Reviews, Release and another In Person Event

Perhaps I should have just said "Retail" to complete an alliteration trio, but I opted for clarity instead. Clarity, being part of another trio that's important to me, namely the only three things I believe are important in a review, gives me a neat segue from title into what I actually want to talk about today.

I've mentioned before that a review should have just three things: Honesty (covering the reviewer's genuine opinion in its entirety, including all of the positives and the negatives); Clarity (making it easy for anyone reading the review to map the reviewer's subjective reactions onto their own personal tastes, which could be vastly different from the reviewer's; and lastly a conscious effort to avoid spoilers.

That was it and off I went, patting myself on the back for summing up the essence of a good and helpful review in three neat little points. Until someone came along recently and caused a big stir on twitter with her contrasting views on how reviews should work. Some of is tried to warn her to keep things private. Others fought back rather nastily, leading her to double down further and disregard the warnings. It wasn't pretty. So I have added a couple of extra criteria in light of this (admittedly entertaining) car crash.

A review should also be; about the book, and nothing but the book; and it should be written by someone who has read the book and made a genuine attempt to finish it, and did not write the book.

You can infer what happened from that I'm sure. Or dig deeper to find out more, if you wish, but really what I want to say is that it's completely natural for an author to feel what they feel upon reading reviews of their work. It's involuntary. It's what you feel. However, there is one thing you do have control over, and that is how you react and where. I think it is so important to have a trusted friend within writing and a private space in which you can get everything off your chest for them and only them to hear and respond. Until you find such a companion, at least confide in a close friend or family member outside of writing. Whatever you do, do not use a public space like twitter, where you also build and shape your online presence and reputation, to come to terms with any kind of disappointment, whether it's a lack of reviews, or a review that was less flattering than you had hoped for. Please. It can only hurt you.

But the real reason I'm bringing up reviews again, is, I have recently received some for my new release. The Weapon and the Fruit: Any Body Can Murder is all ready to be printed and distributed in time for its 7th July publication date, and copies of it are in the hands of ARC readers. Three reviews have already been posted to Goodreads and you can go and see them for yourself. I would invite you to pre-order the book too, as that's already an option, however you can still sign up for a FREE ARC yourself, until the 31st of May, so why not save yourself some money and get the book sooner by doing that now? (Unless of course May 2025 is already over by the time you read this).

And to conclude the trinity promised by the title, I am making two in person appearances as Folk & Bespoke events in Essex. I will be in Dunmow on Sunday 25th May with paperbacks of Four and Twenty Blackboards (as well as free bookmarks and stickers and recruiting additonal ARC reviewers) and in Ware on Saturday 21st June I'll have paperbacks of books for sale, which means you can buy signed physical copies of Any Body Can Murder over two weeks before it's officially released.

These will very likely be my final UK in-person appearances for some time, as I am moving to India in August. I will also be closing my direct sale of signed copies from Aneurysm Cupcake then. You will still be able to order paperbacks directly through a different means, to anywhere in the UK or the USA, but they will not be signed, and postage will not be free as the orders will be managed by Lightning Source.

I will be taking pre-orders for signed copies of Any Body Can Murder alongside the orders of Four and Twenty Blackboards from the 1st of June once the ARC signup has closed and I will announce that on this blog then. Those orders will continue until the 1st of August, after which the purchase page will be replaced.

Happy reading and reviewing, and to all those who have left or will leave an honest review of any indie book, I give my sincere thanks. You make our lives so much better and easier, and I hope that the actions of some authors do not deter you from continuing to feed back and support, critique and guide us for the good of everyone.