Why Authors Love Reviews More Than Chocolate

Have you ever noticed how many authors ask you to leave a review of their book? Have you seen authors say that reviews are the best thing you can do for them? I'm one of those authors and I agree. I might even love reviews more than chocolate.

Handing out virtual chocolate seems to be a thing today. It's a nice gesture, at no expense from the giver. But my research for this post has shown that authors have been known to love reviews even more than chocolate. Why?

Reviews provide insight and happiness. We all know chocolate can provide happiness, but insight?? Never had that happen. Because reviews, whether positive or negative, help a writer get to know their audience better and see what people think. Feedback is a good thing! And the warm fuzzies that come after reading a good review are pretty awesome! :)

Reviews can actually sell books. Do not question me on this: it's scientific fact. xP Lots of the big marketing places like BookBub will not agree to advertise your book at all unless you have a lot of reviews. Not just any reviews, but Amazon reviews. That number matters to them because it tells them how well you're doing on your own. Everyone knows people don't really write reviews unless prodded. So seeing a decent number (say 200) on a self-published book tells them a whole lot more than 1,000 Twitter followers ever could. Authors actually need reviews. :D

Reviews are rarer than chocolate. Yep, we authors admit it. We're selfish. Chocolate has become so commonplace that we want something rarer: reviews from our readers. Now honestly, that doesn't really make us gluttonous monsters, does it?

I think reviews are rarer than chocolate because:

// They require an investment. Time is in short supply today. Not shorter supply than reviews, but still. It's easy to shoot down this argument as laziness, because if you spent several hours (or more) reading the book, then you can take another ten minutes to leave a review.

// It's like schoolwork. Wait, I have to split a 300-page novel into likes and dislikes and then rate it using a dubious 5-star system? I know, it's hard. But if you can spend 14 years of your life in school, and then willingly subject yourself to spend another 4 years in school ... this assignment will not be the death of you. ;)

// Technology is difficult. I know. Amazon requires you spend ~$100 before you can write a review. It's a pain. Honestly, what I do is use my parents' account. So of all the Amazon reviews I've left people, not one says it's from Abigayle Claire. But I left a review! So I don't think the author will mind the change in identity. ;)

// Readers fear authors. I'm not kidding on this one!! Sometimes we read a book and our opinion is not positive. If we know the author, we really don't want our name associated with a 2-star review. (I'm telling you there are huge benefits to using your parents' account.) Even if we don't know the author ... do we really want to do that to them? The answer is YES.

In closing, negative reviews should still be written. While I expect all of you to be tactful, the author should understand that not everyone is going to connect with their book. That's actually impossible.

Martin Hospitality has received a one-star review on Goodreads now. I can't even tell you how grateful I am that it wasn't just a rating, it was a review. The reader told me exactly why she didn't like the book! And if I felt the way she did, I would have made it a 2 or 3-star review (way to make me feel better!).

The interesting thing is, that review had a ton of comments. 100x the interaction any of my positive reviews have garnered, and mostly from people I don't know. While several said they wouldn't read the book now, twice that many (guesstimating) said they were definitely going to read it to see if they agreed with the negativity.

As my dad said, negative press is still press.

Are you in the habit of writing reviews when you read a book? ((Amazon reviews carry the most weight, so I highly encourage you to do that for your author friends!)) If you read but have not reviewed either of my books, you can review Martin Hospitality HERE and Andora's Folly HERE. ^.^

What do you love reviews more than?

SIDE NOTE: Thanks to those of you who volunteered to be my reading accountability partner! So many good options!! I have selected Lisa // Inkwell to fill that role, but I'd love to keep up with the rest of you on Goodreads. :)

So I Talked to an Agent (and what that means)

I talked to an agent!!! While at OCW, Ivy and I decided that we should pitch. Just do it. It'd be good practice, and we would expect nothing. So that's what we did. (Crazy best friend pressure. XP) The question is, how did it go and how did it change my writing life?

I really, really did not want to talk to an agent. I was stuck in Portland with limited internet, no pictures, no handouts. I had nothing that they recommended having in order to pitch to an agent. Not even a manuscript I'd begun. Why? Because I'd decided I was happy working on the Martin Series and didn't want to begin anything else. (HA!)

Then Bill Jensen of Willam K. Jensen Literary Agency said there were a lot of openings for agent appointments, and we should sign up even if all we had were ideas. Well then. That shot down every reason I had for not pitching.

After a little bit of research and are-we-really-doing-this?! nerves, Ivy convinced me to snag the last spot with Jensen. After all, he fit my overall genre the best. And she was right: I'd regret it if I didn't just go for it.

He was several minutes late to the appointment, which at first made me so nervous. I could have dashed out the door before he ever showed up and scratched my name off the list. But I didn't. So when he did show up, it put me at ease, because is there any other proof that someone prestigious is human, than them being late?? Not really.

Having never done this before, I really have no idea how the appointment went. He kept me from rambling and reassured me that he had taken on young authors (Rachel Coker!) before, and he had signed people from just an idea. I didn't say everything I think I should have said, but the ending to the conversation kind of stunned me.

Mr. Jensen asked to see the first three chapters once I was ready, and then he'd let me know.

For all I know, they could say that to everyone. I don't know what I was expecting. But I was not expecting that. 

So that brings me to the obvious change that now must take place in my writing. Since I have an agent expecting three chapters of a manuscript that at the time wasn't even fully plotted ... I can't keep plugging away at Martin Crossroads at the speed of a turtle.

I feel so awful setting the sequel aside and leaving all of my wonderful, expectant readers hanging!! But I have never been so excited about shaking up my writing life. :D So now that little story, Matinee Regulars, that I shared with you in this post, is being brought to life. Although several things in the description I gave you have already changed :P

I had brainstormed a little with my sister a few weeks before the conference, and that's the only reason I was able to pitch the story. Then Ivy and I brainstormed for several hours at her house, and the pieces just started falling into place. Let me tell you, that has not happened since writing Martin Hospitality last year. 

And that made me realize something. Writing Martin Crossroads next was my idea. Not God's. Did it make the most logical sense? Yes. But I have spent months on it and gotten literally nowhere. And now this little Pinterest-board-of-a-story idea flies out of my mouth in front of an agent, and guess what I'm writing?

I haven't enjoyed writing this much in over a year. So it feels so amazing to finally be writing a story that is working with me, not against me. And my only explanation for that is because God is working with me and my story as well.

So it's a little bit of good news and bad news. Despite how things continue to go with Mr. Jensen, I've taken the first step to becoming a hybrid author. The sequel to Martin Hospitality will be delayed. But the story you all demanded several weeks ago is under construction!

Now is that a crazy God thing or what?!