Two weeks ago, I wrote about how difficult it has been as a new author to get reviews of my work. A few days after that, the first book in each of my series went perma-free on Amazon. In the afterword of each book, I ask readers to leave their honest reviews. I’m excited to say that I’ve started to see some results.
Over the weekend I received no fewer than FOUR new reviews on Driftmetal – 3 on Amazon and 1 on Barnes & Noble. Even more astonishing than that, all four of those reviewers gave the book five stars! This is probably the most encouraging development in my writing career to date. I’m so pleased that people have been enjoying the story and have had such good things to say about it, and I’m incredibly grateful to those reviewers for their feedback, as free downloads of Driftmetal have risen in the days since the new reviews were posted. In fact, they’ve risen so much that as of this morning the book has cracked the top 1,000 in the whole Kindle store. It’s in the Top 50 in all of Science Fiction, and it’s back in the Top 5 for its two subcategories.
Before you write me off as a sensationalist, do realize that I know I’m making a big deal out of something that’s relatively small in the grand scheme of things. But when the tank’s empty, even a tiny jump in the needle is something to get excited about. If nothing else, it’s encouraging to think that maybe I’m not the terrible, doomed-to-be-perpetually-ignored writer my critical inner voice so often tells me I am. Whether any of us writes solely for the love of writing or not, it’s still nice to get feedback. And seeing a boost like this so soon, even one that’s small (and probably temporary), feels really good.