Are you a review whore?

Something I forgot to mention in Rage against the Indie is the constant moaning of authors to not get any reviews. They will say, I've given my books away for free (just out of interest, what do your normally charge when you give your books away?), and I still don't get any reviews. Whine, whine, whine!
First of all, if you call it promo, then treat it like a promotion; that means you give the books away as a marketing tool.
The aim of a promotion should be to spread the word about your books, to generate interest for your other work, in short: it's an introduction of your name. That's all there is to it.
Authors keep expecting readers to fulfil a contract they didn't sign. I've seen many comments--angry comments--saying that a review is the least authors could expect in return for a free book. Nonsense. It's a present from you to the reader and nothing else.
There's only one occasion when you can expect something in return: that's when you give books to reviewers in exchange for a review. There's an agreement on both sides..
If I'm entirely honest, I'd rather have ten readers tell their friends about my books, so that they go and buy them, too, than ten reviews and no further sale.
And I wish authors would stop saying they want the feedback from readers; it's curling my toes. It's not that I don't like hearing from readers, particularly if they loved my books, for it gives me a warm and fuzzy feeling. It's nice to know when people like what I've sweated over, but if they hate it and leave negatives reviews, does it make me stop writing? No, it doesn't. When I hit the publish button I'm 100% behind the book and confident that it's a good book, not some kind of drivel.
I'm an author, it's my job to create a story readers can enjoy. I put my heart and soul, and all my knowledge into my books, and if someone comes along who happens to dislike my them, I'm not going to fall apart. Those reviews are not for me anyway; they're for potential buyers who still have to make a decision. Reviews are like buses: you wait for a long time, and then they come in bulk. I'm always grateful to see them arrive, but I don't expect them. If they come, I use them for marketing purposes, but I won't take any notice regarding my writing. Everyone's a critic; and I'm the most critical one when it comes to my own books.

Go on, make your books better

And you can even do that with my little book Rage against the Indie. It's free today and tomorrow and it's aimed at helping people to edit their manuscripts before they rush to publish. Something I've done in the past, and it's not something I'd recommend.

It also contains a rant about authors' behaviour on social media sites. Go on, have a giggle with ol' Stella Deleuze.

Amazon UK
Amazon.com
And on all other Amazon sites.

And when I checked the ranking on Amazon.com today (yes I do that), I even found this little gem of a new 1-star review:

Why would anybody think the world needs a book by an indie author ranting and slavering about how indie authors suck?
You can read this stuff all over the web, often done much better.
It's tapering off now that people are starting to get the message that things in publishing have changed and they aren't in charge of putting the toothpaste back in the tube... and now somebody thinks we need a book about it.

Guess what? We don't.

By the way, I have never written a negative review of a book before. There was never a need to until now. I just ignore books that suck. But this one sucks aggressively and harmfully. 

13 is my lucky number

And it seems that 2013 started with my first bit of luck. For years I've tried to find a book I've read when I was younger. The feeling I had when reading it kept haunting me and I wanted to read it again. The problem was that I couldn't remember the title, or the author, and only remembered one snippet of the plot. Every time I explained it to someone I got confused looks, head shaking, questions if I was sure it was a book and not a film, etc. Google didn't give me any clues either. I found lots of books, and films, but none of them were what I was looking for.
Today, I felt inspired to look for the book again and, somehow, the title must have come to me over night. I typed it into Google.de, and there it was. The cover was instantly familiar and, after a few searches more I found the blurb. Yes! I couldn't believe my luck. The book is from 1989 and originally was published in English. Even better. Although I'd read it in German, I prefer English nowadays. It's on Amazon and at a bargain price. Guess who's ordering Ring rise, Ring set?
Although I have to say the German cover was far better: Wenn das Eis kommt.
I wonder if it still has the same spell over me than it had back then. I remember to have read many Monica Hughes books; it's slowly coming back.

I also felt quite energetic today, but maybe it was just because of my finally finding this book. Whatever it is, I'd like it to stay with me.

Regarding good news, well, even though it's yesterday's news: I detected a new review for Rage against the Indie yesterday. That'll make it my 5th 5-star review. Quite a relief that it's well perceived, because I expected people to get the wrong end of the stick.

It's not an indictment of self-publishing and the proliferation of ebooks. Nope. It IS a rant--a series of them, really--against those who want to dash out their great hope for indie immortality with no regard for convention or quality.

