To Review - or Not? Only For The Trolls?

I spend so much time writing, and with writing related activities (like editing!) that I seldom blog. I want to.  I enjoy it.  But too often I just don't get the time.  
Soon I'll have a brand new website - it's live at the moment, but I've not done anything to it. Will that mean I write more or less?  Maybe I'll do some videos there instead!

The reason for this blog is that I wanted to talk through the whole 'review' business - and genuinely hear what your thoughts are.

The other month, I was talking through the issue of reviews with some friends, one of whom is a new author.  I'd just got my first bad review for Cherry Picking, from an obvious 'troll'.  By that I mean, someone going out of their way to say unkind things, just because they got to.  I refer to a troll as being someone 'off genre'.  They've picked up something free, and though it's not their thing, downloaded it 'just because'.  And surprise surprise, they didn't like it - and they want to tell the world about it.

My friends had a different view in this conversation.  One said it's good that this person said it - it will help others, who might have discovered the book 'off genre', not to make the same mistake.  Granted, that is a good thing.  No author really wants to sell their books to people who will hate them.  My worry was that the reviews could put actual interested people off, which is a real concern.  It also ruined my perfect 5 star ratings up to that moment.  I'm okay with that too!

But I'm not writing to tell you this - I'm writing from a readers perspective now, because of something that just happened.
Amazon have recently launched their Kindle Spring Sale - a three week campaign offering discounts on a range of books they've deemed worthy of inclusion - Cherry Picking is in that list (Just 99p!  Okay, final plug done - honest!)
On that list, among the many other great books, was a novel by John Grisham called The Litigators.  Now, I am a big fan of JG - I've not read all his books, but every one that I have read I've loved!  I enjoy his style, and seeing that this book was on offer for £1.99, it was of great interest to me.  I was instantly ready to download it.
Then I remembered the conversation I mentioned above from the month before, so I thought I'd check out the reviews. 
The book is averaging a decent 4.3 stars.  As I would expect.  But aside from the 297 five and four start ratings, there were three, two and even some one star ratings - seven of them! John Grisham also gets one star reviews?!

So while I looked first at the five star reviews, I did take in the one star reviews also, just as my friends had suggested.  One reviewer wrote this:

Right up to the predictable, syrupy-sweet "and they all lived happily ever after" ending, this book is not worth the paper it's printed on. Save yourself the time and the money.

A little ironic as I'm looking at the Kindle version - so no paper involved!  But a scathing attack! Another said:

Grishams newest book is so light it could have floated from my desk to the nearest rubbish bin.

Wow!  Could it be?  One even said this:

After hearing so much about grishman as a thriller writer, I decided to take a break from my Nesbo books to have a dip. I thought the first eight chapters were fantastic and really got me giggling which is rare for a book. But then the plot was incredibly predictable, slow, boring and unkind to people without law knowledge as there was a lot of jargon.

Others professed to be great fans of his other books, but this one should be avoided.

Now, as a reader, what do I do?  My instant transaction that I mentioned above has now paused.  I've gone from buyer to - not.  With Kindle you can even download a preview - the first few chapters or so.  But if the above reviewer is to be believed - that doesn't help.  They loved the first 8 chapters, but still rated it 1 star!

And I'm left with the question - are these rare one star reviews just trolls (as mentioned above!) - people who just love to be bad, to say bad, and to slag off for the sake of it, knowing they remain in the shadows?  No one can hold them to account.  It's a clean getaway.  Maybe its a personal thing - some bitter rival author (though I doubt this - among authors we have this professional pride and honour with others in our same field - at least its how I operate). So maybe they were just trolls, and I could/should ignore them.
But maybe they were readers just like me who loved all his books and this book genuinely was a stinker and needed to be dropped like the plague?

So how do I decide?

Before we get to that, let me add this - I saw that some of these reviews were bashing Grisham because of the cost of his eBook.  Now, while it wasn't an issue for this transaction (I was looking at a discounted £1.99 deal and have no idea what the other cost was that they were referring to being 'to high'), the issue of price is something.
As of today, a generic bag of coffee from Starbucks (UK version) costs £10.95!!  For coffee? I've no way of knowing what it costs to buy a coffee in the cafe to drink, but in London I'm guessing some of them are pushing £5 already (for the full works).  A days train ticket in and out of London set me back about £16 the last time I had to do it.  And yet, an eBook, that will take you some time to read, the story coming alive in your head so that you dream about it, having been produced after months of effort by a whole team of people (it's never just an author!), to pay £4 or £5 for this is too much?!  £5 for a book that has been through the testing process, and had months of work poured into it - or for a coffee made in five minutes by some under trained student just looking to earn some income?  Grumble over.

