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

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

I kinda want... more. Concise blurbs can be great, but in this case it may be too concise. The opening line doesn't do anything for me. I don't know what happened the last time, so "this time" is meaningless.

Who is Nikola and why must he find "them". What century? How did they get there? Save himself from... what? If someone has control of time and can move about through centuries, is ten days really a problem? It seems there could be a really interesting story in there, but there's not enough detail to go on.

Along with dropping that first line, I'd drop the last, too. It's full of cliches and doesn't really add anything to the blurb. Focus on the story.

Nick wrote: "I'll just plop the link in here: "

As per the code of conduct of our group, links are forbidden. Please review. Thanks.

John wrote: "Links to someone else's podcast? Why?"

Please review the code of conduct, which includes:

#7 - No links. To books. To blogs. No links.

We used to limit posting links, but due to the increasing number of harmful links being shared, we now ask that you DO NOT POST ANY LINKS.

Comment deleted. No links please.

Oh, and Jenna... I have a Pomeranian. She's a little fur ball and while she is adorable, she has a huge personality. She's self-centered, demanding, feisty, and loud. And happy. She's always smiling.

Jenna wrote: "Dwayne, this might be the nicest thing anyone's ever done for me. (At least this year. :)"

There goes my reputation.

Animals often wander into my books. Cliche has a cat. And another. And another... oh, so many cats.

Current work in progress is about a crew of teenagers working on farms in the summer. There's a lot of animals mentioned as being heard in the distance, especially cattle. There's a scene or two with pigs, one with a rather sickly dog, and one with a rat. There's a kitten that gets a ride on a tornado... yeah. And two Akitas that may or may not be supernatural beings. Oh, and I mustn't forget Porky, the long dead, now skeletal piglet.

Hey guys.

Do you have any animals in the books you've written or are writing? Maybe you have a question about your animals that you'd like to ask. Here's a place to talk it over.

Have fun and watch where you step.

Ian wrote: "Which brings us all back to "hope for the best" and don't worry."

That's how I go about it these days.

Leah wrote: "Sylvia, I totally see your logic, but authors aren’t allowed to message readers for reviews, from what I understand."

I think you're right... and I'm too frickin' lazy to go look it up right now. So, yeah, you're right.

Sylvia, as a reader I would be greatly put off by an author coming out of the blue and begging for reviews. If you do this, be aware that not everyone on Goodreads takes kindly to Indie authors. Some will probably report you for sending spam, some may go through and one star all your books in revenge. I've seen things like this happen.

I think the best method of getting reviews (I used to do this back when I placed importance on reviews) is to add a little something-something in the back of your book asking the reader to leave a review. Yes, it's a fairly slow method, but hey. I write 'cause I love it, not to see how many reviews I can get.

Sreedhar wrote: "Maybe goodreads could have a feature through which authors can swap books for the purpose of review. "

Even though it is against their terms and conditions, against Amazon's rules and against FTC regulations. It's also against our group rules to discuss it.

This is also the best way to get dishonest and biased reviews. Who wants that?

Anyway. More off topic comments. Please, stay on topic.

This thread is getting a bit out of hand and way off topic. The original question is “I need some help getting reviews on Goodreads and on Amazon. How does everyone get their book reviewed?”

Readers have this much responsibility to us: 0. Readers are not obligated to buy our books. We need to be grateful for every book we sell. Readers have no obligation to read our books. We need to be grateful when they do. Readers do not owe us a review. They have no responsibility to us, to other readers, or to anyone. If one chooses to write a review, they have the freedom to review your book in whatever manner they feel best. What may be “flowery pros [sic]” or a “thin and uninspiring character” to one reader, may be solid writing to another.

Learning how to be a better writer from reading your reviews seems bass ackwards to me. Readers are not there to be your teachers.

Quoting from our Code of Conduct: #5 - Reviews happen. We aren't here to discuss them or swap them.

Discussions about drive-by ratings and negative reviews are discouraged. Do not discuss what you feel are your reader’s “responsibilities” to you. We understand that negative reviews can be hurtful and upsetting, but this is not the place to vent about them.

For those who have stayed on topic, thank you.

Leah wrote: "Dwayne, when I say “bad” I’m referring to people who only review to ridicule a book, and not to take it personally. We all get them."

Yep. No one has written a book that is loved by all readers. Some will love your books, some will hate them. You are correct, we can't take it personally. Readers often times are reacting to their expectations of the book or to what they brought into the book, not what we've actually written. I still believe a review, even one that ridicules, is nothing more than an opinion and the reader has a right to have that opinion. Hence, I don't see reviews and good or bad. They're just opinions.

Leah wrote: "Good luck! Don’t give up and don’t let bad reviews get to you!"

Better yet, remind yourself there's no such thing as a bad review and that reviews are not meant for the writer, anyway.

Yeah. Again, no links. No self-promotion. Please review the rules.

Mark wrote: "I am working on a trailer..."

No links. No self-promotion. Thanks.

Dwayne wrote: "No links folks."

This rule is still in place. It hasn't gone away. No links.

She has a lot to prove, but detectives are calling her to help with their cases? Not really buying it.

Why is she "left wondering" so much? Why isn't she investigating? Isn't that her job? ("Left wondering" indicates she's not finding any answers).

Rick wrote: "As the title suggests, the poetry is fairly random..."

All that really tells me is that it's written without any real direction or method. It doesn't tell me a thing about the topics. If anything, it indicates there are no real topics.

It really all depends on what the majority of your poetry is like, Rick.

The first gives me a feeling of nostalgia and bygone times, of reflecting on a long life and those met along the way.

The second feels warm and cute.

The third is the oddball. It's whimsical.

The fourth is the most appealing to me. It makes me think of deep thoughts and makes me expect a good deal of word play in the poetry.

The third could use some touching up. It's a bit too amateurish. It feels like you doodled it in two minutes while on a call to someone. It would make me expect the poetry inside to be sophomoric. If your poetry is fun and silly, there's nothing wrong with a cartoon cover. Just - spend a bit more time on it is all.