If you're a newbie or wannabe indie author, and Ms. Deleuze's rants shake you to the foundation of your soul, you might want to rethink your aspiration to be the next big thing in the indie author world. You don't have a tough enough hide. But, if you can learn from the author's no-holds-barred rants, continue. Stella Deleuze then offers a succinct, bordering on masterful guide to making your written works shine above the all-too-common "let's throw it against the wall and see if it sticks" offerings by so many newbie authors.

Recommended. 

Now back to work; the two books I've planned to publish this year aren't writing themselves. :-)

All the best for 2013

While everyone, or almost everyone, is getting ready for the big, last night of 2012, I'm sitting in front of my laptop, reflecting on the past year. It has been eventful regarding my writing: I published four books, have made plans for new ones, I received many wonderful e-mails, messages or tweets; had a stalker, thankfully lost him again; my Branded series was considered worthy to be placed on Pageturners, a website for chick lit with a difference, right next to Cecilia Ahern, Alexandra Potter, and other big names, and I just learned that the founder of the site loved to stop by my blog in her tea breaks.

I ruffled some feathers, got a few over the head myself, but all in all, I think I did quite all right. I moved house, went through some depressions, and dragged myself out of them again. Mostly thanks to the garden and writing. And, because of the dragon. He makes me smile, even when I'm feeling low. I made some friends, I lost some. Those I have I love dearly, and those I've lost, I wish all the best on their way.
I have some plans for 2013, but nothing is concrete yet. But writing and editing will definitely be a big part of it. Words dictate my days, and I wouldn't want it any other way.

Since I've changed my blog address, I seem to have lost quite a few regular visitors; I hope that you'll find me again, for I enjoy the interaction with you guys. Even if occasionally heated,  it was always rather civilised. Maybe we'll have further good conversations in 2013. For now I'd like to thank you and wish you all the best for the next year: health, wealth, love, and may all your positive wishes come true. I'm looking forward to the new year, because thirteen is my favourite number.

Love,

Stella

I had oral sex!

Yeah, that made you come, eh? Pardon the unintended pun. What I really meant was that I had some delicious food. Every now and again I have a hunger for a proper German Schnitzel and that's what I had today. Jaegerschnitzel to be precise. And since I'm still a little angry that someone had the nerve to pinch my former blog wordsbystelladeleuze, complete with content, I bashed the death out of that piece of meat. It has to be a lean meat, so I used a slice of pork leg, and bashed it with that tenderiser until I was deaf. My neighbours were probably wondering what I was doing, but hey, I'm allowed to make some noise, right?
So, meat suitably lambasted (please tell me you know this word, or I'm screwed. My trusted dictionary suggested it to me.), I drowned it in beaten egg (quite a bit of beating going on, I realise) and then dunked it in seasoned bread crumbs. Twice. I love a nice thick coating. Meanwhile I had put the chips in the oven, and beforehand I cut fresh button mushrooms and an banana onion (any onion is fine), ground salt and pepper for the creamy mushrooms. I use the same pan I fried the Schnitzel in for the mushrooms, that adds some taste.

And here's the picture.

I know the ketchup is a bit disgusting, but it was the rest in the bottle and I wanted to get rid of it. Anyway, I enjoyed it immensely and you should see my grin now.

NOTE: Just in case you haven't seen my many posts about it or wonder why the heck I was posting about insurances: I've changed my blog address, and someone took it, including the content and posted nonsense. It wasn't me and I have no idea how this happened. I thought you needed a password to safe and import a blog. I've informed blogger about copyright infringement and that they're damaging my reputation, because I can't do anything about it. It's all a bit beyond me. For the time being, it looks like my blog has a twin. But only here, under the name Stella Deleuze, with my mug shot to the right, you can be sure it's me. 

Bloggers beware!

I recently changed my blog address, as I have a new site for my books. A company snagged up wordsbystelladeleuze, including all my previous posts, to sell their life insurance. They're clearly infringing copyright.

I've worked hard on that blog, to get my following and I was of the opinion, that all my followers will be transferred to the new blog address, I'm a bit of a tech failure when it comes to these things. Thought my last post is on that blog, too, but minus the comments. My friend, though, told me he didn't receive that last post. Not a happy camper here.

So if you're following my old blog and suddenly get weird posts, I mean weirder than my usual posts, it's not me. wordsbystelladeleuze.co.uk, is not my blog. When they continue to post that shite, they'll lose all followers anyway, but what's worse, is that they damage my reputation, because people will think I've now lost it completely. I haven't. Not yet, at least. :-)

Just thought I'd let you know.