Back to my question - how do I decide?  Well, I took it to the next step (and you can do the same too!)  I picked a book I had read, one I really loved, and looked at the reviews on that one.  I chose The Runaway Jury because I remember being so gripped by the story and really enjoying it.  One of Grisham's best!  And yet this too had a one star review!  It says:

Boring, tedious, drawn out rubbish! I kept reading this book, even though i was bored to tears, thinking it would surely get better, at least have an exciting ending - HOW WRONG I WAS! It is one of those books you force yourself to keep reading in the hope of it becoming at least half decent, only to be left wishing you hadn't bothered when you finish it! RUBBISH RUBBISH, UNBELIVEABLE DULL AND DISAPPOINTING

What?  Are they talking about the same book as me?  Is this person serious?

And there it is - as far as my experience was, this person couldn't be more wrong!  Are they a troll?  I don't know.  Maybe it's just not their thing.

So where do we go from here?  For me, the reviews of The Litigators became a confusing thing - I've read the first three chapters (the free download bit), and aside from feeling a little familiar (so it's possible I've read it before anyway!) I did enjoy it the same way I've enjoyed all his books.  But I'm yet to buy it. I guess the jury's out on that one (excuse the pun!)

Reviews have lost their value though - but its the reviewers you need to follow.  Listen to the brand advocates that have liked the books you enjoyed, and see what they say about a new book by the same author, or a similar book in the same genre by a new author.  Their views become valid - because you know they enjoy the same books as you, and therefore what they say about something new to you is advice you can probably trust.

The other thing is to go with your gut.  There will not be a book around that everyone loves - do the test yourself - search out your very best reads and see what the negative reviewers had to say about that same book!

And review more!  I loved The Runaway Jury, so maybe I should say that!  If people just base their decision on 'boring tedious rubbish' they will truly miss out on a great novel, assuming they are fans of Grisham or the legal thriller genre.  My positive reviews really can help the balance of things.  Maybe people will start listening to your reviews as they make their own choices.

• Focus on key reviewers
• Go with your gut
• Review more

So what do you think?  How do reviews help you make your decision?  Which ones do you read?  Have you had a similar situation that I had - what did you do?

And, most importantly of all - should I buy The Litigators?

Part 5 - Talking About Jessica Ponter

This is the final part of a new series of 5 videos where I talk about the main characters of my debut novel Cherry Picking.  This book is a thriller and mystery - if you are looking for a great read then my best selling debut novel could be the one for you!

Throughout the five videos I also answer other questions - such as how did I get the idea for the novel, did it take long to write, is there a sequel to Cherry Picking, will there be a movie, is the book about my own life (I've had that question a few times actually!) and talking about the feedback to the novel so far.

I really believe in this thriller/mystery novel and hope that you enjoy it immensely too, whether you are reading it in paperback from Amazon, or have downloaded the eBook edition onto your Kindle device or app.

To order your copy today, simply click on the link at the top of this Blog, or simply search for "Cherry Picking by Tim Heath" from your local Amazon website or Kindle store.

The first part can be found here
The second part can be found here
The third part can be found here 
The fourth part can be found here

Part 4 - Talking About Tommy Lawrence

This is the fourth part of a new series of 5 videos where I talk about the main characters of my debut novel Cherry Picking.  This book is a thriller and mystery - if you are looking for a great read then my best selling debut novel could be the one for you!

Throughout the five videos I also answer other questions - such as how did I get the idea for the novel, did it take long to write, is there a sequel to Cherry Picking, will there be a movie, is the book about my own life (I've had that question a few times actually!) and talking about the feedback to the novel so far.

I really believe in this thriller/mystery novel and hope that you enjoy it immensely too, whether you are reading it in paperback from Amazon, or have downloaded the eBook edition onto your Kindle device or app.

