Group 114 Out of this world. Mod Warren.

[L.N.]

Thanks for the review, E.J. Finally, someone who gets Jen =)

[L.N.]

Here are my links for Shield of Drani:

https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

Okay, so, yet again we are waiting for the Amazon reviews. I will post them when they finally materialise.

Oh look, here's one:

https://www.amazon.com/gp/customer-re...

Wonderful read, by the way =)

[E.J.]

L.N. wrote: "Thanks for the review, E.J. Finally, someone who gets Jen =)"

You're welcome

[Melonie]

I wish Goodreads had a like button. Thank you so much, LN, for the wonderful review. It makes me so happy that my book is being well received. You can't seem me jumping up and down over here, but I am!!

[L.N.]

Well! It's a bloody good read =)

[E.M.]

Melonie wrote: "I wish Goodreads had a like button."

You can always click the 'Like' button at the bottom of the Goodreads review ;)

[Melonie]

E.M. wrote:

You can always click the 'Like' button at the bottom of the Goodreads review ;)"

For sure!!

[L.N.]

Finally! Here is the other Amazon review:

https://www.amazon.co.uk/review/R1PQX...

[Eric]

Review of Thunder Moon


Goodreads
Amazon
Amazon UK

[Jeanne]

I just finished reviewing Secrets of the Mind:
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
https://www.amazon.com/review/R31TCGV...
https://www.amazon.co.uk/review/RVRIX...

[Eric]

E.M. wrote: "My first review is here for my second round book: 'Ghostmaker' by Eric Michael Craig.

I have only managed to be so quick because it really is just a very short book, sadly the only one I could rev..."


By the way, thank you for that. It got lost in the other posts and I hadn't told you I appreciate it.

[Jeanne]

E.M. wrote: "My Round Three reviews for Thunder Moon - which is my fourth and final review.

Goodreads
Amazon US
Amazon UK

Amazon UK took a full day to show up - but made it eventually."
E. M., thank you for taking the time to read and give Thunder Moon an honest review! Have a great week.

[Melonie]

Would someone please tell me how to make the word into a link. FE, Goodreads is the link instead of http://good.... It looks so much better.

Please and thank you

[E.M.]

Melonie wrote: "Would someone please tell me how to make the word into a link. FE, Goodreads is the link instead of http://good.... It looks so much better.

Please and thank you"

It is html.

At the top of the box you put a new post in it says (some html is ok). If you click it you see a list of the html you can use in your posts here. Just Copy/paste the top item on the list of that which is:

< a href="http://www.goodreads.com">my link text< /a >

Please note I inserted extra spaces so it shows up. ;)

Insert your link instead of http://www.goodreads.com (include the http://) and the word you want to show up for the link in the bit that says: my link text.

Hope this is clear enough as an explanation!

[Melonie]

E.M. wrote: It is html.


Aha!!! Magic! I can do magic! Thanks so much. I feel supremely cool now.

[E.M.]

Melonie wrote: "Aha!!! Magic! I can do magic! Thanks so much. I feel supremely cool now."

Happy to have helped ;)

[Darrell]

Here is my round one review Stormhaven Rising
Goodreads
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
Amazon
https://www.amazon.com/review/RVSMEVJ...
Amazon UK
https://www.amazon.co.uk/review/R2FEY...

Unfortunately I had to cut this pun. It was too geeky even for me.
Geek-pun alert:
A lot of the battles seemed just be theoretically stringing the reader along with a second order tensor.

[Eric]

Darrell wrote: "Here is my round one review Stormhaven Rising
Goodreads
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
Amazon
https://www.amazon.com/review/RVSMEVJ......"

Thanks for your review and comments Darrell.

[Melonie]

Here are my round two reviews for The Other Side

Goodreads
Amazon
Amazon UK

Such a well developed world! If you want more detailed feedback, holler. And thanks for sharing your story. I enjoyed it!

[Heather]

Finished Sapling a few days ago, but been too busy to write a review...that should be forthcoming today or tomorrow. Sorry for the delay!

[Florian]

Melonie wrote: "Here are my round two reviews for The Other Side

Goodreads
Amazon
Amazon UK

Such a well developed world! If you want more detailed feedback, holler. And thanks for sharing your story. I enjoye..."

Thank you, Melonie.

[E.J.]

My review for the Other side by Florian Armas round 4 Goodreads- https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
UK-https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/customer-...
.COM-https://www.amazon.com/gp/customer-re...

