Power to the Reader. Power to the Writer.

Before the digital age the reader did not have that much power. Readers as a group did in so far that they could express their like for a particular author by buying their book but the individual reader, they had very little influence. Since the revolution, however, the power of the individual has grown exponentially. Whereas previously publisher only took notice of sale figures and the comments of reviews appearing in Sunday newspapers the rise of social media and internet based market platforms like Amazon has shifted that focus somewhat.

This shift has come about in a response to the growth of independent authors. Previously writers the output of such writers was termed ‘vanity publishing’ and scorned accordingly. There was even a belief that if you published your own work in your early struggling career then you were highly unlikely to be picked up by a literary agent or publisher later on.

Curiously this attitude never took root in the music industry where many fledgling artists, Elvis Presley amongst them, recorded their own work first. Indeed, the ‘demo tape’ became an essential method of attracting record company attention and was considered a legitimate means of doing so. No one ever referred to it as ‘vanity recording’.

Of course writing a book is a little different to writing a song. Books need to be proof-read and edited before they get anywhere near being published and that is a process that can take almost as long as writing the thing in the first place. For an independent author this represents a major task but in comparison to getting a literary agent to take on your work it attains a degree practicality.

With the arrival of the e-reader in the shape of Kindle and Kobo the market for electronic books has exploded. In fact the market has grown so quickly that a void appeared that traditional book publishers could not fill and it is this that has led to the appearance of the independent authors. Many were quick to exploit the new technology and to offer readers who were experimenting with this new form original work at a discounted price. A significant proportion of the readers liked what they found.

As with anything the quality of e-books varies enormously. There are some very good writers out there who failed to win attention from agents and publishers and yet who have found an audience in the e-book world. There are also some writers who turn out sub-standard work. To separate the wheat from the chaff marketplaces like Amazon offer purchasers a chance to both rate a product and write a review about it also. This has proven to be a very helpful tool that allows shoppers to get an idea about the product that they are thinking buying, however:

Like so many human inventions the review is open to abuse. There are, sadly, some people who have a habit of posting negative comments. I do not understand this approach but then I acquired the skills of constructive criticism at college. When I review a product on Amazon or a hotel of Trip Advisor I always do so honestly. I simply cannot see the point in taking the time to write a review, particularly about a book, that is intended to be hurtful only. Even if the book is that bad, a ‘stinker’ as Stephen Fry calls them, then follow the precept that if you cannot say anything good then say nothing at all. A product that has been out for some time and garnered no reviews is not likely to be on anyone’s shopping list after all.

It follows, however, that there is another side to this argument and it is one that I wish to make in respect of the independent author particularly; if you have something good to say then say it! New authors need reviews and ratings. It is beneficial in two ways. First, a series of good reviews brings attention to the author and this is what they both need and want. Having invested an awful lot of time and effort in their work the independent author would like someone to read it and express an opinion. They are not selfish in this respect, songwriters, actors, painters, in fact any instigator of a creative enterprise wants to know if the public likes what they do. It seems to be a natural human requirement.

In respect of independent authors the reader possesses tremendous power. They can talk almost directly to the author and tell them exactly what they thought of their work. For me as one such independent author it is a leap of faith to actually put my work out there into the public arena but I will never forget my response to reading the first detailed review of my book; it made everything worthwhile. I don’t have that many reviews to my name as yet, only 22, but they all mean something to me. They do to anyone who has spent time crafting a project, in whatever format, and putting it out there for people to consider.

I wonder if many readers appreciate the power that they have at their disposal through their digital connection with the e-book world? By taking the time to put together some comments, it does not have to be a critical essay after all – unless of course you are so motivated – the buyer can actually help an author that they like to reach a much wider audience. This is a power that the reader possesses. They can influence the career of someone else. They can become instrumental in spreading the word about a book that they have read and opening up the world it contains to other readers.

The majority of independent authors sell their books at discounted prices to begin with and although they dream of commercial success, I know I do, the reality is that they make very little money at it. My royalties do not amount to much even after selling over 1600 books but I love what I do. I create my won worlds in fiction and share them with other people who, for the most part, seem to like what I have done. I would like to reach more people, to have more readers, and everyone who buys a copy of my work can help in that respect. Hopefully, after reading this post you might be one such person who will do me the honour of rating my books and writing a brief honest review so as to encourage others to take the plunge,

Writing Angry

For my new book I have temporarily left behind the period of 1066 and taken up a new subject in the guise of an alternative history story based upon the popular ‘what if?’ premise. I did not start out with the intention of writing an alternative history it is just that this genre proved to be a very suitable vehicle for the story that I want to tell. There is still a considerable amount of research to be carried out in the name of authenticity, just as with Historical Fiction. It may be an alternative account but that does not mean that I can abandon everything prior to the moment in time when actual and fictional history diverge, if I did that then really it would be a fantasy novel but what I want is something with a bit more relevance to the real world and I think that fantasy might lack the kind of bite I am looking for.

Once I had chosen the genre and did the preparatory research I started writing and it all came together very quickly. I had already assembled a team of beta readers and it did not take me very long to provide them with the prologue and opening chapter for them to read, digest and critique. One of the more interesting responses to come out of the early stages of the read was that there was a lot of anger behind the text.

