Guest Post by Paul Draker

How To Get Great Amazon Reviews For Your Brand-New Novel

First, a big thanks to Tess and Joe for launching this campaign in Tess's War On Alzheimers. You never know which bullet will end up winning a war, and with our help, Tess and Joe have already delivered more than $25,000 to the front lines. If you haven’t done so yet, please go visit her page and donate.

If you’re reading this, maybe you’re a newbie writer like me. A story idea sinks its hooks into your brain and won’t let go. You find yourself grinning into an open refrigerator, whatever you were going to grab forgotten as the perfect plot twist or high-concept hook reveals itself to you. Your spouse/kid/significant-other has to repeat themselves three times before you realize you’re still standing there with frost forming on you’re face. And still grinning like an idiot.

You go write the story. And rewrite. Study craft books. Rewrite. Join critique groups. Rewrite. People start liking what you wrote. Some even love it.

You make whatever sacrifices are necessary to get yourself a great editor. You do that because you know publishing unedited, unpolished, incoherent writing riddled with typos is unprofessional. It’s arrogant. If you expect readers to pay for your writing, they should be able to expect transparent prose and near-perfect copy from you, too.

You go get stunning cover art. A compelling blurb. Professional conversion to epub & mobi files. You upload your book to KDP, Nook Press, and iBookstore, and you “push the button.” Then you celebrate, and tell all your real-life and Facebook and Twitter friends your book is finally out. And you sell a few dozen copies. Your friends compliment you on how talented you are.

And all too soon—to paraphrase Animal Mother from Kubrick’s Full Metal Jacket—“…you’re fresh out of friends, Joker.” Because half of your friends don’t read, and the other half don’t like the same kinds of books you do.

So you start eyeing BookBub, Ereader News Today, Pixel of Ink, and the other great sites where we indies can get the word out. But that glaring “Be the first to review this item” link on your book’s Amazon page is an ugly roadblock. You need reviews. Good reviews.

Still with me? Great. Let’s go get those reviews.

Should we:

1)     Harass friends and family to write their first book review ever?

2)     Pay a service to bulk-email a hundred or a thousand prolific Amazon reviewers in our genre, blasting them with a generic mail-merged solicitation to review our book?

3)     Review other new authors’ books ourselves, just so we can ask them to review ours?

No. All three approaches are total bullshit. Worse, they will damage your credibility as a newbie author. And you’ll end up making the rest of us indies look bad, too. Here’s why.

The problem with friends-and-family reviews:

I’m not going to touch the ethics here; I’m only going to focus on the practicalities. When checking out a new author on Amazon, the first thing a savvy book-browser does is look at the distribution of ratings. A natural distribution of 5, 4, 3, 2, and 1 star reviews is very easy to recognize. So is a pattern of friends-and-family-written 5-star reviews—even with a couple fake 4-stars and one 3-star thrown in to try to appear more authentic.

The next thing a savvy Amazon browser does is skim a few of the reviews. A quick glance at word count, specificity, and tone usually tells me right away which ones are honest, non-incented reviews by strangers and which ones are what the Amazon reviewer community refers to as “shill reviews.”

If there’s still any question about whether you’re looking at a shill review or not, the proof-positive check is to click on the reviewer’s name, and then the “See all my reviews” link on their profile. If the only three books he or she ever reviewed belong to that same brand-new author… or if five other titles got quick-and-dirty reviews that same day, but the reviewer reviewed nothing before or afterward… then you know.

And you move on immediately. Because the shill reviews look needy and sad, and the sour whiff of desperation makes you assume the book is lousy even when it really isn’t. You resent the author for trying to trick you. You make a mental note to avoid him or her in the future… if you actually bother to remember the name.

Hugh Howey’s WOOL has over 6,000 reviews on Amazon. (Go read WOOL, SHIFT, and DUST. Seriously. Then read ’em again slowly and take notes.) Hugh requires no introduction here, and he’s graciously allowed me to quote him on the topic of reviews.

Hugh Howey says:

I ask my friends and family *not* to write them (I had my wife delete some reviews for my older works)… It was over a year or so ago that I had to tell my father not to write reviews for my works. I love the man to death, and he was just trying to support a son that he was proud of, but he would get on and review my works as soon as they went up (he reads them in draft form before I publish them). At this point, I was aware of Amazon's review policy and the sensitivity toward authors soliciting reviews from friends and family. I never asked my dad to write reviews. He was just being nice. Same thing with my wife. What stinks about all of the controversy around the reviews is that my friends and family *do* read my books, and at least some of them actually like them. And they can't share their opinions.

Paul Draker says:

We can learn a lot from Hugh. Every new author has to find his or her own path, but with selfless folks like Hugh and Joe lighting the way for us and sharing their experiences so openly, it’s a hell of a lot easier now.

