'I'm not really in competition with other authors'
I was writing a book review a couple of days ago when a friend asked me why I bother.
"It's not like you're getting paid anything for doing that," she said. "And when you write a review and give some other author's book five stars, well, you're telling them to buy somebody else's book, not yours."
She frowned.
"Really, Mike, you have no business sense at all," she said.
She's probably right about that.
I am, after all, a writer and have been for most of my life.
And while there are few truly eternal truths, this is one: Writers aren't known for their business acumen.
Business, however, has nothing to do with the reason why I review a lot of books and it certainly has nothing to do with the fact that I actually enjoy giving another author a five-star review for a well-written novel.
So, for the benefit of all of you with an MBA on your wall, let me try to explain.
First of all, I'm a reader. That makes me a member of a very small group of people, comparatively speaking. Most people - including the millions of them on social media platforms of one kind or another - do not read anything for pleasure. They read reports, news stories (though most would prefer that a TV anchor read it to them) and 140-character Tweets about something they are vaguely interested in.
What's that you say?
I'm wrong?
Book sales are up?
Yes they are, but that's not because a lot of people are buying novels. It's because a relatively few number of people - me included - are buying a lot of novels.
(I, for example, have bought more than 100 books so far this year - mostly eBooks because international shipping is expensive, occasionally unreliable and because it can take weeks before your book actually arrives. By contrast, I can buy an eBook online and start reading it in less than 10 minutes.)
The rest of the people on Planet Earth are buying cars, weed trimmers, food processors, potato peelers, microwave ovens, houses, condos, boats, gigantic television sets and a 1,001 other things for sale on the Internet, in stores and at yard sales.
They are not buying books.
Second: I'm not really in competition with other authors, including those who also write murder mysteries.
Really, I'm not.
Here's why.
Lee Child's fictional Jack Reacher is nothing at all like Marcy Pantano, the 40-something heroine of my novel "Corpus Delectable."
Reacher is a loner, for example, while Marcy has friends. Reacher is constantly on the move, never settling down. Marcy lives in a beachfront condo in a small Delaware town.
Oh, and she has both an ex-husband and a current (much younger) boyfriend.
That's not to say that you can't read and enjoy both a Reacher novel and "Corpus Delectable."
Heck I enjoy Reacher novels for that matter.
What I am saying is that to suggest Child and I are somehow in competition with one another would be stretching a point way beyond breaking.
Third: When I read a book that I truly enjoyed for one reason or another, I want to tell other readers about that. The same holds true when I read something that I found especially awful. Unlike the "reviewers" on Amazon.com and other sites who write one-word or one-sentence reviews, I try my best to explain to other readers why I liked or disliked a book. I write about plots and characters, narrative styles and the use of language. I do that because I feel a certain kinship with other readers; they are friends that I haven't met yet but hope to someday share a table and a cup of coffee with as we spend a few hours talking about books.
Finally: I write reviews because I am a writer. If you are also a writer you'll understand why I say that. If you aren't, well let me just say that writers enjoy writing. They enjoy writing letters, emails, even Tweets. They enjoy writing book reviews, novels and short stories.
Simply put, they enjoy the mental, emotional and physical act of writing.
A writer who took part in an online discussion I was part of once described it this way: "I write because if I didn't I would explode. That would be messy and so I write."
That pretty much sums it up for me.
http://www.amazon.com/-/e/B001KCABGK
"It's not like you're getting paid anything for doing that," she said. "And when you write a review and give some other author's book five stars, well, you're telling them to buy somebody else's book, not yours."
She frowned.
"Really, Mike, you have no business sense at all," she said.
She's probably right about that.
I am, after all, a writer and have been for most of my life.
And while there are few truly eternal truths, this is one: Writers aren't known for their business acumen.
Business, however, has nothing to do with the reason why I review a lot of books and it certainly has nothing to do with the fact that I actually enjoy giving another author a five-star review for a well-written novel.
So, for the benefit of all of you with an MBA on your wall, let me try to explain.
First of all, I'm a reader. That makes me a member of a very small group of people, comparatively speaking. Most people - including the millions of them on social media platforms of one kind or another - do not read anything for pleasure. They read reports, news stories (though most would prefer that a TV anchor read it to them) and 140-character Tweets about something they are vaguely interested in.
What's that you say?
I'm wrong?
Book sales are up?
Yes they are, but that's not because a lot of people are buying novels. It's because a relatively few number of people - me included - are buying a lot of novels.
(I, for example, have bought more than 100 books so far this year - mostly eBooks because international shipping is expensive, occasionally unreliable and because it can take weeks before your book actually arrives. By contrast, I can buy an eBook online and start reading it in less than 10 minutes.)
The rest of the people on Planet Earth are buying cars, weed trimmers, food processors, potato peelers, microwave ovens, houses, condos, boats, gigantic television sets and a 1,001 other things for sale on the Internet, in stores and at yard sales.
They are not buying books.
