Into the Fire

As much as we wish they weren't for various reasons which shall follow, novelists rely on reviews to help promote and sell their novels. It's a fact of life. 

As you know, romance is the genre for millions of readers and because of that, there are multi-millions of books they can choose to read. That means stiff competition for the authors of love story/romance novels. And although many authors don't care to admit they are entering a competition when they engage their efforts in writing novels, if they desire to sell any of their wares, they must admit it is a competition, like it or not. 

So. Reviews matter. And the last thing any author needs is a 1-star review on Amazon or anywhere else. I recently opted to buy some reviews by experienced reviewers and lovers of romance for Goodreads exclusively. Some authors and readers spend considerable time there. Others don't. I don't, which is why I chose to have a handful of reviews posted there for Then . . . you. Big mistake. Out of the several people who selected to review the novel, most of them were from foreign countries and I suspected the nuances of American romance novels might not translate well no matter how fluid they perceived themselves to be in the English language. That is not meant to be an insult in any manner, and, in fact, it turned out to be quite true. I declined to offer it to a couple others because it was quite clear their overall "personality" most likely wasn't cohesive with Christian Fiction.

Two of the reviewers got the protagonist's name wrong, one labeled the novel for Young Adults, proceeded to do a critique with a list of complete misinterpretations and misunderstandings and hard to decipher points made (yes! a list), and it was an agonizing disaster of a review that made no sense at all. And managed to make me quite angry. Out of that expense I received one rewarding review. 

Live and learn. This was the last thing I expected. 

Just a few thoughts this Wednesday in the life of a novelist. 

Father, you know it all. Everything. You collect our tears. You know the number of hairs on our head. Who can ever understand your incredible magnificence? Thank you for the all-consuming grace and abundance you've shown me throughout my life. Thank you is never enough. In the Name of Jesus, Amen.