C.G.Ayling

Tag: reviewers

  • Giving thanks, where thanks is due.

    This post is based on a recent email conversation.

    I have to say that the generosity of honest reviewers never ceases to amaze me. They  spend their time for no reward other than being transported out of our troubled world into a world that only exists in the mind of someone else.  And then they spend still more of their time compiling words that give away both everything, and nothing.

    Honest reviewers are courageous.  They talk about both the good, and about the not so good.  They don’t sugar coat their words, but neither do they coat them in bile.

    Honest reviewers are easy to spot, but incredibly hard to pin down.  They’re easy to spot because their reviews don’t contain generic, nonsense catch-phrases that could be {and probably have been} used to describe an encounter with a particular brand of laundry soap. They’re incredibly hard to pin down, because every honest author wants their attention. {Dishonest authors have no interest in honest reviewers, their only interest is in 5 star reviews, the more generic the better, and they all seem to have lots of these.}

    Honest reviewers are humble, invariably putting the needs of the work they’re reviewing ahead of their own needs.  They are often authors themselves, but they seldom plug their own work, and if they do it is relevant to the review.

    In this burgeoning world of self-publishing, honest reviewers hold a very high position on the publishing totem pole.  Yet they seldom receive any compensation other than a “free” copy of the work they’re reviewing. “Free” is a word that should not be used, for it comes at such a significant cost of time.  Honest reviewers do a lot of work, and they get nothing in pay.  I’d like to see some creative way to rectify this bizarre situation, but I don’t see how without compromising their integrity at worst, or casting a shadow of suspicion on it at best. {For now, I make a point of personally thanking them if I have some way of contacting them.  I also try and ensure they have the opportunity to read my up-coming work before it is published, but I question whether that is an adequate reward, or even a reward at all.}

    In summary, writing honest reviews is a largely thankless task.  So, to every honest reviewer, please accept my thanks.  I’m sure every honest author joins me in that sentiment.

  • Beltamar’s War. Re-Release!

    If you’re book reviewer I’d like to hear from you. If you’re a book reviewer who enjoys complex, thought provoking works like The Lord of the Rings by J.R.R Tolkien, or The Wheel of Time by Robert Jordan, I’d really love to hear from you!

    Yes, we’re all busy so how will you know if my work, Malmaxa, is for you? Easy, simply read the sample available right here, right in your web browser, right now.

    One of the nicest things about being an independent author is that we need never be content with our own words.
    -versus-
    One of the worst things about being an independent author is that it is very difficult to know when our own words no longer require refinement.

    I self-published the first novel in my series, Malmaxa, in June of 2012. Though I have been fortunate enough to garner good reviews, I’ve personally never been happy with it. It just wasn’t the best I felt it could be. So, with that in mind, I scraped together the money to have the work professionally edited. I engaged the fine folk at Warneke Reading for this task and have spent the last couple of months implementing their excellent suggestions. Ed and Natalie went far beyond what I felt was due. I say, without reservation, that the work they have done for me far exceeds the worth of the money I paid them.

    Naturally, during my implementation of their edits, I re-read Beltamar’s War. That was a mistake for two reasons.  One, I’m a man well past middle age, brought up to believe that men should not cry…  Two, I realized I am not happy with my own writing, and I doubt I ever will be. And thus the purpose of this post…

    Very soon I’ll be re-submitting the latest version of “Malmaxa I – Beltamar’s War” to Amazon. I’d love to build up a head of steam by getting the work into the hands of reviewers before I do so. Are you a reviewer interested in reading Malmaxa before it becomes available in its newest incarnation?  If so DM your email address, along with your preference of Kindle .MOBI or .PDF, to me on Twitter.  You can find me as @CGAyling, and yes, I do follow back. If you’re not on Twitter, you can contact me by replying to this post.

    But be warned, Malmaxa is not what it seems.

  • Why do Independent Authors Need Honest Reviews?

    Genuine people who are willing to take their time to write honest reviews are all too hard to find. Reviewing is a thankless task. Yes, the reviewer might get a free book, but for the amount of time they spend that can’t be considered compensation.

    Sadly, honest reviewers seldom publish reviews on works they dislike. Why sadly? Because in the Amazon age we are inundated with 5 star reviews that almost invariably purport to love the works of whatever author they are supposedly reviewing. There should be balance in all things. To expect everyone to love your work is a pipe dream.  Yet this seems to be the case – especially in the so-called “reviews” posted about independent authors’ works.