To order your copy today, simply click on the link at the top of this Blog, or simply search for "Cherry Picking by Tim Heath" from your local Amazon website or Kindle store.

The first part can be found here 
The second part can be found here
The third part can be found here

Part 3 - Talking About Brendan Charles

This is the third part of a new series of 5 videos where I talk about the main characters of my debut novel Cherry Picking.  This book is a thriller and mystery - if you are looking for a great read then my best selling debut novel could be the one for you!

Throughout the five videos I also answer other questions - such as how did I get the idea for the novel, did it take long to write, is there a sequel to Cherry Picking, will there be a movie, is the book about my own life (I've had that question a few times actually!) and talking about the feedback to the novel so far.

I really believe in this thriller/mystery novel and hope that you enjoy it immensely too, whether you are reading it in paperback from Amazon, or have downloaded the eBook edition onto your Kindle device or app.

To order your copy today, simply click on the link at the top of this Blog, or simply search for "Cherry Picking by Tim Heath" from your local Amazon website or Kindle store.

The first part can be found here
The second part can be found here

Part 2 - Talking About Robert Sandle

This is the second part of a new series of 5 videos where I talk about the main characters of my debut novel Cherry Picking.  This book is a thriller and mystery - if you are looking for a great read and love to dive into a good book this holiday season, then this could be the book for you!  

Throughout the five video's I also answer other questions - such as how did I get the idea for the novel, did it take long to write, is there a sequel to Cherry Picking, will there be a movie, is the book about my own life (I've had that question a few times actually!) and talking about the feedback to the novel so far.

I really believe in this thriller/mystery novel and hope that you enjoy it immensely too, whether you are reading it in paperback from Amazon, or have downloaded the eBook edition onto your Kindle device or app.

To order your copy today, simply click on the link at the top of this Blog, or simply search for "Cherry Picking by Tim Heath" from your local Amazon website or Kindle store.

The first part can be found here

Part 1 - Talking About Nigel Gamble

This is the first part of a new series of 5 videos where I talk about the main characters of my debut novel Cherry Picking.

Throughout the five video's I also answer other questions - such as how did I get the idea for the novel, did it take long to write, is there a sequel to Cherry Picking, will there be a movie, is the book about my own life (I've had that question a few times actually!) and talking about the feedback to the novel so far.

I really believe in this thriller/mystery novel and hope that you enjoy it immensely too, whether you are reading it in paperback from Amazon, or have downloaded the eBook edition onto your Kindle device or app.

New Book Preview on Amazon

Here is a preview that's been created on Amazon:

https://www.createspace.com/Preview/1116984

Enjoy!

The latest video - the latest version

This second edition of Cherry Picking, now on sale, offers an exclusive preview to my next novel "The Last Prophet" which is coming soon.  You can read the first few chapters at the end of Cherry Picking.

Available from all Amazon sites, including for China, India and Japan.  Links are above to the most common ones.

All you need to know about Cherry Picking

Here is the official video to give you a flavour of what my novel is about;



The book has it's own 'Page' on Facebook, so be sure to 'Like' it there.  Here is the link to its page

And now for info about how to get the book!

Amazon UK - Paperback here
                 - eBook here

Amazon USA - Paperback here 
                  - eBook here

Amazon Europe - available on the German, French, Spanish and Italian sites for payments in euros.  Please go to Amazon.eu and select your chosen site, then simply search for 'cherry picking by tim heath'.

Having come this far, I now ask you to do three things - Read it.  Rate it.  Recommend it.

Facebook Page Created!

Click 'Like' to hear the latest news about this book, as and when it happens!

https://www.facebook.com/CherryPickingbyTimHeath

Finally...nearly some news...

Well I have spent a very enjoyable day rereading my book - and I know I'm biased, but the book is gripping....especially once you hit chapter sixteen. I'm personally hard on myself so if I think it's got a great flow, maybe it's got a chance!

Anyway, what I was wanting to say it that it seems at last there is a chance that my book will get 'out there' soon, which is much better than these last few months when it's been, well, nowhere!

So, by about Summer 2012, and with all things going as they have started to open up, the book will be available from Amazon and also for the Kindle and we'll see what other options open up for the book, but certainly those two markets.

