Looking for Reviewers

With the re-release of a couple of my books, I seem to have lost my reviews. I'm looking for people who are interested in reading and reviewing, so shoot me a message! More information about the books is below, and I have pdf and mobi versions available.

If these books don't interest you but you want to check out one of my other ones, let me know! You can find them at my author page.

What happens when humanity's hope rests on the shoulder of a teenager?

Caleb didn’t come out of the zombie uprising unscathed. He’s been scarred—both mentally and physically. The rest of humanity is trying to rebuild, to make the world normal again. Caleb is trying to return to a normal life also, but after all he’s seen, after the loss of his family and friends, the transition is difficult.

The darkness that led him down a path of self-doubt and self-harm has never left his mind. Things only become worse when he discovers he’s immune to whatever makes a zombie a zombie. Fighting zombies was predictable. He knew what to expect. Fighting humans is volatile. They are malicious and treacherous. They won’t stop to get what they want, and Caleb has to figure out exactly what that is.

Does being immune to becoming a zombie still make a person human?

Caleb tried to live a normal life after the uprising. He moved into the city, found a home, and worked a job. He yearned for days full of tedium and schedules. Instead, he discovered he was immune to becoming a zombie, and his life was turned upside down.Fear and uncertainty have replaced normalcy.

Caleb no longer knows if his immunity makes him human or something else … something monstrous. He knows who is after him, but to find out what his captors want and what he is he'll have to play their game and give up his freedom. His sacrifice may or may not lead to the answers he desperately craves.

To Give Free Books or Not to Give?

A while ago, I read a post from another author about free books. In it, this particular author was upset by the fact that they had sent out free books in the hopes of getting reviews but hadn’t yet received any. They were indignant that after making their book available, the reader couldn’t uphold their end of the bargain. The author vowed that they were never going to give away free books again.

I sympathized with the author. I had been there myself. To get our work out into the world so people can see it, we have to have reviews. But there are a lot of us unknown indie authors, so we have to solicit reviewers or pay review sites to read our books. It’s time consuming, frustrating, and it can get expensive. And that’s not even mentioning the fraudulent sites out there who just want to steal our money.

I also understood the amount of time and effort this author put into their work and the need to be recognized and paid for their creation. The vast majority of us authors have dreams of becoming the next Stephen King or J.K. Rowling. We have thoughts of being able to quit our day jobs and focus solely on writing. We fantasize about what the movie version of our book will look like. I know I do. However, those dreams come crashing down on us when we barely make enough from our book sales to buy a cup of coffee.

The debate on whether or not an author should give away free books is ongoing. As you can imagine, there are those who believe in free books for all, while others think it cheapens the field. Honestly, I understand both sides of the argument. Personally, I am more than happy to give my books away for free. Well, not always, but every once in a while. Although, it took me a while to reach this conclusion. Like the author at the beginning of this post, there was a time when I was never going to send out free books ever again!

Let me explain. Like the author at the beginning of this post, I would send my books out to readers or reviewers for free in exchange for a review, only to have them not post any reviews. Without said reviews, no one could find my books, so I wasn’t making any sales. No sales meant no money, and I blamed it on the fact that readers just wanted a free book.

However, as time went on and I got more books under my belt, I saw the value in giving books away—but it took me re-evaluating what success meant to me. I came to the conclusion a while ago that I will never be able to retire on my book earnings. And you know what? That’s okay. Just because I’m not going to be a millionaire doesn’t mean I’m going to stop writing. I write because I like to write. I really enjoy telling stories. And I really like when people read those stories.

And there’s nothing wrong with readers wanting free books. I’m a reader in addition to being an author, and I like free books.

Now, don’t get me wrong, I enjoy making royalties off the sales of my books, no matter how small they may be. It lets me know that my work has value and that people are willing to pay for it. I will continue to sell my books, with an occasional free giveaway. My point is that once in a while, it’s nice to treat people to a free book because it gets my work into the hands of readers who may not have thought about picking it up.

Do I expect a review out of it? Absolutely not. I’m terrible about leaving reviews for books—even ones I really enjoy. However, I’m really good at telling my friends and family about books that I enjoyed, and word of mouth is just as good at getting others to read as a review is—maybe even better. My hope is that readers do the same for my books.

When it comes down to it, it’s the author’s choice about whether they want to give their books away for free. Again, I totally understand why some don’t want to, and I don’t fault or blame them for making that decision. For me, though, I like to introduce new readers (heck, even old readers!) to my stories, and I think giving them a copy is the best way to do that.

One Step Closer to Publication

Earlier this week, I uploaded Good Intentions to be formatted. It was a bittersweet experience. It always is. I’m so excited that the book is done and ready for publication, but scared to death something is wrong with it.

Since that part of the process is done, the next step is to have readers/reviewers check out the ARC. I have a secret group on Facebook where we discuss the story and questions can be asked. I have a fantastic group of readers, but I’m always looking for more. If any of you are interested in reading the ARC, drop me a line and let me know. The only stipulation is that you have to post a review—preferably on Amazon when the book goes live, but anywhere will make me happy.