    Independent authors need honest reviews more than they need fabulous, yet fake ones. If we are lucky enough to get any reviews at all, we really need them to be honest. Why? For a number of reasons:

    Because…

    • Honesty really is the best policy.
    • We learn more from adversity than from success.
    • We deserve a level playing field, and so do our readers.
    • If your readers actually like your writing, they’ll ignore bad reviews, or laugh at them, and who doesn’t need a good laugh?
    • People naturally root for the underdog, and bad reviews can make you the underdog.
    • Honest reviews help authors improve their skills.
    • They help readers find books they will probably enjoy, and save them from wasting their time on books they won’t.
    • Positive reviews point out our strengths, and encourage us to play toward them.
    • Negative reviews highlight our weaknesses, and show where we should strive for improvement.
    • If our writing is really as atrocious as genuine bad reviews indicate, then we probably shouldn’t be publishing. Either at all, or until we’ve substantially improved our writing.
    • Pats on the back don’t propel you forward, they hold you back. Especially when those pats are leading us to buy into the delusion we’re good at something when we really aren’t.
    • Potential readers often look at reviews before deciding whether to buy. If they read a glowing review, then buy the book only to discover it is a pile of garbage then every review they read later is tainted.

    So you see, there really is no such thing as an honest review that is bad. Honest reviews either promote our work, or they help us improve it.

    We independent authors already have a well-deserved reputation for producing writing that falls far short of anything published by a traditional publishing house. The more “great” reviews that promote sub-standard work, the worse this will be for all – writers and readers alike.

    I take my hat off to real reviewers everywhere.  I’ve written a couple of reviews myself, and I know just how difficult it is to capture the essence of a work without spoiling it for the readers. In case you’re interested to read a couple of those I’ve written, here are two: Godspeed, by February Grace.  The Sowing, by Amira Makansi.

    If you’d like to read reviews written about my work, well you might find the ones I particularly like here.

    But the real bottom line?

    Don’t waste your valuable time reading reviews at all.  Don’t let someone else tell you what you’ll like and what you won’t.  Instead of reading flagrantly positive reviews from questionable sources you should never trust, read the free sample every single reputable publishing system provides. Make up your own mind about the quality of the writing.  You’ll be giving the real underdogs, namely independent authors, a chance by doing so.  You’ll be glad you did when you uncover a gem in the midden {yes, you may have to wade through a lot of excrement, but that will make the gem that much more beautiful when you find it :)}.

    And now, let me put my words where my mouth is… a sample of my first book is available right here, right now, right in your browser, completely free, with no download necessary, and no troublesome returns either.

    By the way, if you’re a reviewer I’d love you to look at my work with as critical an eye as you wish.  I am nearing the end of implementing edits on Beltamar’s War right now and would love to send you a fresh off the editing block copy in the electronic medium of your choice, PDF or .MOBI {Indeed I’ve just taken hours of that editing time to post this.}  If I can tempt you to review me, please visit [Reviewers], where you’ll find information on how to contact me.

    Further thoughts on authors like Ben Coulter

    …and his ilk.  Those who compound the problem of blatantly biased reviews by going to extreme lengths in attempt to silence anyone who might give them a bad review, thus ensuring they never get bad reviews.  And when they do get bad reviews, they then go to extraordinary lengths to discredit such reviews.

    What sort of extremes? Well, read about Coulter’s behavior here.

  • The Z-Axis.

    A review by Amira K. Makansi, originally hosted on her blog, “The Z Axis.”  The full, un-edited text of Amira’s review appears below.

    Book Review: “Beltamar’s War (Malmaxa)” by C.G. Ayling

    I was really thrilled to have the opportunity to read and review BELTAMAR’S WAR by C. G. Ayling, a writer who I met and communicated with on Twitter and with whose writing I was impressed. I’m always a little nervous when I agree to read and review self-published books – I’ve read a fair few that have not merited the effort to finish the first few chapters, and have resulted in a waste of my time as well as a waste of the author’s. (I’ve also read a book or two by authors with whom I was initially impressed, and then when I opened the pages I was disappointed.) But there are gems out there – you just have to search for them. Imran Siddiq was one of them. (If you haven’t read my review of his Disconnect, please do, and follow him on Twitter.) Now, I have the pleasure of adding C.G. Ayling to the list of gems I have had the good fortune to find via Twitter.

    C.G. Ayling’s epic fantasy novel BELTAMAR’S WAR is set in the world of Malmaxa, and it’s clear that worldbuilding is one of Ayling’s strengths. Malmaxa is a fascinating place, and I enjoyed every little piece of new information I learned about the world. The Seizen, as the humans who inhabit this world are called, have a series of strange and fascinating rituals and magical abilities that were beautifully crafted and described. From the Chukras, the gems that give the Seizen their strength and skills, to the “marks” (aka tattoos) that define them as individuals and decorate their arms in deference to their ancestors, to the rules of the Gods that define their lives, Ayling’s world is vivid, complex, and mysterious.

    There are two stories that are told simultaneously. One is set in a peaceful village as the villagers prepare for the annual Convocation, which is the time of the year when all Seizen gather in the capital city to give new adults their Chukra, find a match (aka get married), and (presumably) worship the Gods. This plot line essentially follows one family as they prepare for the Convocation. The other half of the story is set with Ripkira, a battalion commander who faces off against a horde of groth, also known as the Ancient Enemy – vicious hounds who will rend the Seizen limb for limb and hunt them ruthlessly, unless the Seizen armies can hold them at bay.

