Category Archives: Writers resources

A blog about the topics of writing, Writers resources

Getting reviews for my books: A hard task indeed

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Getting reviewed for your book is not always easy. No, no, that’s not it. Maybe pigs will be able to fly once someone leaves one?

We learn where the issues are in our manuscript when others critique our works. It is so helpful for writers. When I go online to purchase something, I tend to check the reviews to get a better view of what to expect.

But asking for a critique is no guarantee you will get one, even if you

offer them a free book. Reading and writing a review online take some time, and one should consider that when they say yes after being asked.

What hurts is Amazon will remove reviews. Anyone who reviewed my book would have to spend at least 50 bucks a year, every single year. By doing so, any review they post remains on the site. If not, down it comes.

I woke up one day excited to log in and check how many reviews I had for my first book. I was anxious, for the count was close to 50. My giddiness went down the tube when I noticed 18 removed. A few years after that, another 12. It came down to customers having to buy $50 in a given year.

I was so frustrated and angry, but it made no difference, for that was and is the policy. Any review I leave will stay on Amazon since spending that dollar amount in one year is not an issue. But after losing reviews a second time, I started looking at other sites that are more writer-friendly with reviews.

So, if a writer asks for a review, think before you say yes. I rather hear no, than offer a free book and wait and wait and wait for one that will never come.

A blog about the topics of writing, Writers resources

Have you always called yourself a writer?

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When you began your writing career, was it hard to say that you were an author? It could be to oneself. Or it could be saying it out loud to other people.

I know for me, it was. My writing group had quite a few who thought like me. No matter how many times the group leader tried to convince us, it was not working. One day she wrote on the board a rule for the group. We were not allowed to say we were not authors/writers.

We laughed. Our group leader did not.

I felt unless I had something published, I had no right to make that claim. It turned out that others felt this way, and others still do.

And it was not until I became a freelance writer and published author did I make that claim to myself and the world.

And this is a shame. I know writers who write for pure pleasure and are OK if they never get published. They call themselves writers. I have a writer friend who will stop once her book is published. She is content with that prospect. She calls herself a writer.

Yet on the other side of the coin, I know authors who don’t have this issue. For them, they are writers from the get-go, and nothing will stop them from saying so.

Experiences in our lives mold what we think and do. What works for one does not work for the other.

I wish the singularity that binds authors together would be us all calling ourselves authors and saying it to others.

A blog about the topics of writing, Writers resources

What phrase do you hear that drives you bonkers?: Looking at you writers

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The next time you hear a loud, bellowing scream, it will be because I read this in a book or it came from the tv or through the radio. It’s complicated.

How many of you have heard this from a TV show or in a book? To say this is getting overused is truly an understatement.

You see and hear this in areas where it is not complicated. However, the writer is too lazy to write out the scene.

Stop being lazy. Give your readers and viewers the sense that they are not total idiots and explain to them the situation instead of expecting them to accept it. Why not give your audience some credit in that they might understand?

If you have a short show that is 30 minutes with commercials long, maybe hold back from using it. How about you create a scene that works? Why cop-out? You have roughly 22 minutes to explain why the situation is complicated. One can do this in two to three sentences.

If it is in a movie or a book, you have the time to write it out. Yes, you do. Do your job.

Yes, there are some instances where it fits. But every single time has gotten old.