Now this observation came from someone who knows me very well and has done so for many years. I think that the relationship we have with each other has allowed them an insight into my writing that most of the other beta readers lack, which is not a bad thing as it clearly gives a different kind of perspective on my work.

The other point to perhaps to consider is that I am writing about some of the subjects from a genuine point of experience; some of these things happened to me! I call my new novel ‘Eugenica’ and it examines what might have happened if Britain, the birthplace of modern Eugenics, had gone done down the path of eugenics based social and health policies in the 1930’s. Other countries actually took this route, Norway, America, Canada and, perhaps most notoriously, Germany for example. The results were usually devastating upon the individuals who suffered under these systems.

Although Britain, if we return to the ‘real’ timeline, did not take the path that most commentators of the early 20^th century expected it to being a disabled person in this country is not an easy existence. I know because I am disabled!

In many respects I have had it easy compared to other people, some of whom have been treated appallingly and still are sadly. From my formative years I was the subject of medical investigation because I have a very rare muscle condition; Becker’s variant Myotonia Congenita, which was first identified in the same year that I left school. My symptoms are severe and I suffer impaired mobility, which is pretty obvious to most observers.

Recently the current government waged a very effective propaganda war against the disabled prior to dismantling the benefit system that supports them. It was clearly a move to win over public sympathy from the cripples to the politicians and it worked. The government won hands down and the majority of society seem to have a so what attitude to the outcome.

This, I believe, was the starting point of the story that I wanted to write. Clearly life in Britain today is nowhere near as bad as it might have become if the country had fully embraced eugenics, there’s no suggestion of forced segregation and sterilisation for example, or state enacted euthanasia for that matter. Nevertheless I feel angry about the treatment that some disabled people have been subjected to, not just by politicians or the media or an apparently uncaring society but also by the medical fraternity. You might not believe some of the things done to me in the name of medical research?

They say that the best writers concentrate on the subjects that they know and I can see the logic in that. I am writing a book that, amongst others, examines the treatment of the disabled, admittedly in an extreme social setting, and I have an axe to grind, which is probably why I am writing angry, is this a good thing?

I think that it is. My reader expressed concerns that some people might find it a little uncomfortable, objectionable even, that it might stir things up. I understood what they meant but my immediate reaction was ‘so what?’ Eugenica has discrimination and prejudice as two of its core themes, they are thorny subjects. It also has dehumanisation to facilitate the war on the weak as a major theme, not a topic that you can deal with using kid gloves. There are some more positive themes in there as well but it is the ones just mentioned that are the tinder lit by my own personal experiences that in turn ignites my anger I suppose? I ask that question because here’s another observation, entirely subjective, I had not realised that I was writing angry!

I am now very curious to see what they other beta readers made of my early work on this project. I want to see if they come to a similar conclusion about the element of anger already suffused into the text. It is going to be interesting to see if they recognise it and if I am going to continue writing angry now that I have been made aware of something that I seemed to have been conducting unconsciously?

Reviewers Required

Feedback, it is more important than a royalty cheque!
Of course it is always a happy moment to see that royalty payment being credited to your bank account but it is a fact that the size of your royalty also reflects the size of your readership.

Like so many other things in life it could be bigger!

Now one of the proven methods of expanding your readership is getting people to talk about your book and the best person to do that is someone who has read it. We all need someone to right us a review.

For some reason I have found getting a review rather difficult. To date I have sold over 1,200 books on the Kindle platform alone and yet I only have 12 reviews! 2 of these are on Amazon.com and the other 10 on Amazon.co.uk. This is pretty paltry by anyone’s standards, or so I think.

I don’t know what the secret is to getting people to write even a simple review of a book that they enjoyed (these are, after all, the best reviews). I know from my own experiences as an Amazon customer that they do their bit to encourage people to give some kind of feedback, even if it is just a rating of how many stars. The Amazon approach is something of a blanket however, it doesn’t seem to consider what you have bought. For example I bought a replacement iPod lead; does that really need a review? I rated the company because they offered the product that I wanted at a good price and with a speedy delivery, but I didn’t think that the lead itself required any comments. When it comes to something like a book or DVD or a CD, however, I always go back and leave a comment.

I don’t have any reticence about doing this but then I can use words, writing holds no fear for me, which is useful considering what I do! That said I generally do not leave critical essays on books simply because I do not believe that that is what prospective readers want to read. I know that when I browse sites like Amazon I always look at the reviews before buying. I have a habit of looking at both the best and the worst and then scant he others to find any patterns. This is useful because it means that I can discount those reviewers who have just uploaded their personal vitriol, most of which is usually unwarranted. Sadly I find many such examples when looking for books by independent authors.

The point is that reviews are immensely useful to both the author and the reader. An honest review not only give validation to the writer it also helps them discover what they are good at and what they may need to work on. I have certainly found some valuable guidance in the 12 reviews extant on my book The War Wolf, it helped me change for the better, I believe, the text in the second book, but how much more improved might that volume be if more than 1% of my readers had offered their comments on what they had read?

I posted on Twitter a few weeks back that giving an author a review was like giving them a hug. If you genuinely liked what you read then there’s something to that. Books are more personal than iPod leads, they touch our emotions, they take us to fantastic places, they expose us to new ideas, in fact a good book can give an awful lot to the reader; is a review and a star rating too much to ask for in return?