If you are *still* tempted to go the friends-and-family-reviews route at this point, here’s a final caveat emptor. Amazon’s independent reviewer community doesn’t like authors who do, because it devalues and shows disrespect for something they care a great deal about: honest, impartial reviews. Amazon’s most influential reviewers are people like you and me who are very passionate about what they do. They put a lot of time into it. They hate it when you make everyone question the integrity and credibility of Amazon reviews. As a new author, do you really want to poke our new gatekeepers in the eye? Especially when those gatekeepers are some of our best customers?

The problem with spam-solicited reviews:

I ran across a few services that will spam Amazon’s Top-100 or Top-1000 “contactable” reviewers if an author pays them to. Some target reviewers by genre: Mystery, Thriller, Romance, etc. One predicts a 9% response rate and a 6% agree-to-review rate. But if you try this approach, your chances of screwing yourself good are also reasonably high. Here’s why.

If you’ve written a novel that evokes strong reactions—and if it’s good, believe me, it will—your true target audience will love it. But not everybody will. Some people will hate it, and that’s fine. Look at the most-successful novels and you will see a plethora of one-star reviews panning them, too. Look at Gillian Flynn’s Gone Girl reviews. And who wouldn’t want her sales?

But you aren’t Gillian Flynn. If you are, call me—I’ve got a series idea we can co-write ;)

If you write “thrillers” as I do, you face a real audience-segmentation challenge. The term “thriller” can mean anything from a CSI-style procedural or a courtroom drama, to an apocalyptic end-of-the-world epic, a gore-drenched serial-killer hunt, or a guns-blazing spy-versus-spy technothriller. Each has a distinct audience, and they don’t overlap much. “Mystery” could be a parlor-room cat-sleuth cozy or a Hitchcock-style suspense story or splatterpunk noir. “Romance” could be sweet, soft-focus boy-meets-girl that makes you go “Aww…” Or it could be sexually-explicit erotica. Genre-mashups make the problem worse. Industry BISAC categories fail to delineate the real distinctions between what a given group of readers will love and what they are likely to detest.

An email solicitation that begins: “Dear iluv2rivu, because you like thrillers…” is more likely to net you a bunch of lousy reviews than good ones. Not because your book sucks, and not because the solicitation screams “spam,” but rather because you ended up soliciting reviewers predisposed to dislike your book.

Oh, and a lot of the top reviewers *do* find getting spammed by those emails annoying. Especially when they can tell the book is one they won’t like. Once again, caveat emptor.

The problem with you-scratch-my-back-and-I’ll-scratch-yours author peer reviews:

Amazon already has, or had, a policy of deleting reviews by other authors. Enough said. If poking the new gatekeepers in the eye is a dumb idea, what about biting the hand that feeds you?

Okay, so none of those approaches are worth pursuing and some can backfire. They can seriously hurt your author cred. But that “Be the first to review…” link is still sitting there like a big, ugly cankersore in the center of your product-page’s face. So…

How does a newbie author go about getting great, honest, real Amazon reviews?

You know your book is good. Really damn good. You know there is a specific group of readers out there somewhere who will absolutely love it. They are your audience. In fact, you even know the exact tastes of those ideal readers. You know precisely what books they read, what movies and TV shows they watch. You know which ones they’ve loved, and which ones they’ve hated. And you know what they loved or hated about them. You know all of this because you see one of your ideal readers every day. In the mirror.

You *did* write the kind of story you always wanted to read, right? If not, what are you doing here? Go write *that* book, then come back.

Because what comes next presupposes that you’ve already done your part. You’ve written a story that people will actually love reading, and you’ve had it professionally edited, and honed your prose to perfection before you try this. The reviews you’re about to get will be no-bullshit honest reviews. If your book isn’t ready for that, you should NOT be doing this at all. If you do, you’ll get reviews, all right—one and two star ones. Worse, you’ll also hurt the credibility of the rest of us indie publishers.

But if you did do your homework and wrote a good book, your audience is out there somewhere. Even better, some of them are honest, tenured reviewers who will love what you wrote and give you a heartfelt, enthusiastic review on Amazon. Your book may well be a unique and beautiful snowflake, but right now it’s invisible in a blizzard of brand-new books. Your ideal reviewers are busy writing Amazon reviews for other books. They have no idea that yours exists. You would love to tell them about it, but you have no idea who they are, either.

What you do know is the other books and movies they love. And which ones they hate. And why. So roll up your sleeves… it’s time to get to work. I didn’t say this was going to be easy, did I? But you already wrote a good book. Compared to that, this part is cake. And you’ll see—once you start engaging and talking to reviewers who are part of your own unique target audience—that it’s rewarding, gratifying, and fun as hell, too.

Let’s dive in. Here it is, step by step.

STEP 1: Make a list of books and movies you absolutely loved, and which some aspects of your book are similar to. Unique snowflake? Nothing else like it? Gee, sorry, but something inspired you to write that particular type of story. Figure out what your all-time favorite book and movie influences were and write them down. You need a statistically-significant spread, so write down at least twenty. The more distinctive they are, the better. The more unique to your taste they are, the better. Then make a second, shorter list of five or so books and movies your friends expected you to love, but you ended up hating instead.

