The Bezos Bump

All day today on the US Amazon page was this note from Jeff Bezos, Founder and CEO of Amazon:

As you can expect, Jessica Park's novel got a lot of attention. I don't know what its ranking was last week when this essay of her was first appeared, but right now it's at #18 in the overall Kindle store, meaning it's selling a ton. Does she deserve the extra attention? I have no idea, and quite honestly I don't care. It's nice that Bezos singled her out, though the real reason (I'm speculating) is to spotlight the Kindle Direct Publishing program, to try to get even more authors to self-publish (and by this point, I figure practically all smart authors are anyway).

But as is the case when something draws a lot of attention, there will be backlash.

Namely, a score of 1-star reviews for the book.

Seventeen 1-star reviews to be exact, as of this writing. Also, two 2-star reviews, one 3-star review, three 4-star reviews, and twelve 5-star reviews.

Now here's the really interesting part.

Out of the seventeen 1-star reviews, only one of those is a verified purchase. Meaning, someone actually purchased a copy of the Kindle edition. On the flip side, eleven of the 5-star reviews are verified purchases. So there's that.

Now, just how important are Amazon reviews? I've discussed the impact they can have on sales in regards to affecting the algorithm, but they also do sway a number of readers. I know many readers study the reviews with more attention than they do the book's actual product description and, well, the sample itself. Instead of letting the book speak for itself, they want to know what others say. Which makes sense to an extent, as readers are very vocal. But if you look at several of today's 1-star reviews, you get the following:

Don't buy garbage that Amazon hawks by hijacking their own front page. I'm giving this product a bad review purely for the predatory sales techniques. It's one thing to suggest products based on my previous purchases, it's another thing to suggest a single product based on how much money a publisher is paying you for click through.

Everyone, do you consider yourself a customer or are you a marketing product for Amazon to sell to the highest bidder? The line becomes blurred on days like today.

And you get:

There is a very good reason why publishers wouldnt touch this, It is terrible. The other reviewers must either be friends or relatives.

And you get:

I wanted to get it and read it, but the Copyright section up front turned me off really quickly. I don't care who you are, if you come out swinging like that, you're not worth the effort.

It's this last review in particular that seems to be echoed by many of these 1-star reviews. What it's referencing is the license notes just inside the book:

Now, I can understand why this might turn some people off. I can also understand why Ms. Park includes it (actually, I could be wrong, but I think she uploaded a revised paragraph, because I remember reading it earlier in the day and seeing something more ... crude). Many writers are very concerned that their work will be pirated or shared, and that they'll end up with nothing. Me, I don't worry too much about being pirated. Hell, I know a lot of my books are on torrent sites, and you know what? I don't lose any sleep over it. As far as I can tell, it doesn't impact my sales much at all. In fact, my sales have been pretty steady and strong for the past several months. I figure most readers are honest, and will purchase the book at Amazon or Barnes & Noble or wherever. Those who download books illegally most likely aren't even going to read my book (pirates just like to pirate things for the sake of pirating them), and even if a few do read my books, it's not like they were going to purchase them to begin with.

So again, I can't complain.

But again, I do understand the worries of writers such as Ms. Park (though I do think adding license notes to an ebook is a joke to begin with, as most readers just skip them anyway, and those who are going to share the book or pirate it are going to do it regardless of whatever threat the writer might give).

Now, could she have worded her threat a different way? Sure. Would it really matter in the end for those 1-star reviews? Probably not. I figure people just like to bitch for the sake of bitching. If it wasn't the license notes, they would have come up with something else (though, yeah, I do see how it can be pretty off-putting, especially as a potential reader knowing nothing about the writer).

Of course, this also goes back to the whole reading-outside-of-your-comfort-zone mentality. For me, this book is nothing I would be interested in, so I glanced at it and moved on. Others probably bought it -- or at least downloaded the sample -- to see what all the fuss was about. And because it wasn't a book they typically read, they immediately hated it and gave it a poor rating. On the other hand, a good portion of readers will read it and love it and seek out more of Ms. Park's work.

And that, really, is all that matters in the end.

There are those who will hate it just to hate it, or hate it because it's not their type of book, and that's okay. That's to be expected, really.

I mean, I would expect the same if I ever got the Bezos Bump.

Wouldn't we all?

