If you find yourself lonely and in need of a BFF, all you need do is find an indie author and follow a few simple steps, and they'll love you forever. Guaranteed.
Read their books, and let them know you read them.
Review their books.
Request their books at libraries.
Share their content on social media.
And that's it! You have a new best friend. Even following a couple of those steps is likely to score you a devoted pal!
Alright, more seriously, I'm here to revisit a common topic of mine: reviews.
As much as I hate math, today I did some, and determined that approximately one out of every twenty people that purchases one of my books leaves a review. Ouch. That leaves me to wonder if the other nineteen simply didn't think to review, or if they didn't like it, or didn't even read it. And honestly I'd rather know than wonder. So if you read the book and disliked it, I'd rather a negative review than no review at all.
I've been told that many people simply don't leave reviews, as a general rule. I personally love to write book reviews, but I am a bit of a nerd. So I wanted to throw out there that us indie authors will be pleased with whatever level of review you are comfortable with. If that's several paragraphs of in depth feedback, we'll love it. But if that's just a star-rating and one sentence posted by an anonymous account, we'll love that too. All reviews contribute to a book's success. (On that note...clicking on the images below will take you to the Amazon listings of each book...in case you wanted to leave a review there :))
The reason I bring this up is because lately I've noticed that while my books are doing "average" as far as indies go, when it comes to reviews, I'm behind the curve. And I would genuinely like to know if that's an issue with the books themselves, even if that means negative reviews or being told that readers started but didn't finish. Because if I know what the problem is, I can learn from it. I'm writing new books and in the future will tackle publishing again, and everything I learn from this first series will help me improve next time. But if I have no idea what the problem is--whether it's my books, or readers just aren't reviewing, or something else--I have no way to learn from it. If the writing and/or story just isn't resonating with readers, I really want to know that.
So, this is a plea to my readers to consider leaving a review! Whether it's good, bad, long or short. Reviews on both Amazon and Goodreads are extremely helpful. On Goodreads, you can easily set up an anonymous account if you're more comfortable posting an honest review that way.
Leaving a review might also land you a free book. I am expecting to publish a Dragon and Storm side-story sometime this summer, and will be looking for readers interested in a free, advance digital copy to review when it releases. (Message me if you're interested!) For anyone who has reviewed all four books of the original series, I'm also offering a free physical copy of this side-story once it's available! There will be more details closer to the time. At this stage I'm deep into rewriting and revisions, and publishing sounds a long ways off, but we'll get there eventually. The book is tentatively titled The Warden of Sanonyn.
In conclusion...I'll be your best friend if you leave a review. :) Thanks to my besties who already have!