Presenting yourself as a Professional Part 2

Ahhh the joys of social media, you can vent, you can keep in contact, you can advertise, and you can well...destroy your career. Don't want that now do you? I'll be honest with you. I hate social media, it sucks my time away, but it is honestly the only thing that has worked for me as far as building my platform and my marketing. Now you're wondering where this comes into play when it becomes to being professional. Imagine you're a reader and you're talking to an author, just in passing, an elevator or something and the first thing he/she says to you is. "Oh my fucking god, someone gave me a one star review! How dare they not appreciate my genius!"

Now I hope realize that it's rude and probably should have been kept in the authors mind. I get being frustrated, especially with drive by ratings, and reviews that just make no sense to you. I get it, I do, but here's the deal. They are going to happen. Every author gets bad reviews. Don't believe me? Go look up your favorite authors. Honestly, as a reader, I don't trust a book that doesn't have at least one low rating. Why? Because I feel like one book cannot be everyone's cup of tea. As an author you need to realize that. My point? You wouldn't do this in person, don't do it on your Facebook, tumbler, blog, twitter, whatever you use.

Best policy? Don't respond to the review or rating. Do not let your street team respond, and for the love of the writing gods do not stalk the reviewer! I can hear you now: But it's my personal page! I want to be real with my readers!

My answer to the first one: Yep, but this is the age of the internet, nothing is truly private. That's what's scary about it. Personal or not, you need to control your emotions and feelings. You are a business now, the way you act reflects on your product.

Second one: Be real with your readers, yes, let your readers know you're human to, but do that by interacting with them. Not ranting about them. I'm going to touch on that in just a minute.

Okay, so no responding to reviews. Next thing....do not go on some crazy rant about haters that you have. Seriously. We all have them, we all have people who say things mean about us or our work. Move along, for many of the same reasons above. You are going to hurt your brand if you react badly. This goes back to not ranting about your readers.

Interact with your readers, invite them to answer questions on your pages, they don't have to be related to writing or your books, they can be, but don't have to be. If they ask you a question, answer them honestly. (within reason of course) Even if the question is "What is the order of your series." You need to appreciate your readers, because without them you would be nothing.

Basically don't do anything online that you wouldn't do in person.

A note on review bloggers

So being a review blogger and an author gives me a chance to see things from both sides of the equations. We’ve all seen it, authors moaning and groaning about bad reviews from bloggers or readers. We all know my stance on that. (If not it boils down to this: put your big person panties on and get over it. You’re a professional) I may be beating a dead horse here, but I keep in contact with other review bloggers and I’ve seen and heard some interesting stories about authors. Okay, so authors here’s the deal…Review bloggers are not your friends. Got it? You can’t hand them a book an expect them to lie to you, even if you’ve built a good relationship with them.

I just heard you gasp. If they aren’t our friends, what are they? Think of them almost as a boss. No they don’t get to tell you what to do, but let’s face it, they get to judge the work you do. You go and you write a nice letter asking them to read this book, you make it appeal to them, you want them to review it. Some blogs have a policy that if they rate it under a particular amount of stars, they will let you know first and you can say if they can post it or not. (You will find no such policy here at SPE) As an author I think that defeats the purpose of sending it to a review blog.

I am sending my book to a stranger (if it’s the first time that blog has read one of my books) I may be sending it to someone I consider a friend. But they are a review blog first, I expect that they tell me the truth about the book. If I want an ego stroke, I’d got to someone who feels obligated to lie to me. (We all have those friends.) Giving me a chance to say no or yes to posting a review tricks the readers into thinking that all blogs will only give me a certain rating or higher. As a reader, that pisses me off. I’m the person who reads the bad reviews to see what I’m getting into.