STEP 2: Read five-star and four-star Amazon reviews of the books and movies you love first. Whenever a reviewer’s specific comments make you smile and think, “Yep, that’s exactly what I thought,” or, “that was the most memorable part/character/twist/setting for me, too. That’s why I used a similar one in my book,” click the reviewers name to pop open their profile. Some reviewers have email addresses listed, but don’t jump in and email them yet. A single book or movie on which your tastes are similar doesn’t mean much. Sending them a vague email implying that any five-star reviewer of Lee Child’s Jack Reacher books should be thrilled to hear about your own won’t get you good reviews. At this stage, you would probably just be annoying the recipient with unwanted spam. You might even earn yourself a lousy review by doing so.

STEP 3: Read the reviewer’s “In My Own Words” and “Interests” which some have taken the time to fill out. Look at their frequently used tags. All these things will give you a better feel for whether this person is part of your audience or not. If you see red flags that apply to your book (no graphic violence, dislike profanity), or just get a general sense they might not be a good match for you, move on. Again, you’re trying to find reviewers who will *want* to hear about your book… and trying not to be that jerk spamming people who don’t.

Look for Amazon rank badges next to the reviewer’s name: Top 1000 reviewer, Top 500 reviewer, etc. Reviews from higher-ranked reviewers generally get more visibility on your product page, in the two slots for “most helpful positive review” and “most helpful critical review.”

But trying to get the higher-ranked reviewers to review your book isn’t necessarily the best approach. They receive tens of daily email solicitations to review this or that. Most are Vine Voices, often with a backlog of obligatory reviews they owe Amazon before they can even consider tackling yours. They are already jaded by the tons of free review copies big publishers throw at them every day, so many have adopted a policy of ignoring indie book review solicitations. Because they have to review so many books, they might only speed-read or skim yours, then write a generic review that reads like backcover-blurb-summarized-plus-generic-faint-praise. That’s not what you want, either.

Instead, look at the reviewer’s “Helpful votes received on reviews” percentage. Here, the higher, the better. 80%+ is good. 85%+ is great. 90%+ is stellar. Below 50%, and you are asking a person to review you whose reviews most people consider unhelpful. In other words, probably a troll. Move on.

Also, some reviewers’ profiles clearly state “I don’t accept review requests” or “no self-published books” or “no e-books” or “I don’t review fiction” or similar. If so, respect their wishes and move on. They aren’t your audience. But if the reviewer’s profile reads like something you might have written yourself, you’re getting warmer. Still, you have much more to do before you can decide whether to click that email link or not.

Many profiles are blank: a nickname, but no details and no contact info. Even that’s not a showstopper if the reviewer’s tastes turn out to be a great match for your book, as we’ll see shortly.

Some profiles have a website or blog listed for the reviewer, but don’t go there yet, either. Save that for last. We’ll come back to it if the reviewer still seems like a good match after the next—and most important—step.

STEP 4: Now click on “See all 114 reviews” (or however many this particular reviewer has done.) Page through them to find which of the other books and movies on your lists the person reviewed, how they rated them, and what they said about them. If they haven’t reviewed several of the other books and movies on your list, it’s an indication they probably aren’t a good match, because folks tend to review their favorite things. Look at their one- and two-star reviews, also, and read what they say. If the reviewer disliked a book or movie you love, that’s a big yellow flag. If you disagree with why they say they disliked it, that’s a red flag. Move on. But if their opinions on the other things on your list parallel your own opinions, too, and they say “should get seven stars” and “my all time favorite” or say “fell asleep halfway through” and “I wanted the annoying sidekick to die” about the same ones you would, then BOOM. You most likely have found someone who would want to review your book. Another good sign is when they make frequent references and comparisons in their reviews to yet other books and movies you love—like John Carpenter’s THE THING—too.

Take notes on the individual reviews and colorful comments that you most strongly agree with. Seriously, take those notes because you’ll need them when you contact the reviewer. And don’t forget, you’ll be looking at lots of different potential reviewers and tons of titles each have reviewed. If you don’t take notes, it will all blur in your head. And then you’ll embarrass yourself telling someone you loved what she said about the chainsaw flashback in Jeff Lindsay’s Darkly Dreaming Dexter when it was actually someone else who said that. Did I mention to take notes?

If you see reviews you emphatically don’t agree with, it’s time to move on, because the reviewer is not your audience. But if you find that the more of their reviews you read, the more you believe their tastes match yours, it’s time to go back to their profile page and click the link for their website or blog.

One last thing: as you read reviews, look for the word Kindle: “I was turning Kindle pages faster and faster at the end.” “My Kindle battery died on the last chapter, and I almost cried with frustration.” “When I read that part, I wanted to throw my Kindle in the pool.” If you find references to their Kindle or other e-reader, then grin and make a note of that, too.

If this seems like a lot of effort to put in to get to know a single potential reviewer, just consider how many hours of *their* time you are asking for, when you ask them if they want to read your book.

