Dec 23, 1015

So todays blog is about book reviews. There has been a lot of hullabaloo in the author community lately about paid reviews and ratings on Amazon. Really? Give me a break.

Do these authors really believe that all the fancy reviews on the covers of traditionally published novels were free? Just go to the Kirkus web site and see how much they charge for a review. It’s a lot more expensive than the $20US that these overseas reviewers are charging. So, once again, what is all the fuss about? I have checked out some of these reviewers. All I can say is, that if an author pays these guys for a guaranteed five star review and the author has a two star book, they and the reviewer are most likely going to get some massive negative feedback. The reviewers I respect are the ones that will give an honest account of the work and will not publish a bad review, but let the writer know the work was substandard.

The reader generally can tell if a novel is for them or not. All the retailers give free previews of the first few pages of a work and you can tell right away if it is for you or not. If an author spends the time to write a fantastic first chapter and then sluffs off the rest of the book, shame on them. Again, the readers will vote with their feet.

A fellow author asked me to review his work and I said I would and asked him if he wouldn’t mind reviewing my, at the moment, in re-write stage third book. He declined, saying he was a busy man and wasn’t found of my genre in particular. Not a big deal for me. Not everyone is into what I am publishing at the moment.

But I read his work and sent him a few comments personally about it and will post the review on this blog right after this one.

So, back to the original premise. When I worked as a consultant, I charged between $150 and $175 an hour. So, reading the book, and composing a readable review took about $1000 of my time. I too am a busy man. I am in the middle of an advertising and marketing campaign for Eagle’s Claw, am just about to finish the rough manuscript on a new and differently themed work. Have rewrites of book three of the Bears and Eagles Saga to do and prepare to publish, have to flesh out book four and prepare it for editing, copywriting and book covers. Oh ya. It’s the holiday season and I am the patriarch of the family and everybody is coming over here for the traditional feast.

Paying some off shore person $20 doesn’t sound like a bad investment to me. As long as the review is honest. The fee for him, is the same amount of money that Kirkus charges and why should he not be paid for his time?

For me, it was about helping out a fellow author. Plus, it was a decent read and I needed some down time anyway.

Reading a good book is like a good holiday. A break from reality and a chance to wind down.