Writing 101: Paying for Reviews

Indie authors have to do everything on their own (that's what independent means), and it gets pretty overwhelming. Many indies have to pay for their copyright registration, their book cover, maybe even a book trailer or a professional editor, formatting software -- the cost of a single ebook can add up pretty quickly. Then, of course, there's the marketing: paid advertising, ad design, more software...the list goes on. Should you start paying for reviews, too, and invest in something that could potentially help you sell more books?

Reviews

Reviews are very important, and every indie author wants more of them. Just one 5-star review can cause more readers to become interested...but getting that review is a tedious, heart-wrenching process for many. Is it worth paying to get it? 

Kirkus

One of the most well-known names in paid review services, Kirkus makes it a point to reach out to indie authors who are looking for reviews. They also charge an absolutely astronomical fee: a whopping $425 for every book (feel free to wait for your heart to start beating again before you continue reading). 

Kirkus has some dignity to it, because despite how much you pay (even if you kick in the extra buck-fifty for the express service) they will give a negative review of your work if the reviewer feels it deserves one. But at those prices, they ought to send a butler to your home for 48 hours and get your car detailed, too. 

Those services are not included. You get the review, and just that, after around 7 to 9 weeks. If it's negative, you can choose whether or not it's posed. Once you've approved it, your review will appear on the site. Additional advertising with the site costs extra.

Other Paid Reviews

You'll find plenty of paid review services if you go looking for them as an indie author, because you are someone's market. In recent years, as ebooks and indie authors have become more popular, tons of different sites and services are appearing to help you find ways to part with your money. Everything, from editing to social media marketing to book reviews, is available to you if you've got the dough. 

If you are going to use paid review services, it's important to look for sites that give honest criticism and feedback. If you're paying for them, you might as well get something out of them. Paying for a bunch of fake reviews in order to trick customers isn't going to do you any good -- word of mouth will spread faster for a terrible book than a good one. If you get a reputation as a huckster, you won't be able to sell any books. And why would you want to, under such circumstances? 

Paying for It

Lots of indie authors and book bloggers are totally against the idea of paying for reviews (and, in fact, many other indie services). I look at it a bit differently. If you don't pay someone for reviews, et. al, you're going to have to put the time in to get them yourself. I've written about the best ways to get reviews before, and I'm not ever going to sugar-coat it: it is time-consuming. If you're doing it right, you should be putting in several hours a week just contacting book blogs and trying to push your ebooks to get them reviewed.

In so doing, you will have less time for all the other stuff you've got to do -- like writing. If you're one of the many indies who also must hold down a full- or part-time job, you'll have less time with your family, less time to exercise, less time for whatever it is you do when you're not working. If you're self-employed, and even if you're not, time equals money. The more time you spend looking at book blogs and writing emails, the more money you might be taking out of your own pocket. 

Is the money you're losing worth more, or less, than the money you might spend on paid reviews? That's what you've got to figure out. If spending the money will actually save you even more money, then get yourself a PayPal account and start shelling out the e-cash. If doing the work yourself will save you money in the end, then you already know what you've got to do. 

The Second Time Around: Biblical Reading

The Holy Bible is the best-selling book of all time...if you use that term loosely. The Bible has probably been printed more than any other book, but it is often given away free and that generates no sales figures. Even if you don't follow the various religions associated with the Bible, you can't deny that it contains a rich tapestry of stories. The imagery is fantastic: sulfur raining from the sky, Lot's wife turning in a pillar of salt, the rainstorm that swallowed the world. It all beautifully lends itself to fiction, and some fantastic books have been written with Biblical themes. One of the best re-tellings of a story in the Bible I've read was written by (who else?) a Catholic priest. 

 

Andrew M. Greeley has written many bestsellers that blend Irish lore and culture, religion, Chicago culture, history and modern-day settings -- not necessarily all in the same book. I've read lots of his works, but one of my favorites is based on a book in the Old Testament.

The Original 

The Bible is thousands of years old, and has been translated and printed for wide audiences for more than 1400 years. It's separated into two Testaments: Old and New, and divided into books with intriguing names like Deuteronomy. Each book is subsequently divided into verses, some longer than others.

And frankly, even the translated version is a monster to read. The language is archaic, the arrangement of words is strange, the themes are hard to understand and the names of places difficult to decipher. It's a nightmare to read the Bible, but there are many, many different versions available that are more readable. Book stores offer teen versions, children's versions, study versions -- every imaginable version of the Bible is out there.

The actual Book of Tobit, also known as the Book of Tobias, is difficult to read. The summed-up story goes something like this: a young man named Tobit has been exiled by his king and blinded by bird droppings. A young woman named Sarah is being plagued by a demon named Asmodeus, who has killed all of her husbands on the wedding night. God sends archangel Raphael to her. The archangel heals Tobit's eyes. Together, Raphael and Tobit travel to Media.

