What I've Been Reading Lately

Even when in the middle of editing one book and releasing another, I still have time to read. I always have time to read.

The first novel I ever read cover to cover was Pride and Prejudice. Soon after, I gobbled many of the classics my mother had been recommending my entire life. From classic literature I turned to sci-fi and fantasy. Suspense kept me at the edge of my reading chair for quite some time. Literary fiction brought far away lands full of whimsy and intense beauty to my book shelves. Contemporary romance brought everyday desires to life.

This week, I circled back to my reading roots with two historical romances and was very impressed with both.

The first: La Déesse Noire by Mariana Gabrielle. The darker of the two books, this one was east meets west, exotic India meets buttoned-up 1800s England. Loved this book. It was more literary fiction than romance for me, although romance did play a sizable role. The author captivated me, similar to the way her main character, Kali, is trained in the art of seduction, and intrigued all the senses.

Here's the blurb:  Sired by a British peer, born of a paramour to Indian royalty, Kali Matai has been destined from birth to enthrall England’s most powerful noblemen—though she hadn’t counted on becoming their pawn. Finding herself under the control of ruthless men, who will not be moved by her legendary allure, she has no choice but to use her beauty toward their malicious and clandestine ends.

When those she holds most dear are placed in peril by backroom political dealings, she enlists some of the most formidable lords in England to thwart her enemies. But even with the help of the prominent gentlemen she has captivated, securing Kali’s freedom, her family, and the man she loves, will require her protectors stop at nothing to fulfill her desires.

You can read my review on Goodreads here. I received an advanced reader copy. Release date is scheduled for June 10, 2015, but you can pre-order a Kindle copy here.

The second: Candle's Christmas Chair by Jude Knight. This holiday novella was a bright, quick read with an unusual heroine I couldn't help but fall in love with. It's so rare to find a female lead in a regency romance that has ambitions other than marriage. It was a pleasure to read.

Here's the blurb: When Viscount Avery comes to see an invalid chair maker, he does not expect to find Min Bradshaw, the woman who rejected him 3 years earlier. Or did she? He wonders if there is more to the story. For 3 years, Min Bradshaw has remembered the handsome guardsman who courted her for her fortune. She didn't expect to see him in her workshop, and she certainly doesn't intend to let him fool her again.

You can find my review on Goodreads here. This book is currently perma-free on Amazon. You can download a copy of the book for Kindle here.

Thank you for joining me today. I hope everyone enjoyed their holiday weekend. My newest release, Sea Breeze, a contemporary romance, releases Wednesday, May 27th. You can pre-order a copy on Kindle here or wait until Wednesday and read FREE with Kindle Unlimited.

Interested in joining My Dream Team? Click the link below.


http://eepurl.com/bjAzz1

You can find me and all my links at www.jennifersenhajiauthor.com

Supporting Authors-The Ugly Truth

Being part of the writing community is amazing. There's so much to learn, and so many wonderful writers willing to share their wisdom with their piers. Ask for advice, and you will get it. Ask for resources, your inbox will overflow with suggestions. Need critique partners, people will raise their hand. Need a beta reader, I've got several, that will be honest with me, and not just blow smoke up my ass telling me I'm wonderful if my WIP needs work. You have a big launch coming up and need help spreading the word, your writer friends will have your back and happily share tweets and posts with their followers. At least, that's what my writer friends do. I'm feel very lucky. I'm lucky. (That's stronger.) See, I'm learning.

Here's where it gets tricky. I know there are people out there that will bash an authors work. Why? I have no idea. Why don't they simply say, I didn't like the book, or it wasn't for me, or I'm not a fan of this writer's style? Or if the book needs editing, send the writer an email. I have no interest in putting down a fellow writer, or believe myself to be better than anyone else. I'm here to support you, not step on you.

When I first started writing, which wasn't that long ago, I asked my first few friends in the community if they would be interested in an ARC of my soon to be released novel. They happily accepted.

The first reader sent me an email, letting me know she found several typographical errors in the MS and suggested I proofread and correct prior to release. I was disappointed, yet so appreciative, I thanked her profusely for letting me know in time. I swooped into action, made the changes, had it reformatted, and re-uploaded to Amazon and Smashwords only two days prior to the release date. Ready to go. Maybe not.

It was my first book, and even though I spent months editing, I'm not an editor. I thought I couldn't afford an editor. I was blind to the flaws in the book. I had read it so many times, I could recite it word for word. I thought it was done. I was wrong.

The second reader waited about two weeks to send me her feedback, not a long turnaround by any means, but she was holding back, trying to figure out how to tell me that my MS had issues without hurting my feelings. By that time I had already released my book. She finally emailed me and pointed out several places where she felt the writing was weak along with some major grammar issues. I'm not going to lie. It stung. Badly. I wanted to cry. She was kind and told me all the things she loved about the story, but she also told me all the places she felt it needed work. It was a hard pill to swallow. However, later I would realize she was absolutely 100% correct.

I decided it was too late. I sold some copies and felt relatively positive about the whole thing, having received some good reviews, but her comments kept eating at me. Once I realized all the marketing I should be doing and how to use applications like Canva, I started creating teasers for my book. By that time, my writing had already improved leaps and bounds. With the help of fellow writers, I was learning more about writing, editing, and all sorts of tips and tricks about character development. I had improved. I continue to do so every day.

