Specifically, thanks to Sarah A. Hoyt. It’s always great to wake up and find a link to your work on someone’s site or social media page. To wake up and find that link on a site like Instapundit is a real boost. That’s especially true for me right now. I hit a wall yesterday on the current work-in-progress. Because of that, I spent much of the day pounding, metaphorically speaking, and getting little done. So thanks, Sarah, for giving me a push to get back to it today.
But it’s not just Insty I want to thank. I’m not sure anyone but another writer can understand how important it is to get that pat on the back for something we’ve worked so hard on. Writing isn’t like other jobs where you’re working with other people. Okay, that’s probably not exactly the case right now in this time of Covid when so many of us are working from home still.
That doesn’t change the fact that writing is a solitary occupation. All too often we have family members and friends who love to say they know a writer but who don’t look at what we do as being our “job”. So having some positive reinforcement is not only a warm fuzzy feeling, it is necessary (at least for me) to keep going.
But it goes beyond that. A link or a kind word by someone recommending a book or short story is important because it is the best form of promotion we writers have. I will pay more attention to a personal recommendation than I do a paid ad. I scroll past those targeted ads on social media sites (and other websites) almost always. But when a friend posts a review or comments they read a book and enjoyed it (or didn’t) and then tells me why, I sit up and listen.
I guess all this is a roundabout way (sorry, no coffee yet) of asking a favor of you guys. It doesn’t take long to go to Amazon and leave a rating for a book you’ve read. It doesn’t have to be one of mine. Just click the number of stars you think the book deserves. If you have a minute or two, take the time to leave a review. It doesn’t have to be long, just honest. That really is the best gift you can give any author.
And now, the coffee is ready and I am looking forward (yay!) to getting to work.
Oh, and here’s a tease–but not a teaser–of what to expect in the upcoming Jaguar Rising:
- Explosion(s)
- Shifting
- Unexpected shifting
- murder
- vengeance
- an angry shapeshifter in over her head–maybe
Until later!