As a blogger I don’t think it’s a good policy, which is why you won’t find it here at SPE. Authors say they want honest reviews, that is what they are going to get. Readers deserve to see those 1 or 2 star ratings. The problem is that there are mobs out there so quick and ready to label reviewers as bullies because of low ratings. That is not right and is a whole other blog on it’s own. That being said, author’s if bloggers give you a choice and a low ratings, suck it up. Do not be rude back to them. They have spent their time reading your book. Just because they didn’t like that one doesn’t meant they won’t like the next. Being a pompous twat isn’t going to help your relationship with them. And by the way, just like authors talk so do bloggers.

My point is. You are an author, learn to take feed back and deal with it. You don’t get to screen your readers’ reviews, why should you get to screen your review blog reviews? Honest feed back, it’s what we need. Remember, especially as an indie author, you’d be no where without your readers. Your readers turn to those bloggers, if they shut down because of rude authors, you’re only hurting yourself.

Oh The Places You'll Go....

When I graduated high school my grandmother followed tradition and gave me a copy of Dr. Seuss' "Oh the Places You'll Go." This book meant a lot to me because it showed that she believed in me and Dr. Seuss is one of my idols. What's the point of me telling you this? There's a few lines in there that really speak to me as an author:

“So be sure when you step, Step with care and great tact. And remember that life's A Great Balancing Act. And will you succeed? Yes! You will, indeed! (98 and ¾ percent guaranteed) Kid, you'll move mountains.” 

Let's break this down and why I bring up these particular lines for the day. "So be sure when you step, step with care and great tact. And remember that life's A Great Balancing Act." As authors, artists, and just people we often tend to post negative things, some times out of frustration and sometimes out of jealousy. Now, we all have our moments where frustration comes out, but the problem is when that frustration is aimed towards attacking people. Spit. Jealousy. Sour Grapes. Whatever you want to call it, you don't bash others in your fields (Or other fields) publicly. It's bad JuJu and my friends that is not the type of attention you want. You will lose a lot of respect that way, you will be blacklisted by readers, and honestly you're just inviting trouble to yourself. (Think of the trolls on Goodreads and other websites, do you really want to show yourself as an easy target for them?)

There is a fine balance that you have to find. Yes it's frustrating when someone seems to become a big name over night, but they too had their troubles when they started. Ask any author, they won't tell you it was easy to get where they are. I'm always telling Mia that we have to remember that and not get discouraged.

"And will you succeed? Yes! You will, indeed! (98 and 3/4 percent guaranteed) Kid, you'll move mountains."

And most of us will get that success, but it'll be those of us who actually put the effort in. How does one move a mountain? A stone at a time. Small steps. You climb one the same way. There are steps to be taken and stumbling stones along the way.

Again, why am I bringing this up? Because I read an article the other day where an author stated that a big name author should stop writing (adult) fiction to allow room for new authors. (she made it clear that said author could continue to write for children or for his/her own pleasure, because she would NEVER deny that to someone...) So instead of going on a rant about it, I wanted to remind people that no matter how successful you are or are not everyone started at the bottom. There are no magic words, spells or tricks to 'hitting it big' you have to work for it. And if you're not willing to do that, then you will fail.

Now, get over your sour grapes, you have work to do.

The next SPE project

So as we all know, my SPE project got derailed because of a contract, but today I'm here to announce that Mia and I have been working on another SPE project. The twist? It's co-written by the two of us. Let me tell you that this was an amazing adventure and though we still have a bit of finishing up to do and a lot of editing. I'm super excited to get this project out to our readers. So you may be asking yourself, Co-writing? Really? Why?

Well, other than the fact that Mia and I enjoy each other's company and work great as a team, cross promotion is the why. We both have something to gain from this. Mia already has her first book out (Waking up in Bedlam) and her second book (her first book published with Ellora's Cave: Twisted Revenge) will be out Feb 26. Releasing a third book will help her sales on all points. It's a number game, really. I stand to gain from it because it'll help get my Alexandra name started, since I'm waiting on my two books with EC to release.

Cross promotion is something that was spoken highly of at IRC and Mia and I have since been trying to use it to our advantage. Under my other personality, I have a sample of Waking up In Bedlam in In the Light of the Moon to help Mia, and she has one in Waking up In Bedlam for me. Has it worked? I don't know, I haven't sat down to crunch the numbers, but more exposure is good.

