Category Archives: Writing
#fridayfive What NOT to put in a book review
If you’ve been following me for at least a week (LOL) you know I’ve been talking about the good, the bad, and the necessary details of book reviews.
Today’s Friday Five is 5 things to NEVER include in one if you are a book reviewer.
- SPOILERS. nevernevernever put spoilers in your review. This kills the suspense for the person who wants to read it because they already know what’s going to happen. Think of it this way – would you have wanted to know the ending to these movies BEFORE you saw them: Psycho, Star Wars ( the original) The Usual Suspects. Notice I didn’t tell you what those endings were. If you feel you want to or have to put spoilers in your review ( and believe me, you really don’t!) Then please tag it at the very beginning of the review with SPOILER ALERT. This will give the reader of the review the option to not read the review until after they’ve read the book.
- Foul language. I read a review the other day of a book where the first line read “This book was f***ing* gross.” The word did not have the asteriks. There is no need to curse in a review- even if you are using the word as a joyful one as in “this book was f***ing great!” And I’m gonna add, this is a personal preference. But in all honesty I won’t read a review with curses in it. There are so many fabulous words in our language, foul ones don’t do it for me.
- Attack the author. Reviews are opinions. I get that. But if you don’t like the book or it wasn’t for you, simply state that. Don’t write that the author is a hack, writes like a second grader who can’t think for himself, or should stick to his/her day job. Like cursing, this is unnecessary.
- don’t rewrite the book. There’s nothing more insulting than putting into print these words: This book would have been better if... OR I would have written the ending this way. I’ve seen both in reviews and my thought is always, (1) you didn’t write the book, and (2) if you think it should have been written that way then you go write a book with the ending you think is better. And yes, I sound mean and nasty, but this really irks me.
- One-star and write a review for a book you DNF’d ( did not finish). First of all, I can’t believe Goodeads allows 1 stars for stated DNF’d books. This just seems counterintuitive to me. Simply saying you didn’t finish it should be enough. Adding because you didn’t like the characters or plotline, is fine. But why should the author be penalized with a 1 star that brings down their entire rating for a book that wasn’t finished. In all honesty – again – if someone DNF’s a book it usually means it is a 1 star. Or less. No need to rate it, the thought is inherent in the DNF.
Agree? Disagree? That’s fine. Every reviewer is different, but as an author, I wouldn’t enjoy seeing any of the above things in a review for one of my books. Just sayin’.
Filed under Writing
The Slay’s the Thing…a new #cozymystery by famed author Louise Stevens
My good friend and excellent writer, Louise Stevens, has just released her 10th book! And it’s another 5 star read for me. This cozy mystery is the start of a new series for Louise, SECOND ACT COZY MYSTERIES, and I can guarantee the series is a winner!! Here’s a little about the book from Louise:
The second act of Amanda Seldon’s life is about to begin. She’s leaving behind her corporate career behind and moving back to her small New England hometown to pursue her dream of being an author.
In a play, the second act is where all the exciting stuff happens, but Amanda doesn’t expect life in Maple Hills to be murder. Literally.
But when murders happen, Amanda is quick to get her sleuth on, along with her two childhood best friends, her fun-loving aunt, and her neurotic rescue dog. What could go wrong? They’ve all read a lot of mystery novels, and Fluffy is an attack shih tzu.
If you love small-town cozy mysteries with quirky characters, an adorable dog, humor, and heart, then the Second Act Cozy Mysteries series is for you!
Peggy here – doesn’t that sound fabulous? Trust me, it is!!
I’m Amanda Seldon and I knew it would be a change to leave my soul-sucking corporate career and move back to my sleepy hometown to pursue my dream of being an author. But I never suspected it would literally be murder.
Working part-time at a summer stock theater is perfect to earn some cash. Until someone gets killed and the police chief suspects me. The cherry on top is the chief’s brother is my childhood crush, and I don’t want to be wearing an orange jumpsuit when we meet again. I set out to find the murderer with my two best friends, fun-loving aunt, and my anxious rescue dog. No problem, right? We’ve all read plenty of mysteries, and Fluffy is an attack shih tzu.
It’s the second act of my life, and in a play that’s when the exciting stuff happens. Exciting is fine, but will I be a free woman when the curtain goes down?
