My new blog pledge: one Smashwords review per week - Page 2

Elfwreck · 08-09-2010, 10:59 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kurt

you are doing reviews of "Smashwords" listed books on a blog?

why not on smashwords site itself where it would be more useful - or are you doing this too - i realize there are a lot of books and your reviews might be seen by very few if sone on their site only

I'd expect he'd do the reviews on Smashwords as well, or at least partial reviews. (I've got no idea if Smashwords reviews have character limits, but it's unlikely that people want a five-paragraph review at Smashwords itself.) But one of the problems with Smashwords is that the browsing functions are awful; it's hard to find things there. It'd be nice to have a place to go that said, "click here for list of recommended read at Smashwords"--because there's no way to do that at Smashwords itself. There might be "sort by highest rating," but that doesn't tell you which ones have reviews.

ficbot · 08-09-2010, 11:12 PM

A few issues with reviewing on Smashwords...

1) It is a huge site to browse and not all the books have reviews (in fact, most of them do not). I wanted to make a convenient aggregator of ONLY books with reviews to narrow the field and make people feel less like they are wading through the world's biggest slushpile. I am in essence creating a curated sub-collection.

2) Many of the reviews on Smashwords that do exist are not detailed, objective or critical. I am aiming to write 'proper' reviews, not just one-liners, shills or only positive comments. I am doing this to help *customers* buy and choose books, so I am not interested on posting reviews just because I know an author or something.

3) Doing it as a blog allows people to immediately see if there is new content by subscribing to an RSS feed. Smashwords does not have an RSS feed for new reviews. And, as I said, a lot of the reviews on Smashwords, when they do exist, are not helpful. And a lot of readers feel frustrated with having to wade through the massive, massive slog that is Smashwords just to find a few books that do have reviews or are or acceptable quality.

4) Other efforts I have seen to 'promote' indie authors are pretty much vehicles for self-promotion. My blog is different because I do personally read and review every book (i.e. I don't just post press releases) and because I am not affiliated with any authors.

5) A blog is an accepted and common format that most readers are familiar with, that is easy to bookmark and access and that is less massive and overwhelming to browse.

I appreciate that Smashwords does offer the capability to leave reviews. But my goal is to separate out the books I review, not to just have them exist as part of this larger set. I am creating a curated collection of books I have personally reviewed. Does that clarify?

khalleron · 08-10-2010, 09:28 AM

I've bookmarked your blog - what a great idea!

Been meaning to read 'Radium Halos' for quite awhile - now that my own book is done, I'll finally be able to get around to it.

L.J. Sellers · 08-10-2010, 09:57 AM

I'm a traditionally published author who has decided to release a thriller (The Suicide Effect) on my own. I've uploaded it to Kindle, but I want to reach a larger audience. Smashwords seems like the next logical choice, but I've been hearing bad things about the formatting and about authors not getting paid. I'd love to know more about the site if you have information.
L.J.

DixieGal · 08-10-2010, 10:22 AM

They pay quarterly via Paypal, and you get a big percent of sales at approximate 70%. You can easily do coupons and discounts also.

Author Eyes · 08-12-2010, 08:26 PM

Ficbot, I just wanted to say thank you for such a great review of Radium Halos! I have linked your blog to my blogroll. I look forward to more of your Smashwords reviews!

http://shelleystout.librifiles.com/

ficbot · 08-12-2010, 11:19 PM

Thanks for the comment, Shelley. It was a great book and I will certainly keep my eye out for other things. I always appreciate authors who 'get' the whole ebook thing. I really want to help people find the good ones out there. Your book was definitely commercial-quality and my 5-star review was well-deserved.

The next review will be a non-fiction title about writers of media tie-in books. It was a great non-fiction book and I enjoyed it a lot. Just finishing reading the last few chapters. Other titles on my TBR list include:

100 Stories for Haiti by Greg McQueen
A.D. 62 Pompeii by Rebecca East
The American Book of the Dead by Henry Baum
Deadly Gamble (Charlie Parker #1) by Connie Shelton
Hero Wanted by Dan McGirt
Innkeeping with Murder by Tim Myers
Life, with No Breaks by Tim Spalding
Still Life with Murder (Nell Sweeney #1) by Patricia Ryan
Prestwick by David Hough
The Purification Ceremony by Mark Sullivan
Sentence of Marriage by Shayne Parkinson
Vampire Shrink by Lynda Hillburn
Thin Blood by Vicki Tyley

Once I have gotten through some of these, I will see what else comes up! I am keeping an eye on the new releases page but am also interested in books by authors here, and in books like Patricia Ryan and Tim Myers where they were once commercially published.

ficbot · 08-14-2010, 12:34 PM

I am moving this here (from general discussion) so I can come back and update it every time I add a new review.

