A Knife in the Gut

Catchy title, eh? My knife in the gut today, is discussing book reviews. Okay, all of you non-writing people whose eyes glazed over due to boredom, and plan to click off and move on to Facebook’s newest profound proverb,

If you’re an avid reader, you should know this: Authors need reviews. There, I said it. Yes, we NEED reviews. Not to stroke our fragile egos, not even to sell more books, although it can help, but reviews seem the only way to get up and coming authors the required promotion on sites which carry our work.

Since the evolution and ease of self-publishing, the competition is fierce, and not always fair. This is true for newbies and many pre-indie pub old timers, who back in the day, say four years ago, the big boys of traditional publishing houses had a lot of pull on how well a book advanced. Today, almost EVERYONE in the publishing world is scrambling to get their books noticed.

Authors beg anyone who reads their work for a review. Manuscripts or arc’s are sent to professional review sights. Some writers pay big bucks just to have their book covers on a website, so perhaps a reader will request a copy, which they will get free, and maybe they’ll leave a review. This is not a cheap venture. We’re talking $500 to $600 for a limited time, with the high risk of not earning a return.

Authors are doing handstands while they juggle flaming knives with their feet to find an audience. It’s not an easy task, my friends. It’s daunting and overwhelming, particularly when we’d rather be working on our next greatest novel.

I know what you’re thinking because I’ve thought it myself many times; it’s a pain in the ass to log on or worse sign up and become a member to one of these sights, then you have to answer a ton of inane questions just to swipe over a few stars and write, “Great read.”

But it helps. Even if we can’t tell you in person, your time, and efforts are appreciated.

Okay, a dilemma. What happens if you don’t like the book. Sigh. Then strike everything I said above. Don’t leave a review. I’m aware, there are tons of unedited books out there, full of misspellings, formatted incorrectly or plain crappy storytelling. It makes me want to scream, especially when I see a number of five star reviews. I want to scrawl across the page, ARE YOU KIDDING ME???

But you know what? It’s not worth it. I’m not trying to squelch your first amendment rights, but…

Imagine you’ve worked on a project five years. Once it’s completed, you send it out into the world where everyone can view it. A piece of your soul is in that work. Someone you’ve never met to rips it apart because that’s how they get their jollies isn’t cool. I’m here to tell you, even if you know they’re a troll, it doesn’t take away the sting.

If you feel the need to comment on a poorly written book, then please, find something positive to say–the blue on the cover is a nice shade, but this story isn’t my cup of tea. And give them three stars.

So, dear friends, one more comment, and I’m off my soap box. Whatever your currently reading, if you’re drawn into another world where you’re a spy or a hit man or you’ve met the man of your dreams, let the author know.

Leave them a review. Promise, it won’t hurt a bit.