Jaimey’s Comments (group member since Jun 18, 2009)

Jaimey’s comments from the Author Support Group group.

I decided to post this here since nearly everyone concerned is a member of this group. :o)

I recently received the Superior Scribbler Award for my blog and it was up to me to choose five bloggy friends. It was not an easy decision, believe me, but here are the ones I chose:

1. Gina Collia-Suzuki: http://ginacolliasuzuki.blogspot.com
2. Bernadette Simpson: http://escapadethroughegypt.wordpress...
3. Thersa Matsuura: http://kappanohe.blogspot.com
4. Thomma Lyn Grindstaff: http://www.thommalyngrindstaff.com/blog
5. Rachel Rager: http://rachelrager.blogspot.com

Here's my blog post with details of the award: Superior Scribbler Award

Congrats!

(Edited to add blog links of the winners.)

His genre is described as, I think, "graphic novels" which, correct me if I'm wrong, I believe is a fancy term for comic books in novel form. The Graveyard Book is one that I seem to see mentioned quite a bit.

Madison wrote: "I need some chocolate!!!!"

Oh my, yes, I totally understand. Sheesh, I think the housework makes itself worse just to make us authors look bad. (I sincerely believe that housework is its own living, breathing entity.)

Ok, we are human, right? Sometimes we just need to vent, right? This is the thread for that. This is not the thread for complaints about the group itself or even group members. This is for complaints about Amazon, negative reviews, family members who just don't understand, children who never listen...I think you get my drift.

Vent away but keep it clean. :o)

I'll start. Amazon. That's it. Just Amazon. (Most of you know exactly what I'm talking about.)

I think the "ranking" such as it is, has more to do with the number of goodreads members who have that author's book(s) on their shelves than any other means of measurement. They may also take into account the number of fans/followers but I think it is mostly based on the number of ratings/reviews/average rating, etc. Ex: Neil Gaiman's stats are:
avg rating: 4.18 | 221,798 ratings | 20,185 reviews | 199 distinct works | 2680 fans

Sheesh, no wonder he's got the top spot in popularity!

Madison wrote: "For me to pay these people would have to be in Oprah's personal book club or a staff writer for the New York Times....."

Exactly! :o)

Super!

D.B. wrote: "Darn it Jaimey, one of our Goodread friends may get upset with me again. Although we like one another, we definitely disagree about paid for reviews. As I share in my May 29th blog:

I am a bo..."

I admit, DB, I was hoping to get your opinion. I love your analogy of a paid-for prom date. It's brilliant. :o)

I have to agree that something just feels icky about knowing I PAID for a glowing review. And if it's not glowing? AHH! Then I've just paid $50 for someone to tell the world I suck. Either way kind of sounds like the losing end for me but the reviewer gets $50 from the deal.

The topic of paid-for reviews has been touched on in some other groups and can be a topic of contention with some. I wanted to bring it up here for the benefit of some of our newer goodreads members so they can make an educated decision.

My opinion: I don't think paid-for reviews are worth the money they cost. Most people can tell a review that's been paid for. I've always felt that the book itself should be payment enough.

There are some great comments on a recent blog post I did on the importance of reviews.

Reviews and the Reader

Thoughts?

Hello, everyone!

I just wanted to post a quick suggestion that those lovely authors who have not yet placed their books on our group shelf, feel free to do so.

Happy reading and writing!

Welcome to all our new members!

So glad you could join us, Dee! I was so hoping you'd show up to share some words of success and encouragement with us.

Athena, welcome to the group! I have found that when I get 'writer's block,' it helps if I work on my character's bios and backstories some more. (I have a detailed notebook for every book I've written and am currently working on.) If that doesn't work, I work on a different story entirely. The last time I did that, the back-up story I turned to got finished before the original story. :o)

~Jaimey

Dee wrote: "My favorite hint..."be nice, helpful, and not pushy"

There is nothing that turns readers off more than a pushy author :]"

Great point, Dee! So true. There was an author here on goodreads once who was so pushy that he got banned from all groups and then they took away his goodreads author status.

Yolanda wrote: "Does this website have a blog?"

You have to sign up to be a "goodreads author" to get a goodreads blog. They only provide them for authors at this time.

To sign up, search for your book and click on your name under the book title. On the author page, scroll down to the bottom of the page. There will be a question, 'Is this you?' Click on 'Let us know' and it will take you through the process.

:o)

Giving ebooks away in various groups on goodreads seemed to get the word out about my books but not like I was secretly hoping. Most of my sales came from all the marketing work I was doing on Amazon once upon a time. I did a lot of reviews, lists, and guides, drawing exposure to me and to my books. Now I'm trying the whole blogging route. ;o)

Ali wrote: "eh!"

Is that a bad "eh!" or a good "eh!" ??

LOL

Hi Tamela! It's great to see you! :o)

Wow. I'll have to look into that. Maybe I can work out a deal for anyone in Canada; half-priced shipping or something of the sort.

Ali wrote: "I am Canadian! lol"

Ooo, I heard shipping US to Canada is insane now. Anybody know the lowdown on that?

You don't have to use goodreads to do your giveaway. Post to your blog that you are having a drawing and the winner will receive an ebook copy of your book. All they have to do is comment or email or however you want to do it. You could also post in various groups here on goodreads but make sure you post in the correct folders and such. Some moderators can be very picky about those kind of posts.

Ali wrote: "Hi Jaimey,

I would like to read/review 'Heartless' you don't have to send it as an e-book though, I will order it since it is over 200 pages!

I am looking forward to it! :)"

You are so sweet! All my books are my babies, but Heartless is my special baby. (I'm such a bad mother!) People seem very attracted to that book.

Actually, I ordered some books that I'm going to autograph and sell from my website if you want to wait a bit. They will be offered for the list price and free shipping for US residents. I haven't worked out all the details yet but I will probably offer a discount to anyone who wants to order all four.

:o)