Showing posts with label annual reviews. Show all posts
Showing posts with label annual reviews. Show all posts

Sunday, May 16, 2010

Smorgasboard Reviews

Reviews is a popular subject. I've read more than one post about them recently.

During the past few weeks I've received multiple reviews for one of my sweet romances. Some have been good. Some not so good. A couple have made me really heart sick.

For instance, one person said the book was "horrible, horrible". Not just one "horrible", but two.

Another person wrote, "Ick ick ick".

When I read that I seriously considered not only to stop looking at reviews, but to stop requesting them.

But four star reviews for the same book were arriving in my email box. Better yet, I discovered that same book was (is) number one seller on Fictionwise for my publisher and number three for all books at Fictionwise.

What's going on?

I have received a lot of reviews. For that, I'm happy. An author friend mentioned recently she hasn't received a review for a year. And I've also heard other authors say they don't receive many reviews any more.

I see three issues with this.

Number one - Why is the book selling well with such a smorgasbord of reviews?

Number two -  Why is this book getting a lot of reviews?

Number three - What can be learned from this?

Perhaps the book is selling well because reviews are subjective. Often I enjoy (really enjoy) movies that received poor reviews. Some of my favorite albums only received average reviews.

It's also possible that poor reviews generate more interest. People want to find out why the reviewer was so down on a book, to see if it's as bad as the reviewer believed.

Another possibility is that there are a lot of reviews, thus a lot of publicity. Perhaps the readers who bought the book did so because they read the positive reviews. Or perhaps, like me, they buy books because they like the blurb, and don't base buying decisions on reviews.

The last possibility is that I've also had several contests to give away this book. At first, I was nervous giving away a new book, that buyers would hold off buying the book in the hopes of winning it. But that hasn't hurt sales.

Second, I've sent a LOT of review requests out for this book. I sent it to small, medium, and large book review sites. I didn't only send it to large sites. I've held a lot of contests including Blogmania, Blog Jog, and smaller contests. I've also requested several guest blogger spots and author interviews, and received many acceptances. And I've paid it forward so that I interview and host other authors on my blog.

Three - What have I learned?

Be proactive. Ask for reviews, interviews, and guest blogger spots. Hold contests. Be generous.

When you find a poor review, take constructive criticism from it to make the next book better. If there are rude remarks, ignore them. Eat chocolate, soak in a tub, do something to make you feel better and forget the bad stuff.

Recent posts you might like to read:

Author Interview: Wendi Zwaduk 

Author Interview: Frances Pauli


Author Interview: Marcia James

Author Interview: Elaine Hopper

Weathering A Bad Review


What Do You Want in a Romance Hero & What Do You Want in a Real Life Husband?

Rejection: Where Do You Go Next?

Procrastination

Cliche or Coincidence?

Incognito: free short story

Dedicating Books

You'll also want to see what Amarinda Jones, Anny Cook, Barbara Huffert, Brynn Paulin, Bronwyn Green, Dakota Rebel, Molly Daniels, Sandra Cox, Regina Carlysle, and Wendi Zwaduk are up to, so make sure to visit them also. :)

Friday, July 31, 2009

Annual Reviews and Management Appreciation of Employees

Finally, I had my annual review today. It was decent, an overall 4 out of a possible 5 rating. Unfortunately, there were a couple of 2's. Ouch! One of the things I need to improve is showing appreciation for my staff. I need ideas and so here I am asking my readers/friends to offer them. What we are doing now is to give everyone their own birthday parties with their choice of cake, balloons, flowers, cards, and I always give a gift as well. When a staff member is ill for an extended period of time we send cards and welcome them back with flowers, balloons, and cards. I once gave gold stars for my staff to put on their employee badges, but the badges filled up too fast so I stopped giving them. I don't have a lot of money to buy a lot of treats so I need to be creative. The only thing that comes to mind is to give out stars or smiley faces, but not put them on their badges. I thought about fixing them a special breakfast or desert occasionally. We're not allowed to eat in our office and as we're customer service, we can't take lunch or breaks at the same time. Perhaps I can still find a way to do this even if I have to do this in shifts. I'm afraid if I get a plaque and have an employee of the month or quarter, the others will revolt. Then again, maybe they would like this. I fear, however, that there are three superstars in our department who would always get this and leave the others in the dust. I like the idea of giving a game ball to an outstanding player, like my daughter's coaches do for their softball games. What kind of trophy can I give to a customer service rep that would be in the same vein? It can't be anything expensive as I still have four children, a husband, and a high mortgage to support. I'm open to ideas. Please! I want my staff to be happy and feel appreciated. I want to elevate that 2 to at least a 4 but better yet a 5. Please leave ideas in my comments box here. Thanks in advance.