So I'm excited but of course having it available is only the first stage - getting word out is totally another thing. But at least once it's available I have something to point people towards!

I'll be clearer on this when it launches, but one thing I did want to get clear - while my other blog is talking about matters of faith and the heart, as well as telling our story, this novel is another side to my writing gift. It's just a novel (a great read too!) but has nothing to do with our life, or what we do. It's fiction. So I wanted to be clear about that.

And did I say it will soon be available on Amazon and the Kindle?? Oh, I did. Well, it will be....hopefully in time for Christmas 2012, so that's your shopping sorted for this year then, right?!

Who am I writing for?

The other week I was able to have lunch with a man who's worked in the publishing world for around 40 years. It was a good time, chatting in general as well as what he had to say about my writing ambitions.

There was one question he asked which I find hard to answer - and it doesn't really bother me that I don't know the answer, but what worries me is that publishers WANT there to be an answer, and the fact that maybe I'm not doing something right along the requesting side of things by not telling them who the book is for.

The question was "Who is the book written for?", or "Who did you write the book for?"

Having come away from that time, and thinking, it occurred to me that I don't think an artist picks up his brush and works the paint onto the new canvas thinking about who exactly they are painting it for - in fact, I'm not sure they are even thinking about anyone, just what they have to paint, knowing that the finished article, their goal, is to be enjoyed because it's finished.

Same with a composer - they hear the music, and write what they hear. I'm not sure if their starting point could ever be with who they are writing the music for?

It's a creative process - and I know it might sound weak, but that's how it works for me. Just like an inspired artist or composer, my ideas come to me almost complete, the main points and titles do anyway, and its from here that I write, not with my audience in mind, but with the knowledge that if I can write as I see, and do a good job at it, thereby doing justice to the thought that appeared in my mind, then the finished product will be something that is there to be enjoyed - whether they be young adult men or retired women.

So does there need to be a 'target' market? I fear the world says yes....I guess only time will tell with my work really.

Frustrations

I'm going through that very frustrating phase of things....it's been six months since I first started sending off submissions for Cherry Picking.....I've had a baby in this time!

And yet, apart from the standard lines, saying thanks but no thanks, I haven't heard a thing. It's 15 agents that I've already sent things off to - and this is a really small number! In a recent post on his daily blog, San Francisco Agent Nathan Bransford showed how from over 300 queries in one week, on only 4 did he actually request full submissions - so that's 1%! So realistically, I know I need to send to another 85 agents before statistically one of them will request my complete book. Clearly, if Nathan is your average agent, there are a lot of factors, besides actually having a good book, that go into things....for example, how far down the pile yours gets read, how many on that particular day the agent receives, how busy they are the week you send in.

Because if an agents knows they are going to get 350 enquires in the week, then they know they can be super selective. And, for example, the first one they read that week, in my view, has less chance of being requested than maybe the 300th, by which time the standard has been revealed to be a little disappointing, the genres rather different, and knowing that they've only requested two so far and have only 50 more to read, they go for the 300th one....which might have been just the same as the 1st.....so timing and luck, as well as a great story, clearly all go into the selection process!

I am finding it hard though.....and yet, as a career, I've not even yet started!

I also should be writing my second novel now....something I said I would do, but with all that's been happening, as well as the frustration with hearing nothing, I've not been. In fact, I could be writing now, but am instead typing here, talking about how I should be writing instead!

So enough of that....maybe I am about to write my truly break through novel!!

Cherry Picking - Chapter 1&2

Finally, I have been able to get to at least a stage where I can put the first TWO chapters here. It is of course subject to change in the end, as you are reading a work in progress. But this will give you a good enough feel for things to come. Please enjoy it and do let me know what you think!

Tim Heath

***Removed in June 2012 as the book is now out***

But you can 'Look Inside' on the Amazon page and start reading the first few pages here

Facebook Group Starts

A warm welcome to those of you who have reached this blog via the facebook group.

In a little while I hope to have the first chapter, or so, of my book Cherry Picking right here on this blog!

But for now, there are a few older entries that I've tried to write during the process of finishing the book, including an intro to the characters.

Thanks for visiting, and please stay tuned!

Tim.

More Progress

Am now into chapter 27 of the second edit.