I hustled Fluffy into the theater and rushed down the aisle toward the stage. The dim emergency lighting, which was left on all the time when the theater was in operation, was the only illumination. Once we reached the stage, Fluffy trotted up the steps before me, and I followed along.
On the stage, my dog made a beeline for the very spot I wanted to avoid. The one where we had found the body. Who knew Fluffy was such a little ghoul?
“Not that way, Fluff. We need to get to the stage door on the other side of the stage.” I tugged gently on her leash, but she continued to sniff the wooden floorboards.
While I debated how I could juggle everything else I carried to try to pick her up like a furry football and make a break for the stage door, she finally stopped sniffing and lifted her head.
“That’s a good girl, Fluff, let’s go home.” I turned and walked toward the other side of the stage, but stopped short when the leash pulled taut and wouldn’t let me go any further.
I looked back at my dog, only to find her staring fixedly up into the rafters over my head. She growled low in her throat. My gaze nervously flicked in the direction she was peering, and I caught a glimpse of a shadow up above.
Someone was in the rafters.
Get your copy here:
Barnes & Noble: https://bit.ly/3PzFYg9
Apple: https://apple.co/3PCx6X8
Kobo: https://bit.ly/3JzYEbL
Smashwords: https://bit.ly/3XtOUFM
Tolino: https://bit.ly/3CRwYLW
Vivlio: https://bit.ly/3COUhWv
Louise Stevens is the author of the Port Sunset Mysteries series. A lover of mysteries since her discovery of Nancy Drew many years ago, she is thrilled to be writing cozy mysteries now. She lives in Maryland with her husband, who also loves a good mystery, in a house packed with books.
Louise Stevens is the pen name of contemporary romance author Donna Simonetta
Add THE SLAY’S THE THING to GOODREADS want to read list here: Goodreads
I was sososo lucky to receive and ARC of this fun book, and you can read my review here: REVIEW
#tuesdaythoughts #bookreviews from an author’s viewpoint
So yesterday I talked about what a reviewer should include in a book review. Today, I’d like to get an author’s perspective of a review.
As an author I know just how much time, effort, sleepless nights, and worry go into writing, editing, and releasing a book into the reading universe.
It’s considerable.
So when a reviewer lovesloveloves your book, 5 stars it, and then makes sure those in her/his realm know about the book, you, as an author, are floating on a success high.
Now, there are always those who won’t love your book. The reasons are varied and include everything from the reader doesn’t like the POV you’ve written in ( happens to me all the time with readers who don’t like first person or won’t read 3rd omniscient), can’t relate to the plotline or characters, or were expecting a sweet story and you had them having steamy sex on every conceivable surface they could find ( also happens to me!)
Your role as writer is to have thick skin.
Just like every single person on the planet won’t like you as a person, every single reader on the same planet won’t like what you’ve written every single time, every single book. Some books just don’t resonate with a reader. That doesn’t make it a bad book, just not for them.
You may think you’re the next Nora Roberts and a reader thinks you write like their third grader.
You may think your book is the next best thing everyone’s been waiting for and a reader thinks your story’s been told before, 1 million times, and yours is just meh.
You may think every review should be a 5 star one, and many a reader is giving you 3 stars – which is still good. I don’t know why we’ve been conditioned to think it’s bad, but we do. It’s just not what you want.
My advice? Get over yourself, move on, and keep writing what you love. Do not – DO NOT – under any circumstances – engage with that reader and try to prove them wrong, or shame them, or call them stupid/illiterate/not worth living – add your own adjective here. Their review is their OPINION. Their opinion is not wrong to them; you just don’t happen to agree with it.
I’m repeating myself here, but get over yourself and move on.
Reviews and ratings are important to writers for not only the ego part of the writing equation – it’s also important for how to get others to read your book – new readers, especially. We fear that a book that has just 3 or 4 star reviews will be passed over by someone looking for a new author to read. I am the type of person who, if I see a bunch of 4/5 stars and a couple 1 stars am intrigued and if I don’t know the author or the book, will dive into learning about it. And every time it comes down to what I’ve already said – that book just didn’t resonate with that reader.
And here’s something I’m not ashamed to admit: I never read the books that are all the rage with 50,000 5 stars and glowing reviews up the wazoo because I’ve found – believe it or not – those books are typically not something I enjoy reading.
