3 day countdown, #reviewsmatter, and an offer!

Monday means 3 days to the ebook launch of Agricola's Bane!

Read on to find out how to WIN an ecopy of Agricola's Bane! I have x2 e-copies ready for some lucky winners! (Details below)

I'm really looking forward to selling lots of paperback copies of this novel locally and getting oral feedback on it, because that's what my local return customers tend to do after buying paperback copies at author presentation events, or FOCUS Craft Fairs. Those customers buying directly from me tend to only read paperback versions of novels and are rarely online. That means I can never expect a written review from them to be posted on Amazon or Goodreads (though it's an incredibly lovely surprise when that has happened once or twice). I always value their feedback very highly but sadly, I can't add their compliments to Amazon reviews which really DO affect the sales of e-copies of my novels. 

So, it's back to that issue of do REVIEWS really matter? 

The answer is YES! the the amount of reviews a book receives can be crucial to a book taking off after its launch or just dawdling along. They only need to be a few lines long; a couple of sentences and a title which can be as little as 'I enjoyed this'. 

When it comes to ebook customers of my novels, sold from online retailers, it is so important that they write post a short review on  Amazon or Goodreads because it enhances the profile of the book and myself as the author (though admittedly I've never been good at encouraging/harassing people to do this.)

Do I review book I've bought on Amazon? Yes, I do. I post a review here on this blog; on Amazon and on the Goodreads sites. It may not happen immediately after I complete the reading of the novel, but I do it when the best moment for writing it arises. I've reviewed the novels of many authors of different authors (though with Amazon cracking down on reviews they think are not impartial reciprocation is now a very tricky thing!) 

What is it that an author (like me) would like a reader to say in a short review? 

There are many possibilities you could give a brief mention to. Such as... 

Did you enjoy the characters and think they are realistic for the plot? 

Did you think the story had a good pace and suitable action at strategic places throughout the novel? Did the setting seem real to you, whether it was a historical novel in a set time period, or a contemporary setting?

Did the plot of the story resonate as something that could happen without being too fantastical? 

Did you empathise with characters who weren't the main ones? 

Did you feel you were living the situation with the characters?  

I have x 2 FREE e-copies of Agricola's Bane ready for 2 lucky people to *WIN*. 

(Of course, I'll be looking forward to all reviews posted after launch day)

What you need to do to enter the DRAW is:

• Leave a comment about  - Why you like to leave a review (on Amazon, Goodreads, or your own blog) -  in the comments section below this post, to enter you into the draw. 

• The offer remains open till the 29th of November 2018 when the  draw will take place. 

• The name of the winner will be announced in the comments section below on November 30th  2018.

Good luck! And I look forward to reading your comments. 

Of course, if you can't wait that long, click to get your own e copy HERE 

Slainthe!