Saturday, May 09, 2009

Reviews, Trophies, and My New Book Trailer

I just experienced every author's dream. One of the many. It's also a fab Mother's Day gift. Priscilla Petty at Night Owl Romance awarded the reviewer top pick and 5 out of 5 stars to Night of the Senses. She also had these kind words. "Night of the Senses is a romp through BDSM paradise as these authors pool together to share some of their deepest and erotic fantasies of this exciting lifestyle. Each author masterfully tells a tale that will have you twisting and turning in your seat, and I dare you to choose a favorite. But don’t take my word for it-go out to get NIGHT OF THE SENSES today." My story is entitled "Welcome to Paradise" and focuses on the sense of hearing. I'm thrilled with each and every fantastic review like this. It inspires me to keep writing and to bring new characters to life. I don't understand my younger daughter, however. Yesterday morning she received a beautiful trophy, tall and shiny gold and silver, for a great season of playing softball. She was called onto stage in front of all her fellow players and their parents, and they made a big deal over her. She told me later, "I don't want another trophy. I already have 40. I don't have anywhere to put them." I jumped on that. We should take kudos where and whenever it is given. We should respond gracefully and gratefully. There will be many times in life where we get just the opposite or nothing at all. Personally, I'm grateful to be paired with such a group of talented authors, to have a publisher who supports us by sending our books for review, by having an entire romance reading community that appreciates us. In return gratitude, I will say a huge THANK YOU to Priscilla and Night Owl Romance, my publisher, my editor, my fellow authors, and to all my readers. I also wish to thank all the mother figures in my life (my mom, my mother-in-law, and my aunts), my daughter-in-law, and all my friends, cousins, colleagues, and readers who are mothers for making our world so loving and wonderful. I hope all of you have a wonderful day. My hubby is umpiring at a big softball tournament so he won't be here but my kids are planning something "special". I don't know what yet but I'll give an update tomorrow. Oh! And I have another wonderful Mother's Day gift. My story "Charity's Auction" is being released Monday May 11th as part of the "Caught in the Middle" anthology at Total-E-Bound. I just made the book trailer below for Charity's Auction. Click on the picture or text link to view. Let me know what you think. :) View this montage created at One True Media Charity's Auction by Ashley Ladd You'll also want to see what Amarinda Jones, Anika Hamilton, Anny Cook, Barbara Huffert, Brynn Paulin, Bronwyn Green, Dakota Rebel, Kelly Kirch, Molly Daniels, Sandra Cox, Regina Carlysle, and Cindy Spencer Pape are up to, so make sure to visit them also. :)

