Indie Authors Monthly Magazine For Authors and Readers discussion

Hi all,

I've written a blog post about interacting with indie reviewers that I thought some might find helpful. In particular, I've broken down the statistics of the number of book bloggers I have asked for reviews vs the number of reviews I have actually received.

The post is currently hosted here: https://thetattooedbookgeek.wordpress...

And it will be posting to my own website (www.josiejaffrey.com/blog) next week.

Josie

Good article. Thanks for sharing!

Thank you, I appreciated the breakdown of responses.

The figures in your article look catastrophic. Then I saw the word "zombies" and thought - ah. Not everyone wants to read that.

As a matter of courtesy, I have replied to everyone that has submitted a request to my blog, throughout 2017, and turned down only 7 or so books because they were too far outside my reviewing genre (yes, I wrote and explained why). The blog policy said recently published indie sci-fi but even that niche is too wide because so many requests come in and the backlog lengthens. How can anyone deal with three a day? Then some of them turn out to be 900 to 1,500 pages long and hold up the others. Authors also have magical fantasy, military or even zombie books that they try to pitch to me as slightly sci-fi (adjusting the description to slightly whatever specialisation they are applying to). Any deceit comes from desperation, so I get that too.

In my experience, the only way to keep going and keep enjoying reviewing is to take your submissions email address down every time the queue gets unmanageable. Your research suggests that many other reviewers care less than I do about common politeness and instead stop answering requests or accept books and don't fulfill their obligations. That is plain rude and makes us all look like arrogant sh-ts but it's their response to a tidal surge they can't cope with. I heard that 95% of book bloggers quit within three years, either because they don't have enough readers (therefore what's the point?) or because the level of submission depresses them. It's like a charity someone loves always knocking on the door of the same supporter until they can't do it any more.

Reviewers want to discover and encourage writing talent. It is a two way street (not charity, so that's a bad analogy) because there's a pay-off in mind-candy and discussions with interesting people. When pressured though, when demands get too heavy and the proportion of fun dries up, it is tempting to go silent, close the free service and evaporate back into the shadows of the internet. Eventually, reviewers do that but it's useful while it lasts.

It is important to always remember that writers and reviewers are on the same side. If you think there's a fence between us, just look and see how many hop across it.

Great post, Faith.

Bear in mind that I specifically filtered for and submitted to blogs that accept that genre: so I submitted to paranormal romance blogs, but only where they accept zombie/horror elements too. I think the figures really are as stark as they appear.

Of course how able reviewers are to reply to every review request depends on the number of requests they receive. I know some are completely inundated. And if authors don’t bother to comply with reviewer policies in their submission, I see no reason why reviewers should reply at all.

The 5pc figure upsetting if that was subject specific, so your point is well made. I don't know why people post a review of a mass market author and get lost amongst thousands when they could be making themselves useful and discovering an indie.

Exactly! I like to do a mix of the two. Best of both worlds.

Loved the post - thanks for sharing. I've struggled just like everyone else to find bloggers to review my books. I figured the reply rates must be really low.

Thanks CC! I'm sure lots of people have better stats than I do (I certainly made my fair share of mistakes on my first round of submissions).

It shocked me a little that nearly a fifth of the blogs to which I submitted have now shut down. That's nearly 20% of my requests unanswered because the blog closed. It's a transient interest for a lot of bloggers, so there is an element of chucking correspondence into the void.

Josie wrote: "Hi all,

I've written a blog post about interacting with indie reviewers that I thought some might find helpful. In particular, I've broken down the statistics of the number of book bloggers I have..."

Josie, it's a great article, thank you so much!

Faith wrote: "The figures in your article look catastrophic. Then I saw the word "zombies" and thought - ah. Not everyone wants to read that.

As a matter of courtesy, I have replied to everyone that has submitt..."

wise observations, thank you, Faith

Good article. I find the whole subject of asking for reviews intimidating. I have had anxiety issues over it. (Not because of anything anyone said or did, but because I suffer from anxiety.) I suspect my best course of action is going to be to pay someone to do that part for me, if such a person exists. And boy would I love to do that.

My first two books were erotic sci-fi which immediately closed many doors. Of the ones that accepted such a mashup I had one "no thanks" and one "if anyone is interested we'll be in touch." No-one was. I probably only contacted eight. It took hours to find the few who accepted my genres, eventually I switched to a combo of sci-fi and mystery or paranormal just to make promo easier. I still don't relish trying to get them reviewed.

Amy wrote: "Good article. I find the whole subject of asking for reviews intimidating. I have had anxiety issues over it. (Not because of anything anyone said or did, but because I suffer from anxiety.) I susp..."

it is very intimidating, Amy, I agree, but think of all the work and creativity that you poured into the book: it's like your baby, and it's worth the effort.

I was intimidated by the prospect of it too, but in my experience the vast majority of bloggers either:

(A) are super supportive, appreciative and eager to read my work; or

(B) don’t respond because they’re not interested.

I’ve never had a blogger be rude or unpleasant to me. The only negative aspect to the whole experience (for me) is that sometimes I get bad reviews.

BUT I’ve never had a bad review where a blogger has been mean about me as the author, and I have always been able to understand where a blogger’s criticism is coming from (even if I don’t agree with it). So, I say: ‘sorry you didn’t enjoy it, but thank you for taking the time to read it’. This has only ever resulted in a nice reply from the blogger saying ‘thank you for understanding’. I’d say it’s been an entirely positive experience for me as an author.

