Hi readers, subscribers and fans!

First off, thanks to all of you for making my August an exciting one! This month has really been impactful for me. I had a few, solid book promotions for Shamblers since its Mid-July release, and it is getting a lot of ratings and reviews. Some are good, some are not so good. That is to be expected.

I have counted up the total number of sales and free downloads I’ve had this month. My figures accounted for every Amazon venue, the paperbacks I have sold personally, and the paperbacks that have sold online.

For August, the total number of my books that readers have acquired equals 1,725.  In specific, Shamblers: the zombie apocalypse has sold in 5 continents: North and South America, Europe, Asia, and Australia. It has had at least one sale in over 10 different countries. I hope I am on my way to become an international sensation. That would be a really huge change, and I’m sure it would bring new challenges as well. With this nice leap forward, I think it is only pertinent to thank my readers who’ve referred me to other people, and to thank anyone nice enough to post an online review. I also wanted to thank the promotional sites I’ve subscribed to that have helped promote my free eBook days on Kindle. Facebook and Twitter have each been huge for free book promotions.

This August I have also noticed a curious trend develop:  people either really LOVE Shamblers, or otherwise they HATE it. You can see the trend in the image below:

From what I have gathered (based upon Amazon and Goodreads ratings, reviews, and statistics), there isn’t a lot of middle ground. I think this may be a result of the excessive swearing: it tends to turn-off some female readers. The characters were designed to survive zombies: it doesn’t make them nice people. Even the hero is a bit of an anti-hero. Some readers have complained that it makes it hard to warm up to him, but I designed him that way for a reason.

I didn’t want to put a traditional hero into Shamblers. I wanted the villain to be someone that everyone would hate. Indeed, that has turned out to be exactly the case. Readers have been reacting to Marcus exactly the way I had planned. Many readers have complained that Marcus is sexist and racist. They also mention how he is egotistical, and backstabbing (among other things). I expected this to happen. It is not without consequence, however. I now have a concern that my villain has worked too well: I made Marcus to realistic and cruel: some readers have seen his crude, uncensored dialogue and are, understandably, shocked by it. I expected that a few really extreme word choices would cause a stir.

I should offer some sort of apology to those readers, but I won’t. I’m a writer. No matter what I do, people criticize it. I hate censorship and I think it is one of the biggest problems our society faces today. Everyone is way too sensitive.

Another interesting trend I have spotted this August is that, in general, female readers have really taken a shine to Shamblers! I hadn’t expected this. Female readers are actually responsible for the bulk of my 4 and 5 STAR reviews! To that, I say THANK YOU, WOMEN. I knew that you could handle the profanity, violence, and some sexually-objectified female characters. I knew that guys would eat up this kind of stuff, but I was really unsure about the reaction I’d receive from the ladies. I’m glad it has been very encouraging.

Lastly, this August has been a learning experience for dealing with criticism. I have had my share of it before, and I’m sure I’ll still get it. Yet this month is the first time I’ve had to deal with what I will dub “unfair criticism.” I have had reviews outright LIE about stuff! I truly can’t believe it! I can deal with a little exaggeration, but to tell a blatant lie is very un-George-Washington-like.

Here is a paraphrased example: “all the characters [in Shamblers] are racist and sexist.”

I responded to this person and I pointed out that ONLY the villain displays any sort of racist tendencies. No one else in the novel uses any derogatory slurs. In fact, the other characters actually respond to derogatory comments as we would expect in real life: with disgust and annoyance. As for sexism, there is an important point to remember: the story is told from Nick’s perspective. Yes, maybe he is a bit sexist. Maybe he likes to objectify women. Maybe he likes to admire women. I won’t fault him for that. The female characters certainly aren’t sexist (at least not in my view). I actually think they’re strong and courageous women. That is how I tried to portray them.

Of course, this reader didn’t want to hear any sort of explanation.

Another thing I have realized this August is that I can’t please everyone. I have found that what some people love, others hate. One example is “the plot twist” or “narration shift.” I have heard that it was the crucial point in the story. I have also heard it was “unbelievable” or “weak.”  The same holds true for the ending: people liked it, loved it, or thought it was just okay, or outright didn’t like it.

You can’t please everyone.  I wrote the book that I enjoyed writing, and I did it in less than a month. I’d like to see critics pull that off. Of, wait….they can’t. J

Thus, August is over and in the books. I look forward to an awesome September and hope for great things to come!

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