Book Signing and Ethical Praying.

Book selling and Ethical praying

                                On my book signing days
                                Is it ethical to pray?
                                  “God, please sway
                               That ‘book looker’ to pay
                               Without debate or delay
                               For that book I wrote
                               As, I’m nearly broke!”

                              With my book display I sit,
                              Waiting for someone to pick
                                                               Just one book and discover
                                                                   What’s behind the cover?
                                                                   I’ve done my best to write
                                                                  This genre with life’s insight
                                                                  For people's reading delight!

  Too late now for prayer.

                                                               Sitting here as people stare
                                                              And wonder if they’ll bother
                                                              To go, meet the author
                                                              Or be safe and stay away.
                                                              So, I get tempted to pray,
                                                              “Lord, drag them my way!”

As this silent prayer I utter,

                                                            I fear it’s a wrongful matter.
                                                            God won’t hear this chatter.
                                                             “Son”, I sense His reply
                                                               “I cannot let you try
                                                               And use me to coerce
                                                              People to fill your purse.”

Not all, I admit, tho’ stricken,

                                                          Will like the genre written.
                                                           I, not God, am the salesman
                                                           And He is not my talisman.
                                                          My attitude about how to pray

Must surround my book display,

"Lord, let me honour you today!"

©Ray Hawkins Dec 2015.

Writing Conference Etiquette 101

By Narelle Atkins

I love attending writing conferences and networking with other writers. Your first conference can be a daunting experience. Below I've listed some tips to help you navigate the etiquette of writing conferences and events. 

• Dress appropriately. Research the dress code so you’ll feel comfortable and confident in what you’re wearing at the conference. The dress code at a five star hotel venue may be business or smart casual whereas a country retreat may be more relaxed, for example jeans and a T-shirt.

• Wear comfortable shoes. You don’t want to be experiencing pain while mingling with conference attendees during the breaks. 

• Advise the organizers of any special dietary requirements prior to the conference. At meal times, alert the wait staff if you’ve ordered a special meal. If the seating has not been prearranged, the staff will be looking for you. 

• Remember your good manners and act like a professional at all the official conference events. 

• Many writing conferences have etiquette and rules regarding children. Read the FAQ’s in the conference information that are applicable for you.

• Switch your phone to vibrate or silent at the start of each workshop. Never answer a call during a conference session.

• If you’re a first timer, attend the orientation sessions. Seek out others who are new to the conference. They may become your lifelong writing friends.

• Be friendly. Many writers are introverts and struggle with the social aspects of a conference. Make eye contact, smile and say hello. Most writers want to network and meet other writers at conferences. One of the easiest ice breaker questions is “What do you write?”

• If someone appears to brush you off, don’t take it personally. There are dozens of reasons for why they can’t chat that probably have nothing to do with you.

• If you’re by yourself at a meal, instead of sitting alone you can ask to join another table. Most writers are more than happy to talk writing with whoever is around.

• Sign up to volunteer at the conference. Conferences are often organized by writing groups. Volunteering is a great way to meet people and give back to the organization.

• Respect others. Treat other people the way you’d like to be treated.

• Don’t harass industry professionals. For example, pitching your book to an editor or agent in the bathroom is rude and inappropriate.

• Limit your alcohol consumption. Publisher parties and conference dinners often have liquor flowing freely. Know your limits, and remember you’re attending a work function. Professional courtesy is paramount, and you don’t want to be remembered as the badly behaved author who drank too much.

• Don’t wear fragrances. Be considerate to those who suffer from allergies and leave your perfume at home.

• Thank the organizers. You’ll come across many volunteers who have given their time to make the conference a special event. Take a minute to thank them for their contribution, and let them know they’re doing a fantastic job.

• Complete the post-conference survey. Provide constructive feedback to help the organizers evaluate the success of their event. 

I hope my tips are helpful. I’ve also written posts on Writing Conferences: The Benefits for Writers and Author Etiquette 101. If you have any questions, please let us know in the comments. I’d love to hear your thoughts and experiences.

http://australasianchristianwriters.blogspot.com.au/2014/08/writing-conferences-benefits-for-writers.html 

http://australasianchristianwriters.blogspot.com.au/2014/02/author-etiquette-101.html

NARELLE ATKINS writes contemporary inspirational romance and lives in Canberra, Australia. She sold her debut novel, set in Australia, to Harlequin's Love Inspired Heartsong Presents line in a 6-book contract. Her debut book, Falling for the Farmer, was a February 2014 release, followed by The Nurse's Perfect Match in May 2014, The Doctor's Return in August 2014, Her Tycoon Hero in November 2014, Winning Over the Heiress in February 2015, and Seaside Proposal in May 2015.

