So You Want Your Book Reviewed...

In light of recent events, I am going to put something out here that I have on my WDC (Writing.com) portfolio.

And now I am going to add to it. This is for me to use when I choose to do a review. Feel free to use this if you do reviews.

1. Reviews are given FOR FREE.

2. I, personally, do not get paid to review a book or short story. If you choose to give me a copy of your work in order to garner a review, do not think of it as payment. I would gladly purchase the book if you would prefer, but I honestly don't think I should. You want the review and are contacting me, not the other way around.

3. If I do not like your work, I will tell you in private and not put a bad review out there. If you are self published, I hope my critique of your work prompts you to fix it and put it back up for sale. You upload the content yourself, this has to be an option.

If I do like your work, I will post reviews for you where you ask me to, as well as post the review on my blog.

4. Please realize real time constraints. You know nothing of my personal life and how I spend my time. (If you truly know, you better be related...) You can only assume from what I tell people here on my blog and other social media. We all know what assuming does, don't we? However, should I fall behind, I will do my best to maintain contact and make sure you know this in advance. If you cannot wait, I'm sorry.

5. Please act in a professional and courteous manner. Rude will get you nowhere. Worse than rude, well, we won't discuss that, will we?

I am trying to make light of a situation here as well as give some real advice for reviewers and writers alike. There isn't much humor in the way people treat other people at times. There is no need for threats, stalking, name calling or any other rude, unprofessional behavior in regards to opinions.

We all know what opinions are like, right?

I am going to say this, whether I regret it later or not remains to be seen. This is a free country, I am allowed to express myself however I deem fit.

Don't. Push. It.

And one final thing to say about all of this. GROW UP and ACT YOUR AGE.

Thanks everyone!

Recap & Clarification On Mr. Bryant...

If the name Carroll Bryant is not familiar, it soon will be. And not in a flattering way at all. This man seems to have single-handedly made indie publishing that much harder for indie authors with his lack of ethics and professional protocol.

Now mind you, I'm going by other blog posts, some details I found through other blog posts and have yet to go look around on AbsoluteWrite.com and check out the forums. But, bloggers tend to be pretty good in gathering their facts, so I will leave you with two more blog links to see more of what has come to light in this whole situation.

This one.

And this one. This one, is the most important.

Okay, and I did just go through some of the forum stuff on AbsoluteWrite.com here.

Once you are a little more informed, like me, you'll still see this as a bad thing. This guy did not act in a professional manner at all.

Indie authors already have a bad rap! This is not going to help. Reviewers are throwing down the gauntlet and quite a few are not going to review indie authors ever again. Unless of course, they have built a rapport with them and like them.

So like one person said on the AW Water Cooler, Authors Behaving Badly is becoming a trend. Their numbers rise while those of us with professionalism and integrity struggle. (Okay, I didn't quote them verbatim, you get the idea.)

There are going to be some severe consequences to all of this, guys.

1) IF people continue to buy Mr. Bryant's books and his numbers continue to grow rapidly due to his now A.B.B. image, more authors are going to follow suit.

2) Reviewers will stop reviewing.

What does this mean for writers? Readers?

If Bryant's perverse way of gaining readers works and others follow suit, we're in for a world of hurt. People hide behind the computer every day spouting off things they would never say to someone face to face. Seriously, I would like to meet with people face to face who bad mouth me. In my experience, most of those people back down and try to explain away their actions to smooth things over so I don't end up using their head for a doorstop.

Not really.

Maybe.

Point is, he needs to be the one taught a lesson in all of this, not the reviewers who really had every right to do what they did. Again, a commenter on AW Water Cooler said he's the adult here, shouldn't he be acting his age?

Reviewers are vital to the publishing industry. Why? Because they tell people whether or not a book is worth it. Will one reviewer make or break you?

NO.

Because everyone's tastes in books varies. I can tell you what I like to read. It doesn't mean that you won't like it. If I love it, you may hate it. If I hate it, you'll adore it. Possibilities are endless here. The reviewers are just trying to help filter through the crap. Sorry, but there is lots of it out there, self published AND traditional published.

Pointing the finger at self pubbed authors is not going to help. Some review blogs I have read did state that most indie authors are more pushy. Maybe they are, but you can't tell me a traditionally published author can't be just as pushy. Or creepy. Or dysfunctional.

This is not something that is going to go away overnight. People love the drama. MY concern is this, however: If something isn't done about this as a writing community whether you are self published, traditional published, a reader, a reviewer or even a blogger - it is only going to get worse.