The one person to read it so far (up to about chapter 10 and this being my wife!) is very happy with it and wants to read more.

I wanted to get the second edit finished by the end of March, and then have people start reading it. The reading part has at least already started, and I should, I hope, be able to do the remaining four and a half chapters by the end of the month.

What next?

Well, once I finish I think I will run through a few of the comments already from my wife, and straighten anything out that I can before getting some other friends to read it who have publishing experience. In time I will put some of the opening scenes ONLY here on this blog, and promote it by setting up a Facebook group that people can join.

When its out there, being read, I will start the process of looking for an agent/publisher, but probably in about May/June. Any time before that I will start thoughts on another book. There are a few ideas I have been working on, and I know what ever one I choose to do next will be an exciting project as they are all interesting stories.

So keep in touch, stay connected and watch this space!

Progress

Well the second edit of the book Cherry Picking is going really well. I am up to chapter 17 now but more excitingly my wife (being the first person to read it yet) has just started reading the work now, as I managed to print out the first 16 chapters yesterday!

So I'm really excited to have got to this stage - her early thoughts are what I could hope for in the book. Over the next few weeks there will be some other people who I'm getting to read the work, so now its really the test time - will it make it or won't it! If I can't captivate these people who know me (and therefore have more reason to want to read it than the average person) then it'll be hard to expect others too.

So progress on the editing front and process in general. At last!!

Let the editing begin

I finally finished the first draft in the first week of January. It came in at around 115,000 which I am happy with as a starting point.

I've now started the editing process which I am maybe four weeks into? Today I got up to chapter 9. I am finding that I am not changing major chunks of it, just checking for errors and making sure it is consistent. The first 6 chapters or so had been written up to about three years ago I think so that's a long time for things to change.

I was really looking forward to this phase of things, though at the moment with the majority of the way still to go it is a little hard going. Once I get to about chapter 20 I guess the end is in sight so that should motivate me enough to press on for the finish.

If I could get it done by around March that would leave a good amount of time for the next stage of things to get done before the summer, which is still when I would like to have something ready to send to an agent and/or publisher.

So things press on. Progress is slow but moving along.

Cherry Picking - Update 2 - Meet some of the Characters

I feel very happy with the quality and depth of characters that have emerged in my book Cherry Picking. There is a lot of cross over between some of them and the relationships and tensions that now exist between them all is really interesting and gives me a lot of scope to write about.

And if the book is indeed to become a film one day as I hope and expect it too, then that would leave some really juicy parts for any actor or actress to take on.

The main characters are Nigel Gamble, Brendan Charles, Robert Sandle, Tommy Lawrence and Jessica Ponter.

I feel like I've really got to know these 5 'people' over the last few years. There's a lot too each character and I hope that this will come out through the pages of Cherry Picking.

Nigel & Robert are the characters that change the most and know the most throughout the book - this is the key 'confrontation' that a lot of the book is based around and it pulls in all these others in one way of the other.

Nigel is hugely wealthy and Brendan works for him having been recruited twenty years ago and been Nigel's 'public' face ever since.

Tommy works within one of Brendan's companies having been told top recruit him by Nigel. Though there's a bit of an age gap between him and Jessica, they had a close relationship which changes throughout the book. Jessica is about ten years younger than Tommy but she loves him deeply. A beautiful and talented young woman in her own right, she too was pulled into the Nigel Gamble empire by Brendan and now also works for him.

Each of the five main characters have an angle and reason to be weary of the other characters and this I hope only builds and adds to the intrigue.

Please sign up to this blog so that I can keep you informed over things as they develop as well nearer the time put some of the book exclusively here for you to read.

Cherry Picking - Update 1

Well, it's December now 2008 and I have written about 60,000 words of the book. I started Chapter 19 of the book today, in first draft form. I guess once I edit it it may well change places in the book, who knows.

I still hope that I am on track.

I aim to get all the first draft down by the end of this month (aghh!) and then spend the next six months doing at first a 2nd edit where I'll add in a lot of detail (4 months work I think) before it's ready to be read for the first time by anyone where I'll pull the comments together to do a 3rd draft which I hope to be ready for the publishers by next summer?

Am I mad? Optimistic? Well, time will tell.

But I'm still very happy about the project and excited about finishing it...one day.