tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5142930702674170471.post2460730631281721395..comments2023-02-21T00:26:51.051-08:00Comments on Why Isn't My Book Selling?: A Place Beyond the MapVictorinehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06052077366367623323noreply@blogger.comBlogger11125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5142930702674170471.post-79644256209671827962011-08-15T09:16:45.227-07:002011-08-15T09:16:45.227-07:00Love the cover. And the title is enticing. I did f...Love the cover. And the title is enticing. I did find the title a little hard to read, and almost thought the font was elementary. I did like the unusual names but like Vicki, wasn't sure how you would pronounce them. I would definitely read on to find out what happens. Hopefully you will have a print version forthcoming and that will help sales. I too, wish MG sold as well in e-book form. Good luck!Charliehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03523744949575339156noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5142930702674170471.post-75310855836127296482011-08-14T16:55:45.107-07:002011-08-14T16:55:45.107-07:00One day after going on sale. Please. That's ...One day after going on sale. Please. That's a request for publicity or a request for a critique that should have been done in editing.<br /><br />Still, it's here.<br /><br />The cover is AMAZING. I love it.<br /><br />The blurb is ok. The writing is good too. I even checked my children's word lists and all the words the author uses are within the MG reading levels.<br /><br />The biggest problem I see with this book is that it's an ebook. I just don't see MG books doing that well in an ebook format. Until ereaders become so cheap that parents buy them for younger kids on a regular basis then I really believe that MG books must be distributed in paperback/hardcover to be really successful.<br /><br />Maybe I'm wrong, but I just haven't seen any really successful indie MG ebooks. YA books are the earliest age ebooks have been really successful, but that's because teens have superior access to ereaders than their younger siblings.<br /><br />P.S. I'd make a minimum three month rule for submissions. Anything less is just not long enough and even three months is too short imo.Charles Findlayhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02121003383206892320noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5142930702674170471.post-40785067909181751202011-08-11T09:36:55.814-07:002011-08-11T09:36:55.814-07:00Good cover, very reminiscent of Nightmare Before C...Good cover, very reminiscent of Nightmare Before Christmas. I thought the description could flow better. When I got to the second paragraph, it felt as though the description was starting over. The writing in the first 300 words is good, though I tend to agree with Krista that the kid sounds older than a mid-grader.Karlhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16640640182868046049noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5142930702674170471.post-68718749710687061182011-08-10T13:31:41.909-07:002011-08-10T13:31:41.909-07:00Love the cover as well.Love the cover as well.Isaachttp://isweeney.wordpress.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5142930702674170471.post-84963489049110996992011-08-10T10:38:22.263-07:002011-08-10T10:38:22.263-07:00The cover is absolutely perfect and the blurb isn&...The cover is absolutely perfect and the blurb isn't bad. Maybe a little tightening up especially if you're hoping to reach MG readers. They don't have a huge attention span and you need to grab them right away.<br /><br />I found it intriguing enough to send a sample to my MG grandson. I don't know when he'll read it, but I'll let you know what he thought.<br /><br />Overall, MG is a tough sell on kindle. I agree that you should put out a print version.Margarethttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04832055618604176686noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5142930702674170471.post-52176473996443010292011-08-10T10:07:59.086-07:002011-08-10T10:07:59.086-07:00The first thing that jumped out at me even before ...The first thing that jumped out at me even before I read Vicki's comments were the names. Now they are obvious and unique so you wont confuse Angela from Alyssa, but I would hate to be the parent trying to read this to a child or have them bug me every other page with questions. <br /><br />The book cover and the content say this is a grade/middle school book, but the language used is far far beyond that.<br /><br />The cover alone will sell copies of this book. Clean up the blurb and edit out the mistakes like the stray ) at the end there.SBJoneshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10457239074744509487noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5142930702674170471.post-3039116300168773352011-08-10T09:48:25.915-07:002011-08-10T09:48:25.915-07:00The writing needs work, especially for the age gro...The writing needs work, especially for the age group. Over wordy, over descriptive, too flowery, meant more for adults than the middle grade audience.