"Grandfather's Will" reviews... (Amazon and Goodreads)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Why Reviews and feedback mean so much to us...

 

 

I am in touch with many Indie authors and all of us can't stress the importance of reviews enough. Not only does it help us with marketing and getting the word out, but that one review could be the reason for us to keep going. Sure, we would rather not get negative reviews (who wants those?) but it helps us find the right audience. Finding a target audience can be difficult but by the reviews our books get, we can usually tell pretty fast who loves our writing style and stories and who doesn't. 

I mean lets face it, some readers just don't get us. Some readers only care about a certain genre, not willing to try something new. I was like that too to a point before joining Instagram and meeting so many incredible authors. I want to support other authors and even though there are still genres I won't read, I came across a lot of incredible books, usually not so much my thing. Recently, I read a dark romantic comedy/ horror romance, which I would have never touched in the past. It was more romance than horror, but still gave me the creeps at times. I am actually considering reading the second book. 😀

We all have different tastes. I love the readers who enjoy and can't wait to read my books because they are my kindred spirit. I appreciate readers who might not exactly prefer my chosen genres, but still loved the books they read and left a great review. Likewise, I understand some concerns of readers when they don't really like a book, the writing style and story, even though I believe that most books still deserve positive feedback while making your voice heard. I have read a lot of reviews over the past few months (nor for me but other authors) who were flat-out mean, super harsh and totally unnecessary. If you disliked a book, fine, write that and leave it at that. There is no need to write a novel about every single detail you hated. It blows my mind when I see jerk-reviews like that because most of the other reviews are normally high praise and so seeing one or two cruel reviews, just to bring the rating down is just petty. Jealous much? 

Luckily, most of the readers I have come across, are fair and try to uplift the author and not tear him/ her down. Seeing that makes me happy. I do the same thing when I write a review. If something was terrible or bothered me, I will mention it, but normally, I try to focus on the positive because I know just because I might not like it, doesn't mean others won't. Perspective people!

Now, something that makes me happy beyond imagination is when I get messages from a reader while they are reading one of my books. This has happened two or three times now and one of the best things you can do for an author. It's an incredible feeling, when the reader shares his thoughts with you, asking questions, even though they don't want the answer, and seeing your story through their eyes. Knowing a reader is completely intrigued and captured by the story you created is the best compliment they can give us. 💖💖💖

The future looks as bright as my projects...

 

 

I have so many thoughts, ideas and projects in my mind - if only those things would cooperate with the amount of time I have. I mean if I could stop time to get everything done, that would be great, but that kind of doesn't work.

As of right now I have been putting making audiobooks on hold. It is so time-consuming and my writing ideas overwhelm my brain at times. I just can't do it all. I asked family and friends before making my first audiobook if they would be interested in it and several responded yes. I sold six copies, and did not get any feedback yet. Some of those who said they would get my audiobook, have ignored every email since and with so little support, it is not worth it to me. I am struggling to get my written books out and off the ground, I can't add something else to my already limited time. I don't have much of a life right now, which I am fine with. I have my family, my book writing, social media, reading to support other Indie authors and that's about it. A day is over in a snap.

Here is what my mind is wanting to do for the rest of the year (not to mention that we have a major move coming up this summer):

 

- translate at least one book into German.

- get the next novel (Healing the Orphaned Heart) published; if possible before the move.

- start writing the book series which has developed in my head. It started with a single novel idea, but is slowly evolving into a book series.

- write another Christmas novella (possibly a sequel to Heavenly Bodyguards - I have some ideas)

- continue to support other authors in any way I can

- read, read, and read some more... have I mentioned reading?

- continue my fight to get more reviews and the word out (build my audience)

We shall see how much of that I can actually accomplish.