In Which Joseph D'Agnese And I Talk About Important Things

Joseph D'Agnese is my guest this time around on the podcast. He is the author of several nonfiction books, the most recent being Stuff Every American Should Know, which he wrote with his wife Denise Kiernan, as well as his own independent fiction Jersey Heat and The Mesmerist. Today Joe and I talk about the great exposure his book got from the Huffington Post (and how it affected the book's sales), as well as the problem with free ebooks, and this very amusing video from Random House:

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4FlnAFH4HV4

And would you like to win a free digital copy of Joe's great novel The Mesmerist? Of course you would! Listen to the podcast to find out how. And, as always, enjoy.

In Which Joseph D'Agnese And I Talk About Important Things

Storytelling Rules

Are there rules to storytelling? Probably. Me, I usually like to know the rules, so that I can figure out creative ways of breaking them. Still, io9 posted something interesting the other day -- the 22 rules of storytelling, according to Pixar, which includes:

• #1: You admire a character for trying more than for their successes.
• #6: What is your character good at, comfortable with? Throw the polar opposite at them. Challenge them. How do they deal?
• #13: Give your characters opinions. Passive/malleable might seem likable to you as you write, but it's poison to the audience.
• #15: If you were your character, in this situation, how would you feel? Honesty lends credibility to unbelievable situations.
• #16: What are the stakes? Give us reason to root for the character. What happens if they don't succeed? Stack the odds against.

I cherry-picked the rules dealing mostly with character, because, well, building strong character is essential to storytelling, after all. Plot can be fun -- hell, I love a good plot -- but without strong characters moving the plot along, the story comes up dry.

One thing I notice younger writers doing -- at least those in the horror genre -- is making characters that are simply a means to an end. Meaning, basically, that the characters exist simply to die at the end of the story. Now there isn't anything wrong with that per se, but you have to at least make the reader care about your character, so that when they do die, it means something. Or at least give your character purpose. Have them at least try to fight back and survive. They might not always win, but at least they put up a good fight. I mention this from experience -- a lot of my earlier horror stories were just as I mentioned: characters presented just to die. The stories relied too much on the idea or plot. Which, again, can work sometimes, but it's still best to give your characters purpose.

Which leads me to the big movie of the moment Prometheus. I saw it yesterday, in IMAX 3D. Let me tell you -- don't waste your money on IMAX 3D. I don't mind IMAX, and I hate 3D, but I was told from a reliable source I had to see it in both. So I saw it in both. And you know what? Eh. The movie, I don't believe, was made for 3D in the same way Avatar was made for 3D. They made it, and they turned it into 3D for the big bucks, which is what Hollywood seems to think it's good at. But the movie itself? It's impressive visually, but that's about it. The story is blah, the characters are blah (again, most of them exist just to die), and the action, well, almost all the action you already saw in the trailer, if you're somebody like me who loves trailers even though he knows he shouldn't watch them because they always give away most of the movie. So who knows, maybe I would have enjoyed the movie more if I hadn't seen the trailer a bunch of times, or if I had seen it in good ol' 2D. Then again, maybe not. A turd is a turd, no matter what dimension you see it in. Now, having said that, I think I will see it again at some point in the future, most likely on DVD, to see if I'm wrong. I'm pretty sure I won't be, though.

But I'm sure there are others who disagree and think Prometheus was an AMAZING movie. Okay, fair enough. Let me ask you this then: why?

In Which I Read Chapter 6 Of The Inner Circle

In case you missed it yesterday, Kelli Owen and I discussed very important things. Also, she's giving away a digital copy of her novel Six Days, but to win you have to listen to the podcast. Now, I present to you chapter 6 from The Inner Circle. Enjoy, and have a great weekend.

The Inner Circle Chapter 6

P.S. My friend Adam Perry is getting married this weekend. Congratulations, Adam! If you want to get him a nice present, check out his novel Mister Ray. Buy a copy or two or three. After all, he has a new wife to support!

In Which Kelli Owen And I Talk About Stuff

Kelli Owen was kind enough to talk with me about some recent publishing news -- like 10 Reasons You Should Skip The Traditional Publishers and Self-Publish Ebooks Instead and half of self-published authors earn less than $500 and Stephen King's next novel will be paperback only. We'll also recap the Undead Press fiasco and what's happened since, like this ebook. Also, Kelli has a new ebook available called Six Days that you should check out -- oh, and there's even a chance to win a digital copy in the podcast. Enjoy!

In Which Kelli Owen And I Talk About Stuff