Are Paid Book Reviews Worth it? Self published authors, beware.

Sadly, I have a poor opinion on paid reviews.

I sent off to one reviewer and I am certain from their response that they skim read a few pages only. Their comments showed that they hadn't read the story and had little understanding of the tale. They also made several glaring mistakes that showed they weren't familiar with the genre, fantasy. This is one of my biggest bugbears, that a paid reviewer may not like your genre, so how can they give a fair review?

One mistake the reviewer made was in quoting other fantasy authors and getting their names wrong. They mentioned Anne McCaffrey and her books, but misspelled her name and some of the books the reviewer mentioned weren't even hers.

The reviewer also commented on some of my fantasy creatures. For example krell, and said that is what whales eat. That, of course, would be krill. Now, having a name similar to a commonly used name...is that a big issue? If you look at English words and their spelling, there are many examples of how one letter can change the meaning of a word. For example, look at hell, hill, hull or pill, poll, pull, pall. All of these are completely unique words with unique meanings despite one vowel change. 

Not all paid reviews will be problematic, of course and perhaps I just had a bad experience. However, I perceive the problem with paid reviews could be as follows:

1. The reviewer is being paid, so reviewing several books a day is worth their while. Say they charge a nominal £100 per book and they review say five books a day. That would be £500. By comparison, if they did the job they said they would, and spend 3 days reading one book, they would earn £100 only. So it is in a paid reviewers interest to review as many books as possible, as quickly as possible.

2. Is the reviewer interested in your genre? They may claim that they are, but how do you know?

3. It is far easier and probably safer to be negative about a book, especially for an unknown author. After all, how many publishers rejected J K Rowling? I bet they are kicking themselves, but the majority of unpublished books are likely to fail, so from a statistical point of view, giving a negative review is likely to be the best option.

All my reviews have been from customers. The vast majority are people I do not know. I have some exceeding good reviews from fantasy book review sites and these I treasure. I also have some bad reviews and these you have to accept. I have never asked friends or family for reviews. I trust the heartfelt reviews I have on blogs, Amazon and other sources far more than the one paid review (not Kirkus by the way) and sadly that experience really put me off.

I suggest self published authors think very hard about paying for reviews and that you question the person doing the review, to see if they are fair minded, and likely to read the book in its entirety. 

If you want to look at my reviews to see what folk are saying, then check out http://davidburrows.org.uk/reviews.html

Best of luck in a complicated field: David

 

Fantasy versus Historical Fiction

 I like both fantasy and Historical Fiction, but are the two mutually exclusive?

Strangely, there are huge similarities, especially in tales set in early periods. Many feature gods, epic battles and even some sorcery (usually people's superstitions, but who knows?)

When I am stuck for a good fantasy read, I invariably look to historical fiction and my favourite periods are Roman, Egyptian, Saxon and Viking. The author has to make you feel that you are in the period and this is not always achieved. 

My favourite authors are Bernard Cornwell, Simon Scarrow and Wilbur Smith's Egypt series. Stephen Saylor really writes superbly about Rome but his tales are a tad slow so may not be to everyone's taste. I highly recommend him though.

If it's the battles that you like in Fantasy books then tales about Wars of the Roses (e.g. Con Iggulden) are worth reading. The range of medieval weapons (spears, bill, bill hook, longbow, flail, morning star, war hammer, axes and a multitude of swords and daggers etc) are truly terrifying.

Anyway, back to fantasy. Prophecy of the Kings has all the above, sorcery, wizards, huge battles, dragons, krell, grakyn and much more. Drachar's Demons is FREE in e book format (many e readers) and is the prequel to Prophecy of the Kings, so give it a try. Check out my website for further details on how to download this free e book  http://davidburrows.org.uk/

Discounted - The Prophecy of the Kings fantasy trilogy 20% off

 Get 20% off the Prophecy of the Kings books at Smashwords.

Use the code  QW79C which is valid until 1st April 2022.

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Free Fantasy ebook. Drachar's Demons

Download my ebook Drachar's Demons for free. It is available in several e reader formats. Use this coupon code ZY65D . Normally priced at $6.99

Drachar is cast out by his own people, the Eldric, and his magic ripped from him. But their spell was flawed and Drachar forges an alliance with the demons, promising them 100,000 souls in exchange for the return of his powers. How can he deliver so many souls? To make matters worse, the demons haunt his sleep, promising a terrible retribution if he fails to deliver.

Only all out war will deliver so many souls. The race is on. He must persuade Trosgarth to fight and ally with the united krell tribes, whist his people, the Eldric, must learn how to defeat the demons. No mean feat, for demons are not easily defeated and they will tear your soul from your body and drag it screaming to Hell.

There are some great reviews:

"Fans of high fantasy that features an eclectic array of races, strong plot and lots of well-realised battles should look no further as Drachar’s Demons will satisfy in all areas. I greatly look forward to watching this author’s catalogue grow in the future. 7.8 out of 10" Fantasybookreview.co.uk

My Top 20 fantasy Authors

 If you are stuck as to what to read I have listed my favourite fantasy authors at David's Top 20 Fantasy Authors

In addition, how about reading historical fiction? It is very close to fantasy with battles, superstition, gods and sorcery. Well, at east in the early historical fiction novels.

I have listed my favourites at David's Top Historical Fiction Authors

There are some truly awesome books here. I love tales about Rome and Egypt. 

There are also my books, The Prophecy of the Kings. The comprise a host of familiar fantasy creatures such as dragons, imps, dwarves and demons and some new ones such as krell, death knights, grakyn and others. 

The image on my website http://www.davidburrows.org.uk/ is taken from towards the end of Book 1 - Legacy of the Eldric. That is set deep in the heart of a mountain, where Kaplyn and the others find the Tree of Life and on its branches small, glowing fruit. There is a dark secret behind the fruit that could plunge the land into a terrible war. 

The image below is that of Shastlan, in Book 3, leading dragons in the annihilation of his enemies. Woe, betide befriending dragons though, as Shastlan finds out to his cost.

Good reading and let me know who is your favourite author. Visit my website for more information about my books http://www.davidburrows.org.uk/