Dwayne’s Comments (group member since Apr 01, 2017)

Dwayne’s comments from the Support for Indie Authors group.

I don't really have a preferred genre, but I mostly write humor, literary fiction, and paranormal. Most everything I write is a bit of a blend of those. Often times there are elements of horror, romance, maybe a little hint of fantasy, a little mystery, a dab of politics, a dash of religion... and so on. I read so many different kinds of books it's hard to focus on one genre. I think it would be tedious and boring, too. At least for me.

This thread is getting off topic. It's one thing to have bots attacking several books at once, as seems to be happening to Jeb. It's another to get a one-star review from a reader... for any reason.

Don't be surprised if a reader doesn't care for your book, no matter how much hard work you put in. Everyone has different tastes. Move on, keep writing, and forget about their review.

When you write about anything, politics or otherwise, you run the risk of getting a negative rating or review from someone who doesn't like your point of view. Keep writing, move on, let it go.

It does us no good to stew about negative ratings. They will happen and, yes, it stings a bit, but the sting will pass.

Finally, discussing one-star ratings and reviews is against our rules, so I'm closing the thread as it seems to be the direction this is going, away from the topic of bots that attack an author. That's a very different animal indeed.

A. wrote: "Yes, this has happened to me last summer and several others I know.
Hopefully, a reader seeing this would read the good reviews."

Savvy readers who pay any attention to reader reviews and ratings won't pay much attention to fly by one-star ratings. You are right.

Jeb wrote: "Has anyone else been attacked by 1 star ratings recently? My book has been bombarded with about (12) 1 star ratings over a couple days, all with no review, just the rating, and all profiles are set..."

That's about all you can do, report it to Goodreads and let them look into it. Hopefully they will resolve the issue. I'm removing your initial post, due to the link to your book.

I dunno. Spice without meat isn't very appetizing. Guy writes book. Guy loses sanity. That's all I'm really getting here. What is it that's making him insane? How is writing a book wrecking his entire life? Is he a delicate flower who can't handle reading about an old murder case? Something is missing.

It would benefit you to familiarize yourself with a group before you join. You can discuss marketing in Support for Indie Authors. We don't ask for or even talk about reviews in either group.

The rules for our group are posted. In short: No.

I don't like the bolded stuff. Seems unnecessary.

It was going okay, until I hit this line: "Troy has just a few weeks to prove to him that he’s strong enough, brave enough, and gifted enough among his peers." What happens in a few weeks?

After that, it continues to be confusing and vague. A journey to the top of what? What secret? Why is it fatal?

As it is, all I really get is, a boy doesn't feel loved by his father. He finds a dog. And some other stuff happens. It might be good to at least give one or two other points to the story.

Bah. Humbug.

Katie wrote: "Hi!."

The folder you posted this in is for moderators only. You're not a moderator. It's for information about our web site and social media. You don't work on our web site or our social media. It's also self-promoting, which we don't allow.

Carol wrote: "..."

Not the place to solicit for reviews.

Post removed. Please, everyone, remember this is not a place to solicit your "services", even if they are free. We don't allow authors to sell books here, so we are not going allow anyone to solicit here.

B.A. wrote: "Yeah, as if I'd pay for something that I can do for free."

But, then he can't beef up his portfolio. That's so important!

Please remove your post. We do not allow self promotion of any kind here. We don't let authors promote their books so it would not be fair to let someone promote their "services". Thank you.

Please don't solicit for "honest" reviews here, J.U. It's against our rules. Also, since you don't need beta readers anymore, I'm closing this thread.

Sarah, no. It's always good form to read the rules of a group before joining.

Some readers don't mind being contacted. Most do mind. Many would see it as amateurish, desperate, and maybe even a little creepy. It's best to steer clear of contacting readers this way. They gave you a rating. They might not have enough to say to leave a review. They might not enjoy writing reviews. Do you review every product you buy? Probably not.

If reviews matter so much to you, you can put something in your book inviting reviews. Focusing on your next book is time better spent than chasing down readers and asking for reviews.

It's not bad, but that's a lot of words to tell very little. The main character is magical, but sucks at it. We get it.

It's also a little confusing. She has her memory erased and all traces of magic, yet she remembers taking the exam and she apparently still has magic. And anyone can be a witch, but she has to fight her way in. For what purpose? If she's already a witch, because anyone can be, why does she need to fight to be a witch? Or, if it's just this coven that she wants, why? If she's so bad at magic and if it brings death and chaos and all that, why does she still want it?

I would drop the disclaimer. Those are pointless, really, and doesn't tell anything. Is it littered with "f-bombs" or does someone occasionally say "heck"? I always let my work be what it is and won't apologize for it. To me, that's what a warning feels like. "I'm sorry, but some of the characters swear. Please don't read my book if you might be offended." Besides, there are people who will hate your book simply because it has witches and magic and demons. Did that stop you from writing it? Are you embarrassed about it? I hope not. So, yeah, I would drop the disclaimer.

Phillip wrote: "I can't speak about copyright infringement, but do you want it to look like they're kissing?"

It doesn't really bother me, but I will move Teddy or Matthew a bit to the side, just in case Matthew Broderick happens to see it some day and objects to kissing a fourteen year old boy.

In an earlier version I wasn't paying much attention to the positioning until I realized Matthew's mouth would be somewhere else on Teddy's anatomy and, yeah, it just looked wrong.

Yeah, that's what I was going for. I want it to look enough like the poster for Ferris Bueller's Day Off that people will recognize it, but not so much that it could land me in trouble with Paramount. The whole story is really a tribute / homage to John Hughes (especially Ferris Bueller), but I know that won't absolve me of any copyright infringement, if Paramount decides to be stinky about it.