A Great Week Related to Writing

Friends, it’s only Wednesday, but I have to say this has been a great week related to writing. So many magical and wonderful things have happened. I’m giddy with excitement!

First on the list is getting new covers. It has been raining covers in my world this week. The only one I can share with you at the moment is the new cover for Coming from Nowhere.

I’ve also re-released this book, so if you are interested, you can find it on Amazon. This is some of the other exciting news for this week. I’m also re-releasing Finding Eden. It’s a long story why I’m self-publishing these books, but I’m really excited to be able to have control. I like having control.

Finding Eden will also be getting a new cover, but it hasn’t been finalized yet, so I can’t share it with you. Don’t worry, you’ll know when it’s done.

I also received the cover for Humanity’s Hope. However, we’re planning a cover reveal, so I can’t share that with you yet either. I know, I know. It’s not nice to tease. I want to share it now too. It’s freaking amazing!

My friend (hi, Tamara!) and I are going to be co-authoring a work together. We met about it yesterday, and we’re both excited to get started on the project. All I can really tell you right now is that it’s going to be sci fi. I’m not trying to be obtuse, we just don’t have all the details worked out yet. We both love this genre, so we thought it would be the most fun to create a story in. I’m finishing some things up, then I’ll get to work.

So, speaking of finishing things up, I’ve been making a lot of progress on the sequel to Humanity’s Hope. I’m hoping to be done with the very rough draft by the end of the week. It’ll still take a lot of editing, but at least I’ll have something to edit. It feels so good to be making progress on this project.

Humanity’s Hope is getting closer to publication. As I said, I have the cover, and the text is going to the next stage of editing. I don’t know how long it will take, but I’m still hoping for an early 2017 release. Again, you’ll know when it comes out.

I’ve also received some amazing reviews for my work. One of them was for A Rancher and a Warrior, but Amazon took it down. Here’s what is said:

Intertwining history and a family saga, this book informs and delights. A man of many talents, Dale has survived WWII, although not unscathed, and goes on to flourish as a rancher and consultant. Well documented, the book focuses on Dale's contributions to the cattle industry and the state of Wyoming. Filled with archival gems, this book celebrates and honors a rancher and a warrior.

The other two were for Wucaii. If you’re inclined to check them out, you can find them here and here.

All of these amazing developments have got me jazzed. I’m riding the wave of creative excitement and can’t wait to see where the rest of the year takes me.

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.

Dealing with a Bad Review

Earlier this week, my book manager (hi, Pam!) hesitated sending me a link to a review. Understandably, she didn’t want to ruin my day. The review isn’t exactly flattering. The reviewer didn’t love Undead Obsessed.

But, honestly, those things don’t bother me. I told her to send it along, and I happily read it. I actually chuckled a little afterward. The reviewer didn’t like the book, but I think it’s because he wanted it to be something it wasn’t. The way I read it, he wanted it to be more scholarly. And it’s not. At one point, I had attempted to make it much more academic, but it didn’t feel right. So, I changed it. And I was much happier with it after that.

Anyway, my point is that as an author, there will always be people who don’t like my books. I’m going to get bad reviews; it’s the nature of the beast. How I react to those reviews is up to me. Personally, I don’t let them bother me. Everyone is entitled to their own opinion. Love it or hate it, at least they read the book (or at least part of it).

At this point, I’ve received some real doozies in my writing career. Some were incredibly confusing (and by that I mean I couldn’t figure out exactly what the reviewer's issue was with the book), and some just didn’t like my work. And the vast majority of the books I’ve written have gotten at least one—from my kids’ books to my YA to my adult. I won’t lie, a bad review can sting a little at first, but then I move on. There’s absolutely no sense dwelling on the negative.

So, what are some things I do when faced with a negative review? First and foremost, I read it. I try to tease out exactly what they are saying and what their rejections are to the work, and then, if said review is posted  on their blog, I thank them for reviewing my book. Even if they didn’t like it, they still took the time to look at it, and as someone who doesn’t have a lot of time, I know how difficult it can be, so I thank them for that.

I never engage them or argue with them or tell them that they missed the point completely. Again, they are entitled to their opinion. I may comment on what I think they meant (like I did at the beginning of the post), but the truth is, I don’t really know what’s going on in their head.

I don’t get upset. There’s absolutely no point. The only person that hurts is me, and life is way too short to dwell on the negative and be mad at someone for having an opinion. I become even more thankful for the good reviews and focus my energy on them.

I remind myself that I’m not alone. Stephen King, J.K. Rowling, Christopher Pike, Piers Anthony—every author that has been brave enough to put their work into the world has received a bad review. At least we are all in good company.

Here’s the thing: whether a review is good or bad, it’s not going to stop me from doing what I do. I’m going to continue to write. Yeah, good reviews are awesome because they reinforce that what I’m doing is right and make it worth it, but bad reviews won’t break me. They don’t decide if I continue to write. Only I get to decide to do that. I refuse to give anyone else that much power over me.

Rejected for WHAT?

