book, writing

 Are You Afraid of Getting Bad Reviews?

Posted on by Brenda Poulos

My dad always said, “Sometimes you have to take the good with the bad.” Nothing could be more true than in the case of book reviews.

Authors  know we need them, but we’re also fearful of occasionally getting less than the coveted 5 STARS.

What can we do about it? Or, better to ask, can we do anything about it?

First of all, we can write a book with a compelling story and make sure that it is free of punctuation and formatting errors. It probably goes without saying that the cover should be appealing and professional. Finally, the title should be attention-getting.

But, you ask, how should we respond to negative reviews if we get them?

First, don’t let negative criticism get to you. Read them with an open mind and see if there is something useful you can learn from them. BUT, don’t respond to them. It will only get you into an arguing match and the person and give others reading your comments online a bad perception of you.

Remind yourself that a negative review is just one person’s opinion and that not everyone enjoys the same thing.

Focus on the positive reviews—what readers enjoyed … what they say you did well.

And, by all means, don’t let it stop you from writing!

Getting Reviews

Posted on by Brenda Poulos

If you’re new to writing, or have just published your first book, you are probably faced with the topic of REVIEWS. 

In a nutshell, reviews come in two varieties: customer reviews, and editorial reviews. And, guess what? You need both of them to get noticed on social media.

Customer reviews are given by readers who have bought and read your book and would like to give their opinion about it to other potential readers. By scrolling to the bottom of any author’s page on Amazon, you will see a button that is used for submitting a review. (As an author, you can politely ask readers to leave a review if they enjoyed reading your book. However, offering money or freebies is not allowed.)

If you are a reader and want to read the reviews to give you insight as to whether or not you’d like to purchase a given book, simply look at the star ratings and read the posted reviews. 

Editorial reviews are different. Besides a star-type rating, they also contain a synopsis of the book. They are said to carry more “weight” because editorial reviews are usually written by people who are at least somewhat more knowledgeable about the craft of writing and or the subject matter in your book. There is a section nearby the customer reviews where you can find these editorial reviews.

So, how do you get these coveted reviews that garner social media hype and add credibility to your book? If you are wanting a credible third-party review, check out reviews you see on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter. If the books they reviewed are of the same genre as yours, find out who wrote them, and contact them with an offer to send them a free copy in exchange for a review.

Now, I am sure other authors have found other ways to find these reviewers, but once found, they will all require that free copy, although some will settle for a PDF. (Be sure to let them know exactly how you will be using their reviews).

You might have thought once your book was published, all of the hard work was behind you. However, most authors will tell you that marketing is as challenging and time consuming as anything you will ever do!

This Is Amazing!

Posted on by Brenda Poulos

I discovered something pretty amazing this week.

Did you know that as a writer, your books can earn an income for as long as 70 years after your death?

Just think. You can provide a monetary stream for loved ones from the work you are doing now.

In 1963, RCA Victor featured the slogan “The Gift That Keeps On Giving” to promote their color televisions and the phrase has been used in many instances ever since.

If you’d like to give a gift that continues well into the future, consider writing a poem, a book, or a song!                             

The Magic Month

Posted on by Brenda Poulos

Students, teachers, and parents know what the month of August means.

Back to School dominates television ads because in most states school begins in August.

So, what about authors? Should the month of August be on our radar, too?

The more times that I’ve heard it over the years, the more I am convinced that from mid-August to mid-December is a golden time of year for those who write and publish books.

A large percentage of people begin their Christmas lists in August. Many actually begin their online shopping.

So, I’m putting the advice I’ve received to the test. 

On August 15th, I published my latest book, Justice for Jessie, and advertised it at a reduced price on Amazon for the first week. (Both e-book and paperback editions).

I will follow its sales through the end of the year and compare those sales with those of my other books which I published in the spring. And, while I am waiting on those statistics, I will be writing for another release in August of 2024.

(By the way, a few blog posts ago, I mentioned I’d soon be publishing, Blinded. However, I discovered that there were already A LOT of books by that title. I renamed my book right before publishing to Justice for Jessie, which I actually like better!) 

Know Your Definitions

Posted on by Brenda Poulos

I made a promise last week to do some research on pre-launches. I talked to a friend who definitely recommended one of the two pre-launch styles I mentioned. He feels the extra work is worth it—in both sales and publicity.

But, remember, you must be 100% ready before you do so. Meaning you have your keywords and categories chosen (which is what we were discussing last week, too.)

The thing I learned about categories is that I needed to know the definitions of words I already thought I understood. For example, should I choose religious or spiritual? They are two separate categories.