During the journey, Raphael tells Tobit about Sarah, his cousin (and therefore a marriageable female). The archangel tells Tobit how to banish the demon. They are married, Tobit drives the demon away, and everyone enjoys the wedding feast.

The Redux

Of course, in Greeley's hands the story becomes one of romance, a little history...and the Internet. Even better, the angel in the story becomes a woman.

Angel Light is the sequel to Angel Fire, but you don't have to read the first book to enjoy the second. In fact, none of the characters in the first book carry over anyway. This novel introduces us to G. Patrick Tobin, nicknamed Toby, who stands to inherit several million dollars.

But if, and only if he first goes to Ireland, then settles the long-standing Tobin family feud and, in a gesture of peace, marries his eighth cousin, once removed. Trouble is, Toby is a lovably clumsy and absent-minded young man with no real motivation to inherit several million dollars, and most certainly not to get married to an Irish girl he's never met. He's too busy working on his computer program, a search engine which will revolutionize the Internet. 

All the bugs haven't been worked out of the program. When Toby makes some tentative searches in a half-hearted effort to make the journey to Ireland, the computer brings up a strange sort of travel company that's headed by a rather bossy female. Almost against his will, Toby is soon taking passport photos while his travel agent makes all the necessary arrangements -- and then some. The agent ends up taking over everything from his wardrobe to his luggage, and soon Toby's on his way across the ocean.

The travel agent is, of course, the archangel Raphaela. She and Toby chat through his computer during the trip to Galway, Ireland, where Toby begins to change. He finds himself more confident, more natural, and more inclined to being called Patrick. 

When he finally meets the girl he's supposed to marry -- naturally, her name is Sarah -- he's even less excited about the strange quest he's on. She's a drunk, she's insolent, and she's trouble. But the reader eventually finds out she's having trouble because of the demon (who is a person in this version, and not an actual demon). 

Angel Light paints rich pictures of Ireland and Irish culture, and as always Greeley's characters shine with multiple shades of believability. The best part about this modern-day Bible redux is that Greeley acknowledge the source material for the story within the book; Toby and the angel talk about the Book of Tobit. It's all very well done and full of romantic comedy. Angel Light is much easier to read than the Bible, and the updated version of the story is completely delightful.

Writing 101: Don't Mix Up Your Vowels

Change just one vowel, and you might change a word completely. Some homonym pairs are similar right down to a single letter. Swap the letter out for a different one, and you've just changed the word -- and with it, your entire sentence. If you don't use the words that complement your story correctly, no one's likely to compliment your work. They're just going to be focusing on the errors, and that will disrupt the entire flow of the book. 

Tricky Pairs

Some word pairs are a little trickier than others because they're just too similar, and spell checkers will mark both as correct. Here's the problem: the meanings aren't similar at all, so if you use the wrong word you're just making a mess of your writing. 

Complement/Compliment

Complement and compliment are confused all the time; they're especially tricky. To compliment someone is to praise them. When you says "hey, Linda, you look great today," you're paying Linda a compliment. But if you complement Linda, it means that you complete her. A skirt Linda's wearing might really complement her legs, but if you remark on that skirt then you're complimenting it. 

Tricky, right? When you have trouble knowing which word goes where, just swap it with a synonym. Instead of compliment with an i, change the word to praise and see how that fits. Change complement with an e to enhance and re-read the sentence. If it still makes sense, you've got the right word. If it doesn't, change your vowels.

Stationary/Stationery

Stationary and stationery exist only to cause trouble for writers. One means to stay in place, and the other is personalized mailing equipment. You may think you're never going to use either word, but as a writer shouldn't it be your goal to use all the words? At the very least, you ought to know how they can be used.  

Stationary means to simply stand still; Mount Rushmore is a stationary object. Stationery is the pretty paper and matching envelopes you use to write out your party invitations, or whatever. Remember that e goes with mail (like email or envelopes) and that a stays in place, and it can help you remember which one to use when.

Writing 101: If You're an Indie, You've Got a Bad Reputation

Indie authors have to face a few hard truths when they first embark on the road to self-publishing, and the worst one is this: some readers will never read an indie author. In fact, among certain circles you're getting a bad reputation the moment you identify as an indie. You've got a stigma, and you can't deal with it unless you know what it is. 

Indie Authors

So, what is an indie author? Lots of writers have used it to mean lots of different things, but at the end of the day an indie author is someone who is not working with a publisher. Authors belonging to micro-presses and indie publishers, however, often still claim the title (and we'll go ahead and let them). But usually, an indie author is someone who has ownership of their own ISBNs and directly reaps the rewards of the sales they earn through Amazon, Smashwords, and so on.

