When Reviews Are Negative (Or Worse)

I almost never blog about reviews (especially poor ones). Truth is, I try not to read reviews very often. Every once in a while a top reviewer who requested a book copy will let me know they posted a review and I will go out and read it. But while I’m there, I can’t help […]

 

One-Star Reviews Don’t Suck

Until midway through last year I had an unpleasant reaction to one-star reviews. Partly it was because, being a newer author, I had not received any. So the first one stung. The next one was worse, not because of the review, but because more than one meant the first one wasn’t a mistake. As writers […]

 

Even The Mighty Smaug Had A Weak Underbelly

My magnum opus received a rejection today, not for publication, but rather, that it was not qualified for a review by any “reviewers” on the website “The New Podler Review of Books: Small Press and self-published books worth reading”. Now I don’t remember ever submitting a review request to this site, although it’s possible. I […]

 

A Post About Reading…and Other Stuff

On October 23, 2012, in Blogging, Reading, Reviewers, by rsguthrie

It’s been sixteen days since my last post. Feels like a million. Feels like I forgot how to blog. I can’t say exactly why I didn’t post anything the past two and a half weeks. I guess I didn’t have anything to say. I’ve been writing, that’s one reason (doing that boogey-down thing where you […]

 

Scuds: Writers Who Use Reviews To Hurt Other Writers

On September 8, 2012, in Amanda Hocking, Book Reviews, Opinion, Reviewers, by rsguthrie

I was never that big a believer in the “One Hit Wonder” as a necessarily deliberate act to sabotage another author’s work. I’m not saying it doesn’t happen. If there’s anything in this world that you think never happens (aside from Republicans voting for Obama on anything), I’d at least suggest you take another look […]

 

Can A Hero Be Someone Who Terrifies You?

On August 31, 2012, in Book Reviews, Great Reads, Indie Authors, LOUIS C.K., Reviewers, by rsguthrie

So a few weeks ago I received a review from Russell Blake, an author whom I’ve admired quite a lot since jumping into this Indie swamp so many of us find ourselves treading in these days. One of the primary reasons I always admired him, I must say, is that he maintains this rebellious and […]

 

How To Write The Best Book You Can Possibly Write, With No Guarantees

On July 25, 2012, in Encouragement for Indies, Indie Authors, Reviewers, Writing Tips, by rsguthrie

You’ve taken the classes, attended the workshops, read every Writer’s Digest book they’ve put on the market. You’ve written, and written, and then when you thought the calluses couldn’t get any harder on the ends of your fingers, you wrote some more. You’ve suffered the rejection slips. Oh, how those rejection slips sting. To hell […]

 

For Whom The Blog Tolls

I received a thought-provoking email from a reader this morning that immediately spurred my next blog post, its thoroughness and the points it pondered being: A) Completely relevant to my (and any other author/writer’s) blog and B) Timely, as I had been considering my blog, the fact that I really would like to blog about […]

 

How To Handle A Rare Reviewer (Or: How Many Stars DOES Your Book Deserve?)

Today, Dear Readers, is Saturday the 14th. You know what that means, right? Yesterday was Friday the 13th! I never said anything about it in my blog yesterday (or in my bog which is what I typed first, having only finished a sip of my first morning coffee—I suppose to say something like that in […]