I find that twitter has so many people and moves too quickly for it to be of any real benefit. with the limited character space on each tweet which scrolls through super fast, if you're not watching it 24/7, it's easy to miss a tweet.
I don't even have twitter and never want it. Seriously, you've all seen the lengths of my posts. There's no way I could ever fit anything in 140 characters!! And I'm not spending ages editing every tweet so it fits.
I'm not on Twitter. I really don't give a shit about some vapid nonsense someone is going to write in 140 characters. 117 characters.
<quote>So far, everyone's given me 4-5 stars, so I'm pleased.</quote> You are seriously accusing all self-pubs of gathering fake reviews and proud that your friends liked you novel? Seriously? My novel has several one-liners, but I can assure you that I've never solicited for any fake reviews. My daughter did put up a review (something I wish she hadn't done), but over two years and 91 reviews, mine are all legitimate. So your argument "well, if they exhibit one of these behaviors that I have deemed suspicious, they are 100% fake" is ridiculous. Not all readers leave in-depth reviews. To lump everyone into one category is not fair. My novel has been downloaded around 14,000 times; most of them free promotion. I see no problem in that. It was my first novel and I wanted to get my name out there. To the OP: If you want to get reviews, the first thing you have to do is choose a very, very good cover. It is the first thing your audience will see. Second, make sure your sample draws them in. There are some sites out there that will offer to advertise your ebook inexpensively, and do yield some fair results. fiverr is one. addictedtoebooks is another.
I have no idea why you took offence. I said "one way of checking" - did I say that was always the case? Nope. Please quote me where I said or even implied "if they exhibit one of these behaviours that I deemed suspicious, they're 100% fake". I trust you will not find it, because one factor that makes you suspicious is by no means conclusive. The book I was referring to - it was the quality of the writing, the quality of numerous reviews, the sheer number of 5 stars based on that sort of writing quality, their website which I also checked out, as well as the author's other titles, and the fact that their book wasn't listed anywhere. Bestsellers get written about by reviewers, get blog posts and sometimes even articles on newspapers. This one had nothing. You took it personally because you're self-published. Seriously, with 14k books downloaded and 91 reviews - which btw is pretty good for a self-pubbed book - what are you so insecure about? No one accused you of gathering fake reviews. Fact that you have "several" one-liner reviews doesn't make anything fake - it's only suspicious when basically most of the reviews are that way. Use some common sense. Of course one-line reviews exist. But when 99% of reviews are one-liners are saying "5 stars! Excellent!" you start asking questions. Or am I to be accused of being ignorant or arrogant that I would ask questions? You'd have to be dumb not to. "Several", in your case, is not "most". Fake reviews are reviews where either the author wrote it herself, or reviews where the reviewer simply haven't read the book. Those are fake. Just because someone knows you, has read the book and left you a review doesn't make it fake. What makes it fake isn't whether you know the person. C'mon, that's just common sense. I understand what you mean re wishing your daughter hadn't put up a review. My mum actually left me a review - she hadn't read the book. Yes, I wish she hadn't left me the review, because that's a fake review. But I didn't ask for it. Like yourself, I wish it hadn't happened. The other reviews I got - yes, I am proud of them, because these are people who read the book and liked it. And why on earth shouldn't I be proud that these people enjoyed my book when they've read it cover to cover? Say what you like, but what author wouldn't be happy about that? C'mon now. Btw where on earth in my entire post did you get me criticising anyone, let alone yourself whom I do not know, for using free promotion!? (and I have reread my post - it doesn't!) It's just a marketing tool. That has nothing to do with the quality of the book nor whether any reviews are fake!
I'm not insecure about it at all. I guess I am sick of the stigma that comes with self-publishing and probably read way more into it. I apologize for that.
No problem at all Yes, it's frustrating that there's stigma still attached with self-publishing. On this forum though, there're many of us who are happily self-published. Stick with whatever you feel is right for your book and don't let anyone tell you otherwise!
If it helps explain my lack of reading comprehension on that post, I am buying a house and dealing with all of the pleasant crud that comes with it, lol. Rosalind is currently in the hands of a publisher, but without having first publishing rights, I am not sure how that will go. I am, in the end, happy that I wrote a story that many people seemed to enjoy.
