Good Monday morning to all of you out there. I’m kind of riding high from a post I received from a lovely lady from the UK.
Miss Gracie Lou pointed me in the direction of Ebook Deal of the Day UK where Deep in My Heart is featured on their Facebook page as a Kindle Free Read and the link to my FB author page.
Wow! People across the pond want to read about my Davis and Parker boys? I’m honored and just for all of you reading this post, I’ll include a lovely picture of some nice looking cowboys–You’re welcome.
As drool-worthy as this photo is, it isn’t why I’m writing this today.
After Gracie Lou told me about my book being featured, I immediately popped on over to Amazon.com.uk to read my reviews because all writers do like 4 and 5 star reviews, but I saw one that opened my eyes a bit.
Amazon reader posted: “Decent story but my word, where were the editors and proofreaders. One of the worst for errors that I have read. Amazon.com 1*s mention this. Bad grammar & punctuation, typos, inconsistencies, repetition, errors e.g. clarrisa/clarissa, Mrs conners/mrs Collins. Caleb says he doesn’t know her name but 2 people mention it in front of him. Luke tells Jocelyn how Amy died but she later asks Caleb how Amy died. We are told something then few words later, told again. In spite of this, fair story though implausible at times. Needs to be fully reworked. There is some heat.”
Know that a couple of years ago, this review would have sent me into the fetal position and reaching for pound of dark chocolate to comfort my wounded ego, but what I’ve found is these reviews can be extremely helpful. One of the HUGE things this reviewer did for me is point out specific things that he/she felt were wrong. Yes, there’s a similar review on the Amazon.com page as well, but it’s general. Tells me nothing, but this review, WOW! Thank you.
As a writer, there’s this constant push to write as fast as possible. To create stories faster than readers can read them, which is absolutely impossible, but we try, none-the-less. With that rapid productivity, comes errors and oversights. Yes, I did have three different people review the book and with the one-star review I received, I’ve already asked people to look through the book again. These inconsistencies listed above can be fixed and it’s something that I can learn from.
That being said, I can’t change the different grammar rules from the US to UK (because there are a few) or explain colloquial spellings to someone who’s heard it one way and me another when both are correct, and what a person believes actually happens in Texas or in a romantic suspense.
I can’t change a person’s perception of what might be considered incorrect grammar when it’s not nor what was learned in school.
There are always going to be people who will find flaws and inconsistencies in stories and that’s okay. One book doesn’t appeal to everyone, but I do appreciate the time the reviewer took to not only read the book, but to write a review. That’s immensely complimentary and if I could, I’d send them a big THANK YOU. Hopefully, they’ll see this post and know I do appreciate him/her.
Overall, the general consensus is people do like the story and have asked for more characters’ tales as well. That always makes me smile. I’ll keep writing, double, triple checking things, and hopefully make more people happy with my characters than not.
No one is perfect, but as a writer, we are held to a bit higher standard for producing a good product. Thank you again “Amazon Customer” from the UK for letting me know.
Deep in My Heart is presently available for FREE! Check it out on:
Kindle, Nook, Smashwords, and Kobo
Book #1 of the Tuscany, Texas series