Thursday, July 10, 2008

Thursday Thirteen edition 11: 13 of my books/trivia about them

Thirteen of my books and trivia about them
1.... American Beauty - my best seller, Eppie finalist, & RT Top Pick Blurb: When very macho cop and lady lover Brad Mueller is forced to go undercover by his chief as a gay guy, Brad's not happy. He has strict orders not to touch his new land lady, Kirsten, but things get hot, especially when Kirsten tries to set him up with her best friend Marshall and then decides she wants to change Brad's mind. This is the sequel to "Purrfect Justice", also at Ellora's Cave. www.ellorascave.com 2.... And Lady Makes Three (anthology) - my next best seller www.ellorascave.com Blurb: In my story "Pirate's Booty" when space pirates and partners Keir and Zarod kidnap Princess Melena, plans go awry and they wreck on a deserted planet. As they struggle to survive they bond in ways they never would have imagined and soon the pirates invite the princess into their bed. Trivia: I didn't know what "MMF" meant when I submitted my proposal for this story. I thought it meant the heroine got to make love with two men. I didn't realize the two men made love to each other and that the men's relationship came first. My editor quickly set me straight and I rewrote my proposal. :) 3.... The Perfect Gift - my next bestseller www.total-e-bound.com This is an FMM. Can you tell it's a Christmas story? LOL Blurb: When Bianca finds gay porn underneath her boyfriend's side of the bed, she's thrown for a loop. She doesn't want to jump to conclusions and lose the best thing she's ever had. It's almost Christmas and this year she's determined to give Ty the perfect gift. Finally, she decides to give him the gift of a night with her bi coworker, Brendan. The men invite her into their bed and she gets to partake in the gift as well. Trivia: The first editor I submitted this to (whom rejected it) didn't like how I resolved the book. So I rewrote the end of the book and submitted it to the second publisher. The second editor at the new publisher (whom accepted the book) had me change the end of the book back to the way I originally had it, the way the first publisher didn't like. I guess you can't please everybody all the time. :) 4.... Purrfect Justice - prequel to "American Beauty" www.ellorascave.com Blurb: Admin assistant/wanna be police woman Haley's been in love with Ft. Lauderdale policeman Cole Fischer since she came to work at police headquarters two years before. But she's invisible to Cole until the night of the Halloween costume party when she dresses up as the very sexy Cat Woman and then proceeds to save his neck on her way home from the party. Now Cole's hot and on a hunt for his masked savior. Meanwhile, he's getting to know the real Haley. She's getting jealous of herself and he thinks he's falling in love with two very different women. 5.... Brit Party anthology - Best Mates www.total-e-bound.com Blurb: When their best mate Jennica breaks up with her boyfriend, lovers Alec and Kevin decide to help her out with her wish to have a child. But Jennica's afraid the duo is too tame for her - she's into BDSM and a submissive who wants a Dom master. Alec and Kevin decide that two masters are better than one and the three friends find out they really are each others' best mates. Trivia: I was asked by the publisher to write a story for this anthology at the last moment. I think I shocked and terrified my editor when she found out she had to edit it so quickly. I also was a bit mixed up and was thinking this was for the BDSM anthology, Bound Brits. However, they didn't mind having BDSM in this anthology so the story still worked and this book has been an excellent seller, too. :) 6.... Civil Affairs www.ellorascave.com Trivia: The heroine in Civil Affairs, Paige, was my weight loss buddy. For real. I lost approximately 95 pounds a few years ago, a lot of it while writing this book. Thus a lot of Paige's experiences mirrored my own. Blurb: Paige has long been in love with the boy next door, Danny. But she was always just his best friend's overweight little sister. When Danny goes off to fight in Iraq and Paige becomes his pen pal, Danny falls for her - especially when their letters get steamy. 7... Make-Believe Lover www.ellorascave.com Trivia: I LOVE this cover. I wish I could ride on a dragon under the moonlight, too. I'm jealous of my heroine. A second piece of trivia is that my husband and I used to do ceramics together. As he loves dragons, his specialty was ceramic dragons. he sold a lot as he's quite the artist. Anyway, we still have a couple of his dragons and they're in our bedroom. Sometimes when I get up in the middle of the night, they seem to glare at me and they're really spooky, as if they're really alive. Actually, I've often been blessed by the cover gods at all of my publishers. I also love the cover to Civil Affairs. In case you don't recognize it, they're on the Biloxi Beach. At least the Biloxi Beach I knew back in 1979. Blurb: When lightning strikes Becca's TV and she's holding the remote while watching her favorite erotic cartoon, she and her cat Gizmo are sucked into the cartoon world. In this world, Gizmo can talk (and he won't shut up) and the hero whom she's been secretly in love with, is a lot more reluctant than she had ever guessed. 8.... Heavenly Hijinx - part of the Planetary Passions series www.ellorascave.com Trivia: I only submitted one proposal for the Planetary Passions series and this was it. The Senior Editor emailed me and asked if I would write this story for the month of August/Leo instead of for the month of November/Scorpio, which I originally proposed. The guy on the cover is Leo. THE Leo, the lion, straight from the heavens. Isn't he hot? Blurb: Leo the lion is bored in the heavens. No one wants to help him celebrate his birthday in style. So he hops down to earth for a little fun. But he can't get back on his own, and his father Zeus decides to teach him a lesson and make him stay awhile. Meanwhile, all his little Leos are running amuk without his heavenly guidance. So Leo finds a human, Clestie, who has the power to help him get home. Unfortunately, Clestie doesn't believe she has the power, she doesn't believe he's THE Leo, and she doesn't like the occult. In this midst of all the craziness, they fall in love and he's not sure he wants to return to the heavens without her. 9.... Mrs. Right www.newconceptspublishing.com Trivia: In real life I worked at a C-Store/gas station for a year and lived a lot of the craziness the heroine of this book experiences. It was a lot of fun working there, which I never would have expected. Blurb: Blair needs a job yesterday. Her college tuition and her rent is due and she's out of money. So when she sees a help wanted sign, even though it's at a gas station/C-store, she applies and gets the job. She feels it's beneath her, but it's a means to an end. It doesn't hurt that the manager is very cute and sexy. However, she's intent on building a career so she won't end up destitute and hopeless like her dear departed mother. She won't let any man or marriage get in the way. She knows from watching her mother that marriage isn't the answer. She has to be able to support herself if the man suddenly disappears. Race, the manager, is a widowed father who would love to find his Mrs. Right. He thinks he's found her in Blair. However, he lost one wife and his son lost one mother so he's scared that a career woman can't provide what he needs and wants Blair but he also wants a wife who will be a full-time home maker and mother. 10... Shipwrecked www.total-e-bound.com Trivia: I love action and adventure and I also love comedy and romance. What I really love, is when all of them are combined. I think this book combines all those elements as well as a lot of fun in the sun. Blurb: In Shipwrecked, Katie is devastated when her wealthy fiance dumps her for his parents choice of bride. She wasn't good enough in their opinion. So when she gets shipwrecked on a deserted island with even wealthier Scott Vanderhorne, she knows she's cursed. The last thing she wants is to get involved with another man who feels he outclasses her. But when they are alone without society's trappings, their barriers fall and they forget about everything but each other. 11.... 'Confessions of a Nympho' www.total-e-bound.com