Okay, so you're co-writing a book. So which one of you actually wrote it?

We both did. We divided the work up in a way that worked for us and our writing schedules. There are scenes we wrote together that will be edited to smoothly fit into the flow, there are scenes we wrote on our own. We will both be editing so that everything flows and our writing styles mesh a bit more. We work as a team, there is communication, discussion, planning, plotting and fun.

So there you have it, the next step in the SPE project! Can't wait for you guys to read this book.

Author Bios

So this week Mia and I had the challenge of writing author bios for another project. I hate writing author bios. They often come out cheesy, fake, or make you sound arrogant. That being said I thought I'd share a bit of insight I've gained through writing them.

The instructions we received included: Do not include information that could be used for stalking (not the exact words here) like where you live (we were told not even the town), do not use information that could be considered outdated. (Like age)

Okay, easy enough, but when you are using a pen name, and you don't want both bios to read the same or give out important information. What do you do? How do you talk about yourself without sounding pompous and asinine? My advice? Have fun with it, mention your writing, your other books. However don't claim that you're the best at something, or are fresh, or give a new look. Things like that are for the reader to decided.

That being said, if you are actually (and I have to put that in there, because their are authors who claim it and aren't) best seller, mention it! That is worth the bragging rights. Won awards? Mention it! If you have a ton, be selective pick the ones the readers are most likely to know. You don't want your bio long and drawn out. You want something that's quick to read and something that catches the reader's attention.

My favorite line from my new bio reads "Her preferred genre is paranormal romance with a flare for things a little less vanilla." That tells my readers, at least those who know the term, that my sex is going to be a bit more rough and they may even dare to hope for BDSM. The rest of it tells them when I started to write, where I write (In my office where the coffee is endless and chocolate magically appears ;) )

So again, my advice is to have fun with it. Readers like to know that authors have a sense of humor and have personalities. You don't want a boring bio, you don't want one that makes you sound pompous, you don't want one that gives promises that are more opinions than anything. My formula for writing bios? Simple, Place, Time, Fact about your writing (genre, other books you have, best sellers), something fun. My last part reads Can be bribed with coffee and sweets.

Good luck!

Dealing with the negative while remaining professional

Not only is my SPE post two days late, it is also coming to you from my iPad since we are in the middle of a thunder and lightening storm. Some days it's harder than others to get things to work out the way you want them, but what makes a crap day even worse is the realization that not everyone is going to be happy for your successes in life.

What is even harder than dealing with haters is having to stay professional at all times. Many times I've wanted to let loose with a Facebook rant about this, that or the other thing, but I for the most part hold my tongue and especially on my "Author Page", I do not rant or bitch about things big or small. I censor myself on my author page to keep the drama at bay. I want to look professional, I want my author page to look professional. There are many times I say "I want to post this" but then I think about how it will look and it gets deleted and a lot of the time +Alexandra Webb also reminds me to vent to her instead of in public. It's hard when we want to defend ourselves, but it's worth not looking like a fool who just wants drama. This harkens back to my post about branding, I am my brand. So yes, my personal Facebook page might contain a rant about my husband, or posts about my crapass mailman, but you won't find me bashing reviewers or bitching about how I can tell by my sales who of my friends hasn't purchased my books (yes, that is a real rant I've seen on Facebook) on either my author page or my personal page, it's just not done. You keep it professional.

Some things do hurt too deep. Some people know exactly how to rip our hearts out and show them to us. What do you do when need to vent, need to scream and cry and be angry because someone close to you bashed your latest work? Or when a reviewer gives you a 1 star drive by review with no comments? Or when someone calls your work unoriginal? You find a friend you can vent to and you vent in private, not in public. You pick yourself up, rub some dirt on it, and move the fuck on. O.o oh yes, I'm pulling out the curse words now.