Here are the first three reviews I have posted:

Radium Halos by Shelley Stout
Learn me Good by John Pearson
Tied in by Lee Goldberg

I will post updates in this thread when I add new reviews.

BearMountainBooks · 08-14-2010, 12:41 PM

Sounds great!! I clicked on what I thought were your list of books...and there was Terry Prachert -- but isn't he all fantasy? Did I click the wrong link or do you, in fact, read some types of fantasy?

I downloaded "Learn Me Good" by Pearson. I hope it's funnier than you thought (I had already downloaded it for an upcoming trip.) I think it is more essay than "plot" book.

Haven't read the other two you mentioned.

Maria

ficbot · 08-14-2010, 02:34 PM

There are rare exceptions to my genre list, of course :-) Fwiw I have tried to read other Discworld books several times and just never got into them (although I did find the Death character great fun). I mostly put up the genre disclaimers to avoid being inundated with a ton of self-pubbed dragon books

BearMountainBooks · 08-14-2010, 03:25 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ficbot

A few issues with reviewing on Smashwords...

1) It is a huge site to browse and not all the books have reviews (in fact, most of them do not). I wanted to make a convenient aggregator of ONLY books with reviews to narrow the field and make people feel less like they are wading through the world's biggest slushpile. I am in essence creating a curated sub-collection.

2) Many of the reviews on Smashwords that do exist are not detailed, objective or critical. I am aiming to write 'proper' reviews, not just one-liners, shills or only positive comments. I am doing this to help *customers* buy and choose books, so I am not interested on posting reviews just because I know an author or something.

3) Doing it as a blog allows people to immediately see if there is new content by subscribing to an RSS feed. Smashwords does not have an RSS feed for new reviews. And, as I said, a lot of the reviews on Smashwords, when they do exist, are not helpful. And a lot of readers feel frustrated with having to wade through the massive, massive slog that is Smashwords just to find a few books that do have reviews or are or acceptable quality.

4) Other efforts I have seen to 'promote' indie authors are pretty much vehicles for self-promotion. My blog is different because I do personally read and review every book (i.e. I don't just post press releases) and because I am not affiliated with any authors.

5) A blog is an accepted and common format that most readers are familiar with, that is easy to bookmark and access and that is less massive and overwhelming to browse.

I appreciate that Smashwords does offer the capability to leave reviews. But my goal is to separate out the books I review, not to just have them exist as part of this larger set. I am creating a curated collection of books I have personally reviewed. Does that clarify?

It would be very, very useful if you copied your reviews to Smashwords. Red Adept, who also reviews indie authors quite frequently, copies her reviews (about once a month) to Amazon. It's really done as a courtesy to the authors, but it is a great feature. There are more eyeballs during BUYING of books on the site itself.

I've been lucky enough to get a few reviews posted at Smashwords (mostly by you kind folks at Mobileread!) It really can make a difference to the author and it also may bring back folks to check out your site for reviews.

But you are the author--and the one doing the work. Ergo, we're grateful for the exposure and the reviews. Even if you don't review me personally, having someone who is reviewing smashword books helps every single author on there. Thanks.

BearMountainBooks · 08-14-2010, 03:29 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ficbot

There are rare exceptions to my genre list, of course :-) Fwiw I have tried to read other Discworld books several times and just never got into them (although I did find the Death character great fun). I mostly put up the genre disclaimers to avoid being inundated with a ton of self-pubbed dragon books

Of course, the rare exception! Which leaves me stumped as to whether you'd like a review copy of any of my books! Well, I'll leave it at this: If any of mine interest you, let me know. I will send you a coupon for review! Looking through your list, I'm...not so sure that my stuff would be your thing. I'm leaning toward probably not. Your taste in mysteries seems to lean closer to thrillers (I write cozies) and your fantasy is "rare" and though I am a rare breed indeed, there is nothing worse than a reviewer who is bored with the reading material because it is not his/her thing...

As I said earlier--it's still a very cool thing you're doing. As your site grows, you'll need to take on guest reviewers. Won't that be cool!

ficbot · 08-14-2010, 07:14 PM

Did you see the Kelley Armstrong on my list? If your 'Tracking Magic' is anything like that (and judging from the sample, it seems it might be) I would be very interested. Your 'Sedona' series looks good too but it is not clear to me what order they are to be read in, so I did not proceed past the summaries.

