Comments for Paul Mansfield Keefe http://www.paulkeefe.com/blog Action-Packed Adventure Thrillers Sun, 12 Feb 2012 10:18:38 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3 Comment on When the devil comes to collect my bones by Kindle 4 http://www.paulkeefe.com/blog/2011/02/20/when-the-devil-comes-to-collect-my-bones/comment-page-1/#comment-592 Kindle 4 Sun, 12 Feb 2012 10:18:38 +0000 http://www.paulkeefe.com/blog/?p=168#comment-592 <strong>Kindle 4...</strong> [...]When the devil comes to collect my bones « Paul Mansfield Keefe[...]... Kindle 4…

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]]> Comment on Tit for Tat by Jen Knox http://www.paulkeefe.com/blog/2011/03/20/tit-for-tat/comment-page-1/#comment-192 Jen Knox Mon, 25 Apr 2011 17:05:44 +0000 http://www.paulkeefe.com/blog/?p=200#comment-192 Great post! I never read books that have only 5 star ratings b/c I assume the author is up to something if this is the case. Truth is, I'm with you... I've had two books recently that I read, didn't like, told the author, and got attitude in return. It burns a girl out when it comes to wanting to trade reads. The 5 star rating is such BS anyway. I can rate two books at 5 stars for completely different reasons. But if I was to compare my favorite indie book to, say, Lolita, I would be lying if I said they were both at the same level of art and craft. Also, as a reader, I hold some authors to higher standards because I've read other works by him/her and therefore have a certain expectation level. The big secret though is that reviews don't sell books. They really don't. Real readers will always decide for themselves. Make sure that excerpt is remarkable, and post it everywhere. Readers will either be curious or not. Keep reading indie work, but read it on your own terms. And only read the best. (That said, reading bad work can be incredibly educational.) Great post! I never read books that have only 5 star ratings b/c I assume the author is up to something if this is the case. Truth is, I’m with you… I’ve had two books recently that I read, didn’t like, told the author, and got attitude in return. It burns a girl out when it comes to wanting to trade reads.

The 5 star rating is such BS anyway. I can rate two books at 5 stars for completely different reasons. But if I was to compare my favorite indie book to, say, Lolita, I would be lying if I said they were both at the same level of art and craft. Also, as a reader, I hold some authors to higher standards because I’ve read other works by him/her and therefore have a certain expectation level.

The big secret though is that reviews don’t sell books. They really don’t. Real readers will always decide for themselves. Make sure that excerpt is remarkable, and post it everywhere. Readers will either be curious or not.

Keep reading indie work, but read it on your own terms. And only read the best. (That said, reading bad work can be incredibly educational.)

]]> Comment on Tit for Tat by CW Johnson http://www.paulkeefe.com/blog/2011/03/20/tit-for-tat/comment-page-1/#comment-191 CW Johnson Mon, 25 Apr 2011 00:11:40 +0000 http://www.paulkeefe.com/blog/?p=200#comment-191 I regret to say I was pulled into this very scenario, and I was admittedly the bad guy. I came across this particular author while I was in a promoting mode and agreed to his request to review his book. I took the time to read the book and ended up giving it five stars. Months later, I was still waiting for his review. I eventually became impatient and pulled the review altogether. *blush* I have since spoken to the author (who was upset, by the way) felt bad about what I had done and replaced the 5 star review. The point of this sad story is: I shouldn't have gone into it in that state of mind in the first place, but let's face it, like it or not, 98% of indie books are pure crap and I'll be much less likely to ever read another one. I regret to say I was pulled into this very scenario, and I was admittedly the bad guy.
I came across this particular author while I was in a promoting mode and agreed to his request to review his book. I took the time to read the book and ended up giving it five stars.
Months later, I was still waiting for his review. I eventually became impatient and pulled the review altogether. *blush*
I have since spoken to the author (who was upset, by the way) felt bad about what I had done and replaced the 5 star review.
The point of this sad story is: I shouldn’t have gone into it in that state of mind in the first place, but let’s face it, like it or not, 98% of indie books are pure crap and I’ll be much less likely to ever read another one.

]]> Comment on Tit for Tat by Paul Mansfield Keefe http://www.paulkeefe.com/blog/2011/03/20/tit-for-tat/comment-page-1/#comment-171 Paul Mansfield Keefe Fri, 25 Mar 2011 13:48:02 +0000 http://www.paulkeefe.com/blog/?p=200#comment-171 Rick, I agree with you wholeheartedly, giving an honest review only benefits the writer and reader. And it does hurt sometimes—growing pains! Rick, I agree with you wholeheartedly, giving an honest review only benefits the writer and reader. And it does hurt sometimes—growing pains!

