Writers and Readers discussion

A. F. wrote: "Stephanie wrote: "Hey I'm, as you can tell, Stephanie. I'm an unpublished author. I'm currently editing a few books and finishing my fourth. I write pretty often and am always trying to improve. I..."

Thanks. I checked it out but it seems like some of her guide lines are just that, hers. But that may just be me. Who am I to judge though? I haven't even sent one out.

Stephanie wrote: "A. F. wrote: "Stephanie wrote: "Hey I'm, as you can tell, Stephanie. I'm an unpublished author. I'm currently editing a few books and finishing my fourth. I write pretty often and am always trying..."

Agents tend to have generally the same preferences, but it's always smart to check out each one separately to make certain.

True.

Jenn wrote: "Um I'm Jenn, I came because Amy posted at Creative Reviews that we should come check out this group. Not a writer, but it used to be a dream of mine, unfortunately it requires more self discipline..."

Jenn, we have a dusty Readers folder somewhere in the the dark recesses of the discussions and the Reviews folder can always use more posts.

Welcome, Rick, Christopher, and Cambria to the group.

I am a reader/reviewer/blogger/closet writer, and I also came over because Amy suggested on Creative Reviews ;-)!

You can find me at:

My blog: www.gatheringleavesreviews.blogspot.com

Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Gatheri...

I have several fun things in store for June, so be sure to get in on that. I also welcome any authors who would like to participate in my blog! You can contact me here on Goodreads or at gatheringleavesreviews at gmail dot com.

Cassie wrote: "I am a reader/reviewer/blogger/closet writer, and I also came over because Amy suggested on Creative Reviews ;-)!

You can find me at:

My blog: www.gatheringleavesreviews.blogspot.com

Facebook: ..."

Welcome to the group, Cassie. I'll have to check out your sites.

Baxter Clare Trautman (http://baxterclare.com) finally checking in. I'm the internet wallflower, shyly reading the posts that everyone writes. Time to participate. This is a helpful site, great feedback. Thanks for having it.

Baxter wrote: "Baxter Clare Trautman (http://baxterclare.com) finally checking in. I'm the internet wallflower, shyly reading the posts that everyone writes. Time to participate. This is a helpful site, great fe..."

Hello, Baxter, and welcome to the group.

Hiya Cambria and Cassie!! Glad to see you came here too!! And hello to you too Baxter!!

Hi all:

I'm JAC and I'm a self-published author - my debut novel is out in ebook form from Amazon and Smashwords (so Apple, Sony and all the rest). I generally lurk on GR most evenings and here is the cover of my book, for anyone interested!


Cool, huh? Fena Lee, who designed it for me, is a teenage genius!
JAC.

@AF, I'm not sure what people would think of my reviews. I'm on the harsh side on rating. I'm actually starting to feel guilty about my posts on Creative Reviews because my idea of a 3 stars probably differs greatly from others and I was reading a post by an author in another group who was really upset over a 3 star rating from some one else. I consider 3 to be good. So now I'm kind of starting to wonder if my reviews are hurting people's feelings like that person got hurt by the other reviewers... And I'm wondering if being such a critical person if I should just keep my mouth shut. I haven't seen anyone tell me outright that I'm mean but having read that I'm wondering if I am...

Jenn wrote: "@AF, I'm not sure what people would think of my reviews. I'm on the harsh side on rating. I'm actually starting to feel guilty about my posts on Creative Reviews because my idea of a 3 stars prob..."

Now I am intrigued. I shall have to check out your reviews.

And feel free to post your reviews here if you like. Any review is welcome as long as it's an honest opinion of a book.

Hi! I'm Natasha, you can call me Nat for short. I'm a reader and a learning-to-be writer. Well, I wrote stories but it was not professionally and I hope someday that I would be able to produce a good piece. I read basically everything and anything with a promising plot ranging from horror to romance, though I prefer YA.

Hi! My name is Joseph Garraty, and I'm an avid reader of all kinds of speculative fiction. My favorite authors are Stephen King, George R. R. Martin, Charlie Huston, Caitlin Kiernan, and Max Barry, and I can't walk into a bookstore without getting knocked down and mugged by half a dozen books, who then take all my money and walk me out to my car. :)

I'm also the author of the newly-published dark fantasy novel, Voice, about a rock band with some rather, ah, unusual problems.