    Ayling’s characters are his second great strength. As we follow these dual storylines, each character is well-developed and complex, as though Ayling knows them personally and summoned their strange and exotic souls to appear before us on paper (or the magnetic lighting of a Kindle, in my case). The only thing that could be said of them is that they are, perhaps, a little too perfect – though Ayling is careful to give them each a set of interesting, tangible flaws, rarely do any of them make the wrong decision, and if they do, they are contrite and honest about their failings. Their nobility and goodness is honorable – perhaps a little too much so. In fact, there is only one character in the book with anything resembling an evil streak. I’d like to see more of him in Book 2 – I’d like also to see his past and character deepened, so that we understand where his evil originates.

    And of course, there is the strength of the writing itself. I only caught two typos in the whole book – an impressive feat for an indie. Ayling’s writing is strong and charismatic, almost Biblical, as though it carries the weight of both mythology and history wrapped into one. There’s one scene, about two thirds of the way through, that entranced me: one of the younger characters, Rethga, embarks on what’s called a Vision Quest, which is basically a hallucinogen-inspired dream. The scene that follows is written like something out of Homer’s Odyssey. It brings symbolism, fantasy, and discovery equally to fruit as Rethga searches for his true identity, and the narrative style is magnificent.

    In fact, there’s only one real problem with the book (though it might be, to some, a large and glaring problem): Nothing really happens. Throughout the whole book. There’s one battle, which is a fairly climactic scene, but it doesn’t really lead anywhere and nothing ultimately comes of it. The plot meanders, by which I mean to say that things happen to the characters, and they interact in meaningful ways, but nothing really significant happens in terms of developing the plot or pushing the conflict along. We never really find out what the major conflict is, actually – is it the Seizen versus their Ancient Enemy, the groth? Is it the Seizen versus the Gods, as they struggle to control their fate? Is it Seizen versus Seizen as they fight to control evil in their midst? Early on, it seems as though the whole book is building towards some climactic confrontation, some war, or something grand that will happen at the Convocation – but it never comes. Nothing major ever happens. Where is the conflict? What are we building to, and what can we expect in the sequels?

    Now, please understand – all this really means is that I will be eagerly anticipating the sequel. Despite the rather bizarre lack of a driving plot, the book’s positive features, which I’ve outlined above, are enough to keep me interested – and more. I know there’s something big coming in the world of Malmaxa, and honestly, I can’t wait to find out what that is.

    Overall, a well-written, character-driven book that’s left me thirsting for more. I’m fudging on the rating on this one – I’m giving it 3.5 / 5 stars. Normally the lack of major plot action would be a big enough issue to drop it down to a three, but I so enjoyed the world, the characters, and the writing that I can’t bear to do that. So, 3.5 will have to suffice.

    Recommended for fans of Lord of the Rings, Daughter of Smoke and Bone, fantastical worlds, and creativity. Link to the Amazon purchase site is here.

  • Little absences.

    My twitter followers may have noticed I’ve been gone for a couple of days. The reason is that I needed to clean up an infection on my website by a nasty little rascal called the “Pharma Hack”. What this misguided piece of malware does, is inject hidden information into pages and posts that contain links back to websites selling various drugs – thus the name “Pharma”.

    The information is hidden from website visitors and serves the nefarious purpose of “Search Engine Optimization”. In the past, search engines such as Google ranked websites higher the more sites that linked to them. Therefore, by embedding links into pages these cheaters are attempting to increase the ranking of disreputable websites. Reputable search engines are well aware of this “trick” and now either disregard hidden links, or penalize websites for including them or being linked by them.

    As I have no desire for people in desperate need of {how to put this delicately…} “hardening” drugs visiting my site, I don’t mind being penalized. You know the variety I mean, those alchemical marvels that transform certain body parts into hardened steel {if the transmutation lasts longer than four hours, call your doctor…}!

    And now, to the title of the post. I discovered my site had been “hacked” thanks only to the efforts of an amazing person that many on Twitter know as @TwitCleaner – a now defunct product written by a real life human being named Si Dawson. Si responded to a tweet I made offering him free copies of my works, as I’m financially unable to make cash donations {if you’re able to, please visit his website – there’s a “contribute” button over on the right}. In taking me up on my offer, Si visited [Reviewers] to get my email address – he noticed the infection, and took time to inform and assist me in identifying it. Thank you again Si, A.K.A @TwitCleaner – your actions helped me, and did a lot to restore my ever-dwindling faith in the goodness of individuals.

    Anyway, to cut a long story short, cleaning up the infection took a ton of time I really don’t have, and the only pot from which I could pull the time, was Twitter…

    {P.S. if you’re a book reviewer or blogger please visit the link above – I’d love to hear from you.}