Authors shouldn't forget

So, I am thrilled to say that for an unknown author, my debut novel, Children of the Fifth Sun, is doing quite well. It made number one in three categories on Amazon, and has a nice consistent 4+ rating average (approx. 100 reviews overall) across the various platforms. The written reviews from readers have been great, with many expressing that the book gave them much more than they expected. One reader thought I wrote so well she'd 'read my grocery list' - which was a lovely compliment. That said, the book now hovers around the 1000 mark in its best category and the rate of reviews have slowed. I see many authors lament this, comparing themselves to other authors who seem to be doing better. I don't. And the reason is this: I have ZERO time to read. When I do, I'm incredibly fussy and stick to names and genres that I know. Why should someone else pick up MY book at all? Who the hell am I? Authors often put a book out into the world and expect that people will not only look at it but then buy it, read it, and like it so much that they feel compelled to take yet more of their time to review it. Do I have time to do that? Not really.

A good example is the book I'm currently reading - Homo Deus, by Yuval Noah Harari. I LOVE this book. It speaks to me in ways that I didn't think possible. His brain is how my brain works. Relentless logic. Have I reviewed it on Amazon or any other platform? No. Why? Because I have a million things to do. I will, but when it comes to me and I feel I have a spare moment. That could be months from now.

Thus, when a person takes the time to look at my book cover, like it, buy the book, read the book and review it I'm pretty damn grateful. I'm even more impressed by those who talk about it on their social media or post their review to multiple platforms. That means I had an impact. On one person maybe - but isn't that why we write? 

So, to my author friends I say this: don't be disheartened if you are not getting the reviews you think you should be. Every single one counts. 

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