It never ceases to amaze me how many self published author (actually, it's usually vanity pressed authors) post fake reviews for their novels. It seems that the form of these reviews hardly ever deviates from a set pattern and so they can be spotted from a mile off.
Here is a good example,
"Taken from personal experiences and the wizard behind the curtain. This Author rips you into the story faster than any you can name and keeps your attention from one unpredictable twist to another. If this author were a prize fighter She would be Sugar Ray Leonard in his prime. Page one of the story projects a cinema in your mind that runs in HD from end to end. Sometimes she makes me sweat with the images she paints and I need to stop just to catch my breath and wipe my forehead. Don't miss ------'s Debut!! Get in now while you can still say I read her when...An Awesome Story that deserves a series of Movies!!! She is going places!! This story will make your blood boil and Possibly make you see the Wizard behind the curtain if you can read between the lines..."
(Bold, mine)
Now, what exactly is that all about? It's not so much a review as an advert, and a bad one at that. To be quite honest the review could be talking about just about any book.
A couple of points of note. First off, the reviewer tends to refer to the author as "the author" or "this author", hardly ever by name (there is one such instance in the review, but I have dashed it out here). The other thing about the review is that you probably have no idea what the story is about. There are no remarks about plot, characters, style or anything else; we don't even know what genre this book is.
The portions I have bolded, "this author" being the first - notice how the reviewer says how great this book would be if it were to be made into a movie. This is very common in fake reviews - there is always talk of either transforming the book into a movie or a tv series, but with very little reasons why, other than it would be great.
There will possibly also be remarks about how the reviewer can't wait to get their hands on the sequel, but, yet again, without telling us what about the first book made them wish to do so.
For more on how to spot fake reviews, read the following BBC article,
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/magazine/8118577.stm
Sunday, July 12, 2009
When NOT to self publish
(The following is a message that I previously posted on www.sffchronicles.co.uk)
Whilst this topic is still on the board, and people are still reading it, I thought I'd just pop in a little opinion which might be useful (or could end up making me look a little arrogant).
I self published my novel because 1) After two years I'd had no luck with agents or publishers, and 2) For me, the book is an itch that needs scratching. And right now it's a hobby and I'm doing it for fun.
I have, however, seen others doing things that make me rather concerned.
The other day I stumbled across a fantasy book that someone had written and self published. However, the reasons for him doing so were... well, troubling.
The author had planned and was in the process of writing a sprawling fantasy epic; somewhere around 5 or 6 books, each in the region of 150,000 - 200,000 words. On his website he told of his dismay that he could only send agents and publishers the first three chapters of his novel. How could they possibly understand and gain an insight into his world and what he planned from only three chapters? He wanted to sit down with someone over a cup of coffee and show them all the maps he had drawn, his marketting plan, and discuss the history and culture of the world he had created.
On top of this, it saddened him that he would have to wait 2 or 3 months for a response. He suspected he would have many sleepless nights before him as he waited to know whether or not his book would be accepted. And even if it were, he would need to wait 2 or 3 years to see it in print.
This, it seemed, he couldn't live with. He wanted his book out now! And so, he has completely side-stepped the traditional route (as far as I can tell he never showed his work to even one agency) and went through a vanity press instead. He cited examples such as H G Wells for self publishing and becoming a big success. He believes this so much that he also intends to give up his day job and focus on his writing full time.
I was stunned.
Now, this is only my opinion, but I would really really REALLY say to everyone on these boards and those who are reading this to never ever do that! This has to be the stupidest idea ever and I hope, for his sake, that the author doesn't do this.
He seems largely unaware that even people such as Joe Abercrombie (THE BLADE ITSELF) and Stephen Hunt (COURT OF THE AIR) still have day jobs, despite the critical acclaim of their books and the successes they have become. The former still edits films for a living and the latter retains his job at an investment bank.
