Guest author Kathleen Kaska: A Study in Physics: Riding the Publishing Roller Coaster

Kathleen Kaska

Kathleen Kaska is a writer of fiction, nonfiction, travel articles and stage plays. Among her works are the award-winning Sydney Lockhart mystery series set in the 1950s, and Murder at the Arlington which won the 2008 Salvo Press Manuscript Contest. Kaska has also published three mystery-trivia books: The Agatha Christie Triviography and Quiz Book, The Alfred Hitchcock Triviography and Quiz Book, and The Sherlock Holmes Triviography and Quiz Book. Find her on Twitter and Facebook.




I’ve often been asked what it’s like being a published author. My answer has always been the same: it’s like hitching a ride on a roller coaster. You win a writing contest, which lands you a book contract. Your spirits soar. Another manuscript is rejected for the umpteenth time. You feel like tossing your laptop in the nearby stock tank. A reader tells you that your book was so entertaining and funny he bought several copies to give friends. You do a happy dance. Then some person, identified only by their initials, reviews your book on Amazon, gives it an average rating of three stars, and calls your writing “insipid.” You look up insipid to make sure it means what you think it means. It does.

You wonder if it’s all worth it. Then you awaken in the middle of the night with an ingenious idea for a story, and you’re glad you didn’t drown your laptop. Or you’re in your favorite coffee shop and can’t help eavesdropping on a shocking conversation. By the end of the day you’re using it in a murder plot for a new story.

Forget the downside of being a published author; it’s the writing that really matters. And in time you’ll realize that riding the roller coaster is part of the process.

By the way, the physics involved in moving a roller coaster cart up and down the track is quite simple: it’s the momentum gained by the force of gravity on the downhill slopes that gives the cart the energy to shoot up the next hill. That’s why the steepest hills are always at the beginning of the ride. Without the downhill slopes, going uphill would be impossible.

If you view writer’s block, rejections, less-than-favorable reviews, and all the other unpleasant surprises that come your way as opportunities that propel you forward, those plummeting descents won’t feel so frightening.

This post is an excerpt from my latest book, Do You Have a Catharsis Handy? Five-Minute Writing Tips, a collection of my blog posts written for and published by Cave Art Press.

I’m giving away three copies of Do You Have a Catharsis Handy? To be eligible, leave a comment. It’s always a delight to hear from readers.

How to Encourage Readers to Post Reviews

As a follow-up to the great August 6, 2017 Novel Spaces post by Linda Thorne regarding reviews, I was speaking to a close friend last night about why one book receives hundreds of reviews in let's say, 1 month, and another book receives only a few reviews, if any. The two books might be just as good, yet the variance in the number of reviews is apparent.

My friend and I were trying to come up with ways to inspire readers to understand the importance of writing reviews. We're working on that.

But for now, my opinion is that once a book initially receives a great number of reviews upon release, the book attracts the attention of prospective readers who become curious, and then once those readers buy and read the book, they're more motivated to go back and write a review as well.

Reviews really are a great way to show us authors that readers enjoy our work. Reviews, good or bad, can make readers curious, and in turn, increase sales.

My friend mentioned that some readers might feel that taking the time to sit down and write, edit, look it over, and then post the review, is like homework. Something they don't have time for. And Amazon in particular won't let you only give the book 1 to 5 stars. You must also post a certain number of words.

Years ago, I think reviews were written more frequently. I'm not sure why that's changed. Maybe because there are so many more choices. Also, I think that some genres garner more reviews than others, i.e. romance novels receive more reviews than women's fiction in some cases. And obviously, the popularity of the author, subject matter, and interest play major roles.

I found that with my 2016 title, The Practice Wife, after offering advance reading copies in exchange for an honest review, I did end up with quite a few reviews on or just after the release date. But also, Amazon removed some of the reviews, as Linda Throne mentioned can happen (or at least they were posted in a way that people could not see them), because the books were not purchased via Amazon.