In my writing career, I have been rejected numerous times.  I don't have an exact count, but I figure it numbers somewhere in the thousands.  Seriously.  I have novels, novellas, short stories, children's books, and nonfiction.  Trust me, they went through a lot before finally finding a home.  Normally, rejection doesn't bother me.  It's part of the game.  It wears on me after a while, makes me wonder why I'm writing, but it's obviously never bothered me enough to make me quit.  Well, it did once for several months, but I broke out of that shell.

In my writing career, I have also dealt with a nefarious publisher who plagiarized work and stole art for the covers of his books.  I've been the target of scams that I almost fell for.  I'm still trying to make a name for myself.  In all of the trials, as if they weren't enough to shake a writer's confidence, I have also been rejected for the most bizarre reasons.  This is actually quite rare, but when it does happen, it leaves you feeling dizzy and wondering what the hell just happened.

My first experience with a WTF rejection was with my nonfiction project.  This happened in March 2011.  You can read the entire blog post here.  In summary, here was what the editor said:

"Thanks for letting me see this. I regret to say that it wouldn't be appropriate for us. (You're still working on this at a student level: no film scholar needs to be told that movies are more than "mere entertainment.") Good luck with this. You might find a publisher, but you need to polish the work and identify the right audience for it."

And here was my reaction:

What this person is referring to is the first paragraph of chapter 1. A paragraph. It's not written in stone. I can delete it. There are 220 pages and this is what this person focuses on. Whatever.

It amazes me sometimes what people focus on when looking at a piece of work.  This story, of course, has a happy ending, and the book was picked up by Scarecrow Press and has been published.

Yesterday I received another one of those WTF-type rejections.  I was sending out queries for my YA book, The Appeal of Evil, and actually got a bite from an agent.  This person asked a few questions, including what types of reviews I've received for my work, and I responded with answers and links.  This is the response I got back:

"If you haven't yet taken the advice that the Kids Lit reviewer gave you to heart, there's no way for me to present this new book of yours to publishers.  A key component of the successful horror/thriller--especially for young readers--is to show, show, show rather than tell.  You must have great dialogue so that the voice or voices of the protagonists is ringing like a bell in the ear of  the reader.  Try reading your novel out loud and if you don't find yourself changing your voice often to simulate the change in speaker, then you're still telling too often and showing too little.  It really sounds as if you've cracked the code on plotting but haven't yet discovered how to make a story come fully to life."

My first reaction was confusion.  What in the world does my middle grade book have to do with my YA novel?  And for someone who hasn't read either story, how can judgement be passed?  The review that this agent is referring to can be found here.

After confusion came anger.  Like I said, I don't mind being rejected.  It's part of the game.  But to be rejected for something like this, I don't understand.  I've received other reviews for the book and they've been positive.  Everyone is entitled to their own opinion, and not everyone is going to like what I write.  That's fine.  I'm not going to censor you or tell you you were wrong.  I appreciated the reviewer taking the time to read my book and comment on it, but I didn't run out and rewrite the entire thing like she suggested.  I can't.  For one person who had some issues with it, several others really enjoyed it.  I can't make everyone happy, and I wouldn't try.

And how can this review give the agent insight into how I write or how open I am to editing and suggestions?  Again, it was for the MIDDLE GRADE, not the YA NOVEL I was querying.  It boggled the mind.

The last sentence of the email was this:

"So, at this point, without having established your platform and haven't yet brought the story to life, I am going to have to pass.  But keep letting me know how you're doing and being reviewed and I'll keep an eye on how you're progressing."

It says a lot that this agent wants to know how I'm progressing.  That doesn't happen very often.  I am thankful I at least have that opportunity.

Agents are just like us, they are subject to their likes and dislikes and are full of faults.  This one didn't like my work, along with so many others.  Yes, I was incredibly angry at first for this response, and I wanted to defend myself at what I perceived was an attack.  Instead, I sent a reply and told this agent I was confused by the response and asked for clarification.  I never got it.  Honestly, I didn't really expect to.

After taking a few deep breaths and focusing on some other things, I got over it.  This agent is definitely entitled to their opinion, just like everyone is.  Now, I laugh at this.  I'll never understand why this is what the agent decided to focus on.  I'll never understand why this particular review was my downfall.  I mean, the reviewer still gave me 4 stars, for crying out loud!  The best I can do is learn from it and move on.

Movie Review Monday

My latest blog tour started last week.  I talk about the process it took to write Death to the Undead and various other tidbits about zombies.  Check them out here, here, and here.  Leave a comment and be entered into a drawing to win fabulous prizes, including signed copies of both books!

Men In Black 3 (2012)

I am a big fan of these movies.  They are funny and well written.  Plus, most of the aliens are really cool.  How could I ask for anything more?  Not to mention, Josh Brolin is one of my favorite actors, so, really, this movie had everything!

The story was basically the same as all the others:  Agent K and Agent J are protecting the world from evil aliens.  The twist in this film is that the alien, Boris, travels back in time to kill Agent K.  J has to save him.  There are some questions answered in the film, such as why K is as grumpy as he is and what happened to J's dad.  All in all, it was a great story with nice insight.  As always, it had its moments of humor, which I greatly appreciate.

If you're a fan of the Men In Black films, I recommend checking out this movie.  It was well worth watching!