Mary, Your Book Sucks!
Let's talk about reviews!
I've never been one to get up on a platform and shout from the rooftops, "MY BOOKS HAVE NO MISTAKES!"
I know other authors who do that, but not me. I'm human.
For this newsletter, I thought I would touch on a few reviews and address them. I WILL NOT be posting who wrote the review. That's mean. I'm just addressing the overall issue.
Let's start from the beginning …
A couple weeks ago, I made a massive mistake. I read my Goodreads' reviews. Ugh! If you're an author, take this piece of advice: Don't do it! Ever!
Anyway, I read them and the majority were great. They even gave me some confidence about my writing, then … there were others. So, let me begin by addressing them... one-by-one.
1) Typos/Grammar.
The review said: This author sucks. She doesn't know how to spell or put a comma.
This is a big one and I know it. This review came up on The Muse and the Fairytale (New Hampshire Bears #1). This is a fair review, because I have a backstory regarding edits of the first three books of the Bears' series. I had an editor from the start of my writing career and she was amazing! However, things happened and so forth and we parted ways.
Then I went with another editor. She did good and I was pleased. Soon, things weren't good. She had a lot of other issues and it came across in her edits. Now, I'm not blaming her or anything. This was on me, because I kept going back for her to do my edits. As my fourth book of the Bears was finished, I couldn't handle seeing the reviews anymore and went back to my original editor.
With this begin laid out, I will state that the first three books have been edited again. If you don't have an updated version, please go an update them.
I can't promise there won't be mistakes. I'm human, my editor is human and my proofreaders are human. All I can say, I'm sorry and I hope you give me another chance.
2) PHL v NHL
The review said: She calls herself a hockey fan, but she doesn't know how to spell N-H-L.
Let's have a lesson... NHL is the National Hockey League and is copyrighted and trademarked! I DO NOT have permission to use NHL. Plus, I don't feel like getting sued by them for using it.
Therefore, when I created the Bears, I used PHL which stands for Professional Hockey League. Copyright pending! I did this so I wouldn't get sued!
Yes, I know how to spell NHL and what it stands for and I'm glad we all got it straightened out.
3) Reading Order.
The review said: I read book 6 and it spoiled all the previous ones. Mary should say to read in order.
Okay, maybe this one's on me. I figured when readers saw it said Book 2 or 6 or whatever, they would know it was part of a series. I apologize. I will do better.
4) The other Mary Smith
The review said: I thought this was a children's book.
This has happened before because there is children's author, Mary Smith. She's on iTunes and Amazon. Again, I'm sorry the half-naked man on the cover was not enough.
Sorry!
5) Heavy drinking in college
The review said: Mary Smith obviously never went to college, because there isn't this much partying going on.
Let's clarify, I have been to three different colleges/universities and received five degrees. I was drunk the majority of my college/university career. No, joke! I drank a lot, as well as my friends. Football games, weekends, basketball games, hockey games, any event that there was … I drank at it.
Again, sorry … I think.
So, there you have it. Just a few issues I'm putting to bed.
A quick note: Keep an eye for more newsletters because there will be A LOT of updates. There are more NH Bears coming and much more!
Love,
Mary S.
I know other authors who do that, but not me. I'm human.
For this newsletter, I thought I would touch on a few reviews and address them. I WILL NOT be posting who wrote the review. That's mean. I'm just addressing the overall issue.
Let's start from the beginning …
A couple weeks ago, I made a massive mistake. I read my Goodreads' reviews. Ugh! If you're an author, take this piece of advice: Don't do it! Ever!
Anyway, I read them and the majority were great. They even gave me some confidence about my writing, then … there were others. So, let me begin by addressing them... one-by-one.
1) Typos/Grammar.
The review said: This author sucks. She doesn't know how to spell or put a comma.
This is a big one and I know it. This review came up on The Muse and the Fairytale (New Hampshire Bears #1). This is a fair review, because I have a backstory regarding edits of the first three books of the Bears' series. I had an editor from the start of my writing career and she was amazing! However, things happened and so forth and we parted ways.
Then I went with another editor. She did good and I was pleased. Soon, things weren't good. She had a lot of other issues and it came across in her edits. Now, I'm not blaming her or anything. This was on me, because I kept going back for her to do my edits. As my fourth book of the Bears was finished, I couldn't handle seeing the reviews anymore and went back to my original editor.
With this begin laid out, I will state that the first three books have been edited again. If you don't have an updated version, please go an update them.
I can't promise there won't be mistakes. I'm human, my editor is human and my proofreaders are human. All I can say, I'm sorry and I hope you give me another chance.
2) PHL v NHL
The review said: She calls herself a hockey fan, but she doesn't know how to spell N-H-L.
Let's have a lesson... NHL is the National Hockey League and is copyrighted and trademarked! I DO NOT have permission to use NHL. Plus, I don't feel like getting sued by them for using it.
Therefore, when I created the Bears, I used PHL which stands for Professional Hockey League. Copyright pending! I did this so I wouldn't get sued!
Yes, I know how to spell NHL and what it stands for and I'm glad we all got it straightened out.
3) Reading Order.
The review said: I read book 6 and it spoiled all the previous ones. Mary should say to read in order.
Okay, maybe this one's on me. I figured when readers saw it said Book 2 or 6 or whatever, they would know it was part of a series. I apologize. I will do better.
4) The other Mary Smith
The review said: I thought this was a children's book.
This has happened before because there is children's author, Mary Smith. She's on iTunes and Amazon. Again, I'm sorry the half-naked man on the cover was not enough.
Sorry!
5) Heavy drinking in college
The review said: Mary Smith obviously never went to college, because there isn't this much partying going on.
Let's clarify, I have been to three different colleges/universities and received five degrees. I was drunk the majority of my college/university career. No, joke! I drank a lot, as well as my friends. Football games, weekends, basketball games, hockey games, any event that there was … I drank at it.
Again, sorry … I think.
So, there you have it. Just a few issues I'm putting to bed.
A quick note: Keep an eye for more newsletters because there will be A LOT of updates. There are more NH Bears coming and much more!
Love,
Mary S.
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