Did you hear how self-published authors are lazy hacks? Have you heard that they shouldn't even be in the publishing business if they can't get a contract? How about the fact that its not fair that others paid their dues slinging words for a newspaper or working as an editor for 40 years before they started writing? Or what about the fact that self-publishing is cop-out? Self-published authors don't care about putting out quality work? Etc, etc... The list of bullshit comments that can get you down goes on and on. Haters, man. They are everywhere.

1) vent, rant and rage. In private, that is what email, inboxes, Skype, text messages, and voxer is for.

2) Pick yourself up

3) Rub some dirt on it

4) CARRY ON

Lather, rinse and repeat as needed. 

Look, the honest truth is this: like i said earlier, not everyone is going to be happy for your successes. Whether it's a friend who doesn't support you, an entire family that doesn't understand you, or an entire community that is against how you choose to do things. Everyone is going to have an opinion and not all of them will be good. It hurts when we aren't supported, it hurts when we feel alone. We are creatures who need support and praise. It makes us feel good, reminds us to keep going. Everyone loves a compliment.

In this digital world of anonymity it's easy for others to hide behind a computer scene and hurt you but this is your dream, they can't take it from you unless you let them. You just have to focus, lean on the friends who support you and distance yourself from those who bring you down. Reach out to others. Ask for help, sing the praises of fellow authors, make new friends, work to be the good in this industry because honestly there is way too much elitist bullshit around here and things need to change. Just because something was done a certain way for "x" amount of years doesn't mean that change is bad, change is very, very good. It keeps things from growing stagnant. It's refreshing.

So be professional, be kind, be supportive... But remember that being those things doesn't  mean you have to put up with people or groups or family who put you down or don't support you. They can only affect you if you let them, and yes, it's hard to not let it get you down. That is what wine, chocolate, a nice warm bath, and good books are for; to lift your spirits when the douchebags get you down. Then after a nice glass of wine, or some silky smooth chocolate, or a nice long soak in the tub, or after a couple of chapters of a good book you can get back to your goal. Writing. Because in the end for writers, artists, and creators,  the only thing that fill us up, makes us feel whole (besides our loved ones) is working on our craft, honing our skills, and sharing our work with whomever wishes to see it.

Review: Mistress Lexie

Mistress Lexie (My Reason to Cheat) by Lacey Silks



Synopsis:
Lexie has attended six conferences in the past month, watching James present. When she’s called up to the stage to help out, it occurs to her James has noticed her as well. Unable to hide her feelings for the stud, Lexie gives in to each hidden touch he’s able to make while presenting. And when the curtains go down and lights go off, both take advantage of the little privacy they have.

Review:
First off, this book is listed on the Amazon Marketplace as Mistress Lexie (My Reasonn To Cheat). The misspelling is the first thing that caught my eye about this book. Hopefully at some point Ms. Silks will be able to fix this typo since we all know that something like misspelled titles can turn off readers from purchasing a book.

Mistress Lexie is one of five short, interconnected stories in the "My Reason to Cheat" series.

This is a super short story, it took me less than ten minutes to read. It focuses on Lexie who is cheating, or at least at the beginning of the story, fantasizing about cheating on her husband with a man she has been (for lack of a better word) stalking for an undetermined number of months. I say undetermined because continutity is very vague here. In the synopsis it says one month, at the beginning of the story it says two months and towards the end it states six month.

I'm not the kind of reader who cares about book length, but the shortness of this read really does hinder it. With the story consisting of the affair we are given no reason to care about Lexie. She comes off as cold from the lack of  explanation on her "reason to cheat", in fact we aren't ever really given her "reason to cheat". We are left to form our own assumptions, the only reason given is that her sex life with her husband is bland. Being a married person it would seem to me that just opening your mouth and saying, "Let's spice things up tonight, honey." would be easier and safer than stalking a man, cheating on your husband and having unprotected sex. Bottom line is this: Cheating is a delicate subject matter and it helps if the readers care enough about the characters to condone their unfaithfulness. In this story I didn't care enough because there wasn't enough to care about.



