Reviews and Referrals

Oh, hey. Still here, just editing my life away. As “Book 2” gets ready to go to my betas by Christmas, I have decided to do some more blog writing, mostly for my sanity. But first, before I get all distracted by twinkling lights and such, I need to take a minute and talk about reviews and referrals for authors, specifically self-publishing authors. Seriously, the best compliment…or dare I say, Christmas present...you could give an author is a review or referral. And bonus points if you do BOTH!

Like any good business, reviews and referrals mean everything to authors. As a self-pubber, referrals are literally ev-ery-thing...capital letters, italics, underlined, exclamation point, exclamation point.

Weeks ago, the calendar clicked over to November. October ended better than I ever could have thought, numbers-wise (though it’s not all about the numbers). And with that fresh new calendar before me came a fear I wasn’t quite prepared for.

What if the numbers stop??

What if I don’t sell a single book in November??

What if my book is good enough but never finds its readers and just sits there in no man’s land??

Writing, I tell ya. Once you get past one fear, a bigger and badder one comes and slaps you right in the face. Rude!

Now, you may not know this about me, but I am not a patient person (giggles). I know as a self-pubber it takes time to have this first set of readers read my book and suggest it to others. But this is literally painful for me. I am a do-er. And now that the book is out and available for purchase, my doing is mostly done. I’m at the mercy of my readers. And it’s terrifying and beautiful rolled into one big ball of waiting. It’s like trying to go for a run with your pants on backwards. Pain. Lots of pain. Not that I would know or anything.

And those of you who are finishing up The Culling and are giving me your thoughts…I love it. Your comments and reactions are affirming to me why I decided five years ago to do this crazy thing and turn my hobby into a hold-able, real life book. Being able to plop you in an alternate reality with me and these characters is nothing short of a dream come true. I especially love those of you who are giving me play-by-play. Hearing your emotions throughout are the best! I will never get tired of it. So please, any and all feedback is absolutely welcome.

If you haven’t read it yet, that’s okay too. We all have busy schedules. But please do read it! And tell me what you think! No really, I want to hear what every single person who has read it thinks. I poured my soul into those 600 pages. So if you loved or even hated a part, I wanna know about it! Message me, or email me, whatevs.

I think when we think of the authors and the minds behind our favorite books, we see them as these amazing people living in their mansions, being waited on hand and foot, probs getting mani/pedis everyday just because they can, and not caring what one insignificant reader has to think. So not true! Could not be farther from the truth in my case. I would love to hear from all of you.

...and I’m not going to beg...

Yep. Totally going to beg.

If you have read it, would you please consider reviewing it or recommending it to someone?

I recently read somewhere (true or not) that the average self-pubber sells 50 copies or less. Total.

FIFTY COPIES!! Holy fruit of the loom!

Real or not, that’s super depressing. I can’t believe that’s a real statistic and I hope it’s not. It just makes me want to sit down and cry knowing the time and effort I put into my own writing.

There’s also a benchmark of 10,000 copies in the author world. That seems to be the “hey, I can make it as an author” mark.

So…let’s go! 10,000 copies is the goal...which seems like forever away, but as long as you fine people keep reading and referring, I have to believe it can happen.

Help a girl out. Help me get the word out. And thank you times a million to those of you that already have. Thank you for helping this dream of mine on its way to a reality.

Though the first part of this felt like solitary confinement as I was all alone working my butt off with nothing to show for it, this next part is not something I can do on my own. If you know me, you know I HATE asking for help...but I need y’all. I need your help.

I just need y’all. It’s as simple as that. I need to find my readers. This next part is a team effort.

(Puts on imaginary bedazzled helmet.)

So...let’s do this! You haven’t let me down yet, so I know we’ve got this.

And before I go, a HUGE thank you from the bottom of my heart for the 9 Amazon reviews and 1 Goodreads rating I already do have. You fine people are the real MVPs. A few of you may be biased, but I love you all the same. I have almost all of the reviews screenshotted and saved like this one so I can reread them and stay motivated in bringing you the next book! These reviews don't have to all be five stars or as witty and fun as this one. I love every single one. Seriously. Thank you to you all!