Tips for writers. On the road for reviews: the Sisyphus myth.

If you’re a writer, you’ve been there.

If you’re a reader, you’re lucky you haven’t.

Because the road to reviews is a struggle.

Remember the Sisyphus myth? This bad boy was king of my homeland, Corinth, according to mythology. He was punished by Zeus with pushing that massive rock up the hill only to watch it roll back down in a never- ending torture knowing that the risk of being crashed underneath was always a possibility. Still, he kept on. Because that was what he was supposed to do.

Hence the similarity: you’ve finished that book, had it edited, proofread, self- published and that new part of your life starts: promotion. Then you realize what’s missing from your product page : reviews! 

And the struggle begins. 

As you push that rock you’ll probably get luckier than Sisyphus because, let’s face it, there’s no Zeus making your life hard; the only enemy in this process is only yourself. And this is also your best ally. The risk of being crashed –emotionally and  professionally- under the harsh words of a negative review is always there. 

But you just can’t stop.

A friend confessed to me that when she self-published her first book she had absolutely no idea of what she was supposed to do in order to attract attention on it. When someone got in touch telling her that they read her book she would always ask them to submit a review. Some did. But is that how it works?

A few weeks ago I published Beguiled. As I am not an expert on promotion and my budget is rather low – you know about the economy crisis in Greece I guess - I try to do most of this stuff on my own. As frustrating it is, it is also exciting. Because you know, I’m one of those who like to learn new things.

So here’s what I’ve come up with after a did some research:

Although I have nothing against the way my friend got some of her reviews (did that myself too), waiting for people to discover and review your book can take a loooong time. That’s why you should get them to do it. How? By contacting that group of people called   Amazon' top reviewers. Of course this means you have to look for the book reviewers, explore their interests, see if their contact information is available and send them a query letter. A polite one. I strongly suggest you read this article first by Joanna Penn and also take the time to read the comments as well.

An easier way to locate your genre reviewers is suggested in this article by Mike Michalowicz. His instructions are simple and timesaving as you are directed to the right people through other reviews on your competitors’ books.You'll probably think "How come I never thought about this?"

Now there’s an even easier way but it will cost you some money. Because people on http://bookreviewbroker.com/ will locate the right reviewers for you and get them to contact you.

Also, on http://www.bookrooster.com/for-authors/?ap_id=wwm you have the people on bookrooster have your book reviewed by various reviewers.

I have also found some people who are willing to review your book for a small fee.You will find some on http://bookblogs.ning.com/ . I should warn you though: paying for a review can make that massive rock (see Sisyphus above) roll straight at you. Readers are cautious with authors who pay for a review and you don't want to be stuck under such heavy weight, right?
Above all, do not underestimate the power of facebook, twitter and blogging. There are many bloggers out there (me included) who can help you promote your book for free with interviews, reviews and author spotlight. It's hard work, I know. It takes time but your book is worth the effort.

Of course none of the above can guarantee that you will get positive reviews. Besides, if you read the articles above you will realize that negative reviews are important for many reasons: they make the critic on your book more reliable and of course they pinpoint the things you need to improve.

By the way, I have to say that what I appreciate the most is the fact that some reviewers  take the time to tell you what you need to improve and urge you to submit to them again instead of writing a negative review on your book.

Do you want to know where this research took me?

Well, I started with steps 1 and 2 above. I have contacted six amazon reviewers so far. Two have got back. One has accepted to submit a review. I have my queries ready for about two dozens more of them. Who knows? I may get luckier with them.

Also, I have organized a book tour with the amazing Jaidis Shaw on Juniper Grove Book Solutions. Blog tours usually include reviews if bloggers are not crammed with submissions. You may also decide to have a Book Review Tour and this is all about you getting reviews.

Last but not least, I have decided to offer other authors the help I know they need. So, after  a couple of years of working on my books, my blog is open now for reviews again. So, read my review policy and contact me if you want me to review your book.
Plus, I became a tour host for Juniper Grove Book Solutions.

