Christian Speculative Fiction discussion

Thanks, C.S., it's good to be reminded of that.

Hi Steve and Lara, Thanks for your reply. I'm an author, wanting to get my book reviewed.
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/2...
Kind regards,
Jo

The Kingdom looks a great book, Jo, and we appreciate that you'd like to share it with us for review. Sadly, though, our author slots for this session are now filled. Please watch the group notifications about future sessions—we'd be delighted if you could join us another time.
Blessings,
—Steve.

Hey thanks again for this Steve, your organization is impeccable.

I’m confirming, and just wanted to remind I’ve been reviewed by Cortez, and I have reviewed for C.S and Guy already.

Thanks Steve, I will check again in the future.
Kind regards,
Jo

Justin wrote: "Hey thanks again for this Steve, your organization is impeccable.

I’m confirming, and just wanted to remind I’ve been reviewed by Cortez, and I have reviewed for C.S and Guy already."

Thanks, Justin!

OK, people, our Review Session 2 is live!

In message 3 of this thread you will find the review pairs for both rounds. Please check these to be sure you're not paired with someone who has already reviewed you, or vice versa. If that is the case, let me know as soon as possible.

In message 3 you'll also find lists of who each author is reviewed by for each round. This is because each author's first task is to make sure his or her reviewer(s) have access to a review copy. If your book is on Kindle Unlimited, send each of your reviewers a private message on GR to find out whether they are subscribers and can get it from there; or otherwise arrange to send them a .mobi or .pdf file by email.

Please do this as soon as possible, because some have limited time and will need the whole period to complete their review.

Reviewers, let us know on this thread as soon as you have received your book for round 1 (or for both rounds), so that we are aware of progress.

Also, please note the deadline for this round: Friday July 13th.

This is important. Please make every effort to have your first review done by that date. We understand if 'life happens' and you're genuinely unable to finish for one reason or another; but in fairness to all involved, and to ensure that our authors receive their reviews in a timely manner, we do need to take the deadlines seriously.

But above all we hope this session will be a helpful and enjoyable experience for all. God bless your reading!

One error found and corrected: Sean Russell has already been reviewed by Rondi Olsen. This leads to the following changes in the round 2 pairings:

3. Rondi Olson reviews J.F. Rogers’ Astray.
4. John Kramer reviews Sean Russell’s The Jesus Boy.

Those affected please take note!

I just got my copy of Cortez Law's book S.Y.P.H.E.N. Reading begins tomorrow.

Great, you're first off, RC!

Just received Sean Russell's The Jesus Boy & started reading...

That's good to hear, J.M.

So, I guess I didn't realize signing up as an author automatically signs you up to review, as well?

Oh dear, sorry A.L. Yes, that's part of the deal. We're following the pattern of quite a number of review groups in Goodreads. The idea is, we all need reviews, so why not help each other out by reviewing each other's books? This is described in the guidelines at the top of the thread.

What's unusual in our group is that, because we're part of a general group and don't exist only for reviewing, we've also invited non-authors to take part—as 'readers/reviewers'. For this to work we need exactly 12 author/reviewers and 6 reader/reviewers—enabling the 12 authors to end up with 3 reviews each after two rounds.

The reviewing commitment is not huge: just 2 reviews in 8 weeks. I hope you feel you can manage that. If not, the only option would be for you to withdraw from this session, and we'd have to find another author/reviewer to take your place.

But I hope it doesn't come to that. I regret the misunderstanding, and I hope you can continue with us.

That's fine. It won't be any real trouble for me, I just didn't catch that it was part of the deal. (I've never been in a review group before.)

OK, that's great. I hope you enjoy reading other spec. fic. books!

Hello There.

I'd like to submit my book for consideration for review.

The title is:. The Baptist.

here's the link.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/s/ref=is...

Thank you for your consideration!

RDG

Hi Ryan,

The Baptist looks a great book, and we appreciate that you'd like to share it with us for review. Sadly, though, our author slots for this session are now filled. Please watch the group notifications about future sessions—we'd be delighted if you could join us another time.

Blessings,

—Steve.

I have my book, All Things Now Living, from Rondi now. I'm looking forward to reading it!

I have a copy of A. L. Buehrer's Dronefall. And have started reading.

Great stuff! We're getting into the swing.

I finished and reviewed All Things Now Living. Well done, Rondi!

https://www.amazon.com/review/R2R3AR6...

https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

Thanks, Lara—first past the post in round 1!

A note to all: If this is the first time you've participated in one of these reviewing sessions, please note how Lara has posted her review links. We need links to all reviews to be posted in this thread—and they should be links to the actual reviews themselves, not just to the general book page on GR or Amazon.

You can get to your Amazon review by following the See your full review link in the email Amazon sends notifying you that your review is live.

Looking forward to seeing more links being posted in the days to come!

I'm beginning to wonder if this is really working. One of my reviews from the last session was removed by Amazon! Soooo angry! Apparently they must believe we are writing slanted reviews here and they are going to put a stop to it. I'm unsure what to do. I've left a message for Amazon stating that the review was legitimate and I wonder if they will even respond. The truth is, the reviewer liked The Sorcerer's Bane enough to read The Light Arises and review that as well. Both her reviews were removed. It really hurts because that was one of only two reviews posted so far for The Light Arises.

I had a number of great reviews removed from Amazon when my book came out. If the reviewer didn't purchase the book from Amazon, they're more likely to pull it. :(

Well, if I can shed a small ray of light… My impression from my own experience of this and what others have said, is that arbitrary actions like these may be done automatically by their systems; but even if not, when you write and explain, the people responding to the emails will often put it right.