Religious refers to an outward expression of inward faith, whereas spirituality means an inward connection to God (or another “higher-power) which affects the way one lives their everyday life. And knowing that distinction will help me when choosing my book’s categories.

There are quite a few other categories that may require a look in the old dictionary. So, have fun!

Why Do A Pre Launch?

Posted on by Brenda Poulos

I don’t know everything there is about Pre Launch, but I did learn something very interesting this week.

It seems that all the books one sells before the actual publish date are combined and the author gets “credit” for them on Amazon on the very first day of publishing.

You can use a PreLaunch format to accomplish this, or you can simply go on Facebook, Twitter, a web email list—whatever you’d like—and offer your book at a discount on Amazon until the book is actually published. 

Pre Launches help an author garner publicity early on. So do social announcements, combined with discounts.

By next week, I will have learned much more and will write a blog post about these two methods of pre-advertising.

Until then…

There Are Words, And There Are Keywords

Posted on by Brenda Poulos

I admit that I am only beginning to learn why keywords are so important in selling our books.

Keywords are aptly named. They are the words a person types into the search bar when looking for a book to read. 

So write the blurb to be placed beside your book cover on Amazon using the words you think readers will type in their search bars. 

So many of us, including myself, wrote our blurbs to be interesting and clever in order to garner sales. However, the readers have to get to that page first. 

And the way they do that is by using the search bar.

If they are interested in fiction, they will probably type the word fiction in. However they will type additional words in order to refine their search.

For example: Fiction>Westerns>Native Americans>New Mexico and so on until they pinpoint exactly what they want.

So if you are writing about Native Americans in New Mexico, and you want readers to find your book, you must work those words in your blurb. (Challenging, to say the least).

Previously, I put my allotted keywords on the page where I uploaded my manuscripts onto Amazon. But I failed to write these words into the book description (blurb), failing to take advantage of that marketing tool.

I just finished writing my blurb for my new book, Justice for Jessie, using my keywords. And, as time permits, I will be rewriting book descriptions for my previous books.

It is never to late to learn something—and put it into practice.

Better Than the Original

Posted on by Brenda Poulos

You’ve been writing your book for the better part of a year. You’ve tied up loose ends in the editing phase and are ready to publish.

Then, you find out—like I did—that the title of your book was used by a dozen or so authors in years past.

Do you stick with it because you like it and because it is already recognizable by lots of readers?

Or do you choose something else and get the job done?

Well, that’s what happened to me just a few weeks ago. I discovered that the book I had entitled, “Blinded,” had already been used by quite a few other authors (nice to know others thought it was a good title, too) and I had a choice to make.

I spent a couple of sleepless nights trying to think of another title that I liked just as well.

I was ready to throw in the towel when I woke up one morning and a title just came to me out of the blue. The new title, “Justice for Lucie” was just so-so for me, so I changed the main character’s name to Jessie with the Find/Replace option in Word.

It took a few days for me to get used to it, but now I absolutely love my new title, “Justice for Jessie.”

I have learned that there is almost nothing you cannot fix if you put your mind and effort to it. And, like myself, you may end up liking the change better than the original.

Look for Justice for Jessie in September 2023.

Choosing Your Subtitle

Posted on by Brenda Poulos

A subtitle should tell the consumer additional information that cannot be conveyed by the title alone.

You’ll want to choose one, if possible, because it gives you an additional chance to add more keywords on Amazon.

Keywords are simply the words a person would type in the search bar to identify the kind of book they are looking for.

Authors are allowed to choose ten keywords. These will come from the title, subtitle, back cover blurb, and book description you write for your Amazon sales page.

I wrote down dozens of ideas for the subtitle for my soon-to-be-released book, Justice for Jessie. I decided on Forgiving the Unforgivable because it further described my book, along with being “catchy”—at least to me. It was also short and sweet, making it more memorable. 

Remember: Your subtitle should represent the genre in which you write, mine being Christian Suspense.

What Now?

Posted on by Brenda Poulos

So you think you’re done with your book when you’ve written the last line?

Not so fast, my friend.

There’s still the title page, dedication page, biography, Dear Reader page, copyright page, “Other Books by this Author” page, and anything else you’d like to include to personalize your book.

If you don’t have one by that point, you’ll need to purchase an ISBN. Then, being the search for an editor, publisher, publicist, and so on.

When should you do these things? 

Look way back to the top of this blog. Do them before you ever get to that point. At least four months ahead.

It’s hard to do all these things while you’re writing that final chapter, but if you don’t, you’re giving up prelaunch publicity, hype, and presale revenue.

One big thing you can do to help the success of your book is choosing the right subtitle. I’m doing that for my own book right now, so please read my blog next week to find out why and how I’m choosing to include one.

Until then, Happy Fourth of July!