Fully Sick
Hey there fine people who read this. I was planning to make a start on Book 2 this week, but I came down with a very nasty cold on Tuesday. Woe is me and all that.
I think I'm finally on the mend so hopefully I'll be able to get going with some writing on Monday. Yay!
I read a few writing blogs on writersdigest.com this week, and was amazed to find at least two or three blogs written by authors who incorrectly wrote "less" instead of "fewer" (i.e. less words). But I won't name names.
I'm not perfect myself, having got "its" and "it's" wrong throughout The Covert Academy. One reviewer who didn't read the book (just the sample I assume) pointed this out in a review on Amazon.
I've since fixed the "its/it's" mistakes. I'm not sure anyone else even noticed.
Well, now we know...
Making mistakes is only human, and on a blog it's fine (though it doesn't instill me with confidence in the author).
What galls me is people being able to review books they haven't read, like a few people who have "reviewed" my book on Amazon US and UK.
I'm also told that some hateful reviews are written by jealous authors seeking to sabotage their fellow authors' work! What sort of sick mind would do that?
There is no way to trace these people, but it is apparently a fairly common occurence.
Amazon's review system is broken. Indie books live or die based on customer reviews.
They could easily fix it by:
*Forcing customers to buy the book to be able to review it. This would help weed out spammers.
*Increasing the minimum number of words for a review from 20 to, say, 100. This would help weed out reviews from the authors' friends and family.
*Abandoning the 5 star rating system entirely, or not making this number visible to the public. This would force customers to judge books based on the content of the reviews (and the book itself), rather than an average numerical rating.
*Perhaps only allow star-ratings from well known reviewers such as those in the top 10,000 on Amazon or other editorial reviewers.
Any other ideas?
I hope I don't sound bitter, I'm really not at all.
My book is doing better than I could have dreamed, and I am incredibly grateful to the people who write honest reviews, whether they are full of praise, criticisms or both.
Maybe it's because I'm still feeling a bit sick. Hopefully I'm back in full writing mode next week!
Cheers,
-Petes
I think I'm finally on the mend so hopefully I'll be able to get going with some writing on Monday. Yay!
I read a few writing blogs on writersdigest.com this week, and was amazed to find at least two or three blogs written by authors who incorrectly wrote "less" instead of "fewer" (i.e. less words). But I won't name names.
I'm not perfect myself, having got "its" and "it's" wrong throughout The Covert Academy. One reviewer who didn't read the book (just the sample I assume) pointed this out in a review on Amazon.
I've since fixed the "its/it's" mistakes. I'm not sure anyone else even noticed.
Well, now we know...
Making mistakes is only human, and on a blog it's fine (though it doesn't instill me with confidence in the author).
What galls me is people being able to review books they haven't read, like a few people who have "reviewed" my book on Amazon US and UK.
I'm also told that some hateful reviews are written by jealous authors seeking to sabotage their fellow authors' work! What sort of sick mind would do that?
There is no way to trace these people, but it is apparently a fairly common occurence.
Amazon's review system is broken. Indie books live or die based on customer reviews.
They could easily fix it by:
*Forcing customers to buy the book to be able to review it. This would help weed out spammers.
*Increasing the minimum number of words for a review from 20 to, say, 100. This would help weed out reviews from the authors' friends and family.
*Abandoning the 5 star rating system entirely, or not making this number visible to the public. This would force customers to judge books based on the content of the reviews (and the book itself), rather than an average numerical rating.
*Perhaps only allow star-ratings from well known reviewers such as those in the top 10,000 on Amazon or other editorial reviewers.
Any other ideas?
I hope I don't sound bitter, I'm really not at all.
My book is doing better than I could have dreamed, and I am incredibly grateful to the people who write honest reviews, whether they are full of praise, criticisms or both.
Maybe it's because I'm still feeling a bit sick. Hopefully I'm back in full writing mode next week!
Cheers,
-Petes
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Thanks for the kind words Lee! I'm so glad you enjoyed my book, and I'll keep an eye out for your review
Can't wait to read book 2 in this series!