After recently submitting my newest novel The Man with the Black Belt to Readers’ Favorite for a review, and then, weeks later, submitting a book from my backlist To Hide in Holly Springs, the results were mystifying.  If you’ve ever been confused about book review results, read on.

Since my first book was self-published back in 2010, I’ve always struggled with getting book reviews.  Trust me, I’ve tried everything, even putting a book on perma-free.  The first romantic suspense/police procedural novel I published, The Wife of a Lesser Man, has been permanently free for as long as I can remember.  It gets hundreds of downloads per month, too.  But does it get reviews?  Nope.  Hardly ever.  Not even bad reviews.

I’ve used paid review services before, like Clarion, which I had great success in with The Wheels of Change.  That book still does fairly well, and I’d love to use that service again, but unfortunately, the price has risen, and I can no longer afford it.

To get To Hide in Holly Springs professionally edited, it cost me over $1500.00USD, and in order to pay for that, I chose to pull money from an RSP.  The Man with the Black Belt was NOT professionally edited.  If that makes you pass on reading it, that’s fine. But one thing I’ll tell you is that most readers cannot tell the difference in any of my books.

Point of fact:  The Man with the Black Belt, again, not professionally edited, received a five star review from Readers’ Favorite.  Mere weeks later, I submitted To Hide in Holly Springs, professionally edited (I saw all the edits via Track Changes in Word, and I approved them myself.  So I know it was well edited), received three stars from Readers’ Favorite, and the reviewer cited bad editing as the reason for the poor review.  Explain that.

As a self-published author who works full-time and has a mortgage and two kids, like many other authors, I can’t afford many of the accoutrements of self-publishing.  Everything from cover design, promotion of all types, website design, even much of the editing, is done by me.  If that turns readers away, that’s fine.  I’ve tried to make a living with my writing, but the competition is fierce, and I’m not gambling away any more of my money.  I love writing and doing all the things that make me a self-published author, so I’ll keep doing it no matter what.  It makes me happy.  It makes my readers happy.  At the end of the day that’s what counts.

Review services are expensive.  Editing is expensive.  When I put money out for editing and then pay for a review for the reviewer to turn around and tell me it wasn’t edited, it’s a slap in the face.