Category Archives: Just for Fun

Love Me if You Must by Nicole Young (A Patricia Amble Mystery #1)

Posted on November 20, 2011 | 2 comments

Click Cover for FREE eBook at Kindle

This book showed me once again that the saying you get what you pay for isn’t always accurate. I would not have been at all disappointed if I had paid for this book. I love that I can find books on Kindle for free to discover new authors and I am definitely adding Young to my list.

While the book is not your typical mystery, it offers up a pretty good cast of characters who make great suspects. The story in itself is not typical, but I found it fresh and I loved the new career choice. Quite tired of reading about coffee, tea, cats, and quilting. Home renovation and house flipping being so popular, I hope others will find the treasure here.

Tish is trying to start over, again, and this time she has chosen a Victorian house to renovate and flip. Trouble is, from the moment she arrives, the town seems too eager to sweep her into their drama and mayhem. From a serious case of mistaken identity to a romantic triangle to challenge the ages, Tish is up to her tool belt in trouble. Then there is the whole body in her basement thing…or is it too? It all depends on who’s counting.

I did find a few parts of the book questionable in the logic, but come on people, it’s fiction! And some of the things that bothered other readers had the opposite effect on me because I could really relate. Life isn’t always perfect, and sometimes people do crazy things…it keeps things interesting. The heroine had some seriously wishy-washy moments, but who the hell hasn’t?

The plot is solid, the characters are clever, and overall the mystery is a good one. And for the record, I was not disappointed in anything the jacket copy offered. Nicole Young is now on my pay to read list. You should give it a try: your opinion might be closer to mine than to the naysayers.

Several Amazon reviewers complained about the horrible mistakes in the writing, but honestly, I am sitting here trying to recall them, but I guess I was so entertained by the story that I missed them, and I’m an editor.

2 Comments

Posted in Blatherings, Book Reviews, Just for Fun

Just My Opinion

Posted on November 2, 2011 | 5 comments

Okay, a funny thing happened to me the other day. I submitted a review to Amazon.com and it was rejected. You heard me, REJECTED! I was flabbergasted, flummoxed, furious…you get the point. I can’t even tell you how this has affected me. The worst thing is, I have no clear reason as to why it was rejected. I got a standard form letter that gave a couple of reasons, none of which my reviews falls into.

This came at a time when one of the groups I am in has been discussing this very thing, so I posted my review to the group, hoping for some insight. I got some. But I also heard a couple of people say that since I mentioned in the review that I was the publisher, they probably considered the review as advertising and that if they saw a review written by the publisher they would move on because it would be utterly meaningless to them as a reader (please note: I respect this person and their opinions very much and I am not in any way knocking them, just using their words as an example of what I have gotten from others.)

My question to you is, why is a publisher’s review any less valuable than anyone else’s? Shouldn’t it hold some weight since the publisher picked the book from possibly hundreds of others because it was better, stood out more, or more interesting than the others they could have published? Shouldn’t it matter that the publisher was willing and eager to put their time and money into that book, thereby giving it more value in their opinion? And isn’t a publisher simply a reader who cares enough to make other books available to others to read?

I want to know why reader would not care what a publisher thought of a book.

Now I am promoting, dang it. Click here to BUY NOW at Kindle. Only $.99

Below is the review I tried to post and the note I got from Amazon.com.

This review is from: Totally Buzzed (Miller Sisters Mystery) (Paperback)

If you haven’t been to White Bass Lake, WI and met the Miller sisters, you are really missing out.

There are times as a publisher that you wonder what you have gotten yourself into, this is one of those times, but for a different reason. “Totally Buzzed” by Gale Borger is totally kick-butt whimsical. The story is solid with a good plot and a nice little mystery, but it’s the characters that shine in this humorous romp. I am so glad I took a chance and published it.

You really have to wonder if murder should be so dang funny, but Gale knows her stuff and if you don’t laugh out loud as you are reading, you should have someone check your pulse.

The Miller family is so much like a normal family, you may just think you are related to them.

The first book in a series, this one is a real gem and I encourage everyone to read it, especially if your day hasn’t been so good. It’s a real pick-me-up.

Amazon’s Rejection:

Written reviews must be at least 20 words long. The ideal length is 75 to 500 words.
Your review should focus on specific features of the product and your experience with it. Feedback on the seller or your shipment experience should be provided at www.amazon.com/feedback.
We do not allow profane or obscene content. This applies to adult products too.
Advertisements, promotional material or repeated posts that make the same point excessively are considered spam.
Please do not include URLs external to Amazon or personally identifiable content in your review.

We welcome your honest opinion about products – positive or negative. We do not remove reviews because they are critical. We believe all helpful information can inform our customers buying decisions. If you have questions about the product or opinions that do not fit the review format, please feel free to use the Customer Discussions feature on the product page.

5 Comments

Posted in Blatherings, Book Reviews, Business, Just for Fun, Marketing

Drop and give me four!

Posted on October 31, 2011 | 3 comments

Oh my gosh. I have been trying to read more Blogs lately, see what’s going on with the rest of the industry and other authors. I have seen a couple of names popping up in some of the same places as mine and I was more than a little annoyed with these people. Why, you ask? Of course you do!

Signature lines.

I know people consider signature lines a small thing, but not when they are 16 and 21 lines long. Seriously? Yes. That is the length of two sig lines that I keep seeing. In most cases, their sig lines are longer than their comments and in my opinion that is just rude. You may not care what I think, but consider other readers who look at all those lines and the fact that you felt the need to share every detail of your writing career with them on someone else’s Blog. Not cool, man.

After all these years on the Internet, I have discovered one thing holds true for almost all forums, groups, and the like. 4 lines. That’s FOUR max! In many cases, if you include more than 4 lines in your sig, moderators will delete your posts without them ever seeing the light of day. How do I know this? Experience.

Have you not learned from reading my blog that nearly everything I post about is based on my own personal experience?

So let’s be a little courteous to our fellow Bloggers and DROP those extra lines. Keep it simple. Need examples?

Karen L. Syed, President, Echelon Press LLC
http://www.echelonpress.com

Karen L. Syed, author of Devlin’s Wicked Wish
http://tinyurl.com/kls-dww-smash (FREE)
Twitter: @echelonpress

or even

Karen L. Syed, President, Echelon Press LLC
http://www.echelonpress.com
author of Dark Shines My Love
http://tinyurl.com/kls-dsml-kindle

Click Cover to Dwnload FREE eBook

See how easy that is? If you are really clever you can turn your titles into buy links, but I like to use tinyurls in case there is a formatting issue, they can see what the links should be and I don’t miss out on potential sales. And it’s okay to make your sig lines a bit clever. After all, you are trying to attract people to t he information and clever works.

So here is your chance. Post your signature line in the comments here and at the end of the day I will choose the most cleverly implemented sig line and the winner will get a $5.00 Gift Certificate as my special Halloween treat (cause candy is bad for your teeth.)

So tell your friends to drop by this post for their chance to win.