I cut and paste a passage into a graphic I created for a teaser, and guess what? It was missing commas (which are the bane of my existence) and I realized the writing was extremely passive. So, I read my book again, after months of not looking at it, and I was shocked. It still needed editing, and the comments from my writerly friend came back to me.

I had been working with a group of writers on an anthology for the holidays, and during that time I worked with a professional editor for the very first time. It opened my eyes. I gobbled up her comments. And when I went back and read my novel, I knew I needed to fix it.

Long story short, I hired an editor (the same editor I worked with on the holiday anthology) and asked her to help me with a copy edit. I love my story and didn't want to change the plot, but I did want help catching all those things I missed when I published without an editor.

Once the edit was done, I re-uploaded it, and now if people don't like my story, it won't be because I didn't know how to use a comma or a dialogue tag properly. Thanks to my editor, I do.

So, now when I act as a critique partner, I know how important it is to be honest with the writer. They don't have to agree with me, but at least I gave honest feedback and they can choose what to do with it. Same thing with beta reads.

With ARCs, it's a little harder. Sometimes we receive them prior to release and other times the books are already published. When I review, I take several things into consideration, and you can read about them in my Writing Wenches blog post How I Approach a Review, but I am honest. It's important to be so, but I have no desire to hurt an author by leaving a bad review either. So, if I cannot give at least a three star review, I decline to review. I've had to send my own emails to authors after reading their ARCs with notes about editing as well. It's never easy, but it's better to let them know personally the flaws I found when reading, than to say nothing. How are they going to know there's a formatting issue with their Kindle version, or that there are typos or missing punctuation, or that maybe there are some inconsistencies in the story line if no one tells them. I want to leave rave reviews for every book I read, but sometimes I just can't.

Sometimes the truth hurts, but if it's constructive, then maybe it's exactly what's needed to become a better writer. As for me, I have a group of trusted writers, who I know will be honest with me, because they want me to succeed. Oh, and an amazing editor. If there are plot holes, or inconsistencies they will tell me the ugly truth. Thank goodness.

Have you ever received feedback from a fellow writer that hurt at the time, but ended up helping you in the end?

You can find me online at www.jennifersenhajiauthor.com

Thanks for reading.

Reviews-It's Time to Post

Recently, on the Writing Wenches blog, I talked about my approach to reviews and the different things I take into consideration when posting a review.

Reviews are important.

On 7/7/2014, I published Sweet Dreams. I have sold books on Amazon, B&N, iBooks and Smashwords. Now I am looking for those people who read Sweet Dreams to post their reviews.

Reviews are an author's bread and butter. Especially a newly published author. There is no reason for anyone to take a chance on an unknown author. That is why the review is so important.

It lets the potential reader know what to expect, how other readers enjoyed the book, and if they would purchase other works by this author.

It is word of mouth gone digital. Now that everything is online, readers looking to discover a new author will read the reviews that have been posted and take that into consideration before buying.

If the author is unknown, how do they find the book? Well maybe they saw something on Twitter, maybe the book came up in the "People Who Purchased This Also Purchased..." pitch at the bottom of the page. Maybe a friend recommended the book or the reader found a post on Facebook or a book blog recommending it when searching under books.

Who knows how they found it in the sea of books out there. The important thing is they found it. The first thing a potential reader will most likely do is to read the synopsis (book blurb). Next, they check the reviews of other customers.

The photo above is a snapshot of my reviews on Amazon, the first being my favorite. Why is the third not my favorite? It is 5 stars after all and the first is 4 stars. Well, I love the third review. It gives you an idea of the style of the book and the reviewer is now a fan, and I love that. But the first review, "Super Enjoyable" is exactly how I wanted my readers to feel after reading Sweet Dreams.

Now, I am all for the short and sweet review. I do not post long reviews of books I read and I get to the point listing a couple of details so that it is evident that I actually read the book. Authors love to hear positive feedback from their readers about which character was their favorite or which scene was the most engrossing.

The professional reviewers and book bloggers out there are great at leaving six paragraph reviews of how the book made them feel and what they like about the author and the story, without spoilers. And bless them, that is why they are professional reviewers.

I just want the people who have read and enjoyed my book to post a review, in the hopes that someone will read the review and decide to use that recommendation to purchase my book.

How do you leave a review?

Simple, if you purchase the book online you would simply leave a review at that online retailer's site. You can also leave a review on Amazon or on Goodreads or both. Neither Goodreads nor Amazon require that you purchase the book from them to leave a review on their site. They only thing they are asking for is a few details about the book so they can tell by your post you actually read it. If you are going to take the 1 minutes to post a review, you need to make sure the post is not just "Loved It". It should say something about a specific character or plot point without being a spoiler. To find the review button on Amazon, just scroll to the bottom of the book's page and click on the button titled "Write a customer review". Easy, peasy, lemon squeezy.

So here it is. I am asking my friends, family and fans, who have read Sweet Dreams, to please post a review of Sweet Dreams. Below are the links for Sweet Dreams on Amazon and Goodreads, to make it easy.


Amazon Link: http://www.amazon.com/Sweet-Dreams-Jennifer-Senhaji/dp/1499785577/ref=tmm_pap_title_0

Goodreads Link: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/22458936-sweet-dreams

Oh, and you can check out the Writing Wenches blog at http://writingwenches.wordpress.com/

Thank you for reading and reviewing.

Jennifer Senhaji, Your Sweet and Spicy Romance Author
www.jennifersenhajiauthor.com