It’s hard to get feedback. Relatives are prone to either sugar coat their opinions or say nothing, and most strangers won’t be bothered. For most writers it’s difficult to establish a personal relationship, even virtual, with readers and make them comfortable enough to honestly express their opinions. Authors of self-published eBooks are at an even greater disadvantage because they don’t have as many opportunities for the traditional meet’n’greets, pressing the flesh with the fans. And since eBooks are marketed world-wide, there is little chance that an eBook author will ever meet any of his readers. (Actually I’m kind of okay with that.)
Recently I did have the chance to talk to my son-in-law, Dan, about my book, Any Tomorrow: The Calling. He was one of two evangelical Christians I knew who had purchased it and I wasn’t quite sure what to expect. What he told me was that while some parts were “a little over the top” (referring to the explicit sex and violence), and at the beginning he was a little confused, in the end he had that ‘Aha! Moment’ when everything came together.
That’s what I was hoping for, because if a reader gets well into the novel and can’t get it, then I’ve failed to get my story across. And chances are that if the first book in the trilogy leaves the reader confused and unsatisfied, he won’t come back for the second or third books. Fortunately Dan got it and I’m hoping others will also.
Since Any Tomorrow: The Calling was put into distribution the last week in April, I have significantly cut back on the number of times I check Amazon and Smashwords for sales or download stats. Instead I’ve chosen to focus on this blog, getting some short stories published, and writing new material. Since I can’t really influence sales of the eBook (no matter whose get rich quick, sure fire system I use), I’d rather concentrate on those things I have control over. Hopefully a positive experience reading my blog and short stories will influence potential readers to also check out my eBook.
So if you do check out Any Tomorrow: The Calling, why not leave me a quick comment telling me what you honestly thought of it, good or bad. I won’t take offense or force you to watch endless hours of cute kitten videos on YouTube. I’ve spent a many years writing professionally in the military and corporate worlds, and criticism is all part of the process. Honest criticism is always welcome.
Also, if you download a sample, please let me know if you think the sample adequately represented the book. If you’ve been following this blog for anytime at all you probably already realize that I’m not a big fan of sampling for a number of reasons that I won’t repeat here.
And speaking of comments ― my blog currently requires that readers fill out a form in order to leave a comment. Does this inhibit commenting? What do you think? Do you require a registration form to comment at your blog? I kind of like it because I get the opportunity to interface with my readers, visit their blogs, and post their blog links on my blog.
And so this bring us ‘round full circle to feedback. Feedback is helpful and welcome, a necessary tool that helps us improve.
If you have comments about this or any of my posts, please leave a comment by selecting the Leave a comment or Leave a Reply links. I look forward to your comments.
© Copyright 2011 by Kevin Fraleigh.
A lot of blogs I read require the form. I find it a little annoying because I often read blogs on my iPad, or even worse, iPhone. It’s not that easy to type on these devices.
And as you can see, my names are rather long.
I can find the trail back to a commenter by their gravatar links.
That’s a good point you made about the difficulty with the iPhone and iPad. It makes me wonder how much that inconvenience impacts feedback. I guess the good news is that filling out the form is a one time requirement. Thanks for your input! I appreciate it.