, and life was good. After the caldera blew, life went to Hell in a handbasket. Making a new life for her family, including her dellusional mother and genius/autistic brother, doesn’t come easy. Sophie is able to make ends meet by selling her brother’s antibotics, pain killers, and whatever other medicine he can come up with. When her husband discovers bodies being dumped at his hospital, Sophie is sent on a wild ride trying to find the person responsible for the deaths and along the way gets swept up in post-apocalyptic warfare. It’s survival of the fittest and the winner is the one who holds all the cards
Etiquette for an Apocalypse is a refreshing new take on the end of the world. It didn’t need zombies or anything crazy supernatural to make a point. I always like new takes on old ideas and this book definitely had it. I mean, what would you do when the world ended? Sophie was an interesting character who did what she had to get by. The idea of a serial killer at the end of the world was different but something I felt I could get behind. Then the story went off in a weird direction.
I felt like Anne Mendel got a bit sidetracked with trying to transition from chasing a serial killer to teaming up to take down the psychotic pseudo-over lord of the end of the world. The action was extremely anti-climatic, after an interesting build up, and at the end, it just got weird.
I would recommend this book simply because it’s so different. If you can get past the weird crap in the last 10 or so chapters, then you’ll really like it.
June 4, 2014
Improve your writing with these editing tips- Editing Tip Wednesday
http://www.lifehack.org/articles/communication/improve-your-writing-with-these-editing-tips.html
Everyone loves a good life hack, why not a good writing hack? These tips are pretty informative.
June 3, 2014
June 2, 2014
Vlog 26- Vlog Monday!
Happy Vlog Monday everyone! Check out my latest post here! Please don’t forget: if you like my vlogs, or my book reviews, take a moment and hit that “Subscribe” button. It would really help me out, and it would also keep you up to date with all of my posts!
