written in the stars
“Reviews aren’t just about sales or accolades; they literally make or break an independent or small-publishing-house book.”
One of the gleaming advantages of rural life is the ability to truly see stars in the night sky. They twinkle clearly, brightly, unencumbered by the hazy filter of city lights and pollution, that is, when it isn’t raining and/or cloudy, which, here in the Pacific Northwest, accounts for about nine months of the year. But, hey, the other three months, look out or, rather, up. We’ve got starry nights that would inspire Van Gogh back from the grave, paintbrush eagerly in hand.
Humankind’s fascination with the stars is timeless, endless. Like countless pinpricks in an ebon weave, those incandescent marvels shine through, filling curious eyes and minds and souls with hope and wonder, speculation and imagination. Star lore, in fact, dates back thousands of years, present in nearly every civilization in recorded history. Yet there is a modern-day fixation on stars that has nothing to do with science, mythology, or navigation for wayward travelers. It has everything to do with what we buy, where we stuff our bellies or rest our heads, the entertainments we seek, even who it is we entrust to care for our sniffles, our boo-boos, our oops-I-should’ve-seen-that-calamity-coming fiascos. (In hindsight, it probably wasn’t wise to rollerblade on the roof, blindfolded, while practicing for the upcoming pie-eating championship, but isn’t it good to know reviewers and those trusty stars led you to a nonjudgmental physician with an obliging sense of humor?) These are the yellow stars of consumer confidence. As shoppers, we benefit greatly from them. As artists and artisans, authors and musicians, as small-business owners with big, big dreams, we utterly depend upon them.
The ugly reality of digital publishing is that reviews are essential to a book’s success. They’re not just supportive words that prop up an author (though, as an author, I can tell you we are grateful for them), they are the force that keeps retail giants from burying a book in some deep, dark state of oblivion. A lack of reviews doesn’t mean a book isn’t good; it simply means it didn’t have the marketing power of The Big-Five Publishers behind it. A retailers’ loyalty is, naturally, to profits, and no small publisher or independent can compete with the kind of advertising money The Big Five can throw behind their book releases. These are the more profitable works that remain visible and accessible to consumers while others with lesser advertising budgets are banished to musty, forgotten corners full of cobwebs, where even a title or author search may not reveal their existence. So many unique and exciting voices are being stifled in this way.
Reviews aren’t just about sales or accolades; they literally make or break an independent or small-publishing-house book, especially in the early days after the book’s release. Even after that period, they remain crucial in keeping an author’s hard work afloat. So, today I ask you for just a few minutes of your time: if you’ve enjoyed my work—any of my books—if I’ve earned those five stars, please post a review on Amazon, at the very least, and maybe spread the word on social media too. I always have a variety of book graphics available on my Facebook pages (personal and professional) that you are welcome to share on your own pages at any time. For a review, while you certainly may if you like, it isn’t necessary to take extra time summarizing the story, like a book report in school; all I ask is just a few lines about why the book resonated with you. What made you love it? Bringing you these stories is my life’s passion, and every obliging reviewer is another constellation in my universe, keeping the journeys we’ve shared shining brightly and written, forever, in the stars.
From the bottom of my heart, I thank you for your support.