My first novel, Drama Queens with Love Scenes, was published by a small indie press over a decade ago. Little did I know back then it would be up to me to promote it and I stumbled in the dark to find information on just how to go about it. One thing we all value …
I got a bad review
I got a bad review. To be honest, it's a proper critique. The reviewer was honest about what worked for her and what didn't. And it hit me hard because she is a fan of two of my other books. This review was posted a week later than originally scheduled and in that time I …
The Negative Reader
I noticed something the other day. I was going to write a review of a favourite book for someone else's blog, but because it had been a while since I read the book, I checked its reviews on Goodreads to refresh my memory on elements of the plot. While pretty much everyone praised it, one …
Never read your reviews!
New book. Time to check for reviews. Because at time of writing this I was addicted to Google, searching said book title plus my name. All authors do it. We need the quotes for marketing while the novel is still fresh. No reviews on Amazon several weeks after release, but a few on Goodreads. But, …
How Gay does a GLBTQI book need to be?
Some time ago, author David Pratt wrote a novel named Bob the Book. In the story, Bob is a gay book. At a literary festival we both attended, David talked about the absurdity of a book being deemed gay. That's why he questioned the notion and came up with this character. This came to mind …
Review equals publicity
A couple of weeks ago I blogged about the importance of reviews to an author. In fact, next week, Bold Stroke's author Michael Vance Gurley has his own views on the topic as my guest blogger. But this week I want to share some experiences I've had in the past month regarding reviews. Reviews equal publicity. Part …
Someone out there, give me a review!
Last week's guest blogger, 'Nathan Burgoine, once posted his Christmas wish list on his own website. Quiet simply, he wanted reviews. Any author with a book newly released understands his sentiment. When my ebook Nate and the New Yorker came out, I spent weeks searching for reviews. Any writer will admit that this becomes a habit. You're …
Rejected by a Reviewer
I had a unique experience recently. There's one reviewer who I like to read, especially when he's writing about one of my books. It's one of the rare vanity moments we have as authors. What I like about this reviewer is that within his critique, he offers advice to the writer. In the past he hasn't …
Getting to know your reviewers
Over a decade ago I heard an interesting radio interview. The guest did his thesis on how Bob Dylan and The Beatles shared a public conversation. The key was to the titles of their songs. Dylan would release a track, then the Beatles would respond to his ideas with their new hit. The dialogue would …
Reviews – A Living Terror!
When I was studying acting many years ago, one of our drama teachers put us through an interesting exercise. She asked each of our classmates to critique each other's acting. So one by one we sat and heard advice from each of our fellow students. Did the sky fall? Did we want to bury ourselves …
kevin klehr 