September 29, 2021
Day 363, Week 51
- Emotional State: A little Sluggish, but with Opinions
The First Book & Second Book
I’m a little sluggish this week. I’m feeling a bit tired. Some of that is due to a minor health issue that’s keeping me up at night, but some of it is just due to the reality of marketing a book. You work so hard to get the word out and yes, sales are coming in and it’s awesome, but… It’s a lot of work for that one or two sales.
You’re always on social media, interacting, posting, pushing your brand, pushing your book, pushing your life and it’s daunting. Exhausting.
Worth it? Yes.
And with that burnout and a little thing called a new game release this week, I’ve not been as focused on my book or writing book 2 as I have been. We got our furnace replaced on Tuesday, which threw me off because they arrived at the butt crack of dawn (okay, 7:30, but still) and we hadn’t made breakfast yet on our gas stove. They shut the gas off – of course they did for safety reasons – and so no cooked breakfast.
It’s an excuse. I could’ve written, but I didn’t. And that’s okay. I’m trying to push myself while also not beat myself up when I fail to meet my own goals, because that’s unhealthy.
I’m past the midpoint for Book 2 and trucking right along to the All is Lost moment. It’s not as momentous as book 1, but I think I can get it there during revisions. So my plan to write Book 2 by 10/31 is still valid and still achievable, but I have to pull out some more stops to get it there.
And right now, I’m not feeling the stops.
I’m feeling like a nap.
Reviews & Other Gobbedlygook
Reviews are the lifeblood of authors. Without them, our stuff doesn’t get pushed by Amazon, we can’t sign up for some good and mostly free promotions and it’s just that bit more difficult to get sales. Reviews are also good to know what’s working in your book and what is not.
Why am I talking about reviews? Well, for one, if you’ve purchased my book – make sure you write one – thanks! And secondly, there’ve been some discussions on writer Twitter and Booktok about reviews, whether you should write them, use a different name, be honest, or be fluffy. And I have opinions.
Oh boy do I.
I write book reviews. If you follow my blog or follow me on Medium, you’ve read a few. I started it because I wanted to read more fantasy books and because it’s good for author promotion and branding. I was already reading a few books for Fantasy Bingo, so reviewing them cost me nothing and added some oomph to my blog. Win/Win.
I am specific about my reviews. I never post anything below 3 stars. If I didn’t finish, I didn’t finish and no one will ever know. I also discuss what I liked, what I didn’t like and make it clear when it isn’t book craft, but subjectively my opinion. I don’t want to crush another author’s soul – I want more books and more people reading books out there.
Part of being an author is reading. It’s like homework. You want to see how another author did what they did. It gives you ideas about how to craft your sentences, your plot, your character arcs. It helps improve your own writing and by critiquing it, you improve it even more.
And those authors you review get the benefit of your opinion and may want to improve their writing because of it. I’ve gotten some great reviews, but a few mention how complicated the world building is – it’s good, but complicated. And that has spurred me to be more clear in Book 2 about the world building pieces. I may be too explicit, but I’d rather be clear than cause a reader a hardship because they are confused about how my world works.
I also don’t think writing reviews under your author name is going to taint your brand, unless you’re a troll in your reviews and then you get what’s coming to you. I get why some may worry that what you say about other books or what you read might cause a reader to wonder about you. But if your reviews are honest, does it matter?
Well, you say, but are your reviews for other indie authors honest? Aren’t you pumping up their books so that they do the same and misleading your readers as to whether or not the book is good?
No. I’m not. I don’t give 5 stars to books that aren’t 5 stars. I will give them in the range of 5 stars, but never 5 stars because they are an indie author. I’m honest. I may be a little soft on other authors’ books having gone through this process and seeing how much damage we do to ourselves as authors, but I’m never so soft as to give a book 5 stars when it didn’t deserve them.
I walk the middle road. I’m upfront what I like and liked less. I say when it’s a personal taste thing and not something specific to the writing. I never give 5 stars when they are not deserved and I refuse to hide behind a pseudonym for my book reviews if the reader doesn’t “like” the books I read and rated.
Everyone needs to find their middle ground. This is mine. Will I alter it? Probably. Later in life I may be that cranky old person who gives zero cares to what other people think. But I’m not there.
Yet.
To read more of my weekly whine fests and writing journal journey posts, click here.