Book Reviews
‘Be Like Water My Friend’. Photo source: Wikimedia Commons
WHY I WON’T SELL MYSELF FOR BOOK REVIEWS:
THE JOURNEY
When I first started out on my self-publishing journey in 2013, I thought the future was bright. Not because I believed the business would be an easy ride, but more because I was sure the independence this business model offered me was more suited to my personality and way of thinking. Although I tried ‘relatively’ hard to get a publishing deal for my books for over ten years, by 2011 I’d had enough. In retrospect, I believe what I thought I was searching for was validation, an endorsement from a publishing ‘professional’ who believed my work was good enough for a deal and readers’ eyes. But it wasn’t that at all. In my life, I’ve never sought validation from anyone. I’ve always done my own thing in my own way with everything. This doesn’t mean I’m a sociopath with selfish intentions at my core. That’s totally untrue — I like people and enjoy working with them but have never needed compliments to boost my ego. In fact, I’m quite the opposite: I shun compliments. They embarrass me, in all honesty. Some would say this is a clear case of false modesty, which itself can be understood as a bad trait to have when accepting credit when it’s due would be the more honest thing to do.
“If I tell you I’m good, probably you will say I’m boasting. But if I tell you I’m not good, you’ll know I’m lying.”
― Bruce Lee
Spaghetti Junction, the first book I published in 2013
SHIFTING A FEW COPIES
And this brings me on to the topic of today’s short post: book reviews, particularly Amazon book reviews. When I published my first book on Amazon on September 12th, 2013, I had the confidence that I’d be able to shift a few copies. Spaghetti Junction, the first book of five in the black comedy crime thriller Napoleon Clancy series, did well. In its first few months, it garnered about fifteen reviews on Amazon.uk. Quite impressive, I thought at the time. So, I reckoned by my own calculations that within the year I’d have over a hundred, maybe even two hundred reviews. I’d be so lucky. Since 2015 on that site I’ve received the grand total of three. Yes, you heard it correctly, three. On Amazon.com since 2013 I’ve received nine reviews. I did have ten but unfortunately, Jeff Bezos and his team took one off for some reason.
I know many writers, who like myself, are indie authors but unlike me have thousands of reviews to their name on all sites. A lot of them use their social media presence on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and Goodreads as an effective self-promotion tool. Bookbub and other paid advertisers’ sites are another way to guarantee sales and boost review stats.
Although I have a social media presence, I’ve never used it as a medium for advertising my wares except for the odd flurry of posts on Twitter a few years ago. I believe spamming is detrimental to an author’s long-term success. Sales should come from word of mouth as well as the quality of the writing.
JUST WRITE YOUR NEXT BOOK
What are you saying, James? Don’t you think this stance is being naiïve? Big publishers don’t do this. They use press releases, big advertisement campaigns on billboards and author signings at huge chain bookstores. Indies don’t have such resources — unless they’re well established themselves and earn a fortune — to do this. Doesn’t that mean they should use other methods of achieving sales on par to or at least competing with the big publishers which cost a fraction of the price? Maybe — but that would leave a lot of them with little or no time for writing. Speaking for myself, I’d prefer to advertise my books with the ones already written. I don’t know who said it, but it’s true: the best form of book advertising is to write your next one.
ANCILLARY BENEFIT
There are a plethora of authors on the internet who talk about writing but don’t do enough of it. Too many quick fixes for the desperate. Too many magic bullets that don’t exist. If I get reviews, I’m happy. If I don’t, that’s life. I write because I enjoy it and hope to entertain readers as I’m doing it. Reviews are just an ancillary benefit, an effect from the cause of getting down and writing.
APOCALYPTIC ZOMBIE NOVEL
So, when it comes to reviews, I won’t kowtow to the megacorp in Seattle or any other vendor. Sure, it looks impressive when you’ve got a zillion five-star reviews on your apocalyptic zombie romance novel. For the average reader, the kind who gets through one or two books a month, this strategy may work. For me — I’m going for the long-term approach to growth. Write quality books with quality book covers with quality professional editing. Promote here and there. Stealthfully, though. Write blog posts that give value. That sort of approach. But one thing I won’t do, ever, never, is to sell myself for Amazon or any other platforms for reviews in the hope it will bring me fame and fortune.
The Behemoth that is Amazon