STEP 5: Read the reviewer’s webpage, if they happened to provide a link to one. Browse their blog posts. Get to know them better. Again, look for red flags that have relevance for your book (“BF took me to see Joss Whedon’s CABIN IN THE WOODS yesterday. Yawn.”), and make note of interests that match yours.

If the reviewer didn’t include their email on their Amazon profile but listed their website or blog, you can usually find their email or other contact info there.

STEP 6: You’ve now gotten a good feel for how this reviewer thinks and talks, what gets them jazzed, and what annoys them. You’ve read so many of their reviews that you can practically hear what they’ll say about your book in your head already. If you still are convinced they’ll love it, it’s time to send that brief email. Include:

·         How you found them: by reading a bunch of their reviews on Amazon.

·         Which comments and reviews of theirs you enjoyed. You write books. They write reviews. They want folks to read and value their reviews just as much as you want people to read and value your book. Tell them which reviews you liked, and why. Be specific. But be succinct, too.

·         Why you are contacting them: because you think that, based on what they said in their reviews, they might enjoy your book, too.

·         A very brief teaser or blurb for your book. But provide enough information to let them know what to expect, plot-wise and tone-wise.

·         A statement that you are looking for honest, unbiased reviews of your book.

·         Offer them a free review copy of your book.

If you are sure they read on a Kindle or other ereader (check your notes), offer to email a free mobi file of your book. But do not send it until they tell you they want it. Many will decline and buy their own copy, which is even better. They do it because they love books and want to support you, the author. And also because they don’t like to put the FTC-mandated disclosure of a free author-provided copy in the review, which might cause someone to question the honesty and impartiality of what they said about it.

If you have a print version available through Createspace or Lightning Source, you can offer the reviewer their choice of formats. It’s a classy thing to do. But it can get expensive fast.

If you don’t currently have a print version, narrow your target to reviewers who have mentioned their Kindle or ereader in a review. Otherwise, you’re probably wasting their time. And yours. And disappointing or annoying them.

No email address on their profile? No contact info? No problem. That “Add a comment” button beneath their most recent review of a book you both love? Leave a briefer version of your review request as a comment instead, but make sure you tick the “Receive an email when new posts are made” checkbox when you do it.

Be courteous. Be brief. Be honest. Be yourself.

Remember, nobody can express what’s great about your book as well as you can. And you’ll also be talking to the most receptive audience possible: the reviewers most likely to love it.

But no means no. If a reviewer doesn’t express interest, don’t pester them. Don’t spam them. Move on. Reviewers are our most influential, most valuable, most enthusiastic customers. Don’t pee in the pool the rest of us indies are swimming in, too.

STEP 7: Shake. Rinse. Repeat.

Before you start, I also recommend reading How To Get Good Reviews On Amazon: A Guide For Independent Authors and Sellers by Theo Rogers. It’ll help you avoid shooting yourself in the foot. You’ll learn a lot about the Amazon.com reviewer community from it, and I’ve borrowed from it shamelessly here.

If your own book is good—if it’s polished and professional and people actually enjoy reading it—repeat STEPS 1-7 enough, and that ugly “Be the first to review…” will go away, replaced by pretty yellow stars. Lots of them.

The best part is: you won’t only be gathering honest, positive reviews from well-respected Amazon reviewers this way. You’ll also be planting seeds that will grow into your own eager army of Constant Readers, too. And you’ll be meeting new friends who share your enthusiasm for the books and movies you love, including your own. Reviewers are by definition the most active, outspoken readers, and they share what they like with their friends. They spread the word. Your reviewers are all unique and beautiful snowflakes, too. You never know which snowflake will be the one to set off the avalanche.

As I type this, I’m staring at my own book NEW YEAR ISLAND’s ugly “Be the first to review” link. But I’m grinning at that nasty little sucker, because it’s not going to look that way for long.

Does combing through Amazon reviews until you find honest reviewers who share your tastes sound like a lot of work? Then picture Joe in the pre-Amazon days, driving around the country from bookseller to bookseller, talking to several a day and doing back-to-back book signings. For years.

Puts things into perspective, doesn’t it?

If you’ve managed the hard part and written a book that some people will enjoy reading, then your own audience is out there, waiting for you. Now go find them.

Hail, Caesar

The Roman emperors realized that the way to win favor with the public was to give them what they wanted.

On the surface, this seems counter-intuitive, or even just plain wrong. It would seem that kings and dictators who rule with an iron fist would be able to stay in control and get more done through fear.

And yet, every Caesar built grand public buildings and held fabulous spectacles, all to keep their subjects docile by making them happy.

Now here comes the writing analogy.

How often, in your writing, do you write whatever the hell you want to write without any care at all for your audience?

When we start out, we're all 100% self-indulgent. We have huge egos that demand we put our brilliant words on paper. Of course other people will love them as much as we do. Of course they'll sell by the millions.

And then, as we head down the road to publication, we start to learn things. We learn about craft and form, and that narratives have structure and genres. We learn about editing and polishing, and how cutting and adding and getting input from others makes our work better. And eventually, if we make it far enough, we learn about marketing and selling.

