Writer

Every job has hard parts, out of control parts, those things that make us cringe or stall. As a writer I enjoy the rough draft, the grittiness of world building and character development. The second pass where action is added, movement, even gestures, hand motions and facial expressions. The third pass where emotion is built in, where language is refined to say things without saying them. The fourth where language is refined and smoothed out. Editor stages, beta readers, working with the artist, promotion and all the rest has its fun parts, but asking for reviews is hard.

First, like everyone else I have my own self doubts and worry that maybe the story is flawed. Second, I have no control over your mood while you read, which means that you may hate it for completely unrelated reasons.

Then there is this conundrum… if I ask and you didn’t find the book engaging, you will probably deliberately forget to write a review. If I ask and you write something kind, I am ecstatic,  and use it in promotion, it becomes a stick I can use to beat back the encroaching pain of self doubt.

But let’s be honest, tons of people read and NEVER write a review. Not that I object, but what does it mean? Does that mean I should scrap everything and go back to teaching? When you have a 10% reviewership; reviewers/purchasers, is that bad? Nothing in the writer’s emergency handbook covers what to do.

Instead, everyone says ask for reviews. Reward your readers and ask for reviews. So here I am asking, please review my books.