Self-Publishing

Because indie publishing houses and micro-presses are often indie-owned, some indie authors don't self-publish. However, many do. Self-publishing is exactly that: an author who publishes their own work under their own steam without the help of a publisher or similar professional. Self-publishing as a whole has seen a dramatic increase, and many indie authors are taking advantage. Some have even managed to create big names for themselves in the world of self-publishing, and have gone on to put ink on big-time book deals.

But once you take on one of these labels, or both, you're getting painted with a brush that's not always flattering -- and you're limiting part of your market.

The Stigma

Some people avoid self-published and indie books as a rule, at least until the authors land more traditional deals and get a wider distribution. Being an indie author or a self-published author, or both, comes with a stigma. Many, many readers are operating under the impression that indie authors simply aren't "good enough" to go the more traditional literary route, and some readers summarily dismiss any and all books that have been self-published or otherwise produced by an indie. It's a cold reality, but it's the truth.

Why? Lots of people have written lots of articles and blog posts about this very topic, but by and large the biggest complaint from the reading community in relation to indie authors can be summed up in just one word: editing. Many readers believe, not necessarily incorrectly, that a large number of indie authors produce poorly-edited and ill-formatted books. 

I, too, had a bit of a rude awakening in the indie book market. The very first indie book I ever read was so well-done, so picture-perfect, so spot-on and fantastic, I figured they must all be like this. I read many, many more indie books before I found another that was as well-edited or well-written.

The Reality

 Spend any time reading among the indie community, and you're going to find plenty of books that make you grimace. I've broken up with my Kindle more than once already, but I always go back because of one simple truth: you can find crap just as easily among the traditionally-published books. Bad editing? Bad grammar? Weird phrasing and piss-poor plots? Yeah, you can get that anywhere. 

There is a stigma among self-published and indie authors, and that's a harsh reality -- but there is balance, too. Indie authors are defined by their independence, but together they come together to form a very wide, very welcoming community. Indie authors know how to find each other, and by and large they tend to stick together to support each other. Visit forums dedicated to self-publishing, and you'll find plenty of encouragement. Indies work together to swap reviews, trade promotions and further each other's efforts. The term indie author, in fact, feels like a bit of a misnomer -- when you self-publish, you're never really alone. 

Some readers are going to keep their noses stuck up in the air, but indie bestsellers are just going to keep raining down (threatening to drown them). The traditional book market is changing, and the traditional book publishing market is changing just to keep up with it. The indie community is so wide and so warm, any stigma you get is just a small burden. The freedom of independence more than makes up for the bad reputation. With careful editing, any indie can potentially out-write any traditional author any day .

From the Trenches: The Starving Editor

How many times have you been asked to study "The Raven" in school? Have you ever heard of the Tell-Tale Heart? Even if you're not an avid reader of his works, chances are extremely high that you've heard the name Edgar Allan Poe at some point in your life. He's still being referenced in popular culture today, and he's credited with inventing the detective fiction drama that's served so many writers so well. 

He died alone, broke and didn't receive much recognition for his work during his own lifetime. One may even infer that at the time of his death, by many perspectives Poe was something of a failure as a writer. 

Starving Editor

His life, sadly, played out a little like something out of one of his own grim tales. After a brief military career, during which Poe asked to be discharged early, he moved to a city that has been a mecca for writers for centuries: New York. 

Poe had published a book of poetry while in the army, but it didn't receive any real attention. His writing aspirations wouldn't get life again until he won a short story contest a few years later, after his poetry was rejected by many different magazines in the United States. The contest landed him a job as an editor. He did pretty well at the job, increasing the publication's circulation by a whopping 3,000 subscribers. 

But the money wasn't good, and Poe was a writer -- not an editor. So he left the magazine and started writing short stories. Two more years passed before he got something published, a collection of short stories. He received 20 copies of the book...and not much else.

Poe accepted another editing position the next year, because a man's gotta eat, and after increasing the magazine's circulation he left the job after two years to start his own magazine. It failed. He published some booklets of his stories, but they didn't really sell all that many copies. Finally he accepted yet another editing position at yet another magazine, but it went bankrupt after a year and Poe was out of a job again.

He left New York in 1849. Edgar Allen Poe was found a few weeks later in Baltimore, semi-conscious, and taken to a hospital. This is where he died four days later, never explaining exactly what had happened to him. His death remains a mystery, though popular opinion blames his ongoing struggle with alcoholism. In his life, he was best-known as a literary critic, and he never much held a steady job for any length of time. He wrote prolifically, and tried on many occassions to get his work published and read. These attempts would, largely, fail. 