We aren't really artists. We're emperors. Because, like those emperors, we start out doing whatever we desire. But we come to realize that if we want to keep being emperors, the key is to sell as much of our work as possible. And that means giving the people what they want.

I've said, ad nauseum, that before you create a key, study the lock. Know who the audience is, and who the buyer is, before you even write the first word of a story.

But if you want to make people happy, and keep them buying your work (or visiting your blog, or downloading your freebies, or entering your contests, or attending your appearances) you have to know more than just the genre and prospective publisher. It's very easy to say, "I'm writing a mystery because a lot of people buy mysteries and a lot of houses publish mysteries so I've figured out the lock before I make the key" and still be way off the mark in terms of success.

So how do you figure out what people want?

Readers of this blog know that people seek two things from writers: information and entertainment. The specific kind of information and entertainment, however, is mostly subjective, and often hard to guess.

So here are some hints.

1. Look Inward. We all start out trying to please ourselves, and this might actually end up being helpful. If you think something is funny, chances are other people do as well. So while you're attempting to please your audience, remember what works on you. What books do you like to read? Why do you enjoy them? What are the last five books you've bought and why?

The more you understand yourself, the better you'll understand others.

2. Look Outward. Read as much as you can. Join a writers group and critique others. Figure out what works, what doesn't, and come up with reasons why.

You shouldn't write in a genre you aren't well-read in. You shouldn't submit a story to a magazine unless you've read several issues cover to cover. Every time you write, you aren't reinventing the wheel. You're simply putting a new spin on the wheel. Figure out how the wheel works, then you can spin it accordingly.

3. Get Feedback. There are a few jokes I tell that NEVER get a laugh, even though I think they're funny.

A story, or a speech, or a blog, isn't a monologue. It is an exchange, and involves at least one other person. Pay attention to how that person responds. With a blog or a speech, you can get feedback quickly. With a story, you have to solicit it.

Seek out peers, and trade manuscripts with them to critique. Pay attention to agents and editors--they're on your side and want to make the story better. Find as many beta readers as you can, and be ready to ask them questions about what is and isn't working.

4. Respect Your Audience. Once you learn who your audience is, and what they want, it is your job to never let them down. Ways to let them down include:

• Talking down to them
• Talking over their heads
• An unsatisfying ending
• Making your characters do uncharacteristic things
• Too many coincidences
• Unfunny humor
• Poor or confusing structure
  
• Unrealistic romance
• Gratuitous anything
• Self-indulgence

All writers really need to watch the last one. If you think you may be showing off, or know in your heart that the line/scene you just wrote will never fly, chances are high it will never fly.

Once you fall in love with your own voice, you get bestselleritis. If you're a bestseller, this disease won't do you much harm. You can keep writing long-winded, self-important, unrealistic crap that's a shell of your early work, and because people are creatures of habit they'll keep buying it--although you can expect them to voice their disapproval on Amazon.com.

But if you're a new writer, and you expect people to bend over and accept your writing simply because you think it's good enough--that's a career killer.

In fact, it's wise to never believe your own hype, at any stage of your career.

Ultimately, we're entertainers. We're the people who play sax on street corners for pocket change. The more people we entertain, the more money we get. So remember to take requests...

Here's What I Know

Be self-aware.

Be deliberate.

Don't be a pinhead.

Publishing is a business. Writing is an art. You may not enjoy the business, but you definitely should enjoy the art.

This is a marathon, not a sprint.

Read the contract before you sign it. Twice. Three times. Then have your lawyer read it.

The secret to happiness is what you give, not what you get.

No one owes you a living.

Success may involve talent and hard work, but it always involves luck. Talent and hard work may improve your luck.

Ebooks are forever. Forever is a long time to get noticed.

There's a word for a writer who never gives up... published.

Denial is a powerful opiate.

Be kind, be generous, be helpful, and be careful.

If you're selling eggs, don't piss off your chickens

When you're learning how to walk, you don't take classes. You don't read how-to books. You don't pay experts to help you, or do it for you. You just keep falling until you learn on your own.

Before you make the key, study the lock.

People would rather fight to the death to defend their beliefs than consider changing their minds.

It's about what you have to offer, not what you have to sell.

A sense of entitlement is never acceptable. No one deserves anything.

What are the last ten books you bought, and what made you buy them? Use those techniques to sell your books to other people. Do what works on you.

Hard work trumps talent. Persistence trumps inspiration. Humility trumps ego.

Praise is like candy. We love it, but it isn't good for us. You can only improve by being told what's wrong.

Your book is your child. You can't recognize its shortcomings, any more than a proud parent could consider their child dumb and ugly.

The experts don't know everything, and they might not know what's right for you.

Fate is a future you didn't try hard enough to change.

Anyone looking for you can find you. Get them to find you when they're looking for something else.

Less expectations, more work.

Life gives you wonderful opportunities to conquer fears, learn skills, and master techniques. ""I don't want to" isn't synonymous with "I can't".

People seek out two things: information and entertainment. Offer them freely, and they'll come to you.

