Category Archives: Books

8 Reasons to Comment on Books

Did you just finish reading a book? Congratulations! But your work’s not done. Consider leaving a comment about that book. Let’s discuss why.

We’re in the Age of the Internet now and everything’s interactive. That includes reading books. These days, businesses thrive or fail based on comments left by customers. The writing biz is no different.

Still, I understand why you don’t often comment on books. You’re busy and have many other things to do. There is some effort involved in leaving a comment and it just doesn’t seem worthwhile. I get that.

Consider, though, that you made time in your schedule to read the book. It affected you in some way, good or bad. What if I could give you a good reason to take 2-5 minutes to leave a comment about that book you read?

I’ll do better than that. I’ll give you eight reasons:

  1. It’s easy. Just go to the site where you bought the book, or to Goodreads.com, and leave a comment. It can be brief, but it’s best to be specific about what you liked or didn’t like.
  2. You can. For the first time in history, you can easily leave impactful comments. Before the Internet, you might write a book review for school, an analytical essay in a professional journal, or tell your friends. Most of these actions didn’t matter much to the book’s sales.
  3. Your comment matters. It affects whether other people buy the book. Readers sometimes base purchasing decisions on others’ comments.
  4. You already rate other businesses. These days, companies are always asking to be rated. Authors can’t really do that directly, since they don’t know who’s buying their books; they can’t reach their individual customers.
  5. Your comment influences the book’s promotion. The number of comments and the average number of stars go into website algorithms that cause the book to appear on lists like “You might also be interested in…”
  6. You might connect with the author (if living). Many authors welcome personal contact with fans and exchange correspondence with them. Even some deceased authors have active fan clubs you can join.
  7. Even negative comments help. The author (if still active) will learn what doesn’t work and will strive to correct weaknesses in subsequent books.
  8. Things improve through feedback loops. With tight and near-instant feedback loops, businesses (including writers) can hone their business to better please customers (including readers).

I do have some caveats to think about before leaving a comment. If you’re a friend of the author, consider how and whether your comment might affect that friendship. Also, if you are an author, don’t comment on your own books, and don’t get into flame wars with those who leave negative comments. No good can come from that.

To sum up, consider commenting on the books you read. Make it a new habit: read a book, leave a comment. Every comment helps. That’s useful feedback from—

                                                            Poseidon’s Scribe

September 1, 2019Permalink

Books Aren’t Clutter

Is your place crammed with boxes and bins, your closet overflowing with junk, your bookshelf sagging under too many books, your table piled with stuff? It’s time you de-cluttered using the KonMari method of Marie Kondo. Your living space will be pristine and sparking joy in less time than—

Hold on, there, Captain Shipshape. Did you say bookshelf? Loaded with too many books? There ain’t no such thing as ‘too many books.’ The universe sheds a tear whenever those three words appear in that order.

An uncluttered entryway, courtesy of Pixabay.com

While you’re busy disposing of joyless junk and about to trash that book in your hand, let me tell you something about books. Books magically transport you to a different place and time. Books mysteriously relocate you into someone else’s mind. Those marvelous vehicles of paper, ink, cardboard and glue convey you in comfort to distant lands. They leave you inspired, horrified, downhearted, fuming, or ecstatic.

And you were about to take that mystical, wonderful book and dispose of it? Listen up, O Knight of Neatness, there’s an escape clause in the Rules of Organizing, an allowed exception to KonMari, and it’s this: books aren’t clutter.

I mean no disrespect toward Ms. Kondo. I like a tidy place. But books get a waiver, a pass, and a permanent exemption from all Decrees of Decluttering. By definition, books spark joy. They are cheap, compact, life-long joy-sparking machines.  

Inspired by this article in Independent, I’m here to tell you there ought to be books in every room of your place. No matter where they are, they’re never out of place.

You finally got your son to clean up his room? Well, almost. Some of his books didn’t make it to the shelf? That’s okay. His room now counts as clean.

Company is coming over, so you dusted and scrubbed until everything’s perfect? Oops. You left an opened book on that coffee table, and a couple more on the arm of your couch. Who cares? That room is now ready for visitors.

This isn’t about impressing others. It’s not some contest about personal library size or literary sophistication. Who cares what others think? It’s about the joy your books spark in you.

So, by all means, toss the trash, eject the joyless, rid your place of rubbish. Transform your pad into a shining Shinto-inspired shrine of order. But leave the books alone, especially—oh, most especially—those written by—

Poseidon’s Scribe

August 25, 2019Permalink

Hurry, the Smashwords Sale is Ending

We both knew what would happen. At the beginning of July, I told you about the ½ price sale of my books over at Smashwords. These are the ones in my What Man Hath Wrought series, published by Gypsy Shadow Publishing.

You thought about buying one or two books.

Then you put it off until later.

Guess what? It’s later. The sale ends tomorrow, yes tomorrow, the 31st of July.

