The Girl Who Broke the Rules: Marnie Richies review

The Girl Who Broke The Rules

by Marnie Richies

Rating: 3 Star

I first picked up this book thinking that it was another in the Stieg Larrson series, The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo. 

The Girl Who Broke The Rules by Marinie Richies is not connected with Larrson, but I fans of Larrson may well enjoy this novel as it has many similar aspects, a crazed killer, a dedicated detective, and fast-flowing pace.

The Eye of Shiva review: Alex Lukeman

The Eye of Shiva

by Alex Lukeman

Rating: 4 Star

"The Eye of Shiva" is number 8 of a series of books focusing on a secret US anti-terrorist team called "The Project" by Alex Lukeman.

The story begins with a raid on a terrorist camp in the Philippines where an ancient gold coin is found. From there, the plot rapidly expands before focusing on a plot to start a nuclear war between India and Pakistan.

Getting started with Kindle Direct Publisher

Kindle Direct Publisher

Having just gone through my first self publish adventure using Amazon's Kindle Direct Publishing programme I just thought I'd jot down a few of my lessons learnt along the way.

Buy new or buy used

The first used copy appears on Amazon.co.uk

Well, 3 weeks after its initial release sales of the book continue to grow steadily. As I've mentioned in previous blogs, my task now is promoting and marketing the book to maintain momentum. So far that's involved a lot of messaging on my social networks and most recently the creation and distribution of a press release about the book.

I also heard the first 15 minutes of the audio book version which is currently in production last night and I'm really excited about working with Eila Ulyett to bring it to life.

You can find more about the voice artist via her site British VO.com http://www.britishvo.com/.

On average it seems to be selling about 10 copies a day, nearly all of which are in Kindle format.

Paperbacks

So it looks like the future is definitely digital, but I was surprised and delighted to see that in April 20 people did opt for the paperback version of the book.

Today I just logged in to Amazon.co.uk again to check on sales progress and spotted that 1 of the paperback copies has been put up for sale as a used copy!

So, under a month from a new book to a used version. Is that good or bad? Have any other self-published authors out there experienced this?

I must admit my first thought was a little disappointment that the person wasn't going to keep the book forever on his/her bookshelf, but after I got over that I hope the person manages to sell it on as it gives someone else a chance to read it.

First used copy of my book appeared on Amazon.co.uk today

http://www.amazon.co.uk/System-error-your-favour-ebook/dp/B00CBR105E

Responding to reader comments

Author reviews

After publishing my first book it wasn't long until I received my first review on Amazon.com.

That was a really exciting day for me as it meant that not only had someone bothered to buy and read the book, they were sufficiently engaged with it to add a comment to the site - fantastic.

Before deciding to publish my book I made a conscious decision to respond to all review comments both good and bad.

I wasn't sure whether to engage with a dialogue with the reviewers though. What if I disagreed with something I put in the book? What if they had taken a different interpretation of the book? What if it was just a harsh review that I took exception to? Would the best response be to argue with their points or just say a polite thank you?

Danger of not responding to reviews well

I was keen to see what other approach other authors had come up with and quickly found an amazing example where a reviewer and author ended up publicly arguing resulting in a huge amount of negative publicity for her book.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Greek_Seaman
http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/booksblog/2011/mar/30/jacqueline-howett-bad-review

With so much choice on Amazon.com I knew that reviews were hugely helpful to possible future readers of the book so in the end I ended up with what I hope is a balanced approach.

I would answer any queries posted in a review but never criticise or publicly disagree with the reviewer. (Of course, coming up with this theory is a lot easier than sticking to it).

My standard response template

So, in the end I came up with the following short and sweet reply text.

Hi [Insert Person's Name], many thanks for taking the time to download, read, and review my book - really appreciated. I'm working on an early draft of my next book which I hope you'll have the chance to read and enjoy too.

Best regards, [Your Name]

Conclusion

Reviews are an excellent way to connect with readers. However they are a direct evaluation of your work by someone you've often never met and therefore they provoke a very strong reaction whether the review is good or bad.

Like all authors, good reviews are a huge boost, and negative ones take some additional processing time. The mantra that keeps me going is to focus on these facts:

• someone read your book
• someone cared enough about it to give feedback
• you have a chance to either take that feedback on board or file it away and move on

Goodreads Author Profile
http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/7058283.Iain_Clements