I'm on tour! 20 March through 10 April...

The Slaughtered tour begins!

My book is making the rounds with some bloggers over the next few weeks. I'd love it if you would follow me. I'm giving away a couple unique gifts :-)

(please note: links to my page will go live on the day)

March 20

Archaeolibrarian - I Dig Good Books!

Becky Flade Author

Sharing Links and Wisdom

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March 27

Our Town Book Reviews

Laurie's Thoughts and Reviews

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April 3

My Reading Journeys

The Avid Reader

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April 10

Iron Canuck

Natural Bri

> RAFFLECOPTER!!! <

Enter the Rafflecopter for your chance to win a hard cover copy of Slaughtered!

This tour is hosted by the wonderful Goddess Fish Promotions​.

Hey, the 10th is my birthday. Thinking of the perfect gift for me? Comments/reviews would be perfect :-)

Why Reviews Are Important

Like most authors, we love receiving comments from readers about our books. They're more than just an ego-stroke...or a smack on the head. What you think about our work is valuable in so many ways. Among them:

1) Reviews tell us how we're doing. Did we write a good plot, are our characters believable or even likable, do we have an engaging 'voice', did the story keep you up late reading, etc?

2) Reviews help other readers decide if we're worth the investment of their time and money?

3) Reviews enable us to be accepted onto many paid promotion services. Without reviews, we can't get onto those promotional services, and without being able to promote, we have little hope of reaching new readers. It's a catch-22, for sure.

4) The more reviews a book has on a service like Amazon, the higher up the book goes on their search results. Also, Amazon is more likely to add those books in their daily email recommendations. And not just the one book. If it's part of a series, Amazon is likely to recommend all the book in the series in those emailings.

5) The more places your review appears (Amazon, Apple iBooks, Kobo, Nook, Smashwords, any number of blogs, etc), the higher the book will appear on online searches (Google, Yahoo, Bing, Ask, etc). This makes the author even more 'discoverable.'

So you can see, your comments are important. Unfortunately, a vast majority of readers who may *read* reviews won't actually write them. Why?

1) Length. There's a perception that a review has to be long and drawn out. They don't. While professional reviewers may include a preamble of what the story is about, the actual reader comments are all that's needed. And they don't have to be long...a couple sentences will usually suffice.

2) Time. Another perception that reviews take a long time to write. They don't. Imaging you're telling your friend about a book you just read and they might enjoy. Just giving them a couple reasons will usually get their interest. It's the same for book reviews

3) Someone else will do it. Sadly, too many have this perception. In my experience, for every 1000 book sales I earn, only four or five reviews are posted. That's 995 readers who think someone else will post a review. I know authors who earn thousands of sales per month but still have very few reviews on Amazon, or even Goodreads. Reviews are like a cat box. No one else is going to clean if it you live alone. You're the only reader so you're the only one who can write a review based on how you felt about the book.

Over and above any logical reason why readers should write book reviews, it's a great way to engage with authors you enjoy reading. And if you follow them on social media, you're more likely to get some insider news on upcoming titles.

Thank you to the readers who've posted reviews for my book, and to the two new reviews I've received over the weekend:

What a roller-coaster ride . . . I can’t put the book down; can’t turn the pages fast enough the story has evolved and gotten really good . . . Great characters, lots of action . . . and a book good enough that you can’t put it down. ~ Kathy, Our Town Book Reviews

Hard-Edged Thriller! K.A. Lugo hits a homerun . . . This story grabs the reader from the start and its one fast and intense ride, so hold on tight! ~ Sherri Bryant, The Bookworm News and Reviews

You can click the links to read the full reviews. Or visit the page for Slaughtered to read all of my reviews.

If you've read Slaughtered, whether you loved it or hated it or land somewhere in the middle, I'd love to hear what you thought of the book. Even if you don't want to post on Amazon or Goodreads, please use the contact form on the sidebar. I promise not to harvest your contact details (crossing my heart).

News to come about book two in the series, Witness to Slaughter. You can read a rough first chapter here. I'd love to hear your comments on this one too!

Oh, and don't forget, Slaughtered is still available for FREE on Amazon's Kindle Unlimited. :-)

Thanks for checking in!