Publishing A Novel: Hiring A Professional Editor

This morning, I got a three-star review for BAND GEEK. That isn't too bad, but the reader did have some hurtful things to say about my work. She felt that my basic story -- bad boy grows close to misfit girl -- was "stereotypical" (as Josh would say, it's not a cliche, it's a classic).

She went on to say that she didn't think that my story is memorable and that a week from now, she'd mainly remember the cover (hey, at least she liked something, right?). But what I find interesting is that this woman, who says that she wasn't moved by my work, wrote the longest review I've ever seen! Seriously, it goes on and on for about eight paragraphs and is easily 1000 words. She wrote a freakin' thesis explaining why my book is mediocre ... so obviously, it did mean something to her, right?

Anyway, I don't agree with most of her criticisms, but one thing she does nail me for is typos. I've had a few readers complain about this (though most have not), so I've decided to hire a professional editor to help me put together my next book. I'm willing to own up to my mistakes and clearly I need an extra professional eye to catch typos and help me with formatting. I really worked hard to make BAND GEEK as clean as possible and had several people read it over for me, but I obviously need more help. I'm not embarassed to admit this; writers who are published by big houses have editors go through their books, so why shouldn't I? If all goes well and she does a good job, I may hire her to fix up BAND GEEK, too. Then I can promote both books at once.

I'm still proud of BAND GEEK, especially since it's my first novel. I love my story, even if it doesn't appeal to everyone's tastes and am using this experience to make my second novel even better. I don't see mistakes as a bad thing; I'm just keeping track so I can learn from them. Meantime, I'm glad that so many people are enjoying BAND GEEK.

Please read and review REVENGE OF A BAND GEEK GONE BAD. Every critique helps!

Publishing A Novel: My First Bad Review

Well, it happened as I knew it would. After getting a bunch of four and five star reviews on Amazon and Goodreads, I got a two star review on Goodreads. As I said, I knew that it would happen eventually.

On the one hand, it sucks. No author wants to get a negative review. We work hard on our books and when someone dislikes something into which you put a lot of time, it hurts.

But on the other hand, many more people have been reading BAND GEEK, which is a good thing. And the more opinions that are out there, the more likely that at least a few are going to be negative.

For instance, I just finished reading Ally Condie's MATCHED/CROSSED/REACHED trilogy and really enjoyed it. I thought that it was brilliantly written and would easily give it at least four stars. However, when I looked on Amazon and Goodreads, there were many readers who really disliked the series. Some loved the first book and found the second and third boring; some were unhappy with the ending; some didn't think that there was enough action. Meanwhile, I plowed through all three within two days. Obviously, I'm not alone in enjoying her work because her books are best sellers -- and she has plenty of five-star reviews that gush over her trilogy.

The point is that reading is very subjective and everyone's tastes are going to vary. This is a beautiful thing. I like that people have places where they can share their opinions on literature, even if their opinions differ. It's interesting to see what excites one person and upsets another -- and really, as they say, there's no way to please everyone.

I don't want to see a lot of two star reviews -- believe me, one is fine! I'd rather have mostly positive write-ups of BAND GEEK. But I appreciate and respect that not everyone is going to like my story and am glad that they have a place to share their dislike.

Please read and review REVENGE OF A BAND GEEK GONE BAD.