Reviews - What's the full SP?

I've just read - and reviewed - Geoffrey West's Sheer Fear.

Amazon Review - Read Here

A terrific book. For fans of crime fiction with a difference, read any one of Geoff's three  Jack Lockwood books, of which Sheer Fear is the third, and you won't go too far wrong. He's around the Cauldron on Sunday.

Last week, I read After The Sucker Punch by Lorraine Devon Wilke. I have bored people stupid with my esteem for this book - I genuinely think that, with luck, it has the scope to go all the way to the top and make Lorraine famous. It is a beautiful piece of work.

http://greenwizardpublishing.blogspot.co.uk/2014/10/after-sucker-punch-review.html

Georgia Rose's A Single Step and Before The Dawn  were consumed, both intricate, considered and beautifully written romances and lovely looking paperbacks for my shelf. 

Gladys Quintal's  Underserving, a tale of spousal abuse, which shocked me to the bone, with the darkest ending you will come across, was another notable read.

Many of you may know I am a big advocate of Terry Tyler's Kings and Queens, which is as good a novel as you will get - a wonderfully written, sweeping, combination of contemporary drama and updated historical fiction. 

I have also recently read Billie Jones/Rebecca Raisin's Mexican Kimono, which has the funniest opening fifty pages of any book you will read in Indie

Great books. Great stories. Great fun. I've reviewed them all and given them 5*. 

The authors are all my friends too, to a lesser or greater degree. It's the nature of the beast that is Indie, that we tend to become online friends with other authors and naturally feel like supporting them by reading their books. 

My tactic is to read, consider, make notes and review. I don't just skim read (however I DO understand why people do skim read in the Kindle age). 

It's a testament to how good self published authors have become that you don't get the complaints you used to about bad grammar, spellos, typos etc. They seem to have been wiped out - at least with the more experienced authors out there.  

It seems that authors who don't invest won't sell books and will end up clogging up FB pages and twitter feeds until they get bored and disillusioned and go away. The market will become more efficient over time with this.

I tend to give a lot of 5* reviews because, quite frankly, I socialise with writers online and I don't need the fuss. 

There are stories of harassment and threats and friendships-concluded-in-acrimony over reviews that you will not believe.

Not bothered about exact reciprocation either. For example, Geoff doesn't like my book The Night Porter and he was honest about it. He still gave me a respectable 3*. I can name two of the above list of authors who don't like at least one of my books, but they just didn't finish the book and it will never be spoken about again - the writer's version of the Elephant In The Room. I'm sure you have all come across it.

That's fine - it happens for many reasons, and, really, the only writer you should be trying to convince is yourself. 

But hey, if you look at the actual wording next to the 5* box when you are writing a review on Amazon, it says, "I Love It".

And nowadays, reading, for me, is a two stage deal. 

Either I dislike a book (as has happened fourteen times recently) and don't finish it, or I love it, (and in some cases, I love it enough to rave about it). 

Yet, I won't 5* a bad book because my online friend has written it, nor will I 1* a bad book.  Perhaps I should be nastier to bad books, but I don't need the fights in my life. 

That story this week of the author Katherine Hale who confronted (stalked?) someone across America that she considered a hater, a blogger who one-starred her debut novel, was a salutary tale of obsession and revenge. Life's too short and these are only novels.

Apropos of nothing. 

I am writing this because I would like to know what other people think? What are your thought processes? Do you demand exact reciprocation? Would you fall out with someone over a review of your work? Would you consider joining a bartering group?

My friend Terry Tyler has a slightly different approach to reviews, a blog well worth a read.

http://ukartsdirectory.com/terry-tylers-literary-blog-30/#comment-31888

Cheers

Mark

The Quick and Easy Guide to Reviewing and Commenting on Amazon

My new friend, mystery and crime writer Geoffrey West pointed out something on the last blog that I hadn't thought of before...

I wonder if people are reticent about doing reviews because they think they have to be lengthy? A mutual friend of ours has often said a 3 line review is fine 

...as a compulsive reviewer. 

If I like something, I want to tell the writer/artist/musician/butcher/baker/candlestickmaker and so, I review. 

Reviews are lifeblood to an Indie. Not so much to Patterson or McDermid, but to an indie starting out on the journey, a review is essential to accelerate credibility. 

And not necessarily 5* reviews either. ANY number of stars will do*.

So. Here's a quick and easy guide to commenting and reviewing in three or four lines.

****************************************************

1) Title

Amazon ask you for a title. If you can't think of anything clever, write ONE word which sums up your feelings. 

Brilliant. Crap. SoSo. Spellbinding (I like that one). Hypnotic. Unputdownable. Disgrace. Rubbish. Give the review reader a one word picture of your opinions.

2) Story

How was the story? Did you enjoy it? Start off with a summary sentence: "I really enjoyed this book. It was a lot of fun to read and I was engrossed in the story." is fine.

3) Characters

Did you enjoy the characters the author has created? Were they believable? Could you picture them sitting in your living room enjoying a cup of tea? Or did all the characters merge into one? Who was your favourite character and why? 

4) Favourite scene

Did you have a favourite scene in the novel? What was it? " The scene in the orchard thrilled me." "I could picture Dennis in the kitchen at the moment of Freda's murder."

5) Writing

Was it well written? Good grammar and formatting? Original and witty? Bland and uninspired? Did the writing grab you? Inspire you? Or did you think - "I can write better than this". 

Always let the writer know about the writing. It's like complimenting a therapist on the quality of her advice, or the electrician on the finish of his conduit.

Finally...

6) Would you recommend this book to a friend/buy another book by this author?

A simple sentence. No explanation necessary.




So, a short review of, say, "Dracula" by Bram Stoker, as written by someone who doesn't normally review books, might say.




Brilliant Vampire Tale.

"This was a great story. I was engrossed. Dracula himself was scary and I also really liked Jonathan Harker. My favourite scene was where Dracula disembarked the death ship on Whitby Docks - fantastic. It's beautifully written and perfectly formatted, so I could lose myself in the story.  I would have no hesitation in buying another Bram Stoker".

Download Dracula by Bram Stoker to your Kindle FREE here...Project Gutenburg

3 lines on Amazon. 6 sentences. 76 words. 

Okay, its not Brian Sewell, but readers who don't review don't want to be a critic - they want to read books.

And I, for one, as a writer of Indie fiction, would prefer a review as basic - but fundamentally warm - as this, than a no show.

Wiz

PS: For me, you can even get away with a one line review for a book you loved...

e.g.**

5.0 out of 5 stars Could not put it down!

By 

X - Verified Purchase(What's this?)

This review is from: Wrong Place Wrong Time (Kindle Edition)

I'm a True Crime fan for sure. Not sure this book falls in that category but took the chance and clicked on it. Loved it.

However, in my opinion, you cannot do this for a book you didn't enjoy, because of the existence of trolls. 

1.0 out of 5 stars Lame,
By Y - Verified Purchase(What's this?)

This review is from: Wrong Place Wrong Time (Kindle Edition)

A total and completely waste of time. The writing sucks and the story is even worse...don't bother and save your money

*There are authors who vehemently disagree with me on this. 

** These are two LIVE reviews taken at random from Amazon

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