Enduring Fame

Poe did gain attention for the poem "The Raven," which was first published in 1845. Following his death, more people became aware of Poe's works and today he's considered to be one of the greatest writers and poets of all time, a true pioneer in the mystery genre (to which I personally belong). Poe wrote with passion, and that's the way he lived...but as a writer, he had little to celebrate. He worked in the trenches, and he got as close as he could to the literary world he loved. In the end, his struggle did pay off -- albeit, a little too late for him to enjoy it himself. Somehow, I don't think Poe would really mind that too much -- he was a true lover of words, and I like to think he'd be happy just knowing that so many of us have read his.

Writing 101: When Al Shows Up

You know that guy who shows up to all your parties, even when he's not invited? His name is Al -- and if you're not being careful, he might be attaching himself to all kinds of words inside your ebooks. When Al shows up to the party, you'd better make sure he's attached to the right word in the right way...because he's got a terrible habit of showing up where he's not needed.

Al and Other Words

By now, you might be wondering who Al is. He's the guy that shows up in words like altogether, already and  alright. Sometimes, Al gets together with a word and everything's great. Sometimes, however, he's not actually creating a new word -- he's making a mess of your writing. 

• All Together/Altogether

By themselves, all and together are two separate words...so it follows that when you use them as a pair, they form a unique phrase that is more than the sum of its parts. All together just means as a group, like if you shout "Everyone out! All together now," at a party, it's because you're kicking everyone out. You can separate them, however, and the sentence will be essentially the same: "Everyone, all out! Together, now." 

Altogether is a different word, and it's got a different meaning attached to it. When Al shows up, he changes everything. When he's with together, the word is a single unit and it means wholly or utterly. "This party is making me altogether miserable." It's actually just a combination of all and together that appeared in the 1600s; the meaning is closely related to the older phrase. But since it's been around for so long, altogether is an altogether acceptable word. The same can't be said of all Al words. 

• All Right/Alright

All right is another common two-word phrase that has its own meaning: everything's good. You could as easily say all is right and it would mean the exact same thing. Alright, however, is another matter entirely. 

It's not a word. Yes, Jim Carey lied to you ("alrighty then"), but it's okay. It's easy to get fooled by this one, and among some grammarians it's actually a point of contention. According to the old maxim, alright is not all right. But it's a pretty common mistake, and alrighty has been accepted into a variety of slang dictionaries, which only muddies the grammar waters. Alright is commonly used in casual writings of all types, but the official definition is all right, and in formal writing it's properly extended to two words. 

• All Ready/Already

All ready means that everything is prepared, it's good to go: "We're all ready to read the rest of this blog!" Already, however, is usually used to mean something a little different, and it almost always applies to a period of time. Already means right now or at present: "We're near the end already?" The word was first used in America about a hundred years ago, and since then it's been accepted into the language. Since two distinct meanings have emerged, you have to be careful to use both in their correct context.

Other Al Words

Al gets attached to a lot of words, but in most other cases he doesn't make things too confusing. Continue to use almighty as much as you like -- it still means pretty much the same thing as all mighty, but generally almighty is reserved to reference a god. When it is used thus, almighty must be capitalized.

Month-Long Release Celebration

Death has arrived! To help you get caught up on the story so far, I'm giving away Justice and The Tower all month long free.

Visit my Smashwords page to download both books in the format of your choice. Enter the coupon code SSWIN to get a 100% price reduction. 

About Justice

When you build an entire life on a foundation of lies, it only takes one truth for the whole thing to come crashing down. I never invited the truth in. I never went searching for it. I never had any reason to suspect that the two people I loved most were dishonest with me every second of every day.

I made one bad decision, and in a single day my entire world changed. If I’m ever going to discover the truth about myself and my parents, I have to trace all the lies back to their source. I have to try to find the truth that they’re hiding.

The more I discover about myself, and my past, the more I realize that lies really are better than the truth. But now that I know the lies are all around me, I can’t stop until I’ve discovered them all. I’ll pull each lie away, one by one, and examine it to see what’s underneath…until this house of cards crumbles into dust at my feet.

I just hope I can survive the crash.

 About The Tower

 

Death brings some families closer, but it’s ripped mine apart. I wanted to convince the police that they had the wrong suspect…but I never expected them to start suspecting me. Now, I have no choice but to keep searching for the truth, even if all my relationships fall to pieces around me.

Someone is trying to make me look guilty. I never thought my mission to prove my own innocence would lead me to more family secrets. I thought I had already discovered the truth about myself. But every answer raises more questions, and everything I think I know is about to change…again.

I have to find the truth, no matter how much it hurts -- before I get charged with murder.

 

Death Released!

It's July 1, and that can only mean one thing -- Death has been released!

Get the book at Amazon and Smashwords, and get all the new lies.