[Dan]

Here is my first round review for The Fated Sky

https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

https://www.amazon.com/review/R3C93HC...

https://www.amazon.co.uk/review/R2WZG...

[E.M.]

Dan wrote: "Here is my first round review for The Fated Sky"

Thanks so much Dan - so glad you enjoyed the book!

Just a heads-up to let you know that I believe saying "I received a free copy in exchange for a fair non-reciprocal review." could get this review removed on A'zon under their new rules, so you might want to avoid it in future ;)

It is fine to say the book was gifted, but implying that was in expectation of any kind of review is no longer permitted, as I understand it. But I could be wrong.

You might want to check out this thread Emma started on the topic for more info:

https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...

Warren, please feel free to slap me if this is in anyway out of order...

[Warren]

Nice review, Dan.

I agree with E.M. that the free book disclaimer is no longer appropriate. It was a requirement of Amazon's old guidelines, which specifically stated that customers were entitled to review a product that was received for free or at a discounted price, so long as that fact was disclosed by the reviewer.

The new guidelines prohibit this, although the following exception is made: "Book authors and publishers may continue to provide free or discounted copies of their books to readers, as long as the author or publisher does not require a review in exchange or attempt to influence the review."

What I think this means in practice is that, as authors, we can still offer free/discounted books on Goodreads or other platforms in the hope of generating customer reviews, but we cannot make it a condition that the recipient must post an Amazon review (nor, needless to say, a good Amazon review).

Emma is presently re-writing the Group's rules so that they do not offend the new guidelines.

[Dan]

Thanks to both of you for the clarification. I'll be sure to remove this element in the future.

You can't be falling asleep at the wheel with the changes in policy in self-publishing. Reminds me of a certain movie quote, "Keep up with the acronyms!"

[Melonie]

But...there is always a but...the thing is this:

The people who got my book during the free promotion and posted a review are not showing up as a verified purchase.

Also, people who downloaded my book using KU during my free promotion are not showing as verified purchases when they post a review.

And, a friend of mine purchased a book and gave it to a friend of hers who supposedly wrote a review that Amazon would not permit because the book had been gifted even though it wasn't gifted by me.

And finally, if you pull up reviews by authors like Kim Harrison and Charlene Harris, they have tons of review that are not listed as verified purchases.

So.

So I don't know, It's all a pain in the butt. Amazon is just trying to keep things legit, and I understand why, but the verified purchase thing isn't going to be the way they do it.

[E.M.]

Melonie wrote: "But...there is always a but...the thing is this:"."

IMO, the best bet is just to not say how you got the book - I never do.

It does not matter to the zon if your Great Aunt Tiffany gave it to you for your B'day, you found it dropped on a street corner or you KU'd it etc. All that matters is that you have read it and no one is offering you anything for a review.

Just my take - but that thread I highlighted before is a good place to read/express differing views and find Emma's ultimate judgement. :)

[Warren]

So I don't know, It's all a pain in the butt. Amazon is just trying to keep things legit, and I understand why, but the verified purchase thing isn't going to be the way they do it.

You have hit the nail on the head there, Melonie. Yet another example of the cheats/scammers making it necessary for the layers of security all over everything these days, which the genuine sods like us have to navigate through every time we turn around.

For example, to enjoy the "ease and convenience" of internet banking, I have to switch on my computer (which is protected by a password), sign in on my banking website using a different password (because it is not recommended that we use the same password all the time), the bank then tells me to switch on my phone (which is protected by a PIN), and if I don't push the right button on the phone within the hair-raisingly short time limit, the bank won't let me in.

Much better than the old days, of course, when you went into a branch and just asked the teller to do what you wanted for you.

(And yes, Rafael, I am once again standing on my soapbox...)

[Melonie]

(And yes, Rafael, I am once again standing on my soapbox...) "

OMH, Warren, scoot over. Passwords are the bane of my existence. It is just out of control. AHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!! And at work, I have to change them every so many days and I can't use a version of the one before. Every time that change password notice comes up, I want to bang my head into a wall.

We may need a bigger soapbox. Maybe one with a minibar. I could go on for days.

[Warren]

We may need a bigger soapbox. Maybe one with a minibar. I could go on for days.

Proceed Melonie...!

[Melonie]

Warren wrote: "We may need a bigger soapbox. Maybe one with a minibar. I could go on for days.

Proceed Melonie...!"