<br /><br />The names didn't bother me. Sound pretty standard for Irish fantasy, though I suspect significant push-back from American audiences (not that names should be changed for that).<br /><br />Outstanding cover. Perfect for doing print as well.<br /><br />Blurb paragraph #1 is good, lost my interest in paragraph #2.<br /><br />Overall, feel like this submission was an attempt to draw interest to the book, as opposed to addressing an underlying issue for the book selling/not selling.Krista D. Ballhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13735832053631141449noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5142930702674170471.post-42140335840394358232011-08-10T09:26:33.692-07:002011-08-10T09:26:33.692-07:00Submitting a book for a site like this after it...Submitting a book for a site like this after it's bee on sale for one day makes me wonder about the author's motives. Are they just looking for publicity and not feedback?<br /><br />I think there definitely needs to be a time limit before submission. 4-6 weeks at least.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5142930702674170471.post-63796935697144632682011-08-10T09:20:42.798-07:002011-08-10T09:20:42.798-07:00Agree that the cover is spectacular. I also love t...Agree that the cover is spectacular. I also love the title, which is full of mystery and promised adventure.<br /><br />The blurb worked for me, but I think Vicki made some good comments about that. <br /><br />The first 300, though, need some serious editing. EG: you could cut "hair-raising screech" because "chalk grating" says it all. Don't need "old" to modify blackboard, unless it's an important point. "scribbled arithmetical figures" is needlessly unwieldy. Don't need "fingertips" because fingers will do (how else do you drum them?). <br /><br />I think you overuse adjectives, diluting the effect. EG: "Phinnegan had always disliked the cold, unforgiving nature of numbers..." I'd ditch the "cold" because "unforgiving" is such an unexpected and great modifier here and "cold" just gets in the way. Also, perhaps look at excesses like "had always liked." How about: Pinnegan hated the unforgiving nature of numbers....? BTW, that really intrigues me--why does he hate them, and what does that portend?<br /><br />I think this kind of tightening will help the pace--especially for middle graders.Toni Dwigginshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08966880370654948991noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5142930702674170471.post-61550456586384315522011-08-10T09:19:50.441-07:002011-08-10T09:19:50.441-07:00Personally I think this is going to do just fine. ...Personally I think this is going to do just fine. Give it a little time to find an audience and do some marketing for it and with any luck sales will come.<br /><br />I'm scratching my head though, wondering why this would be submitted after a day. Unless this was part of a marketing strategy, which really isn't what I believe Vicki had in mind for this site (sorry I'm not trying to put words in your mouth), it just boggles me a bit.Ender Chadwickhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06236697139446178129noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5142930702674170471.post-18535897977155522592011-08-10T08:52:44.665-07:002011-08-10T08:52:44.665-07:00Alright first off, I can't say this enough: I&...Alright first off, I can't say this enough: I'm in ABSOLUTE LOVELOVELOVE with that cover!!! It's like everything I heart about the MG genre and Tim Burton, all rolled into perfection. :D<br /><br />The story sounds like a classic faerietale. The author obviously is comfortable with Welsh and northern English spellings (hence the, erm, lack of vowels lol), but that goes along with the genre. It's worked for decades now with the Chronicles of Prydain (anybody remember Fflewddur Fflam?), but I do think perhaps you should tone it down a wee bit for your international audience. <br /><br />I took a gander over at the Amazon web page and it shows you have two pretty good reviews, lots of Likes and a decent number of tags. I do not, however, see a print edition of this book and that may be hurting your sales.<br /><br />MG on Kindle (or any ereader) is a tough sell, mainly because very few parents would trust a rambunctious adolescent with an expensive toy like that. Get it out through at least CreateSpace; parents buy print books for their kids online and this cover would attract more than your fair share of them. :)<br /><br />Otherwise, I think you've got a great thing here! Look into the print option, perhaps tone down the spellings a tad (that's up to you however), and keep up the great work. Hope this works out for you!!!Ladyeclectic (Sarah)http://eclectic-writer.livejournal.comnoreply@blogger.com