Summers Are For Writing

Traditionally, the summer witnesses the lowest book sales of the entire year. In particular, the period between the 4th of July until the end of August is extremely quiet. I have seen threads on many forums complain about a significant drop in sales, but this decline is seasonal so it should not cause too much concern.

That is why I believe that this is the perfect time of year to really push on with any writing projects that we are working on. At the moment, most marketing efforts will fall on deaf ears so why not instead utilise this time of year to do what a writer loves best: writing. Set yourself a target to reach by the first day of September and do your absolute best to reach it.

One of the biggest challenges facing 'new' authors in the e-book landscape is that we are competing against authors (whether indie or traditionally published) who have sizeable back catalogues. So we need to do our absolute best to produce works of consistent quality that captivate the collective imaginations of our audience.

I have a feeling that the advent of the e-book will reward prolific writers who are able to produce diverse and engaging works of literature. So get writing - it is easy to get lost in the endless sprawl of marketing advice, but it is important to remind ourselves that there is nothing more important than the actual writing process itself.

Speaking of which, I will be unveiling a couple of exciting new projects over the next couple of days. Stay tuned for more information...

How to deal with bad reviews

Bad reviews are never a nice thing to receive - but I do think there is a way to soften the blow that they deliver.

From what I have seen there are 3 types of bad reviews you can receive (if you have any more, please add them below) and each one requires a different response:

1. Complaints about formatting and grammar - it is terrible when you receive this sort of review as it questions your professionalism as an author. However, it is a problem that can be fixed - you can re-work your manuscript or hire a proofreader and/or someone to format your book and correct these problems.

2. Complaints about the price - with the 'brand authors', you will often see readers leaving one star reviews because the e-book costs more than the print version of the book. But with self-published authors, I have found readers leaving negative reviews because someone has price a short story for $5 - make sure your writing is reasonably priced - and if you are selling shorter fiction make sure you state that it is a short story several times in your Product Description so your reader does not feel like they are being mislead.

3. Complaints about the quality of your writing - this is the toughest of the three as it questions your actual abilities as a writer. To make your self feel better, look up your three favourite novels - I am pretty sure you will find a number disparaging views for these books. Just as an example, I looked up Moby Dick on Amazon UK - I was shocked to see that Melville's masterpiece has 14 1 star and 15 2 star reviews out of 112 reviews.

However, if someone critiques your work rather than just saying, 'This is really crap, I demand a return', it would be foolish not to take their criticism on board and use it to ensure your next book improves.

Of course, there will be times when a negative review mixes all three of the above, but as writers we need to believe in the work we put out and be as thick-skinned as possible (as hard as that can be).