Thank you for visiting The Riverbend Trilogy's Blog Tour! Here you will find an interesting article about reviews and learn a bit about the author, Andrea Goodson! Don't forget to enter the giveaway at the end of the post and see where you can visit Andrea tomorrow!
Reviews: Swimming in the Ocean of All Things Kindle!
Reviews are probably one of the most important elements involved in gaining exposure for an indie author. We are not so lucky as to have thousands of dollars spent by huge publishing houses promoting our work (though, don't get me wrong, that would be a welcome change!). Even then, the author must still be diligent in marketing and promoting their work as well as hopefully receiving good reviews.
Reviews tell the rest of the world not only what you thought of the book, its level of quality, the originality, or lack thereof, present in the story, but they also show how many people are interested in the author's work.
On sites such as Ebay, where sellers list merchandise and buyers leave feedback, things work a bit differently. If the seller does not receive feedback, it doesn't necessarily matter as much. A prospective buyer may still research how many items have been sold and what those items were. This, unfortunately is not the same for authors. Though we are not labeled as "sellers" and I would not appreciate that title, the fact remains that we are marketing our own intellectual product to the rest of the world. As far as I can tell, sites like Amazon and Smashwords do not reveal to the general public how many downloads of a book there have been, only the reviews. So, for someone like me, a brand new indie author struggling to swim through the massive ocean that is all things Kindle, if there are not enough reviews, it reduces the potential for exposure. This is the same for thousands of indie authors out there. For example, and I will use real numbers here to give you an accurate picture. In the Month of January one of my books was downloaded on Kindle alone over 500 times. Not wonderful, but not bad either. In that same month, I had only received 2 new reviews. Now, I do take into account that some readers might not have read the book yet, which is fine. Then again, there might be some readers that did read it and didn't like it enough to take the time to leave a review, that's fine too. But what I am seeking, as an Indie Author, are honest reviews. I don't want sugar-coated sweetness, I want revealing, descriptive reviews of exactly what you, as a reader, thought of my work. Reviews enable indie authors to learn and grow, recognize our mistakes and short comings and basically, get better. Think of it as a very detailed form of constructive criticism. Now, as with all forms of constructive criticism, there is no need to be rude or degrading. Thankfully, I have not had this experience, but I have seen some very rude reviews about other author's work. I find that level of criticism to be unnecessary. It does not help the author or other readers out there accurately assess the content of the work. That being said, if you don't like a book you should say so, that's ok. But explain why. Let the author know what it was that turned you off. That way they can empathize more accurately with the many readers out there that they are trying to reach. So, Readers, the point is, leave reviews! Good or bad - leave reviews! We want them, we need them, you are the reason we write! We are all trying to reach our readership on some level and feedback is one of the most valuable assets and author can have. By Author Andrea Goodson
Take a look at the NEW Riverbend Trilogy Book Trailer!
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Author Bio
Andrea Goodson was born in 1982 and had a love of and fascination with writing since she was very young. Always imagining ways in which the world could be different, she began to write short stories when she was very young. It wasn't until many years later that she put pen to paper and began to work on what has become her first novel, Riverbend, part one in a trilogy. Upon completion of that work she found that writing was something she felt meant to do and would never be able to give up. Using her own experiences with hardship and tragedy Andrea uses her writing to reach others in an effort to show the world that we need not be victims of circumstance. Her main characters endure many conflicts yet find the courage and strength to better themselves.
Click here to follow Andrea on Facebook and Twitter!
You can view the first book in Andrea's series, Riverbend, here on Kindle
All books are also available on Amazon as Paperbacks and ebooks on Nook, iBooks, and Smashwords!
For a complete listing of all books and venues, CLICK HERE!
Don't forget to enter the giveaway!
http://www.rafflecopter.com/rafl/share-code/NjczOTBiODQyMTI0YzkyNWZiZjgxNjc4ZjQzMzM4OjU=/
Thank you for visiting! You can see Andrea again tomorrow on Island Lovelies and see their reviews for her books!
http://islandloveliesbcb.blogspot.com/