And don’t forget, even those low-starred reviews boost your visibility.

Also, don’t hesitate to get in touch if you have any questions about my own experience of the process. :)

Happy writing!

Faith wrote: "Reviewers want to discover and encourage writing talent."

That clears up the mystery. I have no talent.

Josie wrote: "Hi all,

I've written a blog post about interacting with indie reviewers that I thought some might find helpful. In particular, I've broken down the statistics of the number of book bloggers I have..."

I just saw this, and found it quite informative and helpful. Like everything else I'm discovering in marketing a book, the return on investment is uncertain and often slim. The best antidote to that discouragement is to have proper expectations, which you have articulated perfectly. Thanks!

Very inquisitive, Josie. Yes, I have experienced sometimes when I sent revirw requests after reading the policy. Most of the time, they don't respond. But hey, I will not give up on sending revire requests. And also, I just want to promote my book. But for now, I'm gonna keep on promoting through social media and joing opportunitied that comes in.

That's a fantastic post, and I reblogged it just now!

Great post! It's hard to ask people to read your books, but I have found that the Goodreads community is really kind and helpful. I have never come across a rude person on here.

Very good post - tweeting it

Great information. Sharing.

Thanks all! I’ve actually been getting a better ratio since posting this. I’ll have to do an updated set of numbers later in the year.

I suspect it has something to do with the pile-on effect. I think reviewers are initially reluctant to take a punt on an unknown book, and prefer to see some positive reviews before they commit to reviewing themselves. Now that my book has plenty, I have a lot less trouble engaging bloggers.

I totally agree. I think many people won't leave a review because they don't want to stand out. That's why those initial "professional" reviews by seasoned reviewers were essentials. Amazon took so many of those people off. Everyday another review is missing from one of our books.

I honestly treat indie and non-indie reviews the same when I'm writing them. I do receive ARCs for both and I hold both to the same quality of work. I do post what I am looking for on my blog and will take books that are not my preferred genres. However, that usually means that those books not in preferred genres are ones that receive a lower rating. When this happens, it nothing against the author, but I did tell you that it wasn't in my preferred genres.

I'm glad that other writers succeed.

On alternate Wednesdays, I entertain the notion of literary success with optimism, that someday, somewhere, someone will buy a copy of one of my books. Hasn't happened yet, after 20 years of writing, but it might, I tell myself on alternate Wednesdays after a cheery journey to the general store, an hour or two around the wood stove to chat with neighbors, farmers and ranchers who speak with a twang, tell stories about hauling hay in an overloaded trailer with no tail lights, getting stopped by the Highway Patrol for a sobriety check. In good weather we throw horseshoes, and most weeks there will be guitar and mandolin strumming in the bluegrass tradition. Most of these folks were born and raised in the Ozarks. I'm the new kid, an alien being from another planet, so to speak. It took two years for them to ask and remember my name, although they knew in great detail the geneology of everyone who helped me clear a building site and construct a hilltop house on County Road 239.

I don't do a great deal at home except sleep. Each morning I dress and brush my teeth, put on something suitable for the weather, and lead the dog downhill to a tin barn, one room of which has been my writing office for three years. There's coffee in the morning and a blank page, another chapter to attack, unless the enormous task of writing a novel was completed, is which case I'm stunned and incapable of anything except to re-read it from page one. In the past three years, I've written seven or eight books, roughly half a million words, but only four had the power to make me weep involuntarily.

I hope that other novelists are free of tears, cheerfully distant from their characters and the fictional adventures that they plot and touchtype with pleasure. I fight for every moment of life on the page, each word a challenge, because I have rules for writing. Never use the same word twice. Never use the same idiomatic expression for two diffferent characters. Eliminate as many commas and articles (a, an, the) as possible. Don't gild the lily. Thus handicapped, it takes me several months to write a novel, working full time 60 or 70 hours a week.

I speak of it to honor the creative work that all authors do, whether successfully or not. The business of selling books has no impact upon writing as I understand it. The whole of my concentration is in the hearts of my characters, who are as real to me as I am to myself and the dog who sits patiently and listens to keycaps stutter and stop, then blaze at top speed. I look up, having fought my way through a scene that sings, to discover that the sun is setting and it's time to go home. It is my honest wish for all other authors that they, too, have a writing office, cloistered with a coffee pot, snacks, and a dog.

My writing office in Costa Rica was rather grand, an intercom to summon the maid, balmy Pacific breezes, guaranteed ink above the fold and a deadline each Tuesday that drove me insane, writing a serialized novel. My writing office in Hilversum was a garret, entirely bare of furniture, yet the scenario I penned on the floor with a ballpoint became a movie. It doesn't matter precisely what kind of writing temple one enjoys, so long as it's private, shut away from every other human being, as long as possible, to see the story, live the story, hands poised to describe each heartbeat, every blip of hesitation before someone speaks.

Well. Nice work if you can get it, writing. I've thrown myself at it like a criminal would. Sold my car. Went without dentistry or medical care. Haven't had a decent meal in years, living on cold cuts and tinned mackerel and coffee. That's how much writing means to me. I trust that other authors never have to sacrifice friends and family, that they win readers easily and happily and effortlessly, glad to be part of a vigorous tradition. Truth be told, I have a friend who encourages me. One reader, a truly fine author, whose work sparkles and amazes.

If my experience as a novelist matters -- a hellish 20 years of obscurity -- I certify that all it took to sustain me was one person who said Yes! Absolutely! Please write more!

thank you for writing this, Wold