R.’s Comments (group member since May 22, 2014)

R.’s comments from the Genre Specific Review Groups group.

Cat Gap by R. Leib

I have received a copy of Dragonfly and River Stone.

R.

Please include my novel, The Negative's Tale. I have already read Deneb, so I cannot review it and Pearson Moore cannot review my book.

R.

N.J. wrote: "Hi R

Just thought I would mention that reciprocal author reviews are something Amazon now actively discourages - Sockpuppetry. Don't know what your experiences are, but in my experience, they are ..."

We have had several of these peer review groups and I have not seen any of the reviews removed by Amazon. In any case, as far as I am concerned the main object of this exercise is to give the authors feedback about their work. I have learned a lot and believe I have improved as a writer due to the reviews I received in these groups. Also, the primary target of the reviews is Goodreads. A review on Amazon is nice, but Goodreads is our community.

R.

Authors:

That filled up quickly. Those who have signed up for this review group should read the instructions in the first post of this topic. Then locate your first round review in the schedule and contact the author to obtain a copy of their book.

R.

In joining this review group you are agreeing to review any book assigned to you within a two month time period. If you do not agree, please do not sign up below.

This is the Young Adult review group, which will include all types of novels classified as young adult. As with other review groups, you will be expected to read and give an honest review of the books assigned to you.

Participants are expected to post reviews to Goodreads. If the review is positive (three stars or higher on Amazon), the review should be posted to Amazon as well, if the book is available there. This makes having accounts with both Goodreads and Amazon.com a requirement.

If a reviewer and the author agree that the review should not be posted to Goodreads due to quality issues, the reviewer is relieved of the requirement of posting the review. If this occurs in the first round, the second reviewer is relieved of the requirement to read and review the book. This is entirely at the discretion of the reviewer and is not intended in any way to manipulate the rating of any book.

Contact the authors you are scheduled to review to arrange to receive a review copy of their work.

Please post to this topic, both when you receive review copies and when you post the reviews.

If you are going to be late with your review, either post to this topic as soon as possible or message the author and the moderator.

If your book has not been reviewed by the deadline for either round, contact the review group moderator. This is necessary to make certain that the review process is fair for everyone.


THE AUTHORS AND NOVELS ARE:

01 Susanne Leist - The Dead Game

02 Cassandra Larsen - Silent Circle

03 Konn Lavery - Mental Damnation Dream

04 G.J. Griffiths - So What's Next!

05 N.J. Rayner - The Time Table

06 T.B. Markinson - Marionette


THE ORDER OF REVIEW IS AS FOLLOWS:

January 25 to February 25
Susanne Leist reviews N.J. Rayner
Cassandra Larsen reviews Konn Lavery
Konn Lavery reviews T.B. Markinson
G.J. Griffiths reviews Cassandra Larsen
N.J. Rayner reviews G.J. Griffiths
T.B. Markinson reviews Susanne Leist

February 25 to March 25
Susanne Leist reviews G.J. Griffiths
Cassandra Larsen reviews T.B. Markinson
Konn Lavery reviews Susanne Leist
G.J. Griffiths reviews Konn Lavery
N.J. Rayner reviews Cassandra Larsen
T.B. Markinson reviews N.J. Rayner

Since I have not heard from any of the participants for a couple of weeks, I will be closing this review group in a few days.

If anyone wants to see another YA review group started, message me and I will start it.

R.

Authors:

The second round reviews should be done. If you have any issues, please message me directly.

R.

L. wrote: "Just novels, or do story collections/novellas apply as well?"

I think we can be flexible about the format. If you want to volunteer a novella or a short story collection, that would be okay by me.

R.

Authors:

The first round reviews should be done. If you have any issues, please message me directly.

R.

If there is still activity going on in this group, it can stay open. I will check back in a week or so.

R.

Next Monday, I will close this review group, since it seems that all the reviews have been completed. If any participants have unfinished business with this review group, please message me or post to this topic before then.

R.

Sue wrote: "I have finished my book, now where and in what format do I post it?"

Go to the Goodreads page for the book. Below the book description is a header marked "My Review". To the right in the header is a link marked "edit". Click on "edit". A page will be displayed that will allow you to select a star rating, select a bookshelf, post your text review, and select the date you finished reading the book. Fill out the information you want to provide and click on the "Save" button at the bottom of the page. If you have rated the book three stars or higher, click on the Amazon option on the book's page. Post your review on Amazon. Then come back to this topic to post that you have completed the book and your review.

R.

Authors:

I want to clarify something in the guidelines. If a review on Goodreads is less than three stars, it should not be posted to Amazon. (Regardless of what the Goodreads star rating translates to on Amazon.) Furthermore, I encourage reviewers to consider communicating their criticisms privately rather than publishing a negative review. This affords an Indy author an opportunity to improve without being subjected to public embarrassment.

R.

Authors:

I want to clarify something in the guidelines. If a review on Goodreads is less than three stars, it should not be posted to Amazon. (Regardless of what the Goodreads star rating translates to on Amazon.) Furthermore, I encourage reviewers to consider communicating their criticisms privately rather than publishing a negative review. This affords an Indy author an opportunity to improve without being subjected to public embarrassment.

R.

Authors:

Since there were no concerns posted and the second round of reviewing starts tomorrow. I have updated the schedule for the second round. Please contact the person whose book you are to review and post to this topic when you receive their book.

R.

Authors:

Okay. How about this arrangement? If everyone is okay with it, I will update the first post to this topic to reflect the change.

Aric reviews C.A.
Jacob reviews Steve
Dean reviews Aric
C.A. reviews Jacob
Steve reviews Dean

R.

Authors:

Everybody hold off on the second round of reviews. Melissa has to leave this review group. I will work out a new arrangement of reviews for the second round.

R.

S. wrote: "How many people are reviewing Tim Stead's book?"

Two people. A person originally slated to read his book did not follow through. So other arrangements were made.

Authors:

Wow. This review group filled up fast. We have six authors and are moving on to the review phase. The first round begins November 5, and reviews should be posted by December 5. The schedule is published in the initial post of this topic. Refer to it for your review assignments. Post to this topic or message me, if you have any issues.

Let the reading begin.

R.