Potential customers often base their purchasing decisions on product reviews. A potential customer likely won’t buy a product that has a majority of critical and/or negative reviews. It’s the digital age’s version of what was formerly a neighborhood practice of referral via word-of-mouth. Our neighborhoods aren’t so close anymore, so we rely on the words of strangers to guide us.

This is no less true when it comes to book reviews. Reviews primarily serve potential readers, but they also serve authors.

Every author craves book reviews. Especially if the book is an Amazon exclusive, because once the book surpasses 50 reviews, Amazon puts a bit more effort into helping the author promote it.

No authors likes receiving critical or negative reviews: we all want those positive, glowing reviews that give us happy, feel-good feelings. Reviews comes less frequently than ratings, though. Ratings are easy: a couple of clicks or taps with a fingertip and it’s posted. A review requires more work. 

Ratings without reviews can boost or sink a product, but reviews are more valuable to both potential readers and authors for the feedback they provide.

When I’m trying to decide whether to buy a book, I’ll read the reviews. If a book has 1- and 2-star ratings, but no reviews, I give them little to no credence. A preponderance of critical or negative ratings may inspire me to use the “Look Inside” feature to read the first several pages of the book to determine whether there are any immediate flaws to dissuade me from downloading the book.

Ratings themselves do little good. As an author, I dislike negative and critical ratings—they sting—but I don’t learn from them. Especially with critical and negative ratings, I exhort customers to leave reviews. Tell the author why you didn’t like the story. Some reasons may include:

• You didn’t like the characters. Perhaps a character was too deeply flawed or maybe too perfect.
• You didn’t like the lack of realism or perhaps the story was too realistic.
• The story ended on a cliffhanger … and the reader wasn’t forewarned of the pending cliffhanger.
• The content needed editing.
• The formatting was broken.
• There was too much or too little violence, explicit content, etc.
• There were too many inconsistencies or anachronisms or other things that didn’t make sense and jarred the reader from the story.

I don’t like and discount reviews that seem overly biased due to the reader’s lack of comprehension. A review lambasting a steamy romance for having explicit content makes no sense to me. If one picks up a steamy romance, then one should expect explicit content. A review blasting the book for faulty delivery issues makes no sense to me: it wasn’t the book that was the problem, but the delivery. That’s like negating the quality of a conference program because the property’s elevator was slow. One has no bearing on the other. There’s a certain expectations that the customer ought to apply some common sense in reviewing a purchase. Authors deserve candid feedback that pertains to the book, not to the author. Cultural appropriate and political correctness worries aside, an author’s demographics have no bearing on the quality of the story.

My being an author doesn’t stop me from leaving reviews on the books I read. I figure if I want readers to leave reviews, then I should do the same. I am candid in my reviews, always.

I recently left a critical review of a book. I was prepared to like the book, because it had several aspects that I enjoy: an alpha male hero, an exotic (to me) location, the promise of danger for the protagonists (suspense is fun). Reasons for my disappointment included:

• A distinct lack of editing. The book was rife with missing words, wrong words, misspelled words, punctuation errors, and grammar errors.
• Lack of verisimilitude. The story read like some teenager’s fantasy of a billionaire lifestyle and failed to suspend my disbelief. (I love fairy tales and can accept the most impossible of story premises and character environments, but the author must continue to suspend that disbelief.)
• The book itself was miscategorized as a steamy romance when the characters did little more than expound in internal dialogue how attracted they were to each other.
• A major plot hole. An important subplot—who is shooting at the protagonists and why, and why do the shooters appear to be targeting the heroine?—just disappeared without resolution as though the problem had been fixed when, instead, it could have been used to ratchet up the tension and add depth to the story.

There were other issues, but those were the big ones. Those and lesser flaws put that author on my “do not read” list. Her next book continues the series, but I’ve lost all interest. If the author keeps track of reviews on her books, perhaps my criticism will inspire her to at least hire a professional editor.

Lest you think I’m being unfair, there are authors whose book I don’t read because I find their stories disturbing. Those authors are excellent writers. They know how to tell a riveting story. However, their work is not to my taste. That doesn’t mean their work is bad or deserves poor reviews; it means I apply common sense and don’t buy books I’m almost certain I won’t like. I won’t buy a book I’m sure not to like and leave a negative review because I didn’t like it. That defies common sense and violates my sense of fairness. When dining at a restaurant, would you order a dish you detest and, after eating it, complain to the chef that you didn’t like it?

Personal preference does not indicate quality. Regardless, when you leave a review, inform potential readers why you rated the book as you did. Smart authors will appreciate the feedback, too.

I’ve been writing, editing, and formatting documents for well over 30 years, although none of that has been as an employee of a publishing company. I got my start in the marketing department of an architectural and engineering firm. I wrote and formatted A/E proposals. I edited the content written by the architects, engineers, and interior designers that was included in those proposals. It wasn’t what I hoped to do or what I wanted to do, but it was the job I got.

Over the years, I worked on advertisements, brochures, newsletters, event programs, catalogs, and manuals for various employers. Being a Jack of all trades, my employers considered me the go-to person for that kind of work that I’d learned on the job, seat-of-the-pants training as it were. Again, it wasn’t the kind of work that I once envisioned myself doing, but it was the work that helped put food on the table and clothes on our backs.

At the end of November 2015, I lost my job. One client I’d served for over a decade took their business elsewhere. Another client I served wanted someone else. My employer told me not to let the door hit me on the ass as I left. I dreaded having to find another job and putting myself at the mercy of another employer. In a few months, I began to dabble in freelancing. An initial project soon turned into a trickle of work. I continued to learn and to refine my skills, discovering what I do best and slowly, slowly narrowing my niche from “I’ll do anything” to “I’ll do a lot of things” to “I’ll do these specific things, but not those things.”