If we can all try to outright ask readers to post reviews, whether to Barnes & Noble, Amazon, Goodreads, etc., I think they will, though we don't want our sales to be their responsibility. We want them to buy whichever books they want, the way they want, as often as they want. And if they review them, we're grateful. But we can nudge them along.

Let's keep spreading the word about the importance of reviews, and in the meantime, my friend and I plan to come up with something to inspire readers to do so, just as a small way to contribute to the big picture.

What do you think can be done to encourage readers to write reviews?

Write on!

Verified Book Purchase - Amazon

by Linda Thorne

Has anyone else noticed on Amazon that reader reviews only show if the book was purchased from Amazon? Once upon a time they all showed. There's a way to see them, but will the average online shopper even bother? They may, but only if they can figure it out.

Assuming the shopper is aware he is not seeing all the reviews, how does he find them? The offer to see all is hidden behind links that say "verified purchase reviews" above and below the list of reviews (even though some are not verified purchase reviews). Click on customer reviews and those for Amazon purchased books will appear under a big, bold heading that says: Top Customer Reviews. An obscure little link above that heading will say, "See all verified purchase reviews," which you're already looking at. If you click on this top link, you'll be offered an opportunity to see all the reviews. At the bottom there's another tiny link that says, "See all verified purchases (newest first)." If you click there, you'll see other filters, but none offering all reviews. You'll have to click on a second "verified purchase" filter to get an offer for both verified purchase (a 3rd time) and finally, all reviews.  

Amazon is responsible for its success and the company can set up its website any way it wants. The problem is most authors sell their books in other places too, but look to Amazon as their power base. Bookstores deserve a chance to stay in business. Authors want to sell books at events, booths, and book signings. There are book giveaways of all kinds. Then there are the professional reviewers they seek. Authors are known to spend hours and days in search of a known, approachable reviewer who will hopefully read their ARC and give them an Amazon review, especially if they have a new book coming out. The bottom line is if a reader wants to write a book review, that reader will be apt to go to Amazon to do it. If he didn't purchase the book there, most shoppers will never see his review.

The reason for this change likely resulted from abuse of the book review system. If Amazon gets that under control, I hope they'll consider being more generous with review space for those who bought, won, or were gifted the book somewhere else. 

Book Reviews

 by Linda Thorne

Ah, reviews. Whether good, bad, or ugly, we yearn for them. Well, maybe not the one-star review or those certain two-starred ones that rant only the negative, but for the most part authors welcome them with open arms.

It's my understanding that Amazon will do things for you promotion-wise when you have twenty reviews, then even more when you have fifty plus. I'd like to get to each of these levels and find out what these benefits are, but for me getting reviews is not easy.

Some of my readers have volunteered to put up a review of my book, but never do. I'm sure they meant it at the time and I check regularly for that "one-more-added" review. Maybe if I showed my true emotions when they first mentioned it—chanted cheers and did somersaults—they may have followed through.

I'm shy about asking for reviews, but in the past six months I've gotten bolder. When someone tells me they are reading or have read my book. I flat out state, "I hope you'll consider a review on Amazon and/or Goodreads." I'm not comfortable doing this, but I'm beginning to think it is necessary. 

I asked my publisher to add a blurb at the back of my book asking for consideration of a review. I found out that other authors had requested the same thing and my publisher thought it was a great idea.

After I wrote this post, the January 2017 issue of Writer's Digest showed up in my mailbox with a timely article on this very subject. Barbara Solomon Josselsohn published, "The Review Rat Race" in WD's "5-Minute Memoir" section. In her article she says, "...many authors will attest, customer reviews have become the holy grail of novel publishing." She also confesses she'd feel better if she could just appreciate a compliment about her books without the thought of the sought-after book review jumping to the forefront.   

What about you? If you're a published author, do you have problems getting reviews? Do you have other resources that help you bring them in or are you relying solely on those folks who read your books?

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Today, the 17th of the month, is also the 3rd Thursday, so I have a scheduled post over at Make Mine Mystery blogspot too. Hope you'll stop by.

http://www.lindathorne.com

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