Morality aside, because I am not a stickler for morals, the sex scene was graphic and interesting. The setting for the scene is definitely unique and the descriptions were vivid. This is an extremely adult read and I wouldn't recommend it for readers who 1) are under 18, in fact it specifically says: Contains mature content intended for ADULT AUDIENCE ONLY. 2) cannot get past the idea of adultery as the main plot point and 3) if you are at all squeamish or offended by the use of the "C" word in erotica, because it is used in this story.

If you are still on board and want a quick read that is steamy, then dive right into Mistress Lexie.

3 out of 5 Stars

Heat Rating: Hot

(mild, medium, hot, spicy, scorching) 

Purchase Mistress Lexie on Amazon

Amazon and Smashwords

So while Mia and I are both working hard on our edits, I thought I would cover distribution a little bit. When I first looked into this, I was completely overwhelmed. There's Amazon, Barnes and Noble, Sony, Kobo, Ibook and so many others out there. What was I going to do? I want my book out to as many readers in as may formats as I can. At one of the conventions I went to I sat through a panel that kept mentioning Smashwords, and I had to wonder what on earth was this magical website where authors only had to formate one document and were able to distribute to all kinds of different places? Naturally, I went home and I googled it. Now, I plan (and have used under my non-penname) to use Smashwords and Amazon to publish the digital copy of In Black and White.

Amazon is fantastic for Kindle and it's rare that Smashwords will distribute straight to Amazon (I'm not sure what the trick is behind it.). Kindle is easy to format for and simple to upload. Amazon has their KDP Direct program, where you have certain benefits for only having your book on Kindle for a specified about of time. I've never used this program, nor have I talked to others who have, so I can't tell you if it's worth it or not. Personally, I won't participate in this because I feel like I'm isolating my readers who don't have a kindle.

My Pros for Amazon:
-Widely known and trusted site
-Easy for readers to purchase and leave reviews
-Easy to up load and sell

My Cons for Amazon:
-Kind of a pain in the butt to run sales
-Other authors cannot leave reviews
-Kindle only
-Cannot offer free book without hassle

Smashwords to me is magical. I know a lot of people who have problems with Smashwords because they are DRM free (Digital Rights Management, read Smashwords' comments on it here in the FAQs). I read through their thoughts, did some research and decided it wasn't a deal breaker for me. Smashwords has guidelines you must follow in order to make it into their premium catalog so you can be distributed to the different companies they work for. It's a super simple guideline and easy to follow. They also have many different formats on their website (including Kindle, even though it's rare they distribute a book to Amazon.). I love the idea of uploading one document and them converting it for me. It saves me a ton of time. The biggest downfall to this is some times it takes a while for the book to show up at Barnes and Noble and Ibook, because of the days that Smashwords 'ships' books out. (But I feel they make up for that by offering all the different formats from their website.)

Pros for Smashwords:
-Different formats and distributions options
-Easy to format
-Easy to change price and run sales (Also offers coupons, great for giving free copies to review blogs.)
-Easy for readers to review
-Easy to put up a free story

Cons for Smashwords:
-Not widely known to readers who are new to the indie game
-DRM free (though again, not a deal breaker for me)
-Lots of smut and crap (There seems to be more on Smashwords than Amazon...)

So there you go, some basics on the two of them, a small comparison. My advice to you, read into it, do some research and see if they are both right for you.

Cultivating My Brand & Progress

This is an exciting and frightening time for me.

When +Alexandra Webb  first asked me if I wanted to be part of this experiment I instantly said yes and as the months have passed I have come to realize the importance and the seriousness of that answer. Who would have thought that one simple word—just three little letters would alter my life so dramatically. But it has and it will continue to do so. Every move I make on social media, every blog post, every Tweet, every Facebook status on my author page, every comment has to be carefully weighed against my brand as an author. And yes, authors are brands in and of themselves.  Granted I am a small name, practically unheard of brand, but it is my brand I am trying to cultivate.

