WHY DON’T I GET 5* REVIEWS?!!!
Looking in Depth at Upping Your Review Rung
Presenter: Beth Daniels, aka Beth Henderson, J.B. Dane, Nied Darnell
4-week Workshop
Not long ago at the meeting of my local critique group, one of the members whined about yet another 3* review. We all sympathized with her, then she looked across the table at me and moaned, “Yeah, but you get 5* reviews!”
Ever feel that way yourself? Then this workshop is for YOU!
I don’t, by the way, always get 5* reviews. You can’t please everyone. But those same titles do snag far more 5* reviews than the irritating 3* or even 1*. Actually, I don’t understand why anyone even bothers to write a review if they rated the story as so bad it merited a 1*.
What we’ll do in this workshop is look at what reviewers note in those 5*, 4*, 3*, 2*, and 1* reviews. When it’s something bad or sad, we’ll figure out how in the next book you write, you’ll keep that in mind and up your own ante in the review market.
We’ll be tearing a lot of books apart. Those from writers who get those glowing reviews and our own stories as well.
Along the way, you’ll begin telling much better stories (I hope!), the kind that so sweep readers away that they award a 5* review. It won’t be an easy climb, but it’s a doable one!
Join me for a new look at your own work!
Presenter’s BIO: Beth Daniels’s career as a published author tallies up 34 years in 2024. She has written in many genre niches and under many different names. Currently she’s down to using just four: one her real name for nonfiction, her ex-married name for contemporary and historical romantic mystery, adventure, and comedy, and two entirely made-up names for urban fantasy mystery comedy and alternative 19th century historical action adventure with a touch of mystery and romance.
Before there were review rating systems, Amazon, Goodreads, Bookbub, and the various options on the web, she landed praise from Kirkus Reviews, Publishers Weekly, and the now kaput Romantic Times. She’s sweep up “award winning” kudos under both Beth Henderson and J.B. Dane. Does that mean she’s totally awesome? Not quite, though she had a couple titles land within the top ten best sellers for a week each on a now defunct bookseller’s list. Right now, she’s happy with the collection of 5*s.