The highs and lows of book reviews

Authors are a needy lot. Conflicted, too.

We want reviews of our books: specifically, we want positive reviews. That generally means we have to sell books or pay for a book promotion service to distribute our books to people who agree to review them in exchange for a free copy. It's hoped that the cost of promotion will be less (by far) than the income realized from the sales that positive reviews are supposed to stimulate.

I'm still working on the whole marketing thing. Like most authors, I don't particularly like marketing my own books because I'd rather be doing other things like writing, sleeping, eating, mucking out stalls.

But I will admit that there's nothing like an excellent review to make a day worth living.

I found that my recent book promotion through Fire & Ice Book Tours yielded the sale of one copy (at a discounted price) of Pure Iron. That reader left an outstanding, 5-start book review. Happy, happy, joy, joy.

Because I'm a glutton for punishment, I checked my books on GoodReads and got another happy surprise. The Barbary Lion (ugly old cover still displayed--why, I don't know) got a 5-star review just a couple of days ago. Yippee! That reviewer left no details, though. I'd wish I could know what she liked about the story--and what she didn't like. Because no book is perfect, even with a 5-star review.

So, in the interest of book promotion for all authors: Please buy our books and please leave a review for those you read. Oh, and don't forget to recommend those you like to all your friends and acquaintances. Use social media. We need the help.