Reviews

     Your book is finally published and you wait with baited breath for those reviews. You get a few really good reviews and then you get some horrible ones. Reviews are such a many splendid thing.
     I used to watch social media sights and saw that quite a few people were offering reviews for other people. But there would be a catch. They would review your book only if you reviewed their book. You scratch my back and I'll certainly scratch yours. Especially if you give me a good review, was the attitude that I discovered.
     Also, there are quite a few people who will review your book. If you want a free review, it could take months upon months to be reviewed. However, for a fee, your book could move to the top of the pile and be reviewed, in a while.
     Words of advice. Never pay for a review. Paid reviews are never worth the dollar value attached to the review and some times those reviews don't even happen. Then the author spends a lot of time trying to track the reviewer down who, surprisingly, has disappeared.
      I have had a number of reviews. There have been a couple of not so good reviews. I did not take them personally which is something an author really needs to learn to do. I read the review and took note of it. I had hoped to learn something beneficial that I can apply to my next books. But a writer needs to realize that you will never satisfy everyone.
     The best thing to do is to learn your craft. Mix and mingle with other writers. Take workshops. Attend seminars. But do not let yourself be swayed by one author. Just because a certain author has had great success with their writing style, does not mean it will work for you. Keep writing and trying to learn. Right now that is what I am doing. I am trying to learn and seek out what is best for my writing style. I can take the many tools I have learned and apply them to my writing. Then try to decipher what will work best for me.
     As for reviews, I would not hunger and starve for them. Take whatever reviews you get and make note of them. It is all the process of learning.