Remember Oprah’s book club? I read the first three books she had on her show. Hated everyone of them. Struggled, struggled so hard, to get through them. By book 4 I figured, don’t bother. Her reading type is different from mine. I like lighthearted, upbeat, love stories. She, apparently back then, didn’t. All those books were angsty, overly emotional tomes. It doesn’t mean those books were bad, they were just not for me.
That’s how, as an author, you have to look at those 1,2, and even 3 star reviews. Your book just wasn’t for that reader.
Does it make it hard to see a 1,2, or even 3 star review on Goodreads or Amazon? Sure. I wouldn’t be human if I said it didn’t. But if there are legitimate reasons why the reader rated it that way, then just accept, and move on.
And remember – not everyone is going to like you in real life. Don’t expect it to be any different in your writing one.
Move on, and keep writing what you love.
(P.S. I know I’m gonna get some flack for this piece. That’s okay. My skin is uberthick. As I said, this is my opinion, just like a book review is.)
Filed under Writing
#mondaymusings On reviews, the good and the bad ways to write them
I did a TIKTOK the other day while I was spending the day in bed, trying to get rid of my sciatica pain, about a review I’d received. It was a 5 star, so yay for that, but the charming reviewer went ahead and listed every single spoiler there was in the review while she explained and detailed the plot.
I was gobsmacked.
In the back of my mind I figured, why would anyone want to read this book now that they know every thing that happens in it? I alternated between being thrilled with the review and heartbroken at the spoilers, so I decided to do what I always do when faced with an issue: blog about it.
As a reviewer myself, I know that there are certain things you should always put in a book review, and things you should never put in one, and spoilers are the biggest one not to include. And if your review does contain spoilers, there needs to be a statement at the beginning of the review telling people that so they can make the decision not to read the review and just read the book through by themselves and learn everything organically through the read.
Reviewers – and again, I’m a reviewer, too – the main thing I always want to keep front and center in my mind when I start to write a review, especially if it’s a book that wasn’t exactly my favorite thing ever, is that somebody wrote this. Somebody put their blood, sweat, tears, emotions, and time on the line to write this story. Just like you would never ( I hope) say someone’s baby or child is evil or butt-ugly, or wasn’t worth being born, because you know how those words are going to devastate the parent, saying mean, horrible, and nasty things about a book – and worse: putting them in print in the guise of a review- is just as mean, horrible, nasty and, I’ll add, hurtful. So please, always put yourself in the seat of the author when you start to pen a review and keep it civil. My mother used to say if you can’t say something nice, shut up. I kinda agree. Criticism doesn’t have to be delivered negatively. It can be tempered. Saying something like this book wasn’t for me, although I know that’s just my opinion is way better than saying this book sucked and the author should be stoned in a public square.
Okay, enough preaching.
Here are a few things you must include: The author’s name, and the name of the book. Sounds simple, right? But you would be surprised how many people leave either of those two out.
If you are starring the book, the number of stars you are giving is a must. And I know star ratings can be interpreted as subjective, but I would think everyone knows a 5 star rating means the book has some merit.
It’s okay to give a very brief rehash of the blurb, maybe in your own words or with your own spin.
You can explain about the h/h and why you liked them. Or didn’t – just do it nicely.
You can explain your favorite tropes in the book or why you decided to read it. Would you recommend it? I’ve had reviewers read one of my books, never having read me before, and then state they were now going to read the rest of my catalog. Manna from Heaven to an author’s ears.
A review can simply be, “I enjoyed this book and recommend it.” It doesn’t have to be fifteen pages long, and detail chapter by chapter.
If you do review a book, it’s always nice to post it to places where it could mean an increase in exposure to the author, like Amazon, BookBub, TikTok, Instagram, your blog, Facebook. All those places have engagement traction for authors built in, so every review helps.
I’m going to do a #fridayfive this week about 5 things NOT to include in a review – and yes – it includes spoilers. But there are a few others you want to stay away from, too that I’ll list.
Tomorrow I’ll tackle what the role of an author is concerning reviews. You’d be surprised at some of the things writers have done when they haven’t like or agreed with a reviewer’s take on their book – things that are career killers!
Tune in tomorrow, kids.
#fridayfive
Today’s friday five is all about an indie book release – mine!
Influence released on monday 8.14.2023, and, like every other time I’ve released a new book on my own – the definition of indie, lol – I’ve learned a few things and done a few new things. Here’s my list for this week, with this upload.
