After the novel is released and the local book signing is over, it's probably only natural to see how things are going out in the real world. Only natural to check out some Amazon reviews.
In my case I found twelve for my crime-and-blues odyssey: seven 5-star, three 4-star, one 3-star and one 2-star. I read the 2-star one first wondering what in the world was amiss. It turns out the lady in question publishes e-books and decided that my narrative didn't meet her requirements for a standard-issue mystery. Which wasn't my intention at all. Oddly enough, a 4-star review was posted by one of her writers around the same time. She, in turn, was very flip mentioning "good ol' boys" and likening the plight of Alice, a teenage runaway and pivotal character, to Mattie Ross, the heroine of True Grit with a touch of Holden Caulfield in Catcher in the Rye. Again. Not at all how I perceived Alice nor the overall tone of the story.
Moving on to the 3-star response, this reader was looking for a Southern Gothic "creepy read" and my tale wasn't creepy enough for her. Needless to say, I had no intention of writing a creepy read.
As for the seven five-star reviews, all of these readers went along for the ride. A mixture of male and females were drawn in by my drifter and his squandered life, allowed the given circumstances to unfold as he unwittingly came upon Alice in an abandoned boxcar, crossed over with her into the back hills of Mississippi and the edges of the Delta and so on.
Which I guess brings us to the question of readers' expectations, why they choose what they choose and what prods them to post their opinions. There's also the fact that Amazon lists what they call the most helpful positive review and the most helpful critical review. What's the likelihood potential buyers will note the 2-star critique and not even bother to read the review, let alone make any comparisons?
I suppose all you can hope for is the possibility that enough people will read the brief plot summary first. Failing that, I guess you just have to be happy if the "connects" far outweigh the disconnects.
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In my case I found twelve for my crime-and-blues odyssey: seven 5-star, three 4-star, one 3-star and one 2-star. I read the 2-star one first wondering what in the world was amiss. It turns out the lady in question publishes e-books and decided that my narrative didn't meet her requirements for a standard-issue mystery. Which wasn't my intention at all. Oddly enough, a 4-star review was posted by one of her writers around the same time. She, in turn, was very flip mentioning "good ol' boys" and likening the plight of Alice, a teenage runaway and pivotal character, to Mattie Ross, the heroine of True Grit with a touch of Holden Caulfield in Catcher in the Rye. Again. Not at all how I perceived Alice nor the overall tone of the story.
Moving on to the 3-star response, this reader was looking for a Southern Gothic "creepy read" and my tale wasn't creepy enough for her. Needless to say, I had no intention of writing a creepy read.
As for the seven five-star reviews, all of these readers went along for the ride. A mixture of male and females were drawn in by my drifter and his squandered life, allowed the given circumstances to unfold as he unwittingly came upon Alice in an abandoned boxcar, crossed over with her into the back hills of Mississippi and the edges of the Delta and so on.
Which I guess brings us to the question of readers' expectations, why they choose what they choose and what prods them to post their opinions. There's also the fact that Amazon lists what they call the most helpful positive review and the most helpful critical review. What's the likelihood potential buyers will note the 2-star critique and not even bother to read the review, let alone make any comparisons?
I suppose all you can hope for is the possibility that enough people will read the brief plot summary first. Failing that, I guess you just have to be happy if the "connects" far outweigh the disconnects.
.
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