Matt’s Comments (group member since Feb 20, 2017)

Matt’s comments from the Navigating Indieworld Discussing All Things Indie group.

"He never saw Molly again."

...not really. I'm actually quite mild-mannered!

I'm interested in critiquing your fresh-out-of-the-creative-oven manuscript.

I'll read anything except romance and books aimed at children. My rate is $1 per 1,000 words.

For more information, check out my website: https://mattcowper.com/beta-reading/

Having the same problem with the third Johnny Wagner novel. Had to step away from it and work on a "reader magnet" novella.

I echo what others have said: work on something else, then return to your problem project at a later date. If it still feels like you're slogging through a bog, perhaps it's time to radically revamp the story or shelve it permanently.

Hello folks. I'm looking for advanced reviewers for my upcoming novel, "The World Savers." If you like caped crusaders, maniacal villains, innovative superpowers, and copious explosions, then this novel will satisfy ya!

I have a MOBI file available. No hard deadline for a review, though within 30 days would be nice. And I'm giving away as many copies as I can!

If interested, contact me here on Goodreads, or via email at roguehomebody[at]gmail.com

The blurb:

Before they can save the world, they have to save themselves....

Once the world's greatest superteam, the Elites became poisoned by corruption and insane plots, and the team was disbanded.

Now they've been reconstituted – and just in time, as a new villain has emerged, one intent on remaking the world.

And with the awesome power he possesses, he just might be able to do it.

Can these new Elites thwart his maniacal goals? Or will they fail just like their predecessors?

Fans of “The Avengers” or “Justice League” will love this page-turning, high-octane novel!

Thanks, ya'll. I'd rather nuke the spammers and bots, but I suppose I should channel my energy into more productive endeavors. Like, you know, WRITING.

No, I don't believe this person has read the entire book. They may have read 30 or so pages, then given it a rating, but completion? Nah.

Well, nothing to be done about it. I could message the person, but that would likely generate ill will, if they are flesh-and-blood and not a bot. Just gotta roll with the punches....

I found some discussion on this issue here on Goodreads. Very dated discussion, but....

Apparently some people use the rating system to classify their interest in a particular book, not to actually review the book. Therefore, my two star review could mean they're not really interested in my book.

Nothing to be done about it. As long as they're not breaking Goodreads's terms, they can use the rating system for any purpose they like. I see no mention of this in the terms, so I assume they're in the clear.

OK, so I recently released a new novel, "Primal Nature." Getting my ducks in a row before I do a marketing push, so I don't expect sales and reviews yet.

Therefore, I was surprised when I saw "Primal Nature" had a new rating on Goodreads - two stars. Definitely not encouraging, and there was no accompanying review. I clicked on the person's profile to see if I could learn anything about their aesthetics, and what I saw vexed me - to put it nicely.

Link: https://www.goodreads.com/user/show/5...

The sole purpose of this account seems to be to give sci-fi novels low ratings. Looking at the dates of the posted reviews, I find it hard to believe this person (bot?) reads this swiftly. Even if they do, it's extremely unlikely they'd have a 2.25 average through 322 ratings. No one is that picky.

Normally I don't kvetch about reviews. Everyone has different tastes and expectations, and complaining alienates readers if they happen to come across your comments, and makes you look thin-skinned in general.

But this appears to be troll account, or a bot - if such a thing is possible on Goodreads - and I certainly don't want someone screwing around with my books (or anyone else's books) just for the lulz.

Should I email Goodreads about this issue? Would they even care? Has anyone here had similar experiences? Am I totally off base, and this is a real person who just hates everything? Any insight is appreciated.

Alex wrote: "Thanks for the kind words, Sam. I suspect the main reason I haven't written a romance yet, other than being busy with other projects, is that the right idea hasn't popped into my head. If I get an ..."

All you need is a bachelor billionaire and a woman with a heart of gold.

I hope to one day write a "manly romance," where I gleefully smash every trope of the romance genre.

Will he throw it all away for the woman who may be The One? Uh...nope. There are plenty more fish in the sea.

Will this simmering love ever burst into white-hot flames of passion? Maybe, but only if it doesn't interfere with the male protagonist's hunting trips and Call of Duty sessions.

How will he respond when she reveals the dark secrets of her past? "Huh, you sound like that tormented Final Fantasy character. Wanna play the game and, uh, commiserate and stuff?"

@Amy - "I never thought those who were successful for years would now be unsure of the future. Eye-opening."

For years, most of the "how to" or motivational writing from the big names in self-publishing painted a rosy picture. Just work hard, and people will buy your books!