Blurb: In an effort to promote her books, erotic romance author Tatiana Reece decides it will up her blog traffic if she starts a new blog in which she pretends that her personal life is as racy if not more racy than her novels. She calls it "Confessions of a Nympho" and she makes up some really hot, spicy stuff.

When tax season rolls around and she makes her annual visit to her accountant, Ace, the junior accountant handling her case—who has long been secretly in love with her—discovers her blog. Using an alias, Ace begins a torrid online affair with Tatiana that moves into a real world affair.

One problem. Ace disguises himself and when she discovers his true identity, she'll be furious.

** Do you think you're seeing double? Or do you think I or blogger went bonkers and loaded the same cover twice? Look closer. They're similar but two different covers. Why? Because "Confessions of a Nympho" has been re-released in print as part of the "Lust Bites Anthology Volume I". Yeah! It was released in print this past Monday, July 7, 2008. So if you didn't read Confessions of a Nympho yet, or if you have but want to have it in print and/or read the other great lust bite stories in Volume One, you can rush over to TEB and get it now. 12.... Wild Fantasies www.total-e-bound.com Blurb: In her futuristic holodec sessions, one magnificent hero fulfills Jala's many wild fantasies, but can he be her hero in real life? Lieutenant Jala Janguardo can't have her Captain Adam Carrington in real life so he becomes her werewolf in London, her Arabian sheik, and her intergalactic bar patron in her holodec fantasies. In real life, she might as well be part of the equipment for all he notices her. Or does he? Trivia: Did you know I served in the United States Air Force? Well, I did. So every now and then, military heroes and heroines pop into my books. And military stories - usually in the form of futuristic space military romances. Second news flash: I'm also a Trekkie. Big time. :) 13.... Liquid Heat in the Heat Wave series www.total-e-bound.com Blurb: Joshua Daly never dreamed he’d fall in love with a man, but when he’s stranded in a nudist colony, it's the super sexy Paul Norris that he wants. When Joshua Daly wrecks in Georgia, aka Hillbilly Hell, he’s put up by his rescuer, Paul, while his car’s being repaired—in a nudist colony. He thought he’d be turned on by all the heavenly female bodies, but to his surprise Paul’s beautiful bod is the one that turns him on. It’s not his fiancée Carole who makes him hesitate to shuck his clothes and give up the corporate life; he’s not sure a Yankee will be welcome in the deep South. Trivia: The hero of this story, Joshua, is a Yankee like me. When his car is wrecked in Georgia, he's not feeling too easy. I understand this. When I lived in Mississippi while I was in the Air Force, I was actually called a "Damned Yankee". Ouch! At least while I lived in the deep south (South Florida is NOT the deep south) the Confederate flag still seemed to wave high. **This story releases at TEB Monday July 21st. That's next week so still in plenty of time for hot, sultry summer reading.

Get the Thursday Thirteen code here! The purpose of the meme is to get to know everyone who participates a little bit better every Thursday. Visiting fellow Thirteeners is encouraged! If you participate, leave the link to your Thirteen in others' comments. It’s easy, and fun! Trackbacks, pings, comment links accepted!
Wish my luck. My annual review at the day job is tomorrow afternoon. These things always make me nervous. I hate them. Oi!

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