Are Reviews Important? Yes!

You bet they are! Well the good ones that is, although on occasion a 1 star review that is snide, rude and downright nasty can do the author a lot of good because fans of that author rally round and hit back. Though I am NOT suggesting that you all now go out and post nasty snide reviews!

Did you know that August 2016 is Write An Amazon Review Month? No I didn't either until a couple of days ago. Must admit this has come at a very timely time as I have two new books out at the moment, On The Account (the fifth Sea Witch Voyage) and 1066 Turned Upside Down (a collection of 'What If' short stories written by myself and eight other fabulous authors. More reviews would be very much appreciated for both these books - although I'd love some more positive reviews for all my books.

This reposted article* sums everything up very nicely: 

(I've highlighted in bold the bits I particularly agree with) 

On Monday 25th July, book blogger Rosie Amber wrote this post encouraging readers and writers alike to post a short review on Amazon for any book they've read and enjoyed ~ following this up, Terry Tyler is starting this initiative along with other writer-bloggers (me included)

The idea is that, from August 1st, everyone who reads this uses their Amazon account to post just one review on one book that they've read (but feel free to carry on if you get in the swing!).  You don't even have to have read it recently, it can be any book you've read, any time.  The book does not have to have been purchased from Amazon, though if it is you get the 'Verified Purchase' tag on it; however, if you download all your books via Kindle Unlimited, as many do these days, they don't show the VP tag, anyway.

Remember, this isn't the Times Literary Supplement, it's Amazon, where ordinary people go to choose their next £1.99 Kindle book.  No one expects you to write a thousand word, in-depth critique; I don't know about you, but I'm more likely to read one short paragraph or a couple of lines saying what an average reader thought of a book, than a long-winded essay about the pros and cons of the various literary techniques used.  Yes, those are welcome too (!), but no more so than a few words saying "I loved this book, I was up reading it until 3am", or "I loved Jesamiah (*I added that bit HH) and the dialogue was so realistic", or whatever!

Why should you write a review?

They help book buyers make decisions.  Don't you read the reviews on Trip Advisor before deciding on a hotel, or any site from which you might buy an item for practical use?  Book reviews are no different.

If the book is by a self-published author, or published by an independent press, the writers have to do all their promotion and marketing themselves ~ reviews from the reading public is their one free helping hand. (*sometimes our only helping hand HH)

The amount of reviews on Amazon helps a book's visibility (allegedly).  If you love a writer's work and want others to do so, too, this is the best possible way of making this happen.

It's your good deed for the day, and will only take five minutes!

Off we go, then!  A few more pointers:

A review can be as short as one word.

You don't have to put your name to the review, as your Amazon 'handle' can be anything you like.

No writer expects all their reviews to be 5* and say the book is the best thing ever written; there is a star rating guide below.

Would you like to tell the Twittersphere about your review?  If so, tweet the link to it with the hashtag #AugustReviews

Goodreads Star Ratings



Amazon star ratings



Four Quick Ways to Write a Review

1. Go to Goodreads or your Amazon account. Start with a one liner. Can you include the genre? The lead characters? The setting? Say “I really enjoyed this book” or “The book didn’t work for me”.
2. As above, this time write 4 sentences. Keep them honest and make them about your own thoughts from the book.
3. If you wrote your review for Goodreads, copy and paste it to your Amazon account. Or vice-versa.
4. Really, really stuck for something to say? Read some of the other reviews for the book, they might jog your memory about a point, but still make your own review honest and genuine.

what about reviews for friends?

There's no reason why you shouldn't post a review for a friend for a book you genuinely enjoyed (assuming Amazon doesn't block it.) But are you finding yourself in a loop of reviewing friend’s books, just so they review yours? Review swaps are never a good idea, they become shallow and very obvious to other readers and you will only end up feeling guilty if you can’t be honest.

Draw a line, perhaps explain that you don’t wish to review books for friends and you won’t ask them to review yours in turn unless either party truly wishes to read the book. But that no one should feel obliged to review as a swap. You can still support them by buying a copy of their work, (even just on Kindle).

There is NO SELL BY Date on writing a review – read a book a while a go that you ALWAYS MEANT TO WRITE A REVIEW FOR? Feeling guilty that you didn’t write a review at the time? No Problemo!
Write this in the opening line “I read this book a while ago.” An author will be SO pleased to get an honest review that they won’t mind if there was a time delay on your side.

Finally: on behalf of myself and all my characters...