More info about me can be found at my blog here.

Welcome Nat and Joseph, to our little little group and Joseph, I have the same problem in a bookstore.

Joseph, I have the same problem in a bookstore."

The worst part is, I secretly like it! :)

Ditto!!

Joseph wrote: "Joseph, I have the same problem in a bookstore."

The worst part is, I secretly like it! :)"

Me too.

Jenn, for what it's worth, I think 3 stars are good, too. Not everybody is going to really like your book (4 stars) and most people probably won't LOVE IT, CAN'T WAIT TO READ IT AGAIN!! (5 stars) No shame in a solid, 3 star rating. I try not to critique in a review and if something's really awful I don't review it at all. No harm, no foul.

Hi to Nat and Joseph!! Glad to see you here!

@Joseph, what self respecting book would just idly sit on the shelf when they see such a great target walk right by? You know the one that sucker punches you is going to be the best!! :)

Jenn, the ratings are nice but kind of irrelevant; it's the comments that count, and your review of mine had constructive, perceptive comments that I found really useful. Obviously some authors will be more or less sensitive but I personally would rather have a useful 3* even if it knocks the average down a bit than a 5* that says so little that no-one believes it's a genuine review!

Anyway, if in doubt, just leave off the star ratings and leave a text review.
JAC

Jenn wrote: "@AF, I'm not sure what people would think of my reviews. I'm on the harsh side on rating. I'm actually starting to feel guilty about my posts on Creative Reviews because my idea of a 3 stars prob..."

I checked your reviews, Jenn, as promised and I found them articulate and well thought out. Not the least bit harsh.

Hello all,

I'm a full-time writer and reporter, and the author of the Sci-Fi time-travel adventure, Towards Yesterday.

I'm a moderator over at the Magical Land of Books group (we'd love to see you there)and I also write a weekly blog chronicling my plan to market the book.

Looking forward to talking with as many of you all as I can.

PAUL

Amy wrote: "Hi to Nat and Joseph!! Glad to see you here!

@Joseph, what self respecting book would just idly sit on the shelf when they see such a great target walk right by? You know the one that sucker p..."

Evidently, no self-respecting book! But I'm cool with that. Trouble is, they're starting to fill up my house!

Hey Paul! Can't wait to check out your blog! it sounds great!

Amy wrote: "Hiya Cambria and Cassie!! Glad to see you came here too!! And hello to you too Baxter!!"

Hey Girl!

J.a. wrote: "Jenn, the ratings are nice but kind of irrelevant; it's the comments that count, and your review of mine had constructive, perceptive comments that I found really useful. Obviously some authors wil..."

I agree here. Star rating isn't as important as what you are saying about a book. Lately I haven't been giving star ratings b/c I prefer to let my comments speak for themselves.
That being said, i don't think a 3 star rating is bad. Especially if the reviewer can back up what they are saying about whatever they are reviewing...Which Jenn, I know you do. Its all good. :)

J.a. wrote: "Hi all:

I'm JAC and I'm a self-published author - my debut novel is out in ebook form from Amazon and Smashwords (so Apple, Sony and all the rest). I generally lurk on GR most evenings and here..."

you know I love this cover. :)

Joseph wrote: "Amy wrote: "Hi to Nat and Joseph!! Glad to see you here!

@Joseph, what self respecting book would just idly sit on the shelf when they see such a great target walk right by? You know the one t..."

Joseph, I have barricaded myself in my closet with a nightlight and my laptop...I know exactly what you are talking about!

Welcome to the group, Paul!! It is great to have you here!!

Hi Amy,

Wow - you are one busy bee. Thought I would stop by and check out this group. Some great resources here, and of course, a great community of readers and writers. You are fostering some major goodwill by all the work you do for writers.

Regards,
Sarah


My new book
comes out June 14th.

A mysterious young woman calling herself Jane turns up in a small New England town. She claims a fragmentary memory of growing up in this place, yet she has never been here before in her life. Upon her arrival, strange and alarming things begin happening to some of the town's inhabitants. As Jane's memories reawaken piece by piece, they carry her back to a long-buried secret, while the townspeople hurtle forward to a horrific event when past and present fatally collide.

Sarah wrote: "Hi Amy,

Wow - you are one busy bee. Thought I would stop by and check out this group. Some great resources here, and of course, a great community of readers and writers. You are fostering some maj..."

