Sharon Stevenson's Blog - Posts Tagged "spirit-splintered"
How to Write a Review the Quick and Easy Way
Firstly, I’d like to thank everyone who has left a review for one or more of my books so far; you are all totally awesome and I very much appreciate it. So here’s the deal; I would love to get some more reviews on my Gallows series of books and so I’ve come up with the following proposal:
I will make Book #6 ‘Spirit Splintered’ free if I can get to 100 Amazon reviews on each of the first five books in this series by 30/11/14!
Note: Book #5 Hell Halved comes out in July. The reviews would be required by 30/11/2014 as Book #6 Spirit Splintered will be released in December, but that’s 8 months away so there’s plenty of time to get your reviews in. This shouldn’t be too difficult a task considering there are already 38 reviews (between Amazon US & UK) on the first book; it means less than 1% of the people who downloaded this book just need to post a simple review. So basically you can help make book #6 free if you leave a review (or 5!).
This needn’t be difficult and I’m here to help make it even easier!
Let a reviewer teach you how to write a review – me!
I’ve been publishing for the last year and a half and I very quickly realised how important reviews are to all authors, in particular indie authors like me. Being an avid reader, I started leaving reviews for all the indie books I’ve read and last year left 175 reviews on Amazon & Goodreads.
At first it was difficult: I had no idea where to start, what to say and how to say it. I persisted, learned along the way and then when eventually everything clicked I came up with my own format and began hammering out 3-4 reviews a week. It was easy and I’m going to give you a quick tutorial right here.
Remember, reviews are really just opinions, and everyone has an opinion.
So what’s your opinion of this book? Did you like it? Why or why not?
There’s your first line right there and if it hits the right word count for Amazon (20 words minimum) you can leave it at that for a short and to the point review; mega simple.
Examples:
I liked this because it had exciting plot lines. I was never bored reading this!
This book was highly entertaining. I liked the characters and found their banter amusing.
This book was pretty good. I liked that every character was well written and the plot had lots of surprising twists. It was maybe a bit long and the ending was a cliff-hanger.
Who would you recommend it to, or why do you think others will like it?
This just expands on the first question but is helpful to customers looking for books that match their tastes.
Examples:
Anyone who likes an action-packed story should enjoy this book.
If you like urban fantasy with a witty sense of humour and surprising plot twists you should really try this out.
Fans of supernatural series like (insert an existing series name) or books by (insert author name) should like this too.
What were your first thoughts on finishing the book?
This is an honest personal reaction and makes for great review writing material!
Examples:
I can’t wait to see what happens next!
Wow, that ending was so surprising!
And there you have it; reviews the quick and easy way! You don’t need to be a book blogger or an expert at dissecting novels to write a review. You have an opinion and all you have to do is write it down.
The same principle can be applied to any book so feel free to catch the review writing bug – it can be addictive and fun, and it will most certainly be appreciated!
Here are the links to my books on Amazon:
Amazon US: http://www.amazon.com/Sharon-Stevenso...
Amazon UK: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Sharon-Steven...
I will be posting monthly updates on this proposal so you can see how close I’m getting to making the sixth Gallows novel free. If you have any questions, please ask. Alternatively, I will be asking myself a few questions on this next week for anyone who’s not sure what this is all about so you could wait and check that out if you prefer.
Please Note: As mentioned in my previous blog post in order to make a book permanently free on Amazon I need to make it free on Smashwords who will distribute it free to other retailers such as iTunes and Barnes & Noble, and then Amazon customers need to get Amazon to price-match it. So if I reach the right number of reviews on its release the book will be marked at the lowest possible price on Amazon ($0.99/£0.77) until it is price-matched and made available for free permanently.
Book Bloggers / Reviewers
If anyone reading this is a reviewer with a book blog and may be interested in reviewing one or more of my books, please feel free to contact me. Email: sharonstevensonauthor@gmail.com
I will make Book #6 ‘Spirit Splintered’ free if I can get to 100 Amazon reviews on each of the first five books in this series by 30/11/14!
Note: Book #5 Hell Halved comes out in July. The reviews would be required by 30/11/2014 as Book #6 Spirit Splintered will be released in December, but that’s 8 months away so there’s plenty of time to get your reviews in. This shouldn’t be too difficult a task considering there are already 38 reviews (between Amazon US & UK) on the first book; it means less than 1% of the people who downloaded this book just need to post a simple review. So basically you can help make book #6 free if you leave a review (or 5!).
This needn’t be difficult and I’m here to help make it even easier!
Let a reviewer teach you how to write a review – me!
I’ve been publishing for the last year and a half and I very quickly realised how important reviews are to all authors, in particular indie authors like me. Being an avid reader, I started leaving reviews for all the indie books I’ve read and last year left 175 reviews on Amazon & Goodreads.
