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Get That “BUZZ”

Posted on by Brenda Poulos
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Authors, you can use book reviews to build credibility and buzz about your book BEFORE IT IS PUBLISHED.

Here’s how:

1- Identify reviewers who read in your genre. (In other words, if you write mysteries, target people who read mysteries—or, better yet, other mystery authors who are willing to review your book for you.)

2- Offer to review their work, in exchange for their review of yours. (If they are not an author, offer them a free, signed copy of yours AND let them know their review will be published on the back cover of your book or inside page following the title page).

3- If you don’t have contacts of your own, you can use platforms, such as BookSirens or Net Galley, but they require a fee and the sending of free copies to their reviewers.

On those platforms, you are able to read reviews written in the past, and choose one or more reviewers (based on what kind of job you think they did) to review your book.

**Stay tuned. More information in next week’s blog.

Every Instinct is Telling Me To Do This

Posted on by Brenda Poulos

I am struggling with the last chapter of my book. Fighting every instinct to kill off my hero at the end!

Who would do such a thing?

Wouldn’t it be akin to giving your book the “ax”?

Is there ever a time it’s appropriate to take such drastic action?

I think there are some considerations we must take before we can answer that question for you and me.

1) Has the character successfully ended their character arc? Is the plan to develop another journey for them to take in the next book of a series?

2)    Is there another character from this story that we’d like to bring forward as the hero in the next book in the series?

3) Is the goal to pack a powerful punch that readers will not see coming?

There are other questions to be answered, too. Let’s think about the means by which their life will be taken. An act of nature? A murder? Suicide?

There must be a good, plausible reason for the character to die at the end. Do they allow their own death in order to save the world? Or it could be something much simpler will send the book to the top of the charts?

Look for my newest book, Blinded, at the end of summer to read which ending I chose.