![\"\"](\"http:\/\/www.cranswick.org.uk\/judith\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/04\/leap-of-faith.jpg\")
<\/a>As I was reading Margaret James\u2019 article about courage\u00a0in April\u2019s \u2018Writing Magazine\u2019 this morning, I\u00a0had to stop and highlight the phrase, \u201cAs a standard-issue insecure, and borderline paranoid, author, I\u2019ve always felt writing fiction and putting it out there was akin to taking your clothes off in public.\u201d<\/p>\n
I thought it was just me!!! Alone at my desk, especially when the writing is not going well, it\u2019s so easy to think \u2013 what is the point? Will anyone want to read this when it\u2019s finished?<\/p>\n
The more I talk to writers, the more I realise that the majority of us feel like Margaret. The trepidation doesn\u2019t end when the novel is published. As she writes, \u201cI\u2019m exposing myself to the humiliating possibilities of ridicule, condemnation or worst of all \u2013 being totally ignored.\u201d<\/p>\n
That rang a bell for me! For the last few days, one of my books has been on free promotion on Amazon Kindle. I\u2019ve read many articles and blogs suggesting that writers should do this frequently. I know from Facebook that many authors do. However, it took me some time to pluck up the courage to do it. What if nobody bothered to download it even when it\u2019s free?<\/p>\n
Authors need support <\/strong><\/p>\n How do you support the authors of the books you read?<\/p>\n Easy. If you enjoyed their book, tell them.<\/p>\n Few things can equal that glow when someone says how much they enjoyed your book. It spurs you on to keep writing.<\/p>\n But what if you are never likely to meet the author? They probably have a website or a Facebook page and you could send them a message and \u2018like\u2019 their Facebook Author page. As a writer, I always reply to such messages and \u2018like\u2019 ticks, as I\u2019m sure most writers do.<\/p>\n When people come up to me and say how much they enjoyed one of my books, I always ask them to write a review on Amazon for me. They say they will, but few do. Does that mean they didn\u2019t really like it?<\/p>\n Authors are desperate for reviews. Every review on Amazon helps to nudge the book a fraction higher up the visibility charts. It\u2019s a simple equation, the more visibility an author has the more likely they will achieve a sale.<\/p>\n I can register every book I read or even want to read on the wonderful Goodreads<\/a>. It\u2019s also possible to rate it and write a review once you mark the book as read. At the risk of sounding sanctimonious, I always write a review for every book I finish reading. Especially if I\u2019ve downloaded it for free. (I\u2019m addicted to the wonderful Bookbub<\/a> which sends me discounted offers in my chosen genres every day.) Surely the authors deserve something in return? If I\u2019m honest, I am probably more generous with my stars for indie writers than those with a mainstream publisher. They need my help.<\/p>\n If I don\u2019t like a book, I don\u2019t finish it so it doesn\u2019t get a review. 1* and 2* reviews strike me as vindictive. Every writer receives them and they hurt, even more so when they are unjustified. I\u2019ve had several writer friends in tears and deeply wounded by bad reviews and it can knock a fragile confidence to smithereens for a long time. Even four* reviews can contain a painful sting in the tail. Why do these people do it? If a book I read is s so bad I can\u2019t in all honesty give it at least three star* but there is something that I think can be improved, I send a private email or Facebook message \u2013 not to wound but to offer supportive suggestions. I\u2019m not holier-than-thou. It\u2019s a case of do-as-you-would-be-done-by.<\/p>\n No serious writer will refuse constructive criticism. They may choose to ignore it but I for one, always welcome it.<\/p>\n I once made a serious mistake and uploaded a draft file, full of typos, onto Amazon Kindle instead of the final copy. To compound my error, I put it up as a Kindle free promotion and 7,000 plus copies were downloaded worldwide before I could upload the proofed copy. To my surprise, though it justifiably received some bad reviews, they were outnumbered by the good ones from readers who enjoyed the story. Nonetheless, it\u2019s taken awhile to creep up and will probably never achieve the level of stars of all my other books.<\/p>\n Final thoughts<\/strong><\/p>\n Re-reading all this, I feel I must come across as sanctimonious and smug. Or is just my self-doubt kicking in? Either way, I\u2019ve decided not to change it.<\/p>\n As a reader, what are your views? As a writer, what support would you value?<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Though we writers may write principally for our own pleasure we would all dearly love to be read more widely and for our work to be enjoyed by strangers \u2013 thus establishing our work has some merit. That first time someone you have never met is prepared to actually pay good money to read your […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-448","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"entry","7":"has-post-thumbnail"},"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","post_mailing_queue_ids":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.judithcranswick.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/448"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.judithcranswick.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.judithcranswick.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.judithcranswick.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.judithcranswick.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=448"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/www.judithcranswick.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/448\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":484,"href":"https:\/\/www.judithcranswick.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/448\/revisions\/484"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.judithcranswick.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=448"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.judithcranswick.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=448"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.judithcranswick.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=448"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}<\/a>The best way of all is to write a review on their Amazon page. Don\u2019t rely on your Kindle. It doesn\u2019t seem to register where it counts.<\/p>\n<\/a>Margaret James<\/strong> is the author of the Charton Minster Trilogy (Choc Lit)<\/a>. I first met Margaret when we sat next to each other on a course at the Writers\u2019 Holiday in Caerleon several years ago. I knew of her from her regular monthly column in Writing Magazine. She had always struck me as such an authoritative (in the best sense of the word) and assured figure and to hear her speak of her fears so candidly came as a surprise.<\/p>\n