The Internet isn't temporary. What you post today can lead people to you decades from now.

If writing is your profession, act professional.

Stop Googling yourself.

No one said it would be fair, fun, or easy. But it can be worthwhile.

We're all in the same boat. Start rowing.

If you can quit, quit. If you can't quit, stop complaining--this is what you chose.

There are a lot of things that happen beyond your control. Your goals should be within your control.

Write when you can. Finish what your start. Edit what you finish. Self-publish. Repeat.

The most successful people on the planet have one thing in common: nothing can stop them. Don't expect to reach your goals without sacrificing things that are important to you.

Being your own best advocate is about understanding how people react to you.

Fake confidence, and real confidence follows.

Maybe you can't win. But you sure as hell can try.

Don't write crap.

Always have two hands reaching out. One, for your next goal. The other, to help people get to where you're at.

If you can't be smart or funny, be brief.

Don't ever say anything online that you wouldn't say in person.

If you're not in love with the sound of your own voice, how can you expect anyone else to ever be?

Knowing you're not original is the first step in becoming unique.

People aren't carved out of marble. We're all works in progress. The trick is to define ourselves, rather than let outside influences define us.

Don't prioritize the mundane.

Writers are essential. Readers are essential. Publishers are not.

Stop thinking if. Start thinking how.

The more you fail, the closer you are to success. If you don't have success, you haven't failed enough.

Envy, jealousy, guilt, regret, shame, and worry are all useless emotions. Focus on love, patience, tolerance, and forgiveness.

There should only be a few people in your life whose opinion matters. The opinions of everyone else do not.

One of the greatest journeys in life is overcoming insecurity and learning to truly not give a shit.

We live in the here and now. We don't live in the wish and hope.

You can curse the rain all you want, but you'd be better off getting an umbrella.

Trying to change what people want to do will never work.

Luck doesn't mean you can stop trying. Luck means you have to keep trying until luck happens.

If you're reading this blog, you aren't writing. Get back to work.

Guest Post by Tracy Sharp & Iain Rob Wright

Tracy: Iain, let me first say that I'm a huge fan of your writing. You show and incredible depth of character, atmospheric settings and gripping, haunting plots. You've recently released HOLES IN THE GROUND with Joe, which is doing very well. Congrats! But your next novel is a departure from the horror genre.

Iain: Thank you, Tracy. The last few years have been great fun and I just wish I could write fast enough to get out all of my ideas. I’ve chosen to write a thriller for my next novel as I want to challenge myself to write outside of my comfort zone.

Tracy: Can you tell us about SOFT TARGET?

Iain: Well two shows I love are 24 and House MD. My main character, Sarah Stone, is a bit like a female cross between Jack Bauer and Dr House. She is badly scarred both physically and emotionally, which puts a huge chip on her shoulder. The plot concerns an agency called the Major Crime Unit (MCU) and their quest to stop a terrorist plot that emanates from Sarah’s past. The book takes place after a successful attack on the UK, so it’s all about trying to stop an already dire situation from getting worse. Sarah teamed up with Konrath's hero Jack Daniels in our short STRAIGHT UP.

Tracy: Many writers describe how often times characters start talking to them. How did Sarah Stone materialize for you?

Iain: I like writing female characters. I find that female heroes are even stronger than males, because they have to fight against their own negative stereotypes. It’s much easier for a female character to surprise you as society still binds women with more rules than it does men. As I wrote the character of Sarah, I began to feel her pain and fought her battles with her. She is definitely the most well-defined person I have ever created.

Tracy: What made you decide to write an action adventure?

Iain: I love horror, but I also love thrillers like 24, Revenge, Prison Break, as well as book series like Jack Reacher, Repairman Jack, and the Pendergast novels (although BOO! Douglas Preston). When I love something I want to write about it, and so I have many thriller plots bouncing around my skull as well as horror ones.

Tracy: Do you see yourself combining elements of horror within the action adventure genre or is this breaking new ground for you?

Iain: I think I might eventually settle on a cross between horror and thrillers, a bit like the X Files did on television. I think F Paul Wilson does this really well with the Repairman Jack novels. He can take his Jack character into stories both mundane and supernatural. I want to try and find that freedom with a character of my own.

Tracy: What is next for Iain Rob Wright?

Iain: After my first Sarah Stone novel, I will be writing the first book in an epic trilogy, called THE GATES. In a nutshell it is about humanity’s fight for survival after the gates to Hell literally open up all over the earth.

Tracy: Is that a spin-off of HOLES IN THE GROUND?

Iain: No, I have completed my existing canon.  Going forward I will be writing within a new universe for all of my books.  No more sequels to my existing work.  I feel I have moved on from my earlier work and am ready to evolve.

Tracy: There is an independent movie in the works for your first novel, THE FINAL WINTER. Can you tell us about this project? For anyone who would like to see THE FINAL WINTER in production, here is the link to sponsor! Fantastic, wonderful project! 