Narelle blogs regularly with International Christian fiction Writers and Inspy Romance. http://internationalchristianfictionwriters.blogspot.com/ 
http://www.inspyromance.com/ 

She is also a co-founder of the Australian Christian Readers Blog Alliance (ACRBA).
http://acrba.blogspot.com/ 

Website: http://www.narelleatkins.com
Blog: http://narelleatkins.wordpress.com
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/NarelleAtkinsAuthor
Twitter: @NarelleAtkins https://twitter.com/NarelleAtkins

How do I Ask for Reviews?

By Iola Goulton

My previous post discussed how to get honest book reviews (answer: Ask). This week I'm looking at some of the finer points of how to ask.

First, and most important ...

Please don’t waste the reviewer’s time by asking them to review something completely inappropriate. 

If their Amazon profile says they don’t accept book review requests, don’t ask. If their blog page says no vanity publishers and your publisher is Tate or WestBow Press, don’t ask. And only pitch your book to a reviewer who reviews in the same genre: as a reviewer of Christian fiction, I’m definitely not interested in your polytheistic inspirational, or your raunchy erotica (yes, I've been offered both in the last couple of months). And I'm probably not interested in your picture book.

Follow their review policy. 

As a general guide, it’s best to send a query first and follow that up with the ebook if the reviewer agrees to review your title. Don’t just send your book and then complain the reviewer never reviewed it. An unsolicited book is like the flyers in your letterbox from the supermarket you never visit: it gets deleted, unread.

Offer a free copy of the book

… and state whether your version is mobi (for Kindle), epub (for Kobo, Nook, Sony etc), or pdf (which can be read on any device, although Kindle users are advised to email the file to their Kindle with “convert” in the subject line, to get a readable mobi file).

Remember you are asking for an honest review, not a positive review (and certainly not a five-star review).

Don’t gift your book via Amazon in order to get the AVP tag—Amazon see the gift as financial compensation, and may delete the review (because the reviewer can decline the gift and spend the money on something else). Besides, the AVP tag is meaningless. However, you can gift copies via Smashwords (if your book is available there), which allows the reviewer to download in a range of formats.

What if no one agrees to review my book?

If you find you’re approaching a lot of reviewers but no one is interested in reviewing your book, here are a few things to check:

• Are you targeting the right reviewers? Have they reviewed books like yours before?
• Do you have a great cover? Does it look professional?
• Is your book description gripping?
• Do your opening pages have a compelling hook?
• Has your book been professionally edited?
• Is there something about your presentation which is driving potential reviewers away?

These are the main issues that lead to me turning down review requests. Most often, the opening pages of the novel simply don’t grip me. They might be all telling, not showing. They might use too many creative dialogue tags. They might be writing in omniscient point of view and headhopping. These issues show me the book needs more work, and will mean I choose not to review it. Other reviewers will have their own crtieria.

If you can’t convince reviewers to read your book, you’re going to have trouble convincing paying customers.

I sent my book, but it hasn’t been reviewed yet.

Some reviewers agree to review your book, while others only promise to look at it. If they decide not to review it, don’t push. The chances are they didn’t like the book.

If a reviewer agreed to review your book within a specific timeframe and doesn’t, it could be because they’ve forgotten (so one gentle reminder may well be appropriate). However, it could be they didn’t like it. Some reviewers prefer to only review books they like, so don’t push the issue if they don’t review it.

It’s a lot of work!

Yes, which is why it is important to keep track of everything:
• the reviewers you found who accept review requests (whether you contacted them or not);
• the reviewers you contacted who didn’t respond to your email;
• the reviewers you contacted who responded but declined;
• the reviewers you contacted who said no, but to keep them informed of future books;
• the reviewers who agreed to review your books and didn’t;
• the reviewers who agreed to review your books and did.

When a you’ve requested review appears on a blog, it’s polite to visit the blog, thank the reviewer, and respond to any comments. However, I don’t recommend responding to reviews (positive or negative) on retail sites (e.g. Amazon) or reader communities (e.g. Goodreads), as it can come across as needy and stalkerish.

Finally, keep special note of those reviewers who enjoyed your book: these are the people you will contact again when your next book releases, which will make this process much easier.