At the beginning we each knew we were going to need a “SPE Project” the one work we were going to use to break into the Self-Publishing business to try to make names for ourselves, to see how hard this industry really is to become successful, and to catalog our ups, our downs, our hits and all of our misses. My project for SPE is “Waking Up In Bedlam” and as for my downs, here they are: I’ve been stuck on Chapter 12 for over a month now. I am procrastinating, sometimes not even consciously, sometimes I think the fear of reaching for my dreams triggers something in my brain that says “Let’s take a break even though you’ve only written 12 words and play “Where’s My Perry” for a little bit.” And off I go. Because it is frightening when you are reaching for your dreams. And as the famous quote goes:

 If your dreams don’t scare you, they aren’t big enough.

I’ve seen this attributed to Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, Albert Einstein, Eminem, Winston Churchill, and Dr. Seuss. I don’t really care who said it (although it is quoted in Madam President Sirleaf’s book, so let’s just go with that), it is the truth. Your dreams should scare the ever-loving-crap out of you. End of Story. And every move you make should be pushing you towards that goal. So yes, I procrastinate. I play “Where’s My Perry” when I should be concentrating, I slack and get distracted by Facebook posts and even worst Facebook drama. But I always manage to pull myself back and remind myself that just because I’m scared of what it will mean for my life when I finish this project that I am only ever a failure, a true failure if I do not try.

So I am still trying. And for the record, Chapter 12 is the last chapter in Waking Up In Bedlam, so far it stands at 52k+ and I’ve already sent Chapters 1-9 out to some of my beta readers, I’ve already gotten feedback and things are looking good. Even while procrastinating my efforts are still going towards my dream and my goal. While I’m playing my stupid Perry game on my iPad I am usually combing through the previous chapters, fixing little things here and there. Even when I’m not posting about my progress I am still focused while goofing off.

I read my manuscript from Prologue to Chapter 12 at least once a week, to alter, edit and make sure I’m not overlooking stuff.  Self-Publishing gets a bad rap for having spelling mistakes, grammar mistakes, looking unprofessional, with shoddy editing, and plot holes.  I am striving to make sure that I can polish this baby as best as I can, that I take all of my beta readers advice and suggestions and that I do all that I can so that I do not fall into that stereotype.

I have this reoccurring nightmare that when my book is released it is so bad that I become the most hated person on the internet, the people in my small town all revolt against me and drag me out to the center of town and burn me at the stake with the ONE copy of my book that sold. I wake up in a cold sweat, panting and breathless, usually in tears or screaming. My poor dog and husband probably think I’ve gone insane. I am a writer, I think it is safe to say that my sanity-boat sailed a long time ago.

I don’t want to be burned at the stake, I don’t want to be roasted on the proverbial pyres of the internet either. I am my brand, my brand is me and I want to succeed, even if it means taking longer than I had hoped for the final product.

So where does Waking Up In Bedlam stand as of now? We are at 52k, one chapter left to write. Three chapters left to send out to my beta readers, then it is time to start the editing process. After a couple of rounds of that and final edits it will be good to go. I am aiming for mid-July.

I am also taking an online course for self-editing called “BeforeYou Hit Send” by Angela James. I’m hoping that will help me because I know grammar isn’t my strong suit and because I know I have a lot to learn.

One thing I can say is this: I am proud of myself. I’m proud that I am sticking with this even if it is slow going. I am proud that I am taking steps to get my name out there, to have my name in constant publication, I do that with the Twisted Tales blog. It is a project that is far more than just writing a fun little fairytale, it is more ways of cultivating my brand, my name and having a body of work that others can enjoy on a reoccurring schedule. I am proud that I am stepping outside of my comfort zone to do things like take the “Before You Hit Send” course and setting up my “Smashwords” acct in anticipation of publishing Waking Up In Bedlam. I am proud that my beta readers and friends like my story. I love when they email me that a piece of dialog made them laugh or that they want more. Those things make me feel incredibly good.  It lets me know that I am on the right track.