Second: I'm not really in competition with other authors, including those who also write murder mysteries.
Really, I'm not.
Here's why.
Lee Child's fictional Jack Reacher is nothing at all like Marcy Pantano, the 40-something heroine of my novel "Corpus Delectable."
Reacher is a loner, for example, while Marcy has friends. Reacher is constantly on the move, never settling down. Marcy lives in a beachfront condo in a small Delaware town.
Oh, and she has both an ex-husband and a current (much younger) boyfriend.
That's not to say that you can't read and enjoy both a Reacher novel and "Corpus Delectable."
Heck I enjoy Reacher novels for that matter.
What I am saying is that to suggest Child and I are somehow in competition with one another would be stretching a point way beyond breaking.
Third: When I read a book that I truly enjoyed for one reason or another, I want to tell other readers about that. The same holds true when I read something that I found especially awful. Unlike the "reviewers" on Amazon.com and other sites who write one-word or one-sentence reviews, I try my best to explain to other readers why I liked or disliked a book. I write about plots and characters, narrative styles and the use of language. I do that because I feel a certain kinship with other readers; they are friends that I haven't met yet but hope to someday share a table and a cup of coffee with as we spend a few hours talking about books.
Finally: I write reviews because I am a writer. If you are also a writer you'll understand why I say that. If you aren't, well let me just say that writers enjoy writing. They enjoy writing letters, emails, even Tweets. They enjoy writing book reviews, novels and short stories.
Simply put, they enjoy the mental, emotional and physical act of writing.
A writer who took part in an online discussion I was part of once described it this way: "I write because if I didn't I would explode. That would be messy and so I write."
That pretty much sums it up for me.
http://www.amazon.com/-/e/B001KCABGK
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Thanks! It's often difficult - maybe even impossible - to explain to people that don't write what a joy it is to do so. I can sympathize with them when I see that blank look on their faces as I'm trying to tell them what writing means to me because I probably have that same look on my face when they try to tell me what fun it is to do double entry bookkeeping...
I am with you all the way and back again Mike. Just as we both read for entertainment, we write for entertainment, so it stands to reason that there is a good chance somebody (or hopefully lots of somebodys), will buy into our brands and be entertained.We are in a group of people known as 'creatives'. I am also an artist and so when not creating something using words, I'm using shade or colour. Just like writing, it starts out for me, but as I take it to the best standard I can attain, it is for others. As an aside, before I joined the British Army, I was training as a Bookkeeper and I can assure you that anybody who says it is fun is missing a few marbles. :)
A great article my friend and well presented.
"When I read a book that I truly enjoyed for one reason or another, I want to tell other readers about that. The same holds true when I read something that I found especially awful. Unlike the 'reviewers' on Amazon.com and other sites who write one-word or one-sentence reviews, I try my best to explain to other readers why I liked or disliked a book." - bravo!
Couldn't agree with more with your post here. Not only are you doing a great thing in helping promote fellow authors with your reviews, but also the reputation and credibility of self published authors in general which can only be a good thing for us all. Great post, Mike...
I'm not only a writer, but a reader. I love to spread the love around, despite it making me money. When i find a really good book, I love for others to share in my joy. Writing a review is like giving a good gift.
It allows someone to see something from your perspective, and possibly follow suit.
Without reviewers, writers wouldn't exist. :)
Tom wrote: "I am with you all the way and back again Mike. Just as we both read for entertainment, we write for entertainment, so it stands to reason that there is a good chance somebody (or hopefully lots of ..."Thanks Tom... there's something very satisfying, I think, in writing a review of a book that you really enjoyed. It's a sense of kinship not only with the readers who might also like it but also with the author who found a way to engage you in a story.
Felipe wrote: ""When I read a book that I truly enjoyed for one reason or another, I want to tell other readers about that. The same holds true when I read something that I found especially awful. Unlike the 'rev..."Thanks Felipe!
Morgan wrote: "I'm not only a writer, but a reader. I love to spread the love around, despite it making me money. When i find a really good book, I love for others to share in my joy. Writing a review is like gi..."
Morgan, you're absolutely right... writing a review is like giving a gift to those who also share a love of reading.
I write reviews for books that I've enjoyed (because they are the genres I normally read) or been pleasantly surprised by (because I chose a different genre and really liked it). I feel that other people should know about the book and hopefully experience the same feelings about it I did.I liked Tom's comment about being creatives. I am musically rather than artistically. When not reading or writing I'm playing electric guitar and learning Blues. I want to be able to write and play my guitar to the best of my ability and hope that people will enjoy reading my book as much as I did writing it. (I only play guitar for myself!)
Mark: I agree completely... like Tom, when I'm not writing I draw and paint and, lately, I've been trying myself to learn how to play the bass guitar because, well, because I've always wanted to and now that I'm old I figure if I'm ever going to do it, now's the time...
Yes we do love to write, and all my life people have been asking me why I write such a long letter, or email, or thank you card.... and I just smile and say it's because I'm a writer :)