This month, I'm seeking, as opposed to offering, help

Tweet  I'm afraid this month, I'm in the position of seeking assistance instead of offering it. I just published my first book in May and find myself trying to figure out how to promote sales. Part of the problem is I don't really want to be a person who sells books; I want to be a writer who puts my book in front of people and their eyeballs in exchange for money. "Well, there's your problem, dummy", you're saying. "That's what selling books is! Suck it up and do it." Yeah, I know. But while you're right, you're also wrong. As Icy mentioned in the last entry, there is no shortage of writers on Twitter who do nothing but hawk their books. Regrettably I follow a bunch of them although I don't know why I ever did in the first place. It's like DVRing a tv channel that shows nothing but infomercials. Believe me, I've been correcting that mistake ever since. The point is, I consider those people to "just" be book sellers and I refuse to become one of them. For one obvious reason, it's obnoxious and boring. For another, I doubt it's very effective.
Luckily, I'm in a position where I don't have to move X number of units by such-and-such date or I'm out on the street. That reduces the stress significantly (although, I'm sure it also reduces my overall motivation). Still, I'd love to sell lots of books and get more and more people to read the book, so I'm here looking for tips and tricks just like you. Here's a list what I've done so far, what I think the results have yielded and what I need to do better.

• I had a book release party - This was a lot of fun. I invited friends and close associates because it was largely a "thank you" to people who have supported me in various capacities over the years and with whom I wanted to celebrate the success of completing the task of getting something published. I sold enough books at the event to break even on the cost of the party (actually, a little bit ahead). I think everyone enjoyed themselves but I'm not sure how many, if anyone, have word-of-mouthed the book to friends of theirs who weren't there.
• I've made it available via multiple sources - Amazon, CreateSpace, an e-store at my web site. Of course, the task is driving traffic to those sources. My blog readers are certainly aware it exists.
• I've solicited Amazon.com reviews from readers - Good news: every one has rated the book FIVE STARS! Bad news: There are only two of them. I need to get aggressive about soliciting more reviews, I think.
• I've done a couple of local radio shows - I don't like to brag but I'm pretty good at holding my own during interviews so I think the ones I've done have gone pretty well. I need, and want, to do more. 

That's all, really. I know I need to do things like approach the local media and knock on the doors of my local independent booksellers, and I will do those things. I'm wide open to suggestions for stuff I haven't thought of or non-traditional tactics though.

- Clark Brooks

Are reviews worth anything any more?

Tweet

For a while now, people have been blogging about Amazon's purchase of Goodreads. The fear is that the much-valued independence of Goodreads might be consumed by the retail behemoth, and that GR reviews might be subject to the same censorship as they are on Amazon. I read a blog post, though I can't remember where, that pointed out that Amazon have also bought LibraryThing and IMDB, both of which have retained their own identities and continued on in their own way, albeit with an injection of cash from Amazon to make them thrive. Reading statements from the heads of both Amazon and Goodreads would imply that no one wants to change the current working practices of either organisation - so as yet, no one has any reason to panic.

I think the biggest thing people are worried about is how the purchase might affect the quality of the reviews on Goodreads but what we need to consider is the nature of reviews to begin with. I must admit, I tend to ignore reviews for fiction, but I pay close attention to them for non-fiction. I think it's pretty much because I know how much reviews can be governed by personal preference, and what doesn't work for one reader might work for me. Plus, I always download samples if they're available (or I read the first chapter while standing in a bookstore) so I've got a good idea if the book is the right one for me before I buy. Non-fiction is a different case as it relies on research and knowledge, so if it's been reviewed by others in the same field who say it's full of holes, then I don't want to know.

But are reviews even trustworthy? For one thing, there's no way of knowing if the writer of the review knows the author - for good or bad. Non-fiction authors might slate others in their field to boost their own books, and fiction authors might do the same within their genre. Likewise, reviewers might be positive about books solely because they're friends with the author. I do think there are ways to tell - read the review, and see what the reviewers issues are. Are they leaving a one star review because they felt $1.99 was too much to pay for an e-book? See what other books they've reviewed - if they've only reviewed one, it sounds like they have an axe to grind.

My own review policy is fairly straightforward. I'll leave both good and bad reviews for non-fiction, because I want people to know if the content is worth spending money on (and let's be honest, if I've bought a book of knitting patterns and all of them have mistakes in them, then I'm going to want to warn buyers). For fiction, I'll only leave a bad review if it's poorly formatted and full of mistakes. For good reviews, I'll only leave one if it's worth four stars or more. On my blog, I only review books for four stars or more because I want to share books I've loved - I don't want to make space for books I don't feel I can recommend.

What about you? Do reviews influence your purchasing habits, and if so, how?