Wednesday, November 1, 2017

2017 Reviewer Appreciation Giveaway

Hi guys :) Happy belated Halloween! You might be too old to trick-or-treat, but you're never too old to head down to the local grocery or drug store to pick up some delicious candy at bargain basement prices :D



This is another Reviewer Appreciation Contest that I'm running to encourage people who have read my books to review them, and to encourage people who might have access to my newer releases but haven't read them yet to give them a try.

One winner will receive a $50 gift card to Amazon, Etsy, or Society 6, or a 50-page manuscript critique. (For more about my critique experience, check out Manuscript Critique Services.) International winner can also choose from $50 in books from The Book Depository or Wordery. You don't have to buy a book to enter. You can review an ARC, or a borrowed/library book. There are also two options to enter w/o reviewing by tweeting/retweeting about the contest and my recent cover reveal. If you choose the critique, you must turn in your pages by April 30, 2018.


Wondering why I'm running a reviewer appreciation giveaway? Here are some reasons why reviews are crucial to authors (repeated from a previous contest):

1. There's the obvious way, where if a book has a lot of positive reviews, then a prospective reader might be more willing to take a chance on it. Positive reviews have the power to influence readers who are "on the fence."

2. There's the inverse (converse?) where a negative review might prevent someone who wouldn't like the book from picking it up, which is also a good thing. Sometimes I’ll read a negative review that says “This book had too much swearing and underage drinking” or “I hated that this book had a love triangle.” Readers are totally justified in not liking those things. However, those things don’t bother me, so those reviews they don’t affect whether I’ll buy a book. Other reviews says stuff like “I hated that the heroine’s pet kitten died a brutal death.” When I read that, I’m less likely to pick up a book, and that’s actually a good thing for everyone involved. Maybe it means that I don’t buy a book I was thinking of buying, but I am much more likely to buy the author’s future books if I haven’t labeled her or him in my brain as a “Violent Kitten Death Author.” 

3. So-so reviews can also sell books. One of the three-star reviews I've seen for GATU was extremely well-written and complimentary--the reviewer's biggest criticism was that book was kind of long. (It is.) If a reader sees that and likes long books, that might be even more persuasive than a 5-star review. Also, everyone knows that not all 3-star reviews are the same. Some reviewers have their reader-meter set to LOVE and three stars means the book let them down. Other reviewers have a "no five star" policy since no books are perfect, and three stars might be a really good review from them.

4. Even one-star reviews can sell books. I will openly admit that when I see a book being obliterated with one-star reviews, my curiosity is piqued. Also, some one-star reviews are more "it's not for me" than "no one should ever read this." One of my Liars, Inc. one-star reviews says this: No matter how I didn't like the plot/decisions of the characters, I will say the writing was exceptional, and the book is a fast read. That's basically a blurbable quote from someone who "borderline-hated" the book.

5. Most book-buying websites also have algorithms that cause the more "popular" books to come up more frequently in site "If you like [Book] you might be interested in [Other Book]" features and targeted emails, etc. This placement can be tremendously helpful in getting the word out about a new book to targeted audiences--almost like free advertising. One way a book's "popularity" is measured is by number of reviews on the site.

6. Sometimes just the sheer numbers of reviews (say 60 on Amazon vs. 10) is enough to cause a potential buyer to click for more info. The only reason I ever clicked on Susan Ee's Angelfall is because it had a massive number of reviews, and I really enjoyed that book. Volume of reviews can influence casual browsers who might click on "People who bought [Book] also bought [Other Book]" links.

7. Reviews can provide helpful feedback to authors. I say "can provide" because a lot of authors don't read their reviews. Even for authors who do, it's often the case that if you read ten reviews, you'll find several different opinions on the same thing, none of which is more "right" than the others. But I find early reviews helpful to see if readers are interpreting the basic themes of my books in the ways I had hoped, and I know plenty of authors who have found reviews valuable from a critique standpoint.


RULES FOR ENTERING:
  1. You must have read a book in order to review it.
  2. Reviews must be at least 50 words long. Reviews that you have posted in the past also count. No need to edit or update, unless you need more words.
  3. You can copy/paste the same review to different sites for multiple entries.
  4. You must fill out the Raffecopter below, providing links/identifying info to your reviews by November 30, 2017.
  5. This giveaway focuses on my 2017 releases (2 hardcover, 2 paperback) because those are the books I really need to be promoting right now. But if you have reviewed The Art of Lainey or Liars, Inc., know that I am grateful <3
If you want to enter but you don't generally leave reviews because you're not sure what to say or not comfortable sharing your prose publicly, consider just leaving a list of things you liked and/or didn't like about the book. That adds up to 50 words pretty quickly :)


OTHER FINE PRINT STUFF:

The dangers of running a giveaway likes this include that people will plagiarize/write fake reviews to qualify or that people will think I am bribing readers for positive reviews. It's important to me that neither of these things happen. So:

1. If I think your review is fake or plagiarized (meaning that you copied someone else's review, not that you used quotes from the book--that's totally fine), I will disqualify you from consideration without notification.

2. Any honest review of 50+ words qualifies you to win the prize. 5 stars. 1 star. A Goodreads review with no rating if that's how you roll. I probably won't even see your review(s) unless you're the contest winner and I have to click over to verify you, and even then you won't hurt my feelings if you didn't like the book, I swear :)


a Rafflecopter giveaway


Got questions about the giveaway or about reviews? Put 'em in the comments.