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1977835172/the-final-winter

Iain: It would be great if it happened. The chap involved with it asked my permission some time ago if he could write a screenplay for THE FINAL WINTER. I was happy to accept. Although the movie is based on my work, I am not closely involved with the project. If not for my own commitments and just having had my first baby, I might have tried to contribute a little more; alas I am only one man, and sometimes I have to sleep. All I would say is that the screenplay was written by someone who genuinely loved the book. I think that when movies are made by directors who truly appreciate the source material, you get gems like The Shawshank Redemption and Jurassic Park. Give the guy your support and I have no doubt he will make a movie everyone will love.

Tracy: What marketing tips do you have for writers. What has worked for you?

Iain: You should do everything you can to be 1) professional and 2) approachable.  Set up a decent website, make sure all of your books have great covers, and use social media to get yourself out there (especially to begin with).  Use these tools to make sure people can get in touch with you.  If someone emails you or reaches out on Facebook, and you respond kindly, you can be sure that that fan will go out and get more people to read your books.  Your fans matter, so make sure you show them that.  That’s marketing 101 as far as I’m concerned.  It’s not enough to want to succeed, you need to make other people want to see you succeed.

Tracy: You've written a lot in a short amount of time. How do you stay so prolific?

Iain:  I write fulltime, Monday to Friday.  Treating writing like a job is the best way for me to stay motivated and consistent.  My minimum word count is 3k a day (it used to be 2K), but I will write as much as I can and will often hit around 5k.  It’s a bit of a catch 22, as the best way to go fulltime is to write lots of books, but it’s hard to write lots of books when you’re not fulltime.  I’m lucky that I went fulltime after just one book, THE FINAL WINTER.  Hitting the market so fast and so hard has definitely helped me and it’s one of the few advantages I had over other upcoming writers.

Tracy: Would you ever take a legacy deal? If so, under what terms?

Iain:  Yes, of course.  I’m human and I have a family, so I can be persuaded.  But thanks to guys like Joe Konrath and Hugh Howey, it would have to be a fair deal that was in my own best interests.  I earn a good living so I am in no way inclined to take a deal that doesn’t benefit me in both the short and longterm.  There is nothing long with a legacy deal if it is attractive and fair.  The problem with the legacy industry is that deals like this are few and far between.  I have turned down several deals in the past, and have just laughed and said to myself ‘Yeah, they wish!’  I feel like I can benefit them more than they can benefit me, yet every approach so far has been the reverse of that.  They come in acting like they are prepared to do me a favour.  No thanks.

Tracy: Any advice for newbie authors?

Iain: Just keep going.  If you quit every time it gets hard or looks like it’s not going to happen, then you’re done.  The only thing you can do to stack the odds in your favour is to keep writing and releasing books.  Everything else is out of your control.

Tracy: What's the best piece of writing advice you've ever heard or gotten?

Iain:  Don’t use adverbs.

Tracy: Thanks so much for taking the time to talk to us here on Joe's blog, Iain! Congratulations to you and your lovely wife, Sally, on your beautiful new son!

Iain’s book ANIMAL KINGDOM is currently free for Kindle.

Iain: Thank you so much. It’s the happiest I’ve ever been and I owe so much of it to my fans. It’s nice getting the opportunity to share the platform with a respected peer.

When conducting a search for your books, the first thing that strikes me about your work is how professional they look. Your covers are great and they really set you apart. Who does them for you?

Tracy: Thanks, Iain. The incredible Carl Graves did the covers for the first three Leah Ryan books, as well as for the novella collaboration with Joe, JACKED UP, which featured Leah and Jack Daniels. RED SURF was done by Cheryl from CCR Covers, who stayed with the same look and feel of Carl's covers. Carl is very high in demand. He's an amazing designer.

Iain: You seem pretty committed to your Leah Ryan character. Can you tell me a bit about her, and why you enjoy working with Leah so much?

Tracy: Leah is a reformed car thief, turned repossession agent, turned private investigator. She's a thrill-seeker with a social conscience, who can't stand bullies. Leah is flawed. She has serious impulse control, and is just emotionally damaged enough to put herself into some pretty precarious situations in order to help others. She has a rescue complex that puts her life in danger. That is why she's so much fun to write. She surprises me at every turn.

Iain: What can fans expect from Leah going forward? Does she have a long term future, will she stay the same as a person?

Tracy: Leah is changing a little with each book. She's growing up a little, but still struggles with relationships. I'm not sure what will happen in her future. I prefer it that way, because I like to be surprised.

Iain: So, if Leah Ryan took a vacation, what others characters would come to the forefront? Do you have anything completely new you are working or planning on?

Tracy: Well, Leah is on a vacation in the current release, RED SURF. Leah is a loner, with the exception of her best friend and partner Jackson. She heads to Maine alone on vacation to get some R and R, but it doesn't turn out that way. Her first day there she nearly swims into the floating body of a dead girl, and of course, ends up in a murder investigation.

I'm actually working on a straight horror novel right now that is enormous fun. It's a psycho thriller called JITTERS, which features a couple of very twisted and frightening brothers who love to use venomous creepy crawlies as their murder weapons of choice. It's a blast to write.

