In the Book Biz, Visibility is Half the Battle

And Reviews Like this Help

All you authors out there already know the importance of book reviews. You may not like it, but if you have a business that involves selling product today (like the indie author business), “social proof” is a crucial component of that business. You also may not like this part: the most important reviews are those on Amazon.

I don’t like it either, but it is what it is.

The Cancel Commies weaponize reviews as a means of thought-policing anything that doesn’t support the approved narratives. And if you’re like me, five-star reviews of your books get occasionally nuked by ‘Zon without explanation. But it never happens to the drive-by one star “reviews” by those who admit to not even reading the book.

Nevertheless, if you’re an indie author chasing success, you must sell on Amazon. That means your books must be visible to book shoppers on Amazon, which means your books need reviews.

For the last few years, getting reviews has been like pulling teeth. (Not that it was ever easy.) I’m very grateful to all my readers who take a minute to post one. I’m sharing one I just got. They’re always a pleasant surprise anymore, and this one really made my day:

Henry Brown’s "Paradox" hexalogy presents up-front as a time-travel adventure. Normally those don’t thrill me, owing to the poor way in which most writers treat the possibility of meaningful time-travel: i.e., time-travel in which the traveler can actually change the era he visits. Brown does it right, producing an epic tale of multiple temporal continua separated from one another by cleavage events that divert history from its previous course. Moreover, he presents us with vivid characters, both Marquee level and Supporting Cast, enmeshed in a war of powerful conspiracies over the control of inter-continuum travel technology and its capacity to create new timestreams.

But "Paradox" isn’t just a thrill ride. Brown has things to say: about history as we know it, about the ideological and mental pathologies loose among us today, and in the underappreciated art of acquiring and living with sound values.

I know, I know: “If you want to send a message, call Western Union.” (Samuel Goldwyn) Still, "Paradox" is entertaining from first to last. I consumed all six volumes in a little more than four calendar days. It’s not all action and timestream-hopping. There’s a lot of human interest, especially in young protagonist Peter / Ike’s interactions with women. His desires and emotions lead him astray more than once, especially when he’s confronted with that unequaled source of hydropower, a woman’s tears.

Beware: This series will make you question almost everything you’ve ever known about history. But history is often merely a fable agreed upon among credentialed chroniclers. Brown provides enough checkable references for the reader to investigate his characters’ claims. I recommend making use of them… and asking yourself, at each departure from the “official version” of events, “Why do I believe otherwise? Was it because I could see the facts plainly, or was it because I’d been taught to trust the testimony of some ‘authority?’”

Highly recommended.

Thank-you, Francis W. Porretto, for buying the entire Paradox series, reading it, and posting a review. It’s always awesome for an author to see that a reader “gets” and appreciates what you’re trying to do. I’ve been fortunate enough to have some of my books attract some astute and thoughtful readers, and looking at their insights is a reward unto itself, “social proof” notwithstanding.

Speaking of astute and thoughtful readers for whom I am grateful, the Infamous Reviwer Gio has shared his thoughts about Escaping Fate (first book in the series) over on Virtual Pulp.

If you have read one (or more) of my books, and like what you read, it would mean a lot if you could post a review on whatever site you bought it from.

I didn’t know this at first, but only 5-star reviews can boost a book’s visibility. So far as Amazon’s algorithms are concerned, a 4-star rating is just OK, while a 3-star or lower means the book sucks.

Haters and Thought Police know this. They give books lower ratings as a way to reduce the visibility of books they don’t want to succeed. The Kancel Karens at Amazon are fully on-board with this, when it comes to books that are not woke (or woke enough). Sadly, sometimes fellow authors will also review-bomb books out of some misguided belief that making the competition look bad will somehow lead to their own success.

Can you spare a minute to rate and review a book of mine you really enjoyed? Rating takes less than a second. Writing a couple sentences would take less than a minute. Not everybody has to write a detailed review like Gio or Mr. Porretto (though those are fantastic). A tiny fraction of your time sharing your reaction would go a long way toward helping other readers discover my work.

Thank-you in advance.

UPDATE: My digital “Box Set” of the entire series is now available on ‘Zon, and ready for pre-order everywhere else.

And with the info on ratings in mind…if you read Resisting Fate and liked it, please show it some love. For whatever reason, it’s only got one rating—a 3-star.