Ridiculous, when you think about it. $2 for a book? $1.50 for some of them.

In August, on Wednesday, they go back up to full price and you’ll hate yourself for missing an opportunity.

Why are you still reading this blog post? Click this link now and grab, for ½ price, some books by—

Poseidon’s Scribe

July 30, 2018Permalink

What? My Books are Half Price?

The folks at Smashwords are nice, but they’ve gone too far now. They’ve priced my entire What Man Hath Wrought series at half price for the entire month of July.

I’ve checked, and it’s true. You can get After the Martians, Ripper’s Ring, Time’s Deformèd Hand, The Cometeers, To Be First and Wheels of Heaven, Rallying Cry and Last Vessel of Atlantis, A Tale More True, Against All Gods, Leonardo’s Lion, and Alexander’s Odyssey for a measly $2 each.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Oh, there’s more. You can grab The Six Hundred Dollar Man, A Steampunk Carol, Within Victorian Mists, and The Wind-Sphere Ship for just $1.50 each.

 

 

 

 

Wait a minute [grabs calculator], that means you can get the entire collection (all 14 books—that’s 16 stories) for $26. I guess my financial misfortune is your summer reading opportunity.

This time, there’s no need for coupon numbers or passwords or promo codes. None of that. Just go to Smashwords and you’ll see the slashed-in-half prices are already marked. Simply click on my books and load ‘em in your shopping cart.

The What Man Hath Wrought series features relatable characters grappling with new technology in a historical setting. These alternate history stories explore what might have been. They’ll make you think about how you struggle with new gadgets today.

The Smashwords ½-price sale runs through July 31, but you know what a procrastinator you are. You’d better buy the books now before you’re caught up in summer’s many distractions.

What an inexpensive way to immerse yourself in the remarkable and adventurous world of—

Poseidon’s Scribe

July 1, 2018Permalink

23 Ways to Celebrate World Book Day

Time once again to celebrate World Book Day. What’s with the blank look? Did the holiday sneak up on you this year? Wait—you say you’ve never even heard of World Book Day? Well, this is the right blog post for you.

According to Wikipedia, World Book Day (WBD) was “organized by the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), to promote reading, publishing and copyright.”

Now that you know that, let the celebrations begin!

Um…you don’t know how to celebrate WBD? Okay, let us count the ways:

  1. Buy a book. Ever the helpful blogger, I’ve included a suggested list in the right column of my website.
  2. Give a book as a gift to someone else. New of course, unless you make it clear the book is used.
  3. Peruse a bookstore. Best to carve out the whole day.
  4. Visit a library. Again, you can get lost there, so allow time.
  5. Get a library card. Mine gets more use than my credit cards.
  6. Help a child get a library card. Open up endless new worlds for the kiddo.
  7. Buy an ebook reader. A lot lighter to carry than hundreds of hardbacks.
  8. Bake a book-shaped cake. You’ve heard of devouring books. Do it literally!
  9. Sing a traditional WBD song. What? There are no songs for this holiday? Then…
  10. Compose a song for WBD. There’s definitely a need there.
  11. Create a dance for the WBD song. Start the tradition of dancing around a bookshelf.
  12. Dress up as a book character. Pick your favorite. Spend the day talking and acting like that character.
  13. Tour a book printing factory. It there’s a book printer near you, it would be fascinating to learn how they make the darn things.
  14. Buy or build a bookshelf. Fill it with books.
  15. Write a book review. Post it on Goodreads, Amazon, BN.com, etc.
  16. Email an author. They all love to hear from fans. Hint: pick a living author.
  17. Set a reading goal. How many books do you think you can read between now and the next WBD?
  18. Attend a WBD Festival. There’s one in Kensington, Maryland. If that’s too far away, then…
  19. Plan a WBD Festival in your town. It will breathe life into the place.
  20. Commit to reading the classics. Hate it when your friends quote some classic, and you don’t get the reference? You either admit ignorance or pretend you know it.
  21. Write a book. You’ve been wanting to. I’ve seen your bucket list. You can’t finish what you don’t start.
  22. Answer David Filby’s three-book question. See below. *
  23. Read a book. Escape all TV, radio, and video games. Make it just you, your favorite drink, and your book.

* Near the end of the 1960 movie, “The Time Machine,” David Filby finds that George has left in the time machine.
David Filby: “He’s gone back to the future, to begin a new world. But it’s not like George to go off without a plan. He must have taken something with him. Is anything missing?”
Mrs. Watchett (George’s housekeeper): “Nothing…[sees blank space on bookshelf]…except three books.”
Filby: “Which three?”
Mrs. Watchett: “I don’t know… is it important?”
Filby: “Oh, I suppose not. Only, which three books would you have taken?”

 

I hope World Book Day will be as enjoyable for you as it will be for—

Poseidon’s Scribe

April 23, 2017Permalink