Now even Joe Konrath (the quintessential Amazon worshiper) admits that his income is down and that Kindle Unlimited might not be such a good deal for authors after all. David Gaughran is calling out Zon every blog post. Many more authors are deciding to go wide.

YouTube is facing similar backlash from its content producers.

Once these tech companies get the attention of large companies and advertisers, they can treat the little people however they want. Our meager protests don't matter in the face of massive short-term profit.

Alex wrote: "Probably won't be long before they own or at least have a connection to Twitter/Facebook etc.
Another few years and there will only be about half a dozen global conglomerates that own every other b..."

The tech world promises constant disruption, but the eventual outcome is what you stated: a handful of companies gobble up everything.

I wish someone would give Amazon a run for their money, but every other company involved in e-publishing seems to be just hunkering down, or retreating from the field entirely. See: Pronoun.

Good info from everyone. I'd like to add Amazon Marketing Services as a weapon in the indie author's arsenal.

It's a weird platform; there isn't much data to analyze. It's pretty much "throw out some keywords and hope." And be sure to have an enticing sales pitch. A question related to the book's plot works wonders.

I haven't had any success worth bragging about, but it does give one of my novels a slight boost. I get a sale every now and then, and some KU page reads. It's better than nothing.

I only spend $1 per day on one campaign. If I had more moolah to throw around, I'd probably get better results.

Justin wrote: "They say you shouldn't rate and review your book but its okay for a troll/person who doesn't like your work to rate and review your book that they didn't even read by trashing it and leaving a perm..."

Yup. But, to look at it another way, a troll review oftentimes makes the troll look bad, not the author. I've seen numerous instances where someone has posted something cruel and/or idiotic, and people have called them out in the comments. There is good in the world.

Chella wrote: "Thanks so much for your help. You are SO sweet to help me, Matt. Do you also write books?"

I throw a bunch of words together and try to sell them, but whether they count as "books" or "delusional hackwork" depends on your viewpoint. :)

Tacky? Crass and in poor taste? Yes. Don't review your own work. Use your blurb to hype it up, tell people how amazing it is in interviews, etc.

I can think of several instances where "fake" reviews of your novels would be interesting, i.e. for an April Fool's joke. But in most cases, it's a no-no.

Carole, we all know you're a sneaky dastardly person who is trying to con the benevolent company that is Goodreads.

/s

@Anya: "For example, now I know they will catch at least an arsonist suspect...."

Not necessarily. Dale's blurb suggested to me that the arsonist suspect was already in prison.

"That would be a loss of opportunity to establish empathy with the protagonist in the starting scenes, I think. I would have liked to be surprised, together, with him, as we discover there is more to the case that we've initially shrugged off, together."

I disagree. Most readers expect a "nothing" case will turn into something sinister and convoluted. There wouldn't be much point in writing a book where the cases are mundane and easily-solved. I think any attempt at hiding the story's overall arc would be self-defeating.

I do agree that the blurb stuffs a lot of crimes into a short amount of space.

LOL - so we're all in the same boat? Thanks for nothing! :)

It sounds like a chicken-and-egg scenario, like so much of self-publishing. If you're an Influencer, people will follow you on social media...but to become an Influencer, you have to engage people on social media...somehow.

I have engaged in a few Twitter chats. They can be fun, but it does get confusing keeping track of everyone.

I think Twitter is ridiculous, but everyone's on there, so I guess I have to be too.

I retweet stuff from time to time, or post snarky stuff like this: https://twitter.com/roguehomebody/sta...

That's about it. Sometimes a week passes between tweets. I suppose a social media guru would find that sad.

Help me bring my Twitter game to the next level!

C.L. wrote: "I think the headline is misleading. Amazon isn't punishing authors for running legitimate promotions. Its automatic bots just temporarily rank strip any book that shows a sudden and suspicious jump..."

You make it sound so harmless. From the comments of the article:

"After a 3-day paid promotion for a discounted book bundle back in July, I was rank stripped and had my Pages Read also stripped. While Amazon returned my ranking after a week, they refused to return my pages read, which was over 1 million pages. I have repeatedly sent emails and have gotten absolutely nowhere. They accused me of manipulating page reads, which I absolutely have not done! As of this date, they have refused to answer my emails. I’m heartbroken and out thousands of dollars."

David Gaughran also wrote a post about this happening to Phoenix Sullivan: https://davidgaughran.wordpress.com/2...

It's expected that bots will tag false positives. But if the bot is in error, Amazon customer service needs to rectify the situation, which means restoring sales ranking, restoring KU page reads, and making sure it doesn't happen again. Instead, they're taking their sweet time to restore ranking, and accusing reputable authors of doing things they haven't done.