AUTHORS – When was the last time you?

Posted on by Chris The Story Reading Ape

 

Said THANK YOU to a reviewer and clicked the LIKE button under their review?

like-button2The means to do both is provided by Goodreads and Amazon!

Authors often complain about the lack of reviews for their Bestselling Stories, but how many of you interact with readers who DO leave their reviews?

Having received thank you’s and/or messages from authors about my short, simplistic and unprofessional (but honest) reviews myself, I know how nice it feels (and I deal with authors on a daily basis!).

It may encourage them to read at least one more of your books!

Likewise, when Amazon sends me an email to notify me that someone has advised that my review helped them, (they had clicked the LIKE button under it), it pleases me and it’s not always, or only, the author who does so.

fightAVOID making comments or taking up arms against unfavourable reviews – read WHAT is being said (not HOW it is said) and rectify any mistakes advised.

If the complaint was about a lack of editing – GET IT EDITED – then re-publish the book and STATE that it has been edited and re-published!

 

Checked and ensured that ALL your books appear under your Author name?

book mazeI have discovered, through my own blog related and personal searches, that many authors seem to use different names when they have uploaded their books onto the Publishers online stores like Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Smashwords, et al!

I don’t mean that they are using Nom de Plume’s (Pen-name’s if you prefer) at times – I mean that they sometimes forget to ensure that EVERY book has the same Author Name, e.g., sometimes initials are used, sometimes the first name is abbreviated, sometimes the middle name or initial is included, sometimes it’s not.

BE CONSISTENT!

Updated your Author Page Details?

Your Author Page on the online store(s) you publish and/or sell your books through, (in the case of Amazon, don’t forget to post it in USA, UK, Canada and Australia – which was recently activated) is like a Curriculum Vitae and as such, should be periodically updated to reflect any recently acquired experience or achievements, any new photographs of you (in a suitably author-like pose that doesn’t make you cringe, go beetroot red, or scare animals and small children – AVOID SELFIES!) and do NOT approach it as a CHORE – it will be evident!  Don’t forget, the object of a good CV is not only to provide all the necessary basic facts about you, it is also the means by which you sell yourself as the right person for the job, or in this case, the author of the best books to read 🙂

Backed up your computer and WIP files onto a separate Hard Drive and or Cloud?

broken computerBacking up onto your computer hard drive or a nice cheap Flash Drive is NOT enough!

broken-computer-humorComputers can have sudden and unexpected breakdowns and it only takes a moment of distraction for a strong magnet (like a mobile telephone, or device like an iPad, Kindle, Nook, Sony Reader, etc, to delete, or corrupt, anything stored on a Flash Drive (the cheaper the Flash Drive, the more likely it WILL happen)

INVEST in a separate Hard Drive, preferably from a reputable and highly recommended, manufacturer who has taken great pains to try, test and PROVE their product is reliable.

Backed up your Blog, Website, Goodreads, etc, contents?

I have broadcast this message several times already, and will continue to do so, because it is so easy to forget.

I make a point of backing up my blog daily AND after I’ve added new content which is scheduled or in draft form.

I cannot discuss other providers, but I can tell you that WordPress and Goodreads make the process nice and simple!

 

50 thoughts on “AUTHORS – When was the last time you?”

  5. Highly informative, thanks for sharing! I have “liked” reviews and when I can, contacted the reviewer to thank him/her, I feel that it is simple courtesy if someone has taken the trouble to write about your book. Still, you’re right, it bears reminding! Also, your second point about backing up is very important. I do it regularly (I use Dropbox, it’s free if you don’t have much stuff and you’d be surprised how little space all those books occupy!) to make sure it doesn’t get lost but also for another reason. That way, when I travel and have an idea to add to my on-going WIP, there’s no problem, I enter into Dropbox and work directly on it right there, knowing it can’t get lost (unless the whole of Internet crashes!)

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