Tag: reviews

On Tenterhooks, Once More

~ Jonna Hawker Turek ~ Leave a comment

My new book, hopefully the first in a new series, went live last week on Amazon for the print copies and this coming week in digital on several platforms.

Now comes the really difficult part of being an independent author…waiting for reviews.

I was fortunate with the first series to have early favorable reviews and readers asking for more. That first book was never planned as the start of a series, so my expectations were low and I was pleasantly surprised.

During the writing of this new work, I felt as though my craft has been improving, so my hopes and expectations were correspondingly higher. The feedback from my editors and beta readers has been mostly positive amid the constructive criticism.

Now that the book is “out there,” I am biting my nails awaiting the first reviews.

Fiction writing exposes authors, not simply for our writing skill, but for our personality, opinions and world view. It asks for the evaluation and approbation of strangers, making us vulnerable to criticism and rejection. Like toddlers offering a finger painted masterpiece, authors hold our breath to see if our creation is proudly displayed on the refrigerator or tossed into a drawer.

If you should happen to read and enjoy my latest, The First Ladies Club, please offer your honest review.

Remember that silence, for the insecure author, is interpreted as rejection.

Pulling back the curtain

~ Jonna Hawker Turek ~ Leave a comment

Like many new independent authors, I was naive about the publishing and marketing world. I believed when an author wrote a book, if it was published and got good reviews, it meant success was right around the corner. (Great American novel…or at least great american cozy, here I come!)

After publishing four novels, all getting pretty decent reviews, and finally dipping my toe into promotion and marketing, my fantasy bubble has well and truly burst.

While there are a few lucky authors whose writing careers took off the way I’d ignorantly imagined, most of us must scramble frantically simply to get our books noticed and begin to build a reader base.

I was surprised when I learned of some of the ways being used to get reviews and push good ones to the top of the list. I had foolishly assumed after the first few reviews from the author’s friends and family, all the rest were authentically from readers who cared enough about a book to post a critique.

Imagine my dismay to read a nasty “revenge” review of a friend’s book, after she had given an honest, but unflattering review of another author’s work. Who does that?

Loss of innocence can be a painful experience, but usually one which leads to  greater wisdom and maturity.

I’m looking ahead with eyes more widely open than before, but with hopes and dreams intact, as I learn to swim in the turbulent waters of the independent author.

Vain Pursuits reviewed on Italophile Book Reviews

~ Jonna Hawker Turek ~ Leave a comment

ItalyIt was such an encouraging surprise when my book, Vain Pursuits (Bunny Elder Adventures Book 2) was reviewed by C. Martinelli on her wonderful Italophile website,

http://italophilebookreviews.blogspot.com/search/label/Naples

The book came to her attention because it takes place in Italy and, after reading it, she was kind enough to post a very flattering review on Amazon.com.

In Vain Pursuits Bunny and her sister, Linda, travel to Italy to purchase an authentic Neapolitan presepio, or Christmas creche, for Linda’s collection of nativity sets.

The two sisters travel from Venice down through Italy to Naples, inadvertently attracting the sinister attentions of the Italian Mafia on their way.

My oldest son married an Italian girl and has lived in the Veneto region of northern Italy for more than twenty years. I visit them whenever I can. Writing this book was an opportunity for me to relive and share many of my impressions of this beautiful and gracious country and its people.

Of course, my own experiences were nothing like those of Bunny and her sister. I’ve never knowingly encountered any mafiosi, for one thing. However, their flight to Italy which opens the story was inspired by one memorably unpleasant real-life thirteen-hour ordeal over the Atlantic.

While one reader felt the book put too much emphasis on the Italian countryside and its attractions, many readers seemed to appreciate the local color.

It is always a balancing act when trying to give the reader a feel for a particular place. Too much detail bogs the story down while too little leaves your characters floundering in a featureless space.

I tried in this book to share the atmospheric items that struck me the most powerfully on my first visit to Italy, without turning the book into a tourist brochure. I hope, for the most part, I succeeded.

Ouch! That hurts, thank you.

~ Jonna Hawker Turek ~ Leave a comment

One thing both independent authors and traditionally published writers share is criticism. However a work gets published, once it is “out there” it is fair game.

The first time I hit the “Publish” button, I felt physically ill, for fear readers would hate my book. When I received my first print copy I could not even open it until my son read it and assured me it was all right.

I was fortunate that all my early reviews were positive and I even relaxed enough to joke about the fact that the only non-five star review came from my hard-to-please sister, who gave the book four stars.

Inevitably, a dreaded poor review was posted. I was so distressed I almost gave up on finishing the series I’d outlined.

Going back and re-reading the criticism, like probing a toothache, I suddenly realized what that two-star review meant. This reader had read the whole book and cared deeply enough about the characters to write and complain about the way some of them behaved. It wasn’t my writing that was objected to, after all.

That insight helped salve my hurt feelings (somebody doesn’t like me!) so I can now read my reviews with an eye to learning from them. It helps to find out what my readers expected, or wanted, to happen to my characters.

After four published books and many reviews, both positive and critical, I’ve also come to accept the fact that I can’t please everyone. The very same aspect of a story for which I receive praise from some readers can be the most strongly objected to by others.

Whenever a reader of one of my books cares enough to take the time and effort to post a review, pro or con, I am grateful.

Like the subtitle for that wonderful classic Peter Sellers movie, “Dr. Strangelove,” I have learned to stop worrying and love the critics.