I liked it. I liked being my own boss.

I never forget what one businessman told me: If you’re employed, you have one boss. If you’re in business for yourself, everyone’s your boss. Basically that means every client is my boss. I prefer to think of them as my partners.

As I developed the business, I learned more about the work of freelancing. I’ve made many mistakes along the way, some of which relate to the wisdom of evaluating clients. That’s a tough one to learn, and I’m afraid I still haven’t gotten it right.

One recent example: a client, who had been traditionally published previously and made the decision to self-publish, hired me to edit and format his book. The first round of editing went well, despite the manuscript being in execrable shape when I received it. I’ve seldom come across a manuscript in such terrible shape, but I buckled down and did my best. He was dismayed to see the “red ink” dripping from the pages.

When it came to begin a second round of editing which would be followed after a second round of revision by proofreading, the client objected. I pointed out what was in our contract; he renegotiated. Because I didn’t want to lose what I thought was a good client, I allowed him to take advantage of me. Bad decision. My gut churned and my stress increased. I should have terminated the project at that point.

But I didn’t.

The project deteriorated from there. I admit: a lot of that bad experience rests on my shoulders. The client and I are both to blame.

Lesson learned. Bad vibes will now result in project termination. Or I won’t take on the project at all. I will no longer allow a client to haggle down my rates after a project has begun. I have tightened my contract to spell out both parties’ obligations, so there’s no ambiguity. I make sure the contract specifies limits and expectations.

I strive to provide excellent services at fair and competitive professional rates. I will write what you want written and do my best to write it how you want it written. I will edit to improve your content and refine your voice, but I do not guarantee perfection. I will format documents to your specifications, regardless of any outside standards imposed or upheld by anyone else.

This is bespoke service: you get what you request. I am thankful most of my clients are reasonable and professional and don’t try to take advantage of me. I’ll go above and beyond the contract for them. 

You’ve probably seen a meme prompting for a response to answer a question along the lines of “What song defines your life?” My standard answer is “It Don’t Come Easy” by Ringo Starr of Beatles fame.

Regardless of how silly it may be to refer to a popular tune to describe one’s life, it’s not so far-fetched to think that our lives are filled with the music we play according to specific times. An easy example is the annual holiday season running from Thanksgiving to Christmas–beginning before Halloween in many retail establishments–during which Christmas carols and similarly themed music is played constantly. Christmas music fills our holidiay season with cheer and good will, whether natural or forced.

Many people play their favorite soundtracks while working. My older son enjoyed listening to “eighties dance music” with his friends. My younger son enjoys country and hip hop. I use different genres of music when doing different activities. From the radio, housework gets classic rock ‘n’ roll, although I’ll happily listen to country while driving or washing the dishes. When reading, I tune into YouTube’s vast library. My tastes run to Big Band, classic rock, Big Band–gotta love Glenn Miller’s “In the  Mood!”–and baroque music. 

When I’m writing my own stories, the genre of what I’m writing often determines what I listen to. Writing fantasy and fantasy romance, I find my tastes in music leaning toward Celtic music, the Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit soundtracks, and the like.

Especially while writing when I don’t want to be distracted by commercials every couple of minutes, I’ll put on certain channels or movie soundtracks. As I write this, I’m listening to the soundtrack from The Last of the Mohicans, one of my favorite movies, although it’s been years since I’ve watched it. The soundtrack from Pirates of the Caribbean also makes for good music by which to write.

It’s interesting to read books that mention specific music. I’ve noticed this usually happens with younger authors who reference contemporary songs rather than classics which endure throughout the decades or even the centuries. I usually don’t recognize those songs the authors reference, but that’s okay. Sometimes the mention inspires me to look up the song. I usually find that it’s not something I particularly enjoy, but it never hurts to try out a new tune.

Sometimes I’ll select a song I particularly want to hear on YouTube and let it run throught the selection it deems appropriate. That’s how I discovered the not-so-dulcet tones of Disturbed. Their rendition of Simon and Garfunkle’s “Sound of Silence” is haunting. I think Disturbed does it better than Simon and Garfunkle did. That’s also how I discovered Five Finger Death Punch. Their music has hidden depths, and I appreciate their patriotism.

I’ve noticed that seasons also affect my musical preferences. Summer is country and rock, hands down. With fall comes the intricate strains of classical music from Vivaldi and Haydn to Rossini and Chopin. Winter adds in Celtic music with periodic forays into sixties rock from the Zombies’ “Time of the Season” to Nancy Sinatra’s “These Boots Are Made for Walking.” We can also throw in funky outliers the The Dead South and Theory of a Deadman.

I seldom seek out music more recent than 2000. I detest hip hop and rap. I occasionally catch newer groups like Imagine Dragons on the radio, but most of that doesn’t seem to have the same resonance that older music does. I recognize that opinion puts me solidly in the “old fogeys” category along with those gray-haired grouches who shout at kids to get off their lawns. I’m like Waldorf and Statler when it comes to the music of the last twenty years.

We all prefer the music we grew up with, the music that defined our youth. I’m no exception to that rule of preference, even if my tastes are varied.

Several years ago, I learned my mother like country music, the music of her youth. It surprised me, because we didn’t have a single country album in the house while I was growing up. We had Perry Como and his ilk. My father enjoyed the Beach Boys, Carole King, Carly Simon, Crosby Stills & Nash, and the Eagles. Being a daddy’s girl, I loved their music, too. I still do.

Music forms a backdrop to our lives that no movie producer ever ignored. The music we hear becomes connected to particular times of our lives. We revisit the music that keys into those good feelings and the music that seems to express our sorrow or anger. Music conveys emotion and attitude, and the lyrics tell stories within our stories.