Group to review each other's novels.

Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Elizabeth J Kolodziej on October 11, 2010 at 8:50am

this might be fun to do. mine is Vampyre Kisses by Elizabeth J Kolodziej. also on amazon. :)

Permalink Reply by Francis Hamit on October 11, 2010 at 3:11pm

Mine is "The Shenandoah Spy", which has been out for more than two years. It's an American Civil War military intelligence thriller. I still send copies to anyone with a blog or publication that wants to review it because we have a long-term, long tail strategy. I will not pay for a review like Kirkus Discoveries. The danger of such a group is that outsiders will view it as mutual back scratching and that it maay turn into more cheerleading than honest analysis for the consumer. However, given the shrinking number of outlets for reviews and the growing number of titles, it may be a viable alternative.

Anyone who wants to review it needs to tell me where the review will appear but I will send a review copy. That's just the cost of doing business.

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Permalink Reply by W. S. Gager on October 11, 2010 at 5:32pm

I would be interested as well. My newest book, A Case of Accidental Intersection, is an amateur-sleuth mystery featuring Mitch Malone, an off-beat crime reporter. Mitch hates hospitals but follows an ambulance to the emergency room to find the condition of an accident victim. What he finds out makes him wonder about the accident and as he investigates more bodies start piling up including his if he doesn't get his exclusive printed in time.

I could send it as a pdf or hard copy. Shoot me an email at wsgager@yahoo.com if you are interested and we can figure out logistics.
Thanks,
W.S. Gager
www.WsGager.com

Permalink Reply by Talia Rice on October 14, 2010 at 8:47am

I've published an ebook recently called 'White Lies' however it doesn't have an ISBN number. Would that still be ok? I would love to read the works of others and write a review.

Permalink Reply by Gladys Hobson on October 21, 2010 at 12:59pm

I don't know how ebooks fare when they don't have an ISBN but for print books it is essential if you want to sell them through the usual channels. The ISBN is the book's identifier. It is used by book stores for ordering. In a way, it is the book world's 'seal of recognition' — title, author, ISBN

The first book I published (When Phones Were Immobile and Lived in Red Boxes) was written to raise money for a particular charity. I simply had 750 copies printed by an excellent local printer. It sold mostly locally but before long we set up our own Magpies Nest Publishing, bought ten ISBNs, and used one for the book. Novels and other works followed. The ISBN automatically puts the book on Nielson's list (In the UK not sure what happens elsewhere). The list provides all booksellers with information on your book. It suddenly appears on Amazon and on all other major bookseller sites. Orders from bookstores come through the Nielson ordering system too. (Of course an ISBN does NOT guarantee sales of books, it merely facilitates sales.) You also have to deposit copies for posterity in the UK Deposit Libraries (Don't know what happens in the USA)
It is more expense of course. ( I think POD publishers like LULU will get an ISBN for the author as part of a publishing package?)
Another reason for an ISBN is that it gives a bar code for book ordering systems and scanning at tills.

But lots of people publish books without an ISBN, especially writing groups and such. They usually sell the books themselves or through local shops where they are known. That sort of thing.

I hope this helps

Permalink Reply by Gladys Hobson on October 21, 2010 at 12:25pm

I have visited your site, DEB. I read a little but to be honest I don't read Fantasy and it is rare for me to read SciFi. The truth is that my husband has to read books to me (actually a mutual enjoyment) but he does not enjoy either of these genres. From the little I read I should think they might well be popular with those who enjoy those sort of books.

Permalink Reply by Matthew Vossler on October 31, 2010 at 3:55pm

I'd love to join in this. My book is Dream Crossing, a young adult fantasy. It is also currently being turned into a screenplay.

Permalink Reply by Evelyn Cullet on November 3, 2010 at 6:54pm

Hello everyone. This looks like an interesting group of authors. I would like to invite you all to join another group of congenial authors and readers on Facebook: "Authors/Readers Book Review Forum." We discuss and write reviews of our members books on monthly basis. So if you would like some reviews for your novel, please join us. I've been checking out the books listed in this group and I think they would all be wonderful reads. We are always looking for new novels to review, so tell your author friends.