Iain: So, in addition to Joe Konrath, who are the guys and gals you really love in the industry right now?

Tracy: I really love Toby Neal, Theresa Ragen, Blake Crouch, a fantastic horror writer named Iain Rob Wright, you may know him, Kealan Patrick Burke, Alexandra Sokoloff, and Ann Voss Peterson, who currently has a new release, BURNED TOO HOT. There so many, though. So much talent out there. It's a fantastic time for writers and readers. Very exciting.

Iain: What is your plan as a writer for the next five years. Do you have a master plan, or are you just taking things book by book?

Tracy: I have no master plan. I just take it book by book. I love not knowing what will happen in the future. Anything can happen.

Iain: Any message you would like to put forward to your fans? What would be the best way for a newbie to get a taste of your work?

Tracy: All my books are currently enrolled with KDP select, so they are only available for kindle. I'd start with JACKED UP, the collaboration with Joe. JACKED UP gives a taste of Leah Ryan without being too long, and it's a thrilling and funny little short novel and a great introduction to Leah.

The new release, RED SURF is currently on for an introductory price of .99 cents.

Iain: What have you done to market your work? What you you recommend (or tell other writers to steer clear of?)

Tracy: Make sure your covers are professionally done, your books is professionally edited and formatted, and present yourself in a professional matter. Steer clear of spamming people’s pages. Don’t beg. Be gracious. Be professional. There is such a thing as telling too much personal information.

Giving books away for free has helped me a lot, combined with using Ebook Booster Link: http://www.ebookbooster.com/. Also, using the submission tool at Author’s Marketing Club: http://authormarketingclub.com/members/submit-your-book/ helps. Especially if you don’t have the extra cash to throw around.

The first promo I did for REPO CHICK BLUES, I only used the Author’s Marketing Club’s submission tool and had 13,000 downloads. Repo made it to the top of the top 4 of 100 free bestsellers list that weekend.

Iain: Did you see a boost in sales as a result?

Tracy: Yes, my Leah Ryan books started selling better. I still say that giving books away for free is one of the best forms of marketing a writer can do. It’s a great way to introduce your books.

Iain: This isn't an easy profession. There is a lot about it that is discouraging. What's hardest for you?

Tracy: Juggling family with the writing is challenging. When I was working and juggling family it was even harder, but I managed it by being very resourceful with arranging writing time. What is difficult is turning off the self-doubt that often plagues me.

It’s a solitary business, and I spend so much time in my head that it’s hard to know if I’m doing this right most times. But there is no right no right way. You just commit to it and you do your best, and be disciplined. And read Joe’s blog! Excellent advice. Just keep trying to be a better writer. Learn what you can. Read a lot of books. Books are your nourishment as a writer.

I also found Alexandra Sokoloff’s Screenwriting Tips to be very helpful.

Iain: So how do you juggle writing with a job and family? Any tips for working parents to get more words written?

Tracy: Either stay up late or get up early. Sleep is a luxury when you don’t have much time. Sacrifice is the name of the game. You can miss that tv show you love so much. Time with friends. Whatever it is that is sucking up your time, you need to ditch it in favor of the writing, if the writing means that much to you.

How badly do you want it? Time with family is important, but you need to carve out that time to get the book done. Write when you’re sick, when you’re tired, when you just don’t feel like it. Just get it done.

Also, turn off the internal editor when you write that first draft. You don’t have time to tinker, and editing while you are creating stops that stream of consciousness kind of flow you get when you just let the story come. Even if you are a plotter, and I’m both panster and plotter, turn off that editor. Edit in the second draft. Get the story down in the first.

Iain: Would you ever take a legacy deal? If so, what terms would you insist on? What would be deal-makers vs. deal-breakers?

Tracy: No. No legacy deals for me. I like having total control of my books far too much to ever take a legacy deal. I love controlling the content, the cover, the editing, formatting, when the book is released, pricing. Everything. And I get to change things anytime I like. Also, I like to keep my rights.

Iain: What advice would you give a newbie author just starting out?

Tracy: First and foremost, and I’ve told newbies this, read Joe’s blog. It’s a wonderful resource, full of information essential to any new writer. Also, commit. Just do it. No excuses. When someone starts telling me about all the things standing in the way of their writing, my eyes veil over.

I know all about not having much time. Believe me. Before I left my job, I wrote in parking lots much of the time, before work. I still do, on the weekends. Even in the cold. I wrote during lunches in quieter areas of the building with employees walking by. You can do it, you just have to be serious.

And yes, I write on my birthday. It messes me up if I take a day off. My brain gets all foggy. Worse than usual :)

Iain: You've met Konrath. What's he like in person?

Tracy: The physical scars will heal. But the emotional ones will never go away. Kidding! He’s funny! Very nice, very approachable. And he loves his beer!

Joe sez: If you haven't already, buy all of Tracy and Iain's books. Ann's latest is also well worth picking up.

So go forth and support your fellow authors.