As for my reoccurring nightmare, I think in time it will pass. I know there will always be haters. People will hate on me and my books without even reading them. I know this, it is the nature of the internet.  I know I will get drive-by 1 star ratings from people who dislike me personally, or don’t like paranormal romance, or who think using the word “cock” means I should burn in hell. These are bound to happen, that I am prepared for. What I fear is letting myself and the people that believe in me down. That would be the worst.

You cannot please everyone

First off, lets hear it for the writers of the Twisted Fairy Tale blog! They are doing a great job and it was wonderful to get to know them all a little bit through their interviews.

Now on to my late post. (Sorry life distracted me a little.) Today I want to cover the importance of feedback and reviews. They kind of go hand in hand, but we're going to separate them. So when I say feedback, what I'm talking about is the beta readers. I love my beta readers, I appreciate every one of them, but you have to remember that you can't make everyone happy. So how do you approach it when they all have different opinions on a certain spot? Well, here's what I do.

Too cute not to post. 

I keep in mind that they all have different area of expertise or a strong point. I discover this as we go along with editing. I have one beta reader who excels with little details and another who has a better eye for timing. There is one who lives the lifestyle and can tell me where I need to tighten up my accuracy on those details. (Note: Even though I live the lifestyle it is always nice to have extra eyes on that.) I have one who is fantastic at sex and one who is great with grammar. Many of these have multiple skills that over lap which help me out. So with all this feed back, what I do is I go over it all, see if there is common ground on complaints (This scene is too short, this is confusing, it moved to fast) and then I work on fixing those. Once the common ground things are taken care of I look closer at what each beta had to say in different spots. I take the good with the bad. Some of it is just person specific and some of the feedback has valid points. This is where you have to remember, you cannot please everyone.

You are the author, you know your characters best and the storyline. It's great when beta readers catch discrepancies and they are able to help you strength your writing. They help with flow and content and they push you to make it the best you can, but you have to be true to you and the story. If beta reader A wants more sex, but beta reader B thinks there's too much, you have to make that call. If beta reader C and D didn't say anything about it, then again, you have to make the call. Do you leave it be? Do you shorten the sex scenes, take one out? Put one in?

On another project I had beta reader A say, "If it wasn't your writing, I wouldn't be able to get past the first page. The start didn't suck me in." But Beta reader B and C said, "It's fine, there was no problem getting past the start." or when another reader says, "The ending feels rushed." but no one else felt that way. I just had to take a chance and go with my gut feeling. With In Black and White, I've already gotten back conflicting feedback. Some of the calls are tough to make, but feed back is important. especially honest feed back.

So that brings me back to reviews. Reviews kind of drive me nuts, because you have the people who write obviously forced five star reviews, and then you have the drive by one star reviews. It happens to everyone, go read some reviews on goodreads, amazon, shelfari anywhere. You will see the ones that you know are forced (say the same thing over and over again) a lot of time you have friends of the authors that'll just repeat what the last friend said.

Then you have the drive by reviews. The people who leave a low rating without actually leaving a review. Some of them come from accounts that have just recently been activated, and sometimes not. The important thing as an author is not to respond to the negativity of these. Do not try to call the people out, just ignore it. People who read reviews normally take everything with a grain of salt, because they understand that these things happen. Those same people will take five star reviews with a grain of salt as well. (It depends on the review)

Reviews are helpful though, it does let the readers know who enjoyed it, who didn't and the reasons why. Occasionally, you'll get a review that makes you want to bang your head against the desk. I think my favorite review that I saw (when looking at reviews) was, "It was too short, I didn't realize it was a novella when I bought it." The book was marked as a novella, so clearly that wasn't the author's fault. Or, "I didn't like the way the storyline revolved around the romance of the characters. I wanted more focus on the events surrounding them. Too much fleshy action." That was on a romance novella.

My final thoughts on this are: Readers: leave honest reviews, Beta-readers: give the best and most honest feedback you can, and Authors: You are nothing without your readers and the help you get behind the scenes. Remember that. Also remember, you get nothing but drama when you react to negative reviews. Let it roll off your shoulders, laugh about it and then move on.