I hope this post doesn't make me sound like some sort of prig. I write it only in the hope that others who are considering such action will stop and think very, very carefully about what they are about to do.
There is nothing wrong with self publishing. In the age we live in, the whole DIY culture the internet has brought about, it is becoming more acceptable. But, if you self publish you need to be realistic about your expectations and for many it would be better to go via the traditional route of contacting agents, editors, etc.
(I suspect I may have contradicted myself somewhere in there. Someone will tell me...)
Whilst this topic is still on the board, and people are still reading it, I thought I'd just pop in a little opinion which might be useful (or could end up making me look a little arrogant).
I self published my novel because 1) After two years I'd had no luck with agents or publishers, and 2) For me, the book is an itch that needs scratching. And right now it's a hobby and I'm doing it for fun.
I have, however, seen others doing things that make me rather concerned.
The other day I stumbled across a fantasy book that someone had written and self published. However, the reasons for him doing so were... well, troubling.
The author had planned and was in the process of writing a sprawling fantasy epic; somewhere around 5 or 6 books, each in the region of 150,000 - 200,000 words. On his website he told of his dismay that he could only send agents and publishers the first three chapters of his novel. How could they possibly understand and gain an insight into his world and what he planned from only three chapters? He wanted to sit down with someone over a cup of coffee and show them all the maps he had drawn, his marketting plan, and discuss the history and culture of the world he had created.
On top of this, it saddened him that he would have to wait 2 or 3 months for a response. He suspected he would have many sleepless nights before him as he waited to know whether or not his book would be accepted. And even if it were, he would need to wait 2 or 3 years to see it in print.
This, it seemed, he couldn't live with. He wanted his book out now! And so, he has completely side-stepped the traditional route (as far as I can tell he never showed his work to even one agency) and went through a vanity press instead. He cited examples such as H G Wells for self publishing and becoming a big success. He believes this so much that he also intends to give up his day job and focus on his writing full time.
I was stunned.
Now, this is only my opinion, but I would really really REALLY say to everyone on these boards and those who are reading this to never ever do that! This has to be the stupidest idea ever and I hope, for his sake, that the author doesn't do this.
He seems largely unaware that even people such as Joe Abercrombie (THE BLADE ITSELF) and Stephen Hunt (COURT OF THE AIR) still have day jobs, despite the critical acclaim of their books and the successes they have become. The former still edits films for a living and the latter retains his job at an investment bank.
I hope this post doesn't make me sound like some sort of prig. I write it only in the hope that others who are considering such action will stop and think very, very carefully about what they are about to do.
There is nothing wrong with self publishing. In the age we live in, the whole DIY culture the internet has brought about, it is becoming more acceptable. But, if you self publish you need to be realistic about your expectations and for many it would be better to go via the traditional route of contacting agents, editors, etc.
(I suspect I may have contradicted myself somewhere in there. Someone will tell me...)
Tuesday, July 7, 2009
First Amazon Review
Just seen that THE HONOUR OF THE KNIGHTS has received its first review on Amazon!
A. van Kaam described it as a "Very Captivating Debut" and award it 5 out of 5.
You can read the full review here,
http://www.amazon.co.uk/product-reviews/0955856108/ref=cm_cr_dp_all_summary?ie=UTF8&showViewpoints=1&sortBy=bySubmissionDateDescending
I'm thrilled!
A. van Kaam described it as a "Very Captivating Debut" and award it 5 out of 5.
You can read the full review here,
http://www.amazon.co.uk/product-reviews/0955856108/ref=cm_cr_dp_all_summary?ie=UTF8&showViewpoints=1&sortBy=bySubmissionDateDescending
I'm thrilled!
Friday, July 3, 2009
More Waterstone's
Today I headed out to a few more branches of Waterstone's; 3 around North London. Each of them agreed to take on copies of THE HONOUR OF THE KNIGHTS. I have to say that I'm thrilled, since this now takes the total number of stockists up to 10. I'm wondering if this is something of a record for a Lulu writer?