]]> Comment on Tit for Tat by Rick Taubold http://www.paulkeefe.com/blog/2011/03/20/tit-for-tat/comment-page-1/#comment-157 Rick Taubold Thu, 24 Mar 2011 23:35:30 +0000 http://www.paulkeefe.com/blog/?p=200#comment-157 I feel the same way. I won't agree to trade reviews for the very reasons you mentioned. At the same time, if someone asks me to review a book, I'll read it, but I'll also be honest. I can't see any point to posting a negative review for a friend or acquaintance. instead, I'll ask the writer if he wants honest comments, but I won't post them in a review. On the other hand, I will post negative reviews of books where I don't the the authors IF the book deserves it. I will also give my reasons for the low score, and never trash a book out of spite. If, ont he other hand, I do find myself in a postion of having to give a review, I will post the disclaimer that I will be honest but in as positive a way as possible. I've given out my own books to reviewers and gotten that same answer. By agreeing to a review I understand that they will be honest. Frankly, I wouldn't want it any other way, even if it hurts. I feel the same way. I won’t agree to trade reviews for the very reasons you mentioned. At the same time, if someone asks me to review a book, I’ll read it, but I’ll also be honest. I can’t see any point to posting a negative review for a friend or acquaintance. instead, I’ll ask the writer if he wants honest comments, but I won’t post them in a review.

On the other hand, I will post negative reviews of books where I don’t the the authors IF the book deserves it. I will also give my reasons for the low score, and never trash a book out of spite.

If, ont he other hand, I do find myself in a postion of having to give a review, I will post the disclaimer that I will be honest but in as positive a way as possible. I’ve given out my own books to reviewers and gotten that same answer. By agreeing to a review I understand that they will be honest. Frankly, I wouldn’t want it any other way, even if it hurts.

]]> Comment on Tit for Tat by Paul Mansfield Keefe http://www.paulkeefe.com/blog/2011/03/20/tit-for-tat/comment-page-1/#comment-136 Paul Mansfield Keefe Tue, 22 Mar 2011 03:23:41 +0000 http://www.paulkeefe.com/blog/?p=200#comment-136 All good points, Maria. I think what we can all take away from this, especially if you are just starting out as a writer as I am, that it's one of the many hard lessons of the business. As Indies it can be difficult to find this sort of info early on and so I am sure it's a mistake that many of us have made. Thanks again, everyone, for chiming in on the subject. All good points, Maria. I think what we can all take away from this, especially if you are just starting out as a writer as I am, that it’s one of the many hard lessons of the business. As Indies it can be difficult to find this sort of info early on and so I am sure it’s a mistake that many of us have made.

Thanks again, everyone, for chiming in on the subject.

]]> Comment on Tit for Tat by Maria Savva http://www.paulkeefe.com/blog/2011/03/20/tit-for-tat/comment-page-1/#comment-135 Maria Savva Mon, 21 Mar 2011 22:13:52 +0000 http://www.paulkeefe.com/blog/?p=200#comment-135 An excellent post, Paul, and I'm glad you've spoken up about it. This is one of the lessons we learn as indie authors and it's not always an easy one to learn. Of course, we all need reviews to sell our books, so it's tempting to want to swap books with other authors for review. I did that for a while when I first started out marketing my books. I never expected 5 star reviews for my books, and am always happy with honest reviews, but I found that not everyone thinks this way. There are a small percentage of authors who will expect you to give them a good review if they send you their book. This is totally unfair on the reviewer. If your book is good then it will get a good review, but you can't hold someone over a barrel about it. One author gave me a 5 star review for one of my books then sent me a copy of her book to review. I liked it, but it wasn't great. I gave her 3.5 stars. She then removed the 5 star review she'd given me on Amazon and defriended me on a few websites. This sort of thing is not a nice thing to go through when you spend time to read a book which you don't particularly want to read, and to be honest it's not worth it. I would advise everyone to steer clear from tit-for-tat reviews and be wary of ANYONE who send you a free book to review. I don't like book swaps now. I will only read books that I want to read and if I don't like them I will say so. I always warn anyone who wants me to review their books now that I only write honest reviews i.e. my own opinion (which is just one person's subjective opinion at the end of the day). I usually contact an author if I'm going to give them less than 3 stars to ask if they still want me to post the review. If I don't know the author, I'll post a 1 or 2 star review if the book is THAT bad i.e. unreadable or offensive in some way, otherwise I just won't review it. An excellent post, Paul, and I’m glad you’ve spoken up about it. This is one of the lessons we learn as indie authors and it’s not always an easy one to learn. Of course, we all need reviews to sell our books, so it’s tempting to want to swap books with other authors for review. I did that for a while when I first started out marketing my books. I never expected 5 star reviews for my books, and am always happy with honest reviews, but I found that not everyone thinks this way. There are a small percentage of authors who will expect you to give them a good review if they send you their book. This is totally unfair on the reviewer. If your book is good then it will get a good review, but you can’t hold someone over a barrel about it.
One author gave me a 5 star review for one of my books then sent me a copy of her book to review. I liked it, but it wasn’t great. I gave her 3.5 stars. She then removed the 5 star review she’d given me on Amazon and defriended me on a few websites. This sort of thing is not a nice thing to go through when you spend time to read a book which you don’t particularly want to read, and to be honest it’s not worth it. I would advise everyone to steer clear from tit-for-tat reviews and be wary of ANYONE who send you a free book to review.
I don’t like book swaps now. I will only read books that I want to read and if I don’t like them I will say so. I always warn anyone who wants me to review their books now that I only write honest reviews i.e. my own opinion (which is just one person’s subjective opinion at the end of the day). I usually contact an author if I’m going to give them less than 3 stars to ask if they still want me to post the review. If I don’t know the author, I’ll post a 1 or 2 star review if the book is THAT bad i.e. unreadable or offensive in some way, otherwise I just won’t review it.

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