If you have a blog and would like to spread the word about #AugustReviews, please feel free to copy and paste this blog post, provide the link to it, re-blog it, or whatever
 ~ many thanks, and I hope you will join in to make this idea a success 

review it now

review it now

blog reposted from original by Rosie Amber and  @TerryTyler4 #AugustReviews  & others


PREVIOUS ARTICLE; BLACK SAILS ON THE HORIZON

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Black Sails on the Horizon

My guest today for Tuesday Talk is Kelly Stambaugh - a great fan of the TV series 'Black Sails'... so set sail for an interesting Pirate Post

(warning: contains spoilers)

What is our enduring fascination with the Golden Age of Piracy?  Is it the romantic notions of previous generation’s offerings such as 1935’s “Captain Blood” starring heartthrob of the era, Errol Flynn, or possibly it is Robert Shaw’s campy portrayal of Red Ned Lynch in 1976’s “Swashbuckler”? Or Even the silliness of Johnny Depp’s Captain Jack Sparrow in the “Pirates of the Caribbean” franchise?  While all these have their individual merits and are quite entertaining, none are ‘true to life”, or claim to be.

Or is it something deeper seated within human nature?  The pirate’s ability to throw off the strictures of society?  Do as they pleased, thumbing their noses at conventionalism?  Maybe.  Maybe it was the desire to be free on the open ocean, sailing where and when they wanted?  Or to escape the indenture to the British Navy?  Possibly.  Famous names such as Charles Vane, ‘Calico’ Jack Rackham, Anne Bonney and Blackbeard always illicit a thrill down one’s spine and an admiration for their uncompromising freedom.  But whatever the reason, our obsession with the Golden Age of Piracy lives on into the 21^st century. 

This point is proven with the wildly popular “Black Sails” original series offered by the Starz Channel.   Taking place roughly 20 years prior to the events of Robert Louis Stevenson’s classic adventure novel “Treasure Island”, “Black Sails” is television’s latest offering in the pirate genre.  In this drama, Captain Flint (played by British actor Toby Stephens) is still very much alive and terrorizing the Caribbean on his vessel The Walrus.  The first Prize we, as an audience, see him take contains a very young and somewhat naïve John Silver (portrayed by Australian actor Luke Arnold) with all his limbs intact.  Though naïve, John Silver is extremely intelligent and all about his own survival.  Bargaining his way on to the Walrus as a cook, the partnership inferred in “Treasure Island” begins.  Throughout the three seasons that have already aired on American television, you see the relationship between Flint and Silver grow…..the reliance on each other, Silver tempering the mania contained within Flint’s mind while descending into the darkness with him, and realizing Silver himself enjoys it. 

This program is not for one looking for a romantic romp through the world of the pirates.  In it’s realistic portrayal of the gritty underbelly of blood-thirsty pirates, you see the filthy living conditions, the sexual promiscuity, blood-shed, and political machinations between, not only the individual pirate crews, but also between the pirates and the English, in the form of Woodes Rogers, who wishes to reclaim New Providence Island for the Crown.

One could make the assumption that a drama series about pirates would be focused on just the men, the women being relegated to the ‘damsel in distress’ being saved by our hero roles.  Not so with “Black Sails.”  Though a predominately male cast, there are three very prominent and strong female leads in the characters of Eleanor Guthrie (played by Hannah New), Anne Bonney (played by Clara Paget), and Max (played by Jessica Parker Kennedy).   Eleanor, the Trade Boss of Nassau, is at the pinnacle of her success as the series opens, but we see her fall from grace and land herself in an English prison only to claw her way back to a position of prominence and power.  Anne, is as blood-thirsty and psychotic, as any of her male counterparts; but she is devoted to the pirate cause and her partner, Captain Jack Rackham (played by Toby Schmitz).  And then there is Max; the cunning and conniving whore “of little consequence”, until the fall of Eleanor Guthrie, when she steps into Eleanor’s shoes.  These women stand toe-to-toe with the deadliest pirates known to history or fiction.

John Silver

“Black Sails” is the perfect blend of historical, fictional, and literary characters.  As I have mentioned, Captain Flint and John Silver, but also Billy Bones and Ben Gunn from “Treasure Island”.  They have also drawn heavily from history to use Charles Vane, Ned Lowe and, of course, Edward Teach (aka Blackbeard).  The creators have developed their own completely fictional characters in Eleanor Guthrie, Max, Mr. Featherstone, Jacob Garrett and the tragic Mr. Muldoon.  The rich, multi-faceted and multi-layered characters and stories play out against a backdrop that is both the seedy underside of Nassau, but is also visually stunning at the same time; making advantageous use of the natural South African landscape.  No wonder the Production Effects and Sound Editing team has been nominated for Prime Time Emmys each year the show has been on the air with a win in 2014.

The moment I hear Bear McCreary’s title music begin, a chill runs down my spine and I know I am in for an hour-long wild ride.

Please Note

 if you have not seen the series, it is adult viewing and contains scenes of 

violence, nudity, drugs and explicit sex.

Apart from that its fine!