Hello, Sarah and welcome to the group. Your book sounds great. Be sure to add it to the bookshelf and to the books folder.

Hi, Sarah! Welcome to the group!

A. F. wrote: "Sarah wrote: "Hi Amy,

Wow - you are one busy bee. Thought I would stop by and check out this group. Some great resources here, and of course, a great community of readers and writers. You are fo..."

Thanks A.F. Will do.

Joseph wrote: "Hi, Sarah! Welcome to the group!"

Thanks Joseph.

Hi Sarah!! Great to see you on here!! Thank you for the kind words!! I hope you have as much fun on here as we all are!! :)

Hello everyone,
I am, what I like to call a Sci-fi Realist. I take normal everyday problems and set them to the backdrop of Sci-fi and Fantasy stories. I am a short story and Novella writer. I know that makes me weird. Believe me, that is not the only thing that has made me weird. I have published two books on amazonhttp://www.amazon.com/Elle-Lapraim/e/...
and they are doing ok. I think they are doing better than some of my friends books because I do a lot of networking and publicity. I also have a facebook page with 350 people on it, and I don't know any of them. I think it is really important to market to people you don't know. I know a lot of people who are only marketing to friends and family, and that is just not enough. i highly recommend getting a facebook page and talking about more then just your book. It has worked out well for me and I know there are a lot better writers out there then me, so give it a try.
I am really exited about this group and networking with other writers.

Hi there Elle! Great to have you as part of the group!! Welcome!! Hope you enjoy it here!

Hiya, Carroll!! Good to see you here in this group too!! This is another great, fast building group! Hope you enjoy your stay, the bellhop will be down to collect your bags shortly!! :)

Hello all,
My name is Elle and I am a Fantasy and Sci-fi writer. Here is one of my books.The Seamstresses. I also run a facebook page to help authors be inspired. http://www.facebook.com/pages/Portlan...
I am really exited about this group, I love hearing from other great authors as well as hearing what readers are looking for!

Hi everyone! I've been lurking for a few days but have decided it's time to stop being a wallflower and introduce myself. :)

I'm J. Leigh, and I write primarily fantasy and YA fantasy novels. I just published my first, a YA fantasy called Down a Lost Road, last month.

I'm really looking forward to talking to other writers and readers here, getting tips and especially finding some new books to read! :)

As a side note -- I found the whole rating discussion amusing and timely...my first review gave my book three stars, and my initial response was this sinking feeling of dismay. But I realized after reading the review thoroughly, and reading the reviewer's other reviews, that it was actually something to be pleased about. So...to make a long story short, I think the comments are more helpful than ratings...but ratings do help you get notice on lists and things. Ah well.

Anyway, looking forward to being in this great group!

A welcome to Elle, Carroll and J. Leigh.

Hello to Elle, and J. Leigh!!

Elle, your short story looks fascinating!
J. - Congrats on publishing your first book, that is always reason for celebration. Never fret over a three star review. There are many books that I enjoyed, but only gave a three star review to for one reason or another. I'm glad you did realize that the actual review is always worth more than the star ratings. I wish GoodReads had a half star system that we could utilize. I think this would be something that many of us would love to see happen, and it would be a better way to give an accurate judgement of the books

Hi everyone, I enjoy writing in my spare time and I run a book blog, as well. I'm very dedicated to it and I both read and write reviews, that I post on there as well as goodreads too. My name is Suz and I'm happy to be here, despite some members. :)

Welcome to this group too, Suz, great to have you here as well!! :)

Suz wrote: "Hi everyone, I enjoy writing in my spare time and I run a book blog, as well. I'm very dedicated to it and I both read and write reviews, that I post on there as well as goodreads too. My name is S..."

Yes, welcome Suz.

A. F. wrote: "Yes, welcome Suz.

Hi, thank you so much, for the welcome. I'm just starting to get settled in around here. :)

Hi :) My name is Lydia and I am mostly a reader. However recently I have begun to write this story that I have had in my head for several years now and I am quite enjoying so it so I think I will do more writing in the future :)

Lydia wrote: "Hi :) My name is Lydia and I am mostly a reader. However recently I have begun to write this story that I have had in my head for several years now and I am quite enjoying so it so I think I will d..."

Welcome to the group, Lydia.