Even if it's not, it's certainly nothing to sneeze at. I'll continue to work with Waterstone's to get more books placed in the stores.
Even if it's not, it's certainly nothing to sneeze at. I'll continue to work with Waterstone's to get more books placed in the stores.
Thursday, July 2, 2009
Mild Success
Yesterday I visited four more branches of Waterstone's to see if they would be interested in stocking THE HONOUR OF THE KNIGHTS. I met with limited success on this occasion.
My first visit was to the Waterstone's near Liverpool Street Station, along the London Wall. There was no one in there to speak to about stocking the novel, so I left them the details and a card, along with the ISBN. I'm putting that one down to a maybe. My second visit was to the Ladenhall branch, which has a large and popular science fiction section. They were quite receptive and more than happy to stock it.
My next visits were to two branches around Embankment. When speaking to the branch manager on Saturday, she had expressed an interest in stocking the book, so long as I was able to discover if it was available through the hub (I found out that it was). However, when returning they declined to bring in any copies, since HOTK is a Print On Demand book and was therefore not returnable (Hmmmm, the other branches didn't have an issue with this). The last store I visited said that their science fiction section was not a good seller, so they would only stock franchise or best sellers. Understandable, I guess.
There are still a number of branches that I can visit, but I suspect that, unless they are large stores, I will shortly be approaching the upper limit of who will be willing to stock the book.
My first visit was to the Waterstone's near Liverpool Street Station, along the London Wall. There was no one in there to speak to about stocking the novel, so I left them the details and a card, along with the ISBN. I'm putting that one down to a maybe. My second visit was to the Ladenhall branch, which has a large and popular science fiction section. They were quite receptive and more than happy to stock it.
My next visits were to two branches around Embankment. When speaking to the branch manager on Saturday, she had expressed an interest in stocking the book, so long as I was able to discover if it was available through the hub (I found out that it was). However, when returning they declined to bring in any copies, since HOTK is a Print On Demand book and was therefore not returnable (Hmmmm, the other branches didn't have an issue with this). The last store I visited said that their science fiction section was not a good seller, so they would only stock franchise or best sellers. Understandable, I guess.
There are still a number of branches that I can visit, but I suspect that, unless they are large stores, I will shortly be approaching the upper limit of who will be willing to stock the book.
Monday, June 29, 2009
Over the wall
I spoke to Waterstone's hub and buying department today and explained my predicament. To my surprise, they told me that this wasn't a problem and that individual branches could still order in copies of my novel to be stocked.
So, good news there.
Talks with branches of Waterstone's will continue on Wednesday.
So, good news there.
Talks with branches of Waterstone's will continue on Wednesday.
Saturday, June 27, 2009
Slight Hitch
Resuming my journey of getting THE HONOUR OF THE KNIGHTS into as many Waterstone's stores as possible, I wandered into two more in the London area today. The managers in both were, as always, very friendly and both were interested in bringing in some copies of my novel.
However, it seems that Waterstone's purchasing system has changed - instead of buying in books from Gardners, they now do so from a centralised hub. I was told by the management that I would need to ensure that it was possible to get hold of copies of my novel from there. It seems that having an ISBN, etc. is not all that is needed. Oddly, branches that are already stocking my novel are unaffected by this change.
I'm not entirely sure what is needed of me now, but I'll be making a grand effort to find out what I need to do in order to get the stocking back up to speed.
Watch this space.
However, it seems that Waterstone's purchasing system has changed - instead of buying in books from Gardners, they now do so from a centralised hub. I was told by the management that I would need to ensure that it was possible to get hold of copies of my novel from there. It seems that having an ISBN, etc. is not all that is needed. Oddly, branches that are already stocking my novel are unaffected by this change.
I'm not entirely sure what is needed of me now, but I'll be making a grand effort to find out what I need to do in order to get the stocking back up to speed.
Watch this space.
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