I wouldn't hold my breath for a meaningful answer to your message, C.S., but I would wait a week or so to see whether those reviews reappear. I certainly hope so!

Steve wrote: "Well, if I can shed a small ray of light… My impression from my own experience of this and what others have said, is that arbitrary actions like these may be done automatically by their systems; bu..."
Thanks! That makes sense.

I’ve had the same experience with reviews of my novel, Blythe, even with people who purchased the book. Extremely frustrating and totally unwarranted, and literally nothing we can do about it. At least GoodReads reviews remain.

So your reviews were never restored, John? That's a crying shame.

That's scary! I did complain to Amazon and I'm going to wait. With only a few reviews so far, I know who's reviews were pulled. She is a big reviewer on Goodreads and is upset her reviews were pulled. I told her that I complained and we'll wait for a week or so to see what happens.

Praying they'll see reason, C.S.!

Steve wrote: "Praying they'll see reason, C.S.!"
Thanks!

I am really enjoying the books I've been able to read through this group! Thanks to everyone participating, and to Steve for putting it all together.

This month I read Akrad's Children by Jeannette O'Hagan.

Goodreads review:

https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

Amazon review:

https://www.amazon.com/review/R1TB8EK...

That's great, thanks Rondi!

Just reviewed J.M. Hackman's "Spark."

Well done and congratulations, J.M.!

https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

https://www.amazon.com/gp/customer-re...

Just reviewed Sean Elliot Russell's The Jesus Boy -- well done, Sean!

https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

https://www.amazon.com/gp/customer-re...

Wow! Four reviews already in the session. We've got some quick readers here. And, I'd like to express gratitude for the positive nature of the reviews - any negatives have been expressed briefly and have not distracted from the positives that each reviewer has expressed about the book he or she read. Nice work everyone!

Thanks, John and J.M. We're making good progress. Glad you've liked the reviews, Stan!

Rondi wrote: "I am really enjoying the books I've been able to read through this group! Thanks to everyone participating, and to Steve for putting it all together.

This month I read Akrad's Children by Jeannett..."

Hi Rondi

Thanks for a lovely review of Akrad's Children :)

One thought, especially for the Amazon review - my understanding is that the words 'exchange for a review' can be problematic since changes to the terms and conditions last year.

One thought, especially for the Amazon review - my understanding is that the words 'exchange for a review' can be problematic since changes to the terms and conditions last year.

Actually you've highlighted something that's been niggling at the back of my mind, Jeanette. I agree that we should be cautious about such statements, maybe avoid making them unless you can get across clearly that you received a non-commercial copy (i.e., a file, not an actual Kindle version from Amazon). I believe it's against Amazon's policy now to allow free commercial copies to be given in exchange for a review.

But even that I would be cautious of. Amazon are very quick to block reviews of a particular book, or even take them down, as C.S. discovered recently. Probably better not to make such a statement to avoid triggering their suspicions.

Steve wrote: "Thanks, John and J.M. We're making good progress. Glad you've liked the reviews, Stan!"

Not only did I like the reviews, my "Want to Read" list is growing out of control. I may have to stop reading all the reviews generated by these review sessions!

No, no. We need your input. Just get rid of all the other books on your list!

Steve wrote: "One thought, especially for the Amazon review - my understanding is that the words 'exchange for a review' can be problematic since changes to the terms and conditions last year.

Actually you've h..."

Would it be better for us to utilize Kindle Unlimited as much as possible for these reviews? I know that not every author places books on KU, but those who do could operate within Amazon's own system to get review copies to people? I've got a Kindle and I also use Kindle for PC. So, even if I wanted to read a book in a different format, I can still receive it on Kindle Unlimited and read it in any format, but write an honest review saying I got the book on KU.

Perhaps more complicated than we want to deal with, but this might also be an "end around" to Amazon's removal of reviews.

Even with verified purchases, Amazon can and does remove some reviews, often if they feel there is too close a connection between the reviewer and the author of the book, but for other equally arbitrary reasons, too.

I love these great reviews as well! Well done everyone!

Amazon does have a clear policy for reviews, so do be careful about your wording. I do not feel that we are breaking this policy, but wording can affect whether your review gets deleted. Review circles are common, expected, and acceptable. We just can't require you to like the book or give a five-star review. On their site, they state:

"Book authors and publishers may continue to provide free or discounted copies of their books to readers, as long as the author or publisher does not require a review in exchange or attempt to influence the review."

Here is a link to the full guidelines:

https://www.amazon.com/gp/help/custom...

The best wording would be "I received a free review copy of this book" rather than "I received a free book in exchange for a review."

I personally don't disclose this fact because I write a review for most of the books I read whether or not I received a free copy. I don't feel like that influences my reviews. That's just me, though.

Please feel free to email Amazon when there is a problem. I have always received a response and sometimes they relent on their choices because of a misunderstanding.

Thanks for that clarification, Lara.

Just so you know, I did word it as "I received a free copy from the author for promotional purposes. A review, positive or otherwise, was not required" and I still got my reviews yanked.

M.H. wrote: "Just so you know, I did word it as "I received a free copy from the author for promotional purposes. A review, positive or otherwise, was not required" and I still got my reviews yanked."

Amazon works in mysterious ways its wonders (or otherwise) to perform! That seems to bring us back to the 'no comment is best' solution.

So far the Amazon reviews I wrote are still up, but I did have two reviews of my book pulled today, including one from last December. Go figure. Maybe they will reappear. I will try to word my reviews more carefully in the future. I wish it weren't so difficult to comply with Amazon guidelines. I'm just trying to find good books to read and let other people know about books I like.