That is my opinion, take it or leave it, as always.

What do you think?

I'm Sorry?...

I'm a little stunned.

You guys know me, I don't always comment on your blogs, but when I see something you've posted and it hits me like a ton of bricks, I have to add my two cents.

So here it is.

First of all, let me just link you to this post here about an indie author who went on a review rant. This post will link to another where you can see the details of it all.

Second, let me state right here and now that if I offered up to review your book and haven't AND you have not heard from me about it. I'm sorry.

Last thing I need is someone listing me as their source of angst. I mean... I can be, but not in this instance!

Now for the rest of my two cents. It doesn't matter if you are an indie author or traditionally published author. If you ask me to review your book (because hey, I've reviewed books here) please keep in mind that I have stuff to do with my own book, my work, my family. Even with *gasp!* other books. If I can't finish your book, for whatever reason, I will try again. If I still can't, I will email you. Personally, I don't like to give a bad review. I'll give you my review in private if it comes to that point, not for all the world to see simply because I know how hard it is to shake off negativity.

I also am seeing a trend in some of the indie authors out there (not that any of them have contacted me personally) that have the frame of mind that they're somehow better than traditionally published authors. Writers as a whole are pretty humble creatures. We don't expect anything or think we're entitled to special treatment because we write. So why have that attitude? Are you so jaded by the publishing industry that you would turn on your readers and fellow authors? If that's the case, stop writing and find something else to do. Otherwise, stop whining and work on your book. Hire an editor, join a critique group, make your self published book the best it can be to avoid getting bad reviews.

I try to review books I read, whether asked to do the review or not. If I like the book, I am going to review it. There were a couple of reviews I did that were not glowing, rave reviews when I was helping another reviewer on their blog, but I didn't enjoy posting them. I did contact the person I was helping and said, "I can't do this anymore, some of these books are soooo bad!"

If indie authors want to maintain respect, let me suggest that you act in a professional manner. Act like a published author! Don't call people thieves or liars if they did not review your book. Not everyone will contact you if they don't like your work, they'll just drop it, ignore you and hope you'll go away. If you really want that bad review, it can be done. But why would you?

Tips on professionalism:

* Politely email the people and ask if they've had a chance to read your work, if not, when can they do so? If they have, but didn't like your material, either thank them for their time or ask for constructive criticism.

* Don't bad mouth people, their blogs, their books, etc. Karma will come back to you. People will see you acting petty and think, "Wow, I am NOT going to read their book if they're going to be like this..."

* What you post on the internet will find a way to remain on here FOREVER. So, with that in mind... THINK about what you post before you post it. I'm sure I have stuff out there I would LOVE to take down...

* Treat people how you want to be treated. The Golden Rule. If someone offers up a review of your book, offer one in return if they are a writer. If they're not a writer, link to their blog or website. Support the people that support YOU. However, if they don't follow through on their review promise, don't get pissy. Again, politely email them and say, "Hey, you promised a review for a review. If you are unable to review my book, I will not be able to uphold the deal we had." Of course... maybe try not to sound so rude... But people will read things online in their own voice and you may end up coming across snarky anyway. So begin with "I'm not trying to be rude."

Overall, no one is entitled to anything more than anyone else in this business. Yes, indie authors seem to have a harder time of it because of the route they choose. But I know several indie authors and respect the hell out of them because of taking this route. I also respect them because they ACT PROFESSIONALLY. No matter what route you take, this is a difficult enough of an industry as it is, why add to it? Writers have been pretty good about supporting their fellow writers. I really don't see a need for such competitiveness in this field because readers will choose what they like, no matter what. Not everyone is going to like your book to begin with and it isn't your job to force them to like it. Take it in stride.

And I hope everyone reminds me of this when I get my bad reviews. Hehe!

Do you have anything to add to this? Did I not review a book for you and contact you? By all means, leave comments. Not the best way to start off the week, but hope you all have a good week regardless.

Giveaway & Review: Elf Killers by Carol Marrs Phipps and Tom Phipps...

Hey everyone! This is the review I promised of Elf Killers. If you want to receive a copy of this book in my GIVEAWAY here is what you have to do:

Comment to this post. One entry per comment and sorry, multiple comments will not garner you additional entries.

Yep, that's it. Easy peasy, right? Of course! I'll announce the winner on Wednesday August 24, 2011.