- Make sure you upload the correct files. The ones that have been edited to your satisfaction and that are correctly formated.
- Make sure all your links are clear. If you use Bitly or Books2Read, please ensure the clean links you send people in your email or newsletter or in your marketing are correct. There’s nothing worse than sending a reader to the wrong spot – or book!
- Change all your banners on your social sites to reflect your book cover.
- order author copies BEFORE release day
- (this one is conceited, but I do it anyway) Check your sales in KDp hourly and your ranking in NEW RELEASES in your category on amazon just as much. Yes, I am conceited.
Filed under Writing
5 months…
I’ve been remembering the weirdest stuff lately.
Most of it has to do with how my mother’s mental status was tenuous during my teen years and my early twenties.
I don’t remember her as being angry or lashing out so much before I hit my teens, which coincided with her starting perimenopause. I understand the correlation now between off-the-charts emotional swings and her acting out behaviors. At thirteen I didn’t have a clue what was going on with her, I just knew she was craycray-to-the-max.
There was the time she got so mad at me over something I have no memory of doing or saying that she threw a hot slice of pizza she was holding at me. Hot, like just out of the oven hot. And, yes, the same infamous oven of the Easter ham-on-fire incident. Luckily, her aim was awful and the slice barely grazed me in the chest, which was covered with clothing. If she’d aimed higher, it would have landed across my face and the resulting burn would have been awful.
Decades later, while I was giving her a shower, I happened to mention how menopause-induced-insomnia was kicking my butt. I asked if she had any problems during her menopause (I already knew the answer!) and she said no. For whatever reason, call me a masochist, I brought up the pizza-tossing incident. I truly couldn’t remember what I’d said or done to make her throw it at me.
My mother’s entire face changed. Now, remember: she was naked as the day she was born, sitting on the shower chair, with shampoo in her hair. She looked up at me, lips pulled into a thin, hard line, eyes narrowing, elongating the wrinkles at her temples even more. In a pissed-off tone I remembered well from my teen years, she said, “You were such a little shit.”
“Such a shit that you needed to throw a slice of pizza at me?”
Without any remorse – not even the hint of it – she replied, “It was either that or throw you outta the house. Pack you off to your bastard of a father.”
That shut me up pretty quick. I was still underage at the time of the pizza toss, so this was a potential threat she could have made good on because I wasn’t old enough to be on my own, out in the world yet. Having to go live with my father was something I never, ever wanted to do.
Not that he would have taken me in, mind you, because he wouldn’t have. There was no way on God’s green earth he was going to do something that would cramp the lifestyle he’d carved out for himself and his second wife, and having a moody, overweight teenager thrown at him wasn’t in his playbook for living the high life.
It hadn’t been when I was a baby, either, evidenced by the fact he’d so easily walked away from his parental, fatherly responsibilities.
But still, the threat was a valid one at that time in my life and she threw it out at me often. I recognize now it was her inadequate-parenting-skills attempt to get me to behave.
Has any child ever really behaved when threats are aimed their way?
Here’s the thing, though. Decades after that incident, my mother still had such a visceral memory of me making her do something as egregious as throw hot food at me. I can’t even imagine doing something like that to my daughter, no matter what the cause or reason for my anger.
The woman’s memory was long. And she rarely forgot when someone slighted her – whether they had or hadn’t.
I stopped talking about the incident right then because I could see her memories were getting her agitated. I knew if I pushed she’d be yelling and overly emotional before long, so I switched topics to my grandson.
She brightened up immediately, the bad memory relegated to the back corners and recesses of her aging mind.
Wish I’d had that insight into manipulating negative behaviors when I was a teen. Those years might have gone a little better.
Alas…
#fridayfive
Something a little different today…5 things I’ve learned since I because a published author.
- No everyone will think your book is 5 star worthy. Haters gotta hate and everyone’s a critic. Grow some thick skin or get outta the game.
- You will not get independently rich overnight. Or ever. Be happy if you break even most years when tax time rolls around.
- Every book has typos. Even professionally/traditionally pubbed books.
- Self marketing is a must and a crapshoot at the same time. Don’t spend thousands of unnecessary dollars on ads that get you no ROIs.
- I am happiest when I am writing. Not editing. Not promoting. Not meeting people at book signing events. Just writing.
Filed under Writing
Peggy Jaeger, Author 