I Really Need Your Help

I hope this post doesn't sound whiny, but, frankly, I've felt a little whiny lately, so maybe it will. And maybe a little needy. Possibly somewhat clingy as well. I'm sorry if so, but I feel like I need to put some things clearly. I really do need the help of the people who read this blog who are also readers of my books. 

As you may or may not know, there are lots of things that influence indie author book sales, many of which are up to me. Getting my books out there at stores and libraries and signings and events are all up to me. Building a tribe on social media--also up to me. And I think I do a halfway decent job of doing those things. I could do better, but considering this is my side job and my full-time job is pretty demanding time-wise, I do about as well as I can. 

But statistics have shown that the number one influencer of online sales of books (print and ebooks both) is online reviews on Amazon and Goodreads, but mostly Amazon. Good reviews are important, but, surprisingly, not as important as the number of reviews a book receives. Yes, it would be nice if you had good things to say and you gave it lots of stars, but even if you think the book is mediocre and give it three stars, that's better than a five-star review you never got around to posting. And if even half--or even a quarter--of people that I know personally who've told me they've read and enjoyed my books would review them, the number of reviews I've received would skyrocket. 

So this post is going to be short and to the point. Not to sound too teacher-y, but I'm giving you some homework. If you've read any or all of my books, please take the time it would normally have taken you to read the rest of this post to go to Amazon and write a quick review. It doesn't have to be a well-crafted masterpiece. Even just a sentence is okay. The process is quick and painless and you'll have the good feeling of knowing that you made my day. And who doesn't want to make someone's day? 

Thanks in advance. 

PS--I put in the dog pictures because dogs are cute and I love dogs and also dogs are good at begging. These dogs are begging you to go review my books. Actually, the second one is kind of telling you to in a snarky sort of way. 

Four Things To Do When You're Snowed In That Don't Involve Eye-Guzzling Netflix

It's been snowing non-stop for 19 hours. Nineteen. One-nine. Out my window, it looks like the set of a Hallmark Christmas movie, except for Candace Cameron is nowhere in sight. I won't be going anywhere beyond the end of my sidewalk, which you can't even tell I shoveled last evening, until Monday at the earliest--and probably not even then. So what to do with all this spare time?

The simple, thoughtless answer is Netflix. There are thousands of hours of movies and TV shows I could catch up on. But what a waste of time. After all, we get a finite number of hours in our lives and, though there's nothing wrong with taking some time to just relax and enjoy some mindless fun, there are so many things we could choose to do that fill up the hours more meaningfully and productively than that. Here are just a few:

• Put a dent in that pile of books. If you're like me, you buy books way faster than you can read them. Just in the immediate vicinity of my desk, I count 14 books I've bought with the intention of reading. And that's not counting the ones on the Kindle app on my phone. I don't even want to know how many of those there are. If you read blogs like mine, I bet you're in a similar situation. So put down the remote and see how many books you can read instead of seeing how many entire seasons you can watch.

• Review those books. Especially if you read books like mine by local or independent authors, it's so important that you take the time to review those books you read. Review them on Amazon. Review them on Goodreads. Talk them up on Facebook and Twitter and Instagram and the thousand other social media outlets you use that I've probably never heard of. Good, thoughtful, real reviews are the life blood of sales for tiny little authors like me.

• Catch up on correspondence. Sitting down and actually writing letters may seem quaint, but I know I still enjoy getting real mail from actual human beings instead of the steady stream of recycle I usually receive. But if you can't even find paper and pen in your house, then consider the next best thing--email. It's hard to believe that this form of communication is seen by many as just as outmoded as snail mail. But there's just something about someone taking the time to sit down and write a letter telling a loved one about what's going on in your life. It says you're important to me. I want to let you in on some truly intimate issues in my life. I wish you were here to share in them.

• Think about someone else. Check in on your neighbors. If your back can handle it, shovel their walk, especially if they're older or have trouble getting about. Make them some soup or cookies or whatever you're good at. Call all your friends and family and make sure they're okay. Let them know you're thinking about them. It matters.

As I wrote this, I thought of a bunch more things, so I'll just list them: exercise, clean your house, organize that closet you've been putting off, build a snowman, go sledding, play board games with whoever you're stranded with, write a poem or a short story or a letter to the editor, and try one or two of the thousand recipes you've pinned but never actually used. 


And when you've finished all those things,  then fine, you can watch season 4 of Longmire on Netflix.