Friends, Romans, Countrymen...Lend Me a Dollar (Or A Review)!

Well, not exactly lend, but you get the point...

As I have finally made progress is completing Unwritten, so I can finally get Stories from the Forester: Volume One ready for public consumption, I've had to make some tough choices, mostly economic.

That, of course, means, the end of Dilemma being free. The PDF, like the Kindle version, is now 99 cents and in on sale at Lulu.com. That's the bad news. Then again, it may not be if you're one of the people who were good enough to download a copy.

For those people, I have another mission. Please post your reviews on the Dilemma Amazon page and the Lulu.com page. And no, I don't care if you think it was the worst piece of garbage you've ever read. As far as I'm concerned, there's no such thing as bad publicity!

So, go ahead. You know you could use the diversion!

A "Bad Review" - Not That Bad

I was reading a recent New York Times article about how author Alice Hoffman, in response to a Boston Globe review of her latest book, hit back through her Twitter account.

Reviewing the book for The Boston Globe on Sunday, Roberta Silman wrote: “This new novel lacks the spark of the earlier work. Its vision, characters, and even the prose seem tired.” In a series of Twitter posts, Ms. Hoffman fired back with her own opinion. “Roberta Silman in the Boston Globe is a moron,” she wrote. “How do some people get to review books? And give the plot away.” Ms. Hoffman also lambasted The Globe and went so far as to post Ms. Silman’s phone number and email, inviting fans to “Tell her what u think of snarky critics.”

By Monday, Ms. Hoffman, according to the story, had erased her Twitter account and apologized for the tirade.

What for? Authors, like everyone else, are only human. And if a book critic zips out a poor review, I understand how an author would want to go on and lay the verbal smack-down, in public or otherwise.

HOWEVER, I generally take a more pragmatic approach to it. For example, in the event that somebody review Flagrant Foul and wrote about it being a derivative piece of crap, I'd probably spend a good five minutes being very angry. That said, one thing really needs to be put into perspective:

There's no such thing as a bad review.

I look at it this way: Just because one critic has something negative to say about your book does not mean that everybody on the planet will. Yes, newspaper book reviews from the New York Times and the Boston Globe still hold some weight. But media has evolved so far beyond print media that their influence isn't what it used to be.

So, my fellow Questers, all is not lost. And Ms. Hoffman, if you happen to come upon this, come on back to Twitter. We know these things happen.

Putting the Q! in Quest (aka the Australia Experience)

Make a mental note - The Aussies are your friends.

During the brief time on this Quest, I have found a surprising section of folks Down Under who, like me, are fellow Questers and are willing to help out writers get the word out.

First, there's Metha Metharom. The Brisbane native and author of numerous books in his own right, has set up both an Author's Spotlight and a Book Review blog. I have been fortunate to be featured in both, though I blame myself for the 3-star review of Flagrant Foul. Rule No. 1, folks: ALWAYS give the reviewer a full copy of your book!

And from the Victoria province, there's Kevin Balshaw. Talk about someone who's been busy. For proof, just go to his Q!2write Web site. Not only are there a ton of resources for the up and coming writer, there's a showcase of books and writer bios! Plus, I've been promised that there will be more to come in the near future.

I expect plenty more from this part of the world as time progresses!

Someone Else's Quest

Since I've started my Quest, I thought I'd share the story of another writer who's documented their own Quest. Shannon Yarbrough, the author of The Other Side of What and, most recently, Stealing Wishes, created the POD Diary for Stealing Wishes. For anyone who plans to go on their own Quest, it's certainly worth a read.

Incidentally, Shannon also runs the Lulu Book Review, which features reviews of self-published books, including, I'm happy to say, Flagrant Foul. Plus, there's plenty of news about self-publishing as well. All in all, it's a great resource!