Authors Lounge discussion

Wow. I haven't received a message like this but... Wow.

Wow. I haven't gotten this message, but I can't see how this could be rationalized... I would never do something likes this. It's not what writing/reading/reviewing is about for me. I'm a bit speechless.

Yeah, wow! Not sure there is any other response for that really. I'm always amazed at what some people will come up with in order to attempt to get something for nothing. I hope that no one is taken in by something of this nature.

They can send me $5 and a copy of their book and I'll write an HONEST review. Of course, they may not like it...

Doc

Gets sleezier out there every day.

Whew! Sleazy is the word, indeed!

Mary, How funny for me. Sleezy instead of Sleazy. Reminds me of when I was teaching English as a second language in Japan and I did a whole session on ee and ea words: Peach, reach, sleeve, breach, creep, steel, steal, reel, real, and summed up: Ain't got no logic at all.

Sorry, Randy, I wasn't trying to point out your error. I am a former English teacher and sometimes can't help myself, but this picking at that kind of thing got a little out of hand in another section of this group (the name of the group and the apostrophe thing) and I was just agreeing with you. I posted a cute poster on the craziness of English on my fb page awhile back.

No, no need to be sorry at all! I tend to laugh at my mistkaes. As I get older I find I make more aural dyslexic type of mistakes. I meant to write malodorous in a book not long ago and wrote melodious! Huge difference in the scene as well. Here's the book: Maybe you'll be tempted to go look for it! http://www.amazon.com/SPILL-ebook/dp/...

Wow! I'll give you credit for a story idea I haven't heard before! That's quite a yarn.

It's very funny! Here's the story behind it: http://www.randyattwood.blogspot.com/...

Written in a kind of despair, really. Challenged myself to write a comedy. If you can make a reader laugh, the writing has succeeded and no one can deny a laugh.

The Hiassen reference is for SPILL. Realize now I should have named the works I'm talking about. Must go back and edit them in!

I have such a hard time with comedy. As Lt Saavik said in Star Trek 2, "Humor. It is a difficult concept." Ironic that it was Kirstie Alley, comedy actress. I can make jokes in real life, but it's not easy to be humorous, even for comic relief, in my books.

I had the best time writing SPILL of any book I've ever written. I laughed my A... off at many points. At least I made the writer laugh! I spent 16 years in the newspaper business and started a mystery once with a setting in a newsroom and and just didn't go anywhere. Then I realized the only way to write about the newsroom was as a comedy. Anytime you have a place where people take themselves way too serious(ly?), then humor is the only way to go.

What the...?!?

I would never write a sockpuppet review for my own book, and I certainly wouldn't pay someone else to post it for me.

I mean ... if you're going to charge, why not $16.98... to make it sound legit? Many magazines are doing this these days. Not overtly, but they are. Pitching an editor repeatedly and nothing happens -- suddenly get a call from that magazines ad department -- pay $250 for a quarter page ad and .... voila! a review appears.

It's getting to be a dirty world in product review PR. Bottom-line: if you'd pay for advertising in that pub/outlet, may as well pay for editorial. Not that you have to like it.

What a scam! I don't mind asking people to review my books, in fact, it's essential and I don't think giving a free copy is paying for one. But I expect them to read it and give an honest review. And I love those 4 and 5 star reviews that say my book is "laugh-out-load" funny, or has great characters. Where's the joy in a review that's bogus? No wonder some readers are down on indies. I've seen on Amazon forums where readers say they can't trust 'likes' and reviews of indie books and this is part of the reason why. Phoney reviews hurt us in the long run.

I recently reviewed a children's book (she put out a request on Goodreads, I responded, she gave me a copy). I gave it four stars but made sure my review had worthwhile content, then went back and looked at some of the other reviews she had gotten. They were pathetic. Five stars after five stars with review content so generic and gushy they were meaningless! She appreciated so much getting a review that actually commented on her book!

Mary wrote: "I recently reviewed a children's book (she put out a request on Goodreads, I responded, she gave me a copy). I gave it four stars but made sure my review had worthwhile content, then went back and ..."

Good for you. If I do a review it's meaningful! Nice to meet another honest reviewer.

Randi wrote: "Hey, did any of you receive a message like this? The sender is someone from Goodreads, but I don't want to share her name...

****

I review books-kind considerate post only- Goodreads, Twitte..."