Do you have any reviewing questions I haven't answered?


By Iola Goulton. I am a freelance editor specialising in Christian fiction, and you can find out more about my services at my website, or follow me on Facebook, Twitter or Pinterest.

I love reading, and read and review around 150 Christian books each year on my blog. I'm a Top 25 Reviewer at Christian Book, in the Top 1% of reviewers at Goodreads, and have an Amazon Reviewer Rank that floats around 2000.

How to Get (Honest) Book Reviews

By Iola Goulton

How to get honest book reviews

Post updated 30 December 2016

I’ve recently seen a few authors online asking either how to get more book reviews, or how many book reviews can they expect. My (unstatistical) research suggest authors can expect around one review for every 1,000 copies sold. That’s just 0.1%. Even a bestseller might not do much better: John Green has reportedly sold nine million copies of The Fault in Our Stars and has almost 30,000 reviews on Amazon—a review rate of less than 0.4%.

Yet some authors seem to have dozens, even hundreds, of reviews, out of all proportion to sales. Is there some secret? How do these authors manage to get so many reviews?

It’s easy enough to get dishonest reviews. Earlier articles in this series have covered several less-than-honest ways to get reviews, including buying reviews, reviewing your own books, asking family members to give your book a five-star review, and swapping reviews with other authors.

So how do you get honest reviews?

Ask.

Yes, ask for reviews. Many readers don’t realise the importance authors place on reviews. Positive reviews provide social proof for potential customers, they influence Amazon’s book popularity ratings, and a certain number of reviews are required in order for authors to advertise on sites like Bookbub. Yet most readers don’t know or understand how useful reviews are, to authors and other readers.

Almost anyone who has an Amazon account can review on Amazon (and an Amazon US account holder can also review on other Amazon country pages, such as Australia, Canada and the UK). All a customer needs to do is open an account and spend $50 (this spending requirement was introduced during 2016, to combat the "coupon club" reviewers who would give anything a five-star review in exchange for free samples).

Who do I Ask?

Ask your readers

Marketing advisors such as David Gaughran advise authors to ask for reviews at the back of the book, and that’s something David does himself: “Word-of-mouth is cruicial for any author to succeed. If you enjoyed the book, please consider leaving a review at Amazon.”

This tactic is now being adopted by at least one of the big-name publishers: I’ve recently read Journey of Hope by Debbie Kaufman, a Love Inspired Historical. At the end of the book, it says, “Love the Love Inspired book you just read? Your opinion matters. Review this book on your favorite book site, review site, blog or your own social media properties and share your opinion with other readers!”

Does this work? In July 2014, Tim Grahl shared on his blog that he had just sold the 10,000th copy of his book, Your First 1000 Copies (including one copy to me). Those 10,000 sales have netted him over 180 reviews—a 1.8% review rate, which is still low, but is almost twenty times more reviews than my unstatistical ‘normal’.

The other thing to do at the end of your book is ask readers to sign up for your email list, so you can let them know when your next book is due to be published (and perhaps even offer your email subscribers a discount, or ask if anyone would like a free review copy …). If you want to boost your email list, try offering your book at NoiseTrade Books: people can download your book free (or leave a tip) in exchange for providing you with their email address.

Ask Amazon reviewers

While many Amazon reviewers are simply providing random reviews on books or products they’ve used and liked (or not), a growing number are reviewing books or products they’ve been provided with in exchange for a review. Note that reviewers are required to disclose they have received a free copy of the book for review (as per Federal Trade Commission regulations). Not all do, but they are supposed to.

How do you find Amazon reviewers? 

It’s time-consuming, but worthwhile. Some people recommend starting with the Amazon Top 10,000 Reviewers list, as these are the most prolific and helpful reviewers and are therefore most likely to accept review requests. However, I believe this is a waste of time for most authors, and especially for authors writing in a niche genre like Christian fiction. Why? Because many of those reviewers either don’t review books, or don’t read Christian fiction. (The easiest way to become a Top 10,000 Reviewer is to review the Free App of the Day, as it’s guaranteed to get you a lot of votes, and votes are more important than total number of reviews in improving reviewer ranking.)

Rather than focusing on Top Reviewers, focus on people who have reviewed books similar to yours, especially if they have also reviewed self-published books. Click on the reviewer name, and see if they have a website address or email address on their profile. If they have an email address, it’s safe to assume they are open to receiving requests via email. If they only have a website address, check that out to see if they are open to review requests.