LOL. Okay. One last one. Nevada Department of Motor Vehicles requires you to create a account and use a password that is exactly 6 characters long including a number and a capital. Most people will use it 1x a year. It expires in three months. You have to know the old one to reset it to a new one. Now who on Earth can remember a password that you created once a year ago that was exactly 6 characters long? Nobody. Now if it were 8 characters long, the obvious choice would be F***DMV1, but 6 characters.... Okay. I'm done.

[Warren]

And of course you must never ever write them down, Melonie.

One of my favourites is the practice of banks to "suspend" your account, by which they mean stop you from accessing it, if you don't transact for a certain period of time. So if you decide to open a savings account for the purpose of saving a sum of money for a while, and then actually do that by refraining from withdrawing anything, you end up having to go in and prove your existence all over again...

[Rafael]

Just when I think I'm out, they drag me back in. :-\

One moment, Melonie, while I elbow Warren off this soap box. Oomph, uungh. And don't come back for at least ten minutes!

Now then, Ms. Melonie. It is my understanding that KU obtained books cannot be verified purchases as they are borrowed not purchased. Books obtained during a free promotion can be reviewed as verified since they were 'bought' for 0.00, pounds or dollars. Don't ask. Lawyer logic.

For the other scenarios, any number of factors could be preventing a review being posted as verified or anything else. Married people, people sharing the same computer, people sharing the same Amazon account, family members or others sharing the same household, gift cards used for purchase, contest and discount winners, and of late people whose cumulative Amazon purchases do not total $50. There may well be additional factors we are not aware of.

Okay, I'll turn it back over to Mr. Loquacious and pray he made note of my concise and condensed oratory skills. ;-)

And Melonie. How often do you get GR comments complete with visuals and audio ?? lol

-r-

[E.M.]

Rafael wrote: "How often do you get GR comments complete with visuals and audio ?? "

What no pyrotechnics and confetti??!! We've been short changed!

[Melonie]

@ Warren...EXACTLY!!!!!!!!!
@ Rafael...excellent points. Makes me rethink that Kindle Exclusive thing, though.

Soapbox vacated with an apple sangria in hand.

[Rafael]

Et tu, EM !!

mumble, grumble, harumph, harumph. One moment while I see if Mr. Wizard is taking calls.

[Warren]

Don't worry, Melonie, we'll start our own thread.

[Rafael]

Damn you, Warren! I'll follow you around the Horn, and around the Norway maelstrom, and around perdition's flames before I give up the soap box.

[Melonie]

Funny stuff!

[E.M.]

Rafael wrote: "Damn you, Warren! I'll follow you around the Horn, and around the Norway maelstrom, and around perdition's flames before I give up the soap box."

*aims a good hard kick to knock Rafael's soapbox out from under him*

[Warren]

Rafael wrote: "Damn you, Warren! I'll follow you around the Horn, and around the Norway maelstrom, and around perdition's flames before I give up the soap box."

You would be getting out more, at last!

[Heather]

Sapling reviews;
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/2...
Amazon.com: https://www.amazon.com/review/R40L8V2...
Amazon.co.uk: https://www.amazon.co.uk/review/R1FNU...

Will update with Amazon links when they are live.

This concludes my reviews for this group. Thank you all! :)

[Warren]

Thanks Heather, about time someone gave E.M. a run for her money!

[Dan]

Thanks for the review Heather! See you out there and best of luck in your writing.

[Heather]

Warren wrote: "Thanks Heather, about time someone gave E.M. a run for her money!"

If I hadn't been visiting a friend and thus unable to sit and read for an entire day or two... Well, let's just say next time we're in a group together, E.M. and I may be too close to call.

[Warren]

This group ain't big enough for the both of you!

[E.M.]

Heather wrote: "Well, let's just say next time we're in a group together, E.M. and I may be too close to call. "

That thar is fightin' talk *looks mean - or just a bit squinty depending on your pov* ;)

[Warren]

Perhaps we should ask Emma to set up a "speed freaks" round to accommodate the likes of you and Heather!

[Heather]

E.M. wrote: "Heather wrote: "Well, let's just say next time we're in a group together, E.M. and I may be too close to call. "

That thar is fightin' talk *looks mean - or just a bit squinty depending on your po..."

I prefer to consider it motivation speech. :)

Warren wrote: "Perhaps we should ask Emma to set up a "speed freaks" round to accommodate the likes of you and Heather!"

I second the motion!