Good Intentions is the third in the series, and you have to read the other two to know what’s going on, but I will make those available if you haven’t checked them out and want to. If you’re interested, drop me a line!

Here’s what Good Intentions is about:

Katie has been through Hell—literally—and discovered that it wasn’t as bad as she thought it would be. In fact, she kind of enjoyed it. She got to be with Josh, found out about her past, and discovered who she wanted to be as a person. Katie didn’t care that her actions went against social norms. She was happy.

But things are changing—again. Wes has come back into her life, and that can only mean trouble. His presence threatens to unravel her new-found happiness. She can’t allow that. She won’t let him back in. Yet, Katie can’t push him away.

Thrown back into a state of confusion and uncertainty, Katie is once again forced to pick sides, and in the process, she may lose herself.

Book Reviews Are a Complicated Process

I can’t get the topic of reviews and reviewers out of my mind, so here are a few more thoughts I have on the subject.

An author’s relationship with reviews is complicated.

On one hand, we’re told that reviews have nothing to do with us, they’re the reader’s reaction to our work and what they have to say is never personal.

I totally agree with this. And every reader/reviewer is entitled to their opinion, whether good or bad.

On the other hand, the publishing industry judges an author’s worth by the amount and types of reviews our work has received.

Amazon, along with several other factors, uses reviews to decide how they are going to advertise our books on their site. Readers use them to decide if the book is worth reading (and they totally should). Agents will even use them to decide if an author is worthy of representing.

A few years ago, when I was querying agents with The Appeal of Evil, one of them asked me if any of my books had reviews from an established reviewer. My middle grade book, The Ifs, did, so I sent the agent a link to Amazon to read the reviews.

At the time, there was one review on there that was more critical than the others, and the agent made that one the focus. I was asked if I had taken the review to heart and applied it to my writing. The agent basically insinuated that I needed to learn from the reviewer’s opinion of my book and write to make them happy.

I’m going to be honest, I was livid. I broke the cardinal rule of responding to the agent and asking questions (to which I never received a response). First of all, what did a review for a middle grade book have to do with the YA book I was querying? And secondly, everyone is going to have varying opinions of my work, writing to make all of them happy is impossible. I can’t please everyone.

But that’s the nature of the game. That’s what authors deal with. And it’s frustrating. However, that does not give authors the right to lash out at reviewers for not liking their work.

Reviews are such a big deal in the publishing world that companies have cropped up and promised to give authors 5-star reviews for a fee. This is not recommended, of course, because it’s obvious when someone has paid for a good review.

And yet, places like Kirkus and Publishers Weekly offer “expedited” review services. An author can submit their book for free, and it may or may not get read. If an author wants better chances of actually having their book reviewed within a few short weeks, they can pay to have it looked at. They don’t guarantee a 5-star review, but the author is still paying to be reviewed!

Amazon has cracked down quite a bit on reviews and who can give them on their site. Authors are rarely allowed to give other authors reviews, which is weird because authors are also readers. But there’s also a trend going on where authors will trade good reviews with other authors—the if you give my book a good review I’ll give yours one game. There’s this notion that Amazon wants to keep the review process “pure,” so they police who is reviewing.

Aside from paying for reviews or asking another author to help out, the process of getting reviews isn’t easy. It’s a submission process like everything else in the publishing world—one that is littered with rejection. But that’s because there isn’t enough time in the day for reviewers to read every book out there, and they have their favorite genres. On top of that, there’s a fear that the author could lash out at them if they give them anything less than a favorable review.

And that’s when reviews become complicated for reviewers.

Honestly, there have been times when I’ve received a less than favorable review and probably didn’t handle the situation well. I didn’t attack the reviewer directly, but I vented my irritation in a passive-aggressive way—either on my blog or to friends and family.

I’m still human, and I get upset. After expressing my anger, I got over it and moved on with my life. The reviews are still up for others to read. As they should be. Again, everyone is entitled to their own opinion. 

For those of you who know me, you are aware that I’m incredibly opinionated and I’m not shy about expressing it. And reviewers shouldn’t be either.

I highly doubt that most reviewers pick up a book thinking, “I’m going to trash this when I’m done.” Why would they do that? They agree to read the book because they find the blurb interesting. They think it’s something they’re going to like. 

As a reader, I’ve been disappointed by books before, and it’s not a pleasant feeling. But that doesn’t mean I can’t express my opinion about why I didn’t like it. And reviewers are allowed the same courtesy.

Most authors want readers to be honest—I know I do. I want them to express their opinion without being afraid of how I am going to react. Who’s going to read my books if I yell at them? It doesn’t help anyone. 

Bad reviews don’t necessarily mean that other readers won’t read your book. They are usually well aware that it is one person’s opinion, and they often want to form their own. If it’s something that interests them, they’ll give it a chance. But only if they know there aren’t repercussions for doing so.

The review process isn’t perfect, but it’s necessary. Both readers/reviewers and authors need each other. We don’t always have to agree with each other, but we can work really hard at getting along.