BearMountainBooks · 08-14-2010, 07:31 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ficbot

Did you see the Kelley Armstrong on my list? If your 'Tracking Magic' is anything like that (and judging from the sample, it seems it might be) I would be very interested. Your 'Sedona' series looks good too but it is not clear to me what order they are to be read in, so I did not proceed past the summaries.

I missed Armstrong on your list--Tracking Magic is urban fantasy, but it's a series of short stories (all the same investigator) and...zanier than Armstrong. She has darker themes from what I remember (I've only read one of hers.)

Ah heck. Let me go read your website rules for submission. I can submit Executive Lunch (first in the Sedona O'Hala series) and Tracking Magic (Max Killian Short stories.) No one says you have to read them. You only said you'd review the ones you READ and if you don't like something, because it just doesn't happen to be your thing, there's no obligation to finish the book.

That was the biggest problem I faced as a reviewer. Sometimes the book was "good" but not my thing. This happened a lot with sci/fi. I'm very picky about sci/fi and often run into "good" books, but just don't want to spend that much time with the whole technology behind worm holes. Or those whatsit drives to get through worm holes.

I'll go check the site again and I'll look at the list again too.

Trebro · 08-14-2010, 11:45 PM

Great idea, Ficbot. Once my schedule settles a bit, I'll be back on a regular review schedule again myself, and I want to also make sure I'm featuring the Smashwords stuff. If a few of us start doing this, I think it will really help folks find some good books. I've been pretty happy with the Smashwords stuff I've read so far, and I hate that it might get dismissed for being self-published.

FWiW, I do a "quick hit" review along with stars at Smashwords, so that's there's something on site for authors to know I read the book and those who don't want a longer review. You might want to do the same.

If you ever get hung up on the weekly thing, ping me on here and maybe we could alternate weeks on our review blogs. Just let me know.

08-14-2010, 12:34 PM	#23
ficbot Wizard Posts: 2,409 Karma: 4132096 Join Date: Sep 2008 Device: Kindle Paperwhite/iOS Kindle App	My Review Blog: One Smashwords Review (or more) per week! I am moving this here (from general discussion) so I can come back and update it every time I add a new review. Here are the first three reviews I have posted: Radium Halos by Shelley Stout Learn me Good by John Pearson Tied in by Lee Goldberg I will post updates in this thread when I add new reviews. Last edited by ficbot; 08-14-2010 at 02:35 PM.

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08-09-2010, 11:12 PM	#17
ficbot Wizard Posts: 2,409 Karma: 4132096 Join Date: Sep 2008 Device: Kindle Paperwhite/iOS Kindle App	A few issues with reviewing on Smashwords... 1) It is a huge site to browse and not all the books have reviews (in fact, most of them do not). I wanted to make a convenient aggregator of ONLY books with reviews to narrow the field and make people feel less like they are wading through the world's biggest slushpile. I am in essence creating a curated sub-collection. 2) Many of the reviews on Smashwords that do exist are not detailed, objective or critical. I am aiming to write 'proper' reviews, not just one-liners, shills or only positive comments. I am doing this to help customers buy and choose books, so I am not interested on posting reviews just because I know an author or something. 3) Doing it as a blog allows people to immediately see if there is new content by subscribing to an RSS feed. Smashwords does not have an RSS feed for new reviews. And, as I said, a lot of the reviews on Smashwords, when they do exist, are not helpful. And a lot of readers feel frustrated with having to wade through the massive, massive slog that is Smashwords just to find a few books that do have reviews or are or acceptable quality. 4) Other efforts I have seen to 'promote' indie authors are pretty much vehicles for self-promotion. My blog is different because I do personally read and review every book (i.e. I don't just post press releases) and because I am not affiliated with any authors. 5) A blog is an accepted and common format that most readers are familiar with, that is easy to bookmark and access and that is less massive and overwhelming to browse. I appreciate that Smashwords does offer the capability to leave reviews. But my goal is to separate out the books I review, not to just have them exist as part of this larger set. I am creating a curated collection of books I have personally reviewed. Does that clarify?

08-10-2010, 09:28 AM	#18
khalleron Kate Posts: 1,685 Karma: 3165009 Join Date: Mar 2009 Location: Oregon, United States Device: Nexus 7 2013, Kobo Aura H2O, Kobo Forma	I've bookmarked your blog - what a great idea! Been meaning to read 'Radium Halos' for quite awhile - now that my own book is done, I'll finally be able to get around to it.