Many Amazon reviewers also have book blogs, which is even better: the more sites a review is posted on, the better for your book. To find out if an Amazon reviewer will accept requests for reviews, simply click on their name, which will bring up their personal profile. If you find an Amazon reviewer who agrees to review your book, you’ve got a 50% or better chance of getting a review (personally, I review over 95% of the titles I accept for review, but I know some bloggers review as few as 30%. However, they make it clear that sending them a book doesn’t guarantee a review).

Ask bloggers

There are several organisations which specialise in organising blog tours for Christian novels, including the Australasian Christian Readers Blog Alliance, Book Fun Magazine, Christian Fiction Blog Alliance, First Wild Card Tours and Litfuse Publicity. Visit their website, find some books similar to yours, see which reviewers have reviewed them positively, visit those reviewer websites, check out their reviewing guidelines, and contact those who are open to unsolicited requests. Be warned: as with Amazon reviewers, many bloggers already have all the books they can read through sources such as NetGalley or publisher blogging programmes.

The advantage of using bloggers from these networks is that you already know they are open to reading and reviewing Christian novels. If they have a review policy or similar on their blog, you will know they are open to receiving review requests, so go ahead! As with Amazon reviewers, if you find a blogger who will read your book, you have an excellent chance of getting a review.

Ask on a review site

Sites such as Facebook and Goodreads have groups for people seeking reviews. However, some of these offer unethical review swaps. Check out any potential reviewers before sending your book off to them, to ensure they are the right reviewer for your book. You can also check out sites like Story Cartel, which offers your book free to readers who promise to review.

Ask social media followers

Rayne Hall recommends asking social media followers for reviews in her book, Twitter for Writers, by tweeting that your book is available for review. She asks every eight weeks, with a post like this:
“Would anyone like one of my ebooks for free for posting a review at Amazon?”

Hall likes these reviews, as she finds they are honest reviews from people who are interested in her and her books, and she reports that most people who request a review copy via Twitter do follow up with a review. Note that she is staunchly against automated DM tweets, such as those some people use for new followers: “Thanks for following! Please download a free review copy of my book here: xxx.com”.

I’d add one proviso: don’t ask for reviews on your regular Facebook page, as your objective is obtaining reviews from people you don’t know in real life, not an Amazon page full of “friends and family” reviews.


Next week we will look at how to ask for reviews. Meanwhile, do you have any questions? Have you ever asked for reviews?

By Iola Goulton. I am a freelance editor specialising in Christian fiction, and you can find out more about my services at my website, or follow me on Facebook, Twitter or Pinterest.

I love reading, and read and review around 150 Christian books each year on my blog. I'm a Top 25 Reviewer at Christian Book, in the Top 1% of reviewers at Goodreads, and have an Amazon Reviewer Rank that floats around 2000.

Author Etiquette 101

by Narelle Atkins

We are now living in a world where the majority of author-reader interaction is taking place online. How can authors negotiate this new world and the expectations placed on them? 

Imagine an author is walking along the street, or at an in-store book signing. If a reader approaches the author by name, says hello, how should the author respond? Good manners dictate that the author will greet the reader and possibly have a short conversation. The author may apologise if they’re in a rush and can’t talk for long. 

If the author ignored the reader and kept on walking along the street, how would the reader feel? Embarrassed? Slighted by the fact the author ignored them? And, what if there was a crowd of people on the street who were watching the author-reader interaction. What would the crowd think of the author who ignored the reader? 

Let’s transfer this example to our online world and social media eg. blogs, Facebook, Twitter etc. Readers who comment on blogs are looking for interaction with authors. They are the readers who are walking along the street and calling out the author’s name. The blog visitors who read the blog posts and don’t leave a comment are the crowd on the street. They will all form an opinion of the author by watching the author’s interaction in the blog comments. 

What if an author is a guest on a blog? They may have written a guest blog post or are being interviewed by the blog owner. What happens if the author no-shows and doesn’t respond to any of the comments? This is kind of like an author not turning up to their birthday party that someone else has hosted. 

I asked the ACW blog members and the awesome Australasian Christian Writers Facebook group for their thoughts on author etiquette. The Facebook group includes authors, reviewers, bloggers and readers. I’ve summarised their helpful feedback below. 

