Wednesday, January 28, 2015

The Elusive Amazon Review

I wish this was  a helpful post on how to get those precious Amazon reviews but it is not. I did read some ebook that said you can get Amazon reviews for an ebook if you made it into a contest where the person buys the book, leaves a review and then  is entered into a contest to win a Kindle Fire. I don't know who has the kind of money to invest in a brand new Kindle Fire to give away. Of course, I suppose you could always write it off on your taxes.

As many of you know, I struggle with getting reviews probably like most independent writers. I am grateful for the couple 4 and 5 star reviews on my two Christmas books, Nickolaus and Santa's Shorts and I am even sort of grateful for the one star review on my novel. I also have a review in the UK market for my book, The Wolf's Red Rose. What prompted this query is a horrible poetry book I read the other day.

When I am bored, I will root through the Kindle store and find all the ebooks that are free and  sound good. Since I have a love affair with poetry, I got a free poetry book. I don't always get poetry books for free. I do read my free books especially when I want something quick to read and I have nothing else better to do and I have read some really stellar stories. This poetry book was horrible. It was horrible in almost every possible way. So to be nosey, I went to the Kindle store and this poet had 5 star reviews with glowing sentiments such as "this was so beautiful". Well, I guess you know the saying, one man's trash is another's treasure.  This book got a three star review just for effort. I did not leave a review. I don't know;  I just  couldn't do it, I couldn't just rip this person to shreds although I really wanted to. 

And this brings me to the topic of the day.... WHAT PROMPTS YOU TO LEAVE A REVIEW WHEN YOU READ A KINDLE BOOK?

So I mentioned before, I don't review the books I read and some of them deserve reviews. I don't leave reviews and I don't know why. I thought about reviewing books this year as a part of some karma thing where I review books and then the universe will give me reviews. But, what if I read something horrible like the aforementioned poetry book? I know reviews mean a lot to an author and in this business you need to have a skin made of granite, but could I be mean?

Sometimes, the book sounds good but it is boring when I get into it. I wonder how many people are like me. How many people in the Kindle universe get free books and never read them? Or just read some of the book? How many people in the Kindle universe are independent writers  and don't want to hurt other author's feelings because we kind of to have each other's backs (like we are in the same team or something).

Here I am stuck between thinking my work is worthy and thinking that my work sucks.  Is it egotistical to think my poetry book is much better than the bad poetry book I read? Or is it confidence? I am left wondering, if my writing is boring, did I bore the fuck out of you as you read this post? (Side note- if you made it this far, I couldn't have bored you too much).

Honestly, sometimes it is nice to hear someone enjoyed my work. There is a special warm fuzzy feeling I get  when someone tells me they like something I wrote or created. It is a feeling that lasts for a moment but I never get tired of it. It's that atta boy that we all love hearing for a job well done.

Tell me what you think.

Until next time....

Wednesday, January 21, 2015

Thinking About Gone Before Dawn



As some of you know, I participated in Nanowrimo once again. I did make it to the 50K mark then I stopped writing for no good reason.

If  it would make you feel better, I can make up some stupid reason on why I wasn't writing. Bottom line is I didn't put in the effort. I thought I would blame it on the end of the term for school because I had a lot of stuff due. When the week long break started, I had plenty of time to write but I chose to do who the hell knows what. Anyway long story short, this novel, this story has been creeping up on me in the oddest of places and I started working on it so I can finish the rough draft.

Remember last year, I was like "I am so awesome. I finished the novel the first week of December." Suck-a-duck, I had it 90% edited and revised by this time last year so I can enter it into a contest. This year, I just got lazy and unmotivated.

So another term starts in school and I am taking Nature Writers and Intro to Info Tech. The second class fulfills a requirement and I find it a little boring but that is not important. What is important is how Gone Before Dawn creeps up in  the weirdest places. In Nature Writers we are supposed to pick a nature writer and a specific piece of work. I chose Henry David Thoreau and his essay called Walking. As I read the essay, I am thinking about my missing kids in my novel and how they have to walk a lot of miles to reach a portal. My mind is overwhelmed with thoughts about  looking at maps and figuring out how much a typical person can walk in like 12 hours. In the other class, we were talking about the mighty influence of Google. As I am writing my discussion board post for the week, I went off on this wild tangent and it revolved around my novel. The one that pretty much sat untouched for an entire month.

What does that tell you? It tells me, this story needs to be finished. I need to finish it. The sad part is, it is near the end. Currently, the novel is approximately 58 K words and I figuret the first draft will end right around 70K. That is only 12,000 words. 12,000 words isn't a lot. I used to think it was a lot but now it's nothing.

Here is the strange part, I am looking forward to reworking the novel. The story itself is interesting and exciting but I have to get my facts straight since I am not the kind of writer who outlines. In fact, I have no idea how a story will turn out. Some writers swear by outlining and when I write papers for school, an outline is essential. I tried using outlines in fiction and you know what happens? Everything changes. Anyway, it is more fun to write what comes to my head then really thinking about it. The best writing days is when I can write 4,000 words in 2 hours and I have no idea where time went. And the only reason I stop writing is because my ass is numb.

In fact, I should be working on  it right now.  Just to let you know, my first novel will be free next week and I am hoping for reviews that is why it will be free. I will post when the novel is free and I would love to hear your opinions. I promise I will not publicly degrade you.

Till next time...

Sunday, January 18, 2015

Into the Garden by Jm Scott FREE for a Limited Time

Hello all, in an effort for book reviews, I have been offering my books for FREE in all markets. This week it is Into the Garden: Acrostic Poetry Collection. It will remain free until this Tuesday or Wednesday. I can't remember the day. That link is for the US market but invite all people to pick up a copy. Please, please leave a review. Not only it may help sell more books but it will help me a better writer. Please (just imagine puppy dog eyes right here.)

I would like to share a sample poem from the book. If you enjoy this poem, you might enjoy the rest of the book.

Black-Eyed Susan
Be wary of the saints and their
Lewd ways of moving,
Always in the light while
Chalky clouds sink into the horizon.
Keep the soul in a box with
Elephants dancing to
Yesterday’s tune
Ethereal litanies flourish across the
 Desert. Sweet Solomon whispers.

Someone calls my name, I
Up and run to the
Sanguine valleys,
A ditty in dusk and a
Noxious night feeding.
 
Till next time...