At first it was difficult: I had no idea where to start, what to say and how to say it. I persisted, learned along the way and then when eventually everything clicked I came up with my own format and began hammering out 3-4 reviews a week. It was easy and I’m going to give you a quick tutorial right here.
Remember, reviews are really just opinions, and everyone has an opinion.
So what’s your opinion of this book? Did you like it? Why or why not?
There’s your first line right there and if it hits the right word count for Amazon (20 words minimum) you can leave it at that for a short and to the point review; mega simple.
Examples:
I liked this because it had exciting plot lines. I was never bored reading this!
This book was highly entertaining. I liked the characters and found their banter amusing.
This book was pretty good. I liked that every character was well written and the plot had lots of surprising twists. It was maybe a bit long and the ending was a cliff-hanger.
Who would you recommend it to, or why do you think others will like it?
This just expands on the first question but is helpful to customers looking for books that match their tastes.
Examples:
Anyone who likes an action-packed story should enjoy this book.
If you like urban fantasy with a witty sense of humour and surprising plot twists you should really try this out.
Fans of supernatural series like (insert an existing series name) or books by (insert author name) should like this too.
What were your first thoughts on finishing the book?
This is an honest personal reaction and makes for great review writing material!
Examples:
I can’t wait to see what happens next!
Wow, that ending was so surprising!
And there you have it; reviews the quick and easy way! You don’t need to be a book blogger or an expert at dissecting novels to write a review. You have an opinion and all you have to do is write it down.
The same principle can be applied to any book so feel free to catch the review writing bug – it can be addictive and fun, and it will most certainly be appreciated!
Here are the links to my books on Amazon:
Amazon US: http://www.amazon.com/Sharon-Stevenso...
Amazon UK: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Sharon-Steven...
I will be posting monthly updates on this proposal so you can see how close I’m getting to making the sixth Gallows novel free. If you have any questions, please ask. Alternatively, I will be asking myself a few questions on this next week for anyone who’s not sure what this is all about so you could wait and check that out if you prefer.
Please Note: As mentioned in my previous blog post in order to make a book permanently free on Amazon I need to make it free on Smashwords who will distribute it free to other retailers such as iTunes and Barnes & Noble, and then Amazon customers need to get Amazon to price-match it. So if I reach the right number of reviews on its release the book will be marked at the lowest possible price on Amazon ($0.99/£0.77) until it is price-matched and made available for free permanently.
Book Bloggers / Reviewers
If anyone reading this is a reviewer with a book blog and may be interested in reviewing one or more of my books, please feel free to contact me. Email: sharonstevensonauthor@gmail.com
New Release: Back from the Dark (A Gallows Short: Teri's Story)
Announcement: My email list has officially been closed down. What this means: if you’re keen to know when my books are out you’ll need to do one of the following; subscribe to this blog, like my facebook page, follow me on twitter, and/or add me as a favourite on Amazon.
Anyway, the good news behind this change is that I’ll be releasing the email exclusive short stories on wattpad, smashwords, and goodreads, so that fans of the Gallows Novels can easily find and read them for free in various formats!
The first story to be released is ‘Back from the Dark’ and focuses on popular recurring character Teri (aka Elle). This is best read after ‘Fate Fallen’, the third Gallows Novel, as it contains spoilers for the first three books. Enjoy!
Links to where you can read or download this short story:
Wattpad: http://www.wattpad.com/story/3346331-...
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/2...
Smashwords: https://www.smashwords.com/books/view...
Next up:
The next short story will feature an important character I’ll be introducing in ‘Spirit Splintered’, the sixth Gallows Novel. I know several fans have been waiting for her to show up ever since book one, so this revealing bit of her backstory will be released soon after the novel comes out. Watch out for release dates nearer the end of this year!
Anyway, the good news behind this change is that I’ll be releasing the email exclusive short stories on wattpad, smashwords, and goodreads, so that fans of the Gallows Novels can easily find and read them for free in various formats!
The first story to be released is ‘Back from the Dark’ and focuses on popular recurring character Teri (aka Elle). This is best read after ‘Fate Fallen’, the third Gallows Novel, as it contains spoilers for the first three books. Enjoy!
Links to where you can read or download this short story:
Wattpad: http://www.wattpad.com/story/3346331-...
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/2...
Smashwords: https://www.smashwords.com/books/view...
Next up:
The next short story will feature an important character I’ll be introducing in ‘Spirit Splintered’, the sixth Gallows Novel. I know several fans have been waiting for her to show up ever since book one, so this revealing bit of her backstory will be released soon after the novel comes out. Watch out for release dates nearer the end of this year!