If you are a reader and potential reviewer of my book please let me know.

Take the time to leave a comment if you think I’m missing something or of you want to share your ideas  on how to process the review issue.

In the meantime,

Keep being distracted by reading,

Urania

Tips for writers: Do you schedule the work?(or, how not to procrastinate)

Between finishing my book and writing my dissertation, I have come to look for ways to fight my worst enemy: time.

In other words, I try to manage time as effectively as possible.

So how about this: if we come to consider time as the occurrence of events in a sequence (as Einstein defined it) making effective use of time means managing those sequenced events effectively i.e. in a way that will give us the desirable results; for instance, a whole chapter, the completion of a scene, or finishing the whole story. And this would constitute our goal: what we want to accomplish and when.

Now, if you too are generally in bad terms with time you may have come to wonder whether it would help if you scheduled your work. Spend a moment asking yourselves: why the timelines, the special software?
Could it be another form of “covert” avoidance? Don’t expect me to deny this! Why else would I be so interested in ways to commit myself on my writing tasks?

If we believe what experts have said, planning is supposed to help you avoid future problems; the most common being (based on my experience) frustration.

Scheduling may have a liberating effect. However, it’s not an easy procedure.

According to my precious handbook (Dissertations and Theses From Start to Finish: Psychology and Related Fields,, Cone & Foster, 1993) on which the suggestions in this article are based, the following steps might be of use:

• It helps if you enter the steps you need to make in your calendar and then proceed in the same way you would eat an elephant: one bite at a time. In other words, make a plan and stick to it.

• If you find yourself procrastinating, try to identify the reasons. For instance,

 do you feel overwhelmed? Then take a step back and try to break that project of yours in small, accomplishable parts.

 Do you try to convince yourself you need large chunks of time? Do you expect summer holidays to work harder? According to the same handbook, this is a very creative excuse for doing little work until maybe, next summer?

 The secret here is to set a realistic timetable, even if it means that you can dedicate such short periods of time as three hours per week. It can be sufficient, provided you handle it as sacred time in the meaning that it cannot be cancelled. This is what happens with my teaching time at school, for instance. It has to be “sacred”. No matter the excuse I find to stay in the library with my notebook and a cup of coffee, I cannot do it because I have to go back to the classroom.

 Start with one page at a time. Soon you will be amazed by how much writing you’ve done during your “sacred” writing time.

 Do you feel that your project is not ready, that you don’t have the whole story yet? Nothing but starting to write it down will help you more to figure out how it evolves. It’s amazing how the characters speak for themselves!

 Do you need deadlines to settle down to serious writing? It is only my opinion but writing under duress will not bring out the best of you. The process of writing, revising, editing is a long-term one and involves many steps so if you need to have deadlines, set your own meaningful deadlines imposed upon you by yourself. For example, use your calendar or that special software to decide when the draft for the next chapter should be finished, or when to finish revising/editing it…

 My handbook suggests reducing procrastination by breaking the deadline habit altogether if you pursue a professional career.
How? Use a reward system for each time you accomplish a goal: e.g. finish that chapter and then do something you really want (I sometimes eat a bowl of chocholate-chip ice-cream!) This “work first, play second” rule should become part of your life-style and will take you more painlessly to the end of tour project.

If you can involve others in this rewarding system of yours they will probably keep supporting you, why not your family? (Chocolate-chip ice-cream for everyone!)

Try to be involved with people who share the same problem. For instance, why not make a group of “authors with a tendency to procrastinate” where we let others know about our progress so that they encourage us to keep on? It can also work the other way: express our frustration when we’re stuck so that other members offer support and encouragement. If you like the idea, we can start by using the space for comments for this post or start a page on Facebook!

So, what do you say to that?

Any chance you don’t follow what the following image shows?

I look forward to your comments.

Rania