Elf Killers by Carol Marrs Phipps and Tom Phipps:

Product description (Courtesy of Amazon.com):

It is the very worst time to be in the woods.

Oisin’s plan is to come with his bow to help Aedan and Doona lead a party of children into the forest to gather the maidenhair seedlings his people would take across the sea as they flee the trolls who hunt them as prey. Maybe he can be back in time for supper.

Dyr's plan is an early evening head smash for the foolish Elves who think they can steal away to the sands of the endless eye sting water and build their strange float huts. They will make a glorious feast.

But on the way, Dyr's brutes stumble across Oisin's gathering party and attack, leaving Aedan mortally wounded and scattering Doona and the children to flee in terror into the dark mountain woods, only to be run down and captured by the bloodthirsty trolls.

Can Oisin find the bonfires of the trolls and rescue them before it’s too late? And what then? Will any of them live long enough to reach safety?

My thoughts:

Elf Killers is a fast-paced, descriptive ride of emotional turmoil and flight or fight drama right from the get go.

As the young Elves are gathering their seedlings to head off to a new land to regroup and recoup their numbers after being hunted by the Elf Killer trolls for so long, they're attacked once more to be thrown into the cook-fires.

Not knowing if all of the young Elves are dead or alive, the elder Elves have no choice but to sail away for distant lands on schedule, sacrificing the few young ones to save the even fewer of the race.

Carol and Tom provide a glossary in the back of this epic fantasy because of the Trollish language and the Elves Gwaelic speech. If you want to understand the book a little more in-depth, I suggest you read through the glossary first. At the beginning, it was a little difficult for me to get in to simply because the Trollish threw me off guard. Being an avid fantasy buff, though, I was not going to let that deter me.

The book is full of rich, imaginative scenery, Elves (which I absolutely adore and love anyway) and beautiful names, unusual creatures (more so than the Elf Killer trolls) and of course unicorns and Sprites. There is much to learn about this world, which I felt I was only given a bare glimpse of, because the pace was heart racing and the need for survival at the fore-front. But even with such a fast rush, I found the book difficult to put down and the authors found time to show that love can blossom, even in the most harsh of situations.

There were a few errors in the book, but nothing so bad as to throw you off the trail of the story. This book is well written, detailed and smooth. Once you get immersed in the Trollish language, you get the gist of what's going on and can't wait for ... well I can't tell you!

If you like epic fantasy, you will like Elf Killers. A sound story of good versus evil, overcoming all odds in adverse conditions and survival of the fittest.

My Skull and Crossbones rating:

Four solid Skull and Crossbones. What can I say, I'm a pirate and a sucker for fantasy.

Available Here:

Amazon $5.99 Kindle Version
Smashwords $5.99

Okay, now leave your comment below to be entered in the drawing. Winner will be announced Wednesday August 24, 2011. Thanks!

{Edit~ I will leave this giveaway open longer. New drawing date will be Monday, August 29, 2011. Thanks!}

How Do You Handle...

Recently, I read somewhere about someone giving an honest (although bad) review of someone else's book.

The author had approached the reviewer and the reviewer could not find one shining example in the book to give any sort of praise. The reviewer posted the bad review on their blog and soon after, was being harassed by the author's friends.

Nasty comments appeared under the review and the reviewer even received a nasty email.

The author was never heard from.

What if this had been your book or even your review? I am all about honesty and when reading the review, I didn't find it as harsh as I had been warned it would be. But if you cannot find anything to praise, should the review be done?

And you, as the author. How would this affect you? What if someone posted in their blog that your book lacked plot, had characters you couldn't make a connection with and was poorly written?

We, as authors/writers, take a responsibility to make sure our work is the absolute best that it can be before we give it to the world. But there are those out there who think, "Hey, that would make a neat story!", then proceed to write it out and push it onto the web before any editing has been done.

Funny. I think my first book was just like that and I thank whatever deity listens that I didn't get the horrible reviews. My book just died, quietly, with no fanfare. Had I gotten those bad reviews, I probably would have hid from the world, never writing another word again.

And it is fine that friends stick up for your work. Family will as well. But don't harass the person who wrote the bad review. (Okay, yeah I have asked people to help out my sister in law on Amazon...) But honestly, I didn't attack the person who wrote the bad review, I just posted a more positive one. Others have as well.

With that being said... if you are going to be honest and write a bad review, don't slam the author and just say it was a horrible story, that it was the worse book ever and leave it at that. Back up your words and give examples.

What would you have done in any of these situations?