CJ Simone

I'm the someone who won't let me quit.🙃

@Hart_Horrors That's a great review!

Delighted to wake up to a new review, especially as July has been Julying pretty hard. Thank you, John 🥳

@MorganShamy Beautiful!❤️

Not writing related but… Piano has always been a side thing compared to my dancing & writing. But my daughter has given me the gift of playing again. The opportunities I’ve had—from playing at Carnegie Hall to Juilliard & traveling all over the nation—have been such a gift!🥹🎶

@GaiusKonstantin I find it problematic too!

@CJSimone333 Yes, I've heard similar from many authors...yet I find it a problem. Kirkus is considered prestigious, but the quality of the reviewers is all over the scale. It's a gamble with their prices.

Now the topic of libraries has come up, and that's a concerning factor in all this b/c apparently many will only consider those w/ a prestigious editorial review (or give preference to them). I've been waiting to approach libraries about all mine till after my upcoming release.

@MelRClayton Thanks, that's useful information!

In my experience, it's more important for a book to have an LCCN (in the U.S.), than it is to have a prestigious review. Libraries are hesitant to take books without the LCCN. Self-published authors can get one through the Library of Congress's PCN program for free, but they have to be assigned before publication. X users shouldn't trust links, but just Google the Library of Congress PCN program for information.

@AuthorTRobare Nice!

Woke up to a new review for my novella and it totally saved my week! I am so thankful!

#Readers, please know that reviewing my books is a safe activity, & you won't get a negative response from me! Course I love the glowing reviews, but I appreciate how detailed & passionate critical reviews can be. I really only want your passion, not necessarily your praise!❤️

@SteffenJack84 That's good to know!

@CJSimone333 I got my book, Pig Farm, into hundreds of libraries across the US and Canada without the need for a single review.

@JRLarriba That's cool yours didn't require it. I think I'll ask at the libraries near me what their policy is on it ahead of deciding anything about editorial reviews.

@CJSimone333 I have all my books in the public libraries of my county

@KWBussard_ So pricey! But also, it's concerning that some libraries require an editorial review. I've been waiting to approach them about all my books once I've released the upcoming one(s).

I've been told by some librarians that I needed a major Editorial Review to be considered to get into their stores. They named Kirkus by-name... I looked into Kirkus for self-published authors, and I wouldn't suggest paying for a review to be a worth-while investment... much less $599 for a review