You're kidding, right? Ok, maybe not. Since the inception of the internet scammers abound. I get requests from friends stranded in London/Paris/Dallas, and no money to get home... would I loan them the air/bus/cab fee? We all have a good laugh and they change their e-mail address. No one should have to pay for a review, and writing it yourself is just plain insulting.

I found a site that charged $15 for a review, and that didn't seem to me to be too bad. They had some well-known authors listed. Good explanation of how they did the reviews. Then came the kickers: This is a person who farms out the reviews and doesn't pay her reviewers anything but Starbucks coupons and t-shirts, and charges $15 per place you want the interview uploaded to. Wow!

WoMens Literary Cafe does a much better job of promoting Indie Authors. They have a variety of free and inexpensive promotions. I used their free Indie promotion and they've tweeted the heck out of my newest e-book, raising the sales considerably. I've just done their $25.00 read and review promotion coming out in Jan. They connect readers who "say" they will review to authors. I'll have to let you all know who that works. But, check them out. They're very active and nice people. Melissa Foster runs it and all questions are always answered.

R.p. wrote: "WoMens Literary Cafe does a much better job of promoting Indie Authors. They have a variety of free and inexpensive promotions. I used their free Indie promotion and they've tweeted the heck out of..."

I'm going to have a look at them now. This year is going to be my year for trying paid advertising to build up my readership. I have a Frugal eReader promotion on the 14th so Im keen to see how many sales that brings. I've also got an ad running on GR but either I'm being too cheap or its not working as I haven't seen any sales from it.

We authors are easy pickings. Be careful. I am just so cynical.

Ok, concept time. Just imagine as a reader you PAID a service to give you book recommendations. And that service didn't make authors pay, but participated in their revenues. The service folks really liked your work and they would hook you up with readers who really wanted the kind of fiction you created. And, as a paying reader, if you weren't satisfied after a certain period of time, you'd have your fee refunded. That would be the check to keep the service honest. Hmmm...sometimes, honesty really might work.

Randy, yep, that's a concept that works for NY Times best sellers in the past, but seems to have gone by the wayside. Print magazines are disappearing against internet e-news which is always free to readers.

For those of you who Twitter, there are plenty of sites to find there that will promote yr books, and many of them do it for Free. WoMens Lit. Cafe has a FREE e-book FRiday giveaway and they have other programs, too... many of them free or pretty cheap and they twitter the H out of your e-book.

Pixels of Ink seems to be the BIG gun for promoting and if you are in the KDP select program, they will put your free days up on their listing. They charge for all other promotions and e-books are $179.00.

I don't think anyone should pay for a review, but they're hard to get when you're not a brand name. Twitter has reviewers/bloggers up who will read newbies. Look for reveiwers for your genre there.

THere's also Kindle and Amazon and B&N groups. GR giveaways through GR don't get you any names, but if you're in a GR Group you can ask the moderators if they will allow you a give away. I did one but only got one review from it.

Wow...just saw this thread. I can't believe anybody would be so sleazy. Well, I can believe it, unfortunately. What ever happened to earning good reviews by writing a good book?

It never ceases to amaze me the lengths some individuals will go to take advantage of authors. If it wasn't so prominent, I suppose the site Preditors & Editors wouldn't be needed.

I doubt that "kind and considerate reviews" will sell books on Goodreads. People read reviews to find out about the book. If a reviewer never dislikes a book, or isn't honest about how good the book is, their credibility falls to nothing. However on sites like Amazon the number of reviews and number of stars can affect how far up or down the list your book is in the search engine, so maybe this author is on to something; a nice side income for themselves.
I haven't received that message and No thanks anyway. I'll come by my reviews honestly, thank you very much.

Okay, I'm sorry to say this but if someone feels the need to resort to tactics like this it says a lot about them and none of it is good. Your writing should speak for itself and just because that person feels like they have to lie to sell books doesn't mean she should involve others in her scheme. Doesn't she realise that once a real reader buys her book, all that work she put into lying will be for nothing? Shes better putting all that energy into promoting her book(s) instead.

Randi wrote: "Hey, did any of you receive a message like this? The sender is someone from Goodreads, but I don't want to share her name...

****

I review books-kind considerate post only- Goodreads, Twitte..."

Whoa...is that deceptive.

Wow! Things get crazier and crazier as the Indie Revolution continues.