08-10-2010, 09:57 AM	#19
L.J. Sellers Novelist Posts: 287 Karma: 387979 Join Date: May 2010 Location: Eugene, Oregon Device: Kindle	I'm a traditionally published author who has decided to release a thriller (The Suicide Effect) on my own. I've uploaded it to Kindle, but I want to reach a larger audience. Smashwords seems like the next logical choice, but I've been hearing bad things about the formatting and about authors not getting paid. I'd love to know more about the site if you have information. L.J.

08-10-2010, 10:22 AM	#20
DixieGal Hi There! Posts: 7,473 Karma: 2930523 Join Date: Feb 2008 Location: Ft Lauderdale Device: iPad	They pay quarterly via Paypal, and you get a big percent of sales at approximate 70%. You can easily do coupons and discounts also.

08-12-2010, 08:26 PM	#21
Author Eyes Zealot Posts: 120 Karma: 100000 Join Date: Dec 2009 Device: none	Ficbot, I just wanted to say thank you for such a great review of Radium Halos! I have linked your blog to my blogroll. I look forward to more of your Smashwords reviews! http://shelleystout.librifiles.com/

08-12-2010, 11:19 PM	#22
ficbot Wizard Posts: 2,409 Karma: 4132096 Join Date: Sep 2008 Device: Kindle Paperwhite/iOS Kindle App	Thanks for the comment, Shelley. It was a great book and I will certainly keep my eye out for other things. I always appreciate authors who 'get' the whole ebook thing. I really want to help people find the good ones out there. Your book was definitely commercial-quality and my 5-star review was well-deserved. The next review will be a non-fiction title about writers of media tie-in books. It was a great non-fiction book and I enjoyed it a lot. Just finishing reading the last few chapters. Other titles on my TBR list include: 100 Stories for Haiti by Greg McQueen A.D. 62 Pompeii by Rebecca East The American Book of the Dead by Henry Baum Deadly Gamble (Charlie Parker #1) by Connie Shelton Hero Wanted by Dan McGirt Innkeeping with Murder by Tim Myers Life, with No Breaks by Tim Spalding Still Life with Murder (Nell Sweeney #1) by Patricia Ryan Prestwick by David Hough The Purification Ceremony by Mark Sullivan Sentence of Marriage by Shayne Parkinson Vampire Shrink by Lynda Hillburn Thin Blood by Vicki Tyley Once I have gotten through some of these, I will see what else comes up! I am keeping an eye on the new releases page but am also interested in books by authors here, and in books like Patricia Ryan and Tim Myers where they were once commercially published.

08-14-2010, 12:41 PM	#24
BearMountainBooks Maria Schneider Posts: 3,746 Karma: 26439330 Join Date: Aug 2009 Location: Near Austin, Texas Device: 3g Kindle Keyboard	Sounds great!! I clicked on what I thought were your list of books...and there was Terry Prachert -- but isn't he all fantasy? Did I click the wrong link or do you, in fact, read some types of fantasy? I downloaded "Learn Me Good" by Pearson. I hope it's funnier than you thought (I had already downloaded it for an upcoming trip.) I think it is more essay than "plot" book. Haven't read the other two you mentioned. Maria

08-14-2010, 02:34 PM	#25
ficbot Wizard Posts: 2,409 Karma: 4132096 Join Date: Sep 2008 Device: Kindle Paperwhite/iOS Kindle App	There are rare exceptions to my genre list, of course :-) Fwiw I have tried to read other Discworld books several times and just never got into them (although I did find the Death character great fun). I mostly put up the genre disclaimers to avoid being inundated with a ton of self-pubbed dragon books

08-14-2010, 07:14 PM	#28
ficbot Wizard Posts: 2,409 Karma: 4132096 Join Date: Sep 2008 Device: Kindle Paperwhite/iOS Kindle App	Did you see the Kelley Armstrong on my list? If your 'Tracking Magic' is anything like that (and judging from the sample, it seems it might be) I would be very interested. Your 'Sedona' series looks good too but it is not clear to me what order they are to be read in, so I did not proceed past the summaries.

08-14-2010, 11:45 PM	#30
Trebro Connoisseur Posts: 84 Karma: 14 Join Date: May 2010 Device: nook	Great idea, Ficbot. Once my schedule settles a bit, I'll be back on a regular review schedule again myself, and I want to also make sure I'm featuring the Smashwords stuff. If a few of us start doing this, I think it will really help folks find some good books. I've been pretty happy with the Smashwords stuff I've read so far, and I hate that it might get dismissed for being self-published. FWiW, I do a "quick hit" review along with stars at Smashwords, so that's there's something on site for authors to know I read the book and those who don't want a longer review. You might want to do the same. If you ever get hung up on the weekly thing, ping me on here and maybe we could alternate weeks on our review blogs. Just let me know.