• I like authors who personally interact with readers on blogs and Facebook, and share some of their real life. 
• It’s not nice being ignored by authors and it doesn’t inspire a reader to buy the author’s book. Authors should respond to reader letters and emails. 
• Subscribing readers to email lists without their permission is annoying and prohibited by law. 
• I’m a reader and I’d like to attend Christian author retreats for readers. eg. A group of authors could organise a retreat for one or two days that is specifically for readers. Love Inspired recently organised a reader luncheon in Florida. 

Blogs: 

• Authors should give as well as receive. eg. Commenting on other people’s blogs, guest blogging. 
• It’s bad when an author asks for promo on your blog but doesn’t have the good manners to acknowledge blog comments or emails from the blog host. 
• Authors need to ensure the blog prize that is promised in a giveaway is actually delivered to the winner. It’s helpful if all giveaways state if the giveaway is worldwide/international or limited to certain countries. 
• Recent ACW blog guests Julie Lessman and Laura Frantz are an excellent example of authors who interact with all the commenters. Dotti mentioned Mary Connealy visited her Ink Dots blog and was amazing in the professional way she conducted herself. 
• Interacting with blog commenters can foster a family relationship, and readers can become friends with the author. 
• Readers feel good when their blog comment is acknowledged by the author. But, it’s important authors reply to everyone who comments so none of the readers feel slighted. 

Facebook: 

• It’s a big turn-off if an author only posts self-promo and book information. For example, spamming Facebook groups with book sales links or like my Facebook page requests, and never interacting with the group in any other capacity. The same goes for personal Facebook status updates that are always about self-promo or buying the author’s book. 

More specific information on annoying Facebook behaviour can be found in this article. 
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/wait-but-why/annoying-facebook-behavior_b_4081038.html

Goodreads, Amazon and review sites:

• Authors should never respond to reviewers on Goodreads, Amazon, or other review sites. Authors need to resist the temptation to defend their work in a public forum. 
• Goodreads is a site for readers, not a place for authors to market their book. 
• Don’t recommend your own book on Goodreads. Instead, let others recommend it for you. 
• Most readers on Goodreads don’t want authors making any comments on their reviews. Goodreads author groups are the place where readers want to interact with authors. Eg. Love Inspired Historical group. 

Authors interacting with other authors: 

• It’s good when authors are interested in promoting other authors eg. sharing links, reading and recommending other author’s books. 
• If someone has helped an author in any way with their manuscript, good manners dictates that the author gifts them with a copy of the book when it comes out. It’s extra nice if it’s autographed and accompanied with a personal thank you. It’s even nicer if the author spells their name right. 
• Another way to thank authors who have helped you with your book is to endorse, recommend or review their books. 

The following quote summarises the essence of our author etiquette discussion. 

Grace and gratitude should go hand in hand. 

If another writer gives you the gift of time, it should go without saying that you should thank them. It doesn’t matter how busy you are. All too often simple courtesy falls by the wayside. 

If that gift of time involves a couple of dozen hours of beta-reading or proofing, an email ‘thank you’ probably isn’t enough. In fact, if that’s all you ever do, it’s pretty close to an insult. It devalues the sacrifice, trivialises the gift and sends the subtly arrogant message, ‘My time is more precious than yours.’ 

If you are blessed by another writer, returning the blessing should be an automatic response. In a world where it’s increasingly about you as much as your writing, little things matter more than ever.

What are your thoughts on author etiquette? Do you agree or disagree with any of the points mentioned? Iola will talk about reviewing and author etiquette in more detail in a future post. I’d love to hear your thoughts and experiences.

NARELLE ATKINS writes contemporary inspirational romance and lives in Canberra, Australia. She sold her debut novel, set in Australia, to Harlequin's Love Inspired Heartsong Presents line in a 6-book contract. Her first book, Falling for the Farmer, is a February 2014 release, followed by The Nurse's Perfect Match in May 2014 and The Doctor's Return in August 2014. 

Narelle blogs regularly with International Christian Fiction Writers. http://internationalchristianfictionwriters.blogspot.com/ 

She is a member of the new Inspy Romance blog for contemporary romance readers.
http://inspyromance.com/ 

Narelle is a co-founder of the Australian Christian Readers Blog Alliance (ACRBA). http://acrba.blogspot.com 

Website: http://www.narelleatkins.com 
Blog: http://narelleatkins.wordpress.com 
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/NarelleAtkinsAuthor 
Twitter: @NarelleAtkins https://twitter.com/NarelleAtkins