Tag Archives: review

Another 5-Stars!

Posted on by

0

I was poking around on Amazon and discovered something:  A week ago today I received another 5-star review!

You can, of course, read it here.

It’s always nice to feel appreciated, and that the book is well liked.  I’m even happier to see that it seems to really … resonate?  Resonate seems a good word, we’ll use that.   Yeah, it resonates with people.  It’s warming to know that the characters are so endearing, or that the story itself is in some way moving or touching.

I’ve seen it said recently (it was a quote from another writer posted to The Indie View’s Facebook page, if I recall correctly) that artists are kind of schizophrenic.  At one and the same time we’re incredibly confident and full of pride, and nervous wrecks with absolutely no self-esteem.  It seems true — on one hand we feel as though our work ought to be shared with the world, so there’s your pride and ego; on the other hand we’re absolutely convinced (well, most of us, exceptions like Anne Rice exist — I’m not a fan, don’t ask about her books, I’ve never even watched Interview With a Vampire) that our work is awful and that we will be belittled and berated, stopped in the street and spat upon … well, okay, maybe not quite that bad, but some pretty terrible things and emotions do go through our minds and flood out through our mouths.  I’ve nearly got myself strangled by close friends I fretted so much ~blush~.

Any of you still waiting to buy the book, Kindle edition is 99¢ right now, and the iBooks version is free.

Oh, and for those waiting on a status report for Ready or Not: Delayed. Editor had some issues with her gall bladder. She’s feeling better now, but some other problems decided to come play “kick ’em while they’re down” with her so she’s still rather out of sorts. Things will hopefully get back on track soon and, with luck, we’ll at least have a release around the 1yr anniversary of Love or Lust … pray for a little luck and we might even manage a new years or Valentine’s release, but I wouldn’t suggest any holding of breath for earlier than Easter.

Related articles

How does Amazon work, I wonder

Posted on by

1

I really must say, the ranking system on Amazon fascinates me in a morbid fashion.

It is, really, the personification of many of the reasons I actually deplore the degree to which digital technology has permeated our society. Only through the advent of complex computers could such Lovecraftian mathematical models and algorithms be achieved on an hourly basis.

Something that has profoundly improved my position on the top 100 lists, or the overall sales rank lists: not selling any copies for nearly 12 hours. This, in one case, increased my rank in one category by something like 12 places.

An example of something that hurt my sales rank severely: selling about 4 copies. This, in one case, lowered me by more than 20 places.

Some things observed by other authors: raising and lowering your price has profound impact directly related to the price change (raise price, improve rank); existence of a film version – an author helping to puzzle out this ranking model had books with and books without movie treatments and confirmed that despite equal or worse sales, the ranks for the movied tales ranked higher; reviews (quantity) – it would seem that no reviews is better than some, but if you have any several is best … number of stars irrelevant, 40 1-stars is better as far as can be determined than 8 5-star.

Something with strange weight within the algorithm: 1-star reviews. They seem to hurt more than a 5-star helps. The fact that rating is used at all in the ranking is unique to Amazon, which troubles many consumers and creators alike since Amazon does not discourage people from reviewing things that they have never used/owned/etc nor take issue with people saying so in the reviews; and there’s no way to flag for removal a review for a radiant heater that reads (regardless of how many stars) “I really don’t like duck sauce” – while I pray that such a review for such an unrelated circumstance is merely the construct of my own strange mind, I do know that people will review things unrelated to the product or its quality.

I’ve actually had to resist the urge to consult astrological charts to determine if ranking trends correspond to any stellar alignments; I’m fairly certain, though, that Mercury’s position relative to Mars has some profound bearing upon the Hot New Releases Top 20 for Mysteries.

Ah me, but the eternal question: if it weren’t for computers and the internet wold my work be published? Frankly, I’m not a fan of computers and the internet as a rule. They’re useful tools in moderation, truly. I’m fond of some of their applications, like email. While I agree with Louis L’Amour regarding people relying on word processors to do too much of their writing for them, leading to sloppiness, I still would be loathe to be transferring my manuscripts to typewriter instead of Pages. Still, I would happily renew my acquaintance with my postman and invest in a big, solid Underwood if I could escape the perversions wrought upon society by the virulent proliferation of computer technologies …I miss simple electronics, such as 1980s and earlier televisions & radios {wistful sigh}.

Related articles

Mission accomplished!

Posted on by

0

It’s a 3-star review, but I’m proudest of this one.  I started Now & Forever to be inspirational for both the sorts of parents and teens that the story is about, but also for their friends and families.  To see a positive review from one such parent of one such teen is very warming:

14286745

Sandy Grassini‘s review

Jul 10, 13
It’s a week before her freshman year when Lauren Conners is thinking, for what feels like the billionth time, of breaking up with her boyfriend of the past couple of years. In a seeming answer to her fervent prayers for guidance she looks up into the hypnotic eyes of the quiet little Washington town’s exotic, dark, and alluring new addition.The two fall immediately for one another when their eyes meet. But Lauren can’t be sure – is this love at first sight? An answer from God to her prayer for guidance? Or is this simply lust as she wrestles with newborn passions and desires for the beautiful creature that has entered her life?

The relationship is fraught with other issues on top of the poor young ballerina’s internal and spiritual uncertainty: the two attend the best school in the area, a private school, Immaculate Conception, a Catholic school Lauren has attended since she was in sixth grade and where she has a reputation as a pious, studious, bright, Good Girl. So … what’s the problem here? Oh, her newfound love (or is it lust?) is a girl.

The author has done a fabulous job with each individual character. both girls and parents have great sense of humors. Both parents are very laid back and easy going and suport both their children as they embark on their journey to see if what they have is real.

Sally is a young freshman who saw Lauren and thought it was love at first sight. Lauren feels a connection as well. Even though Lauren isn’t sure about her sexuality, she embraces her feelings towards Sally. Puppy love is so sweet, isn’t it? I call it puppy love because we are talking about 2 14 year old kids. Do they even know what real love is all about. Lauren questions whether or not she’s only lusting after Sally due to her looks and not feeling that same love in return.

Sally has the best sense of humor and I love the way she makes everyone laugh.

Lauren is a sweet freshman who is having difficulty trying to figure out why she does not feel more toward her boyfriend then just friendship. She is confused. Until she meets Sally. Sally also has a great sense of humor. You will see this throughout the book. They are both so sweet, I would ben honored to have them as my own daughters.

As a parent with a daughter that was younger than these two are and faced with the same situation, I thought I was a good candidate to read and rate this book.

Now back to the additional characters. You have both parents, who have been very supportive of the girls new found love. I can relate with these parents, because I have an open communication type relationship with my daughter and she knows she can come to me for anything. I did love these characters, because they were very laid back and easy going. Both loving their daughters very much and the huge key here is the support. They were also very encouraging and helping the girls deal with their sexuality. i would be happy to call them as friends if it were my daughter in this situation.

I rated this book 3 stars. The book was well written, great format. Its basically the day and the life of 2 teenage girls trying to figure out who they are. There wasn’t really any excitement to this book, just normal teenage stuff. I do get what the author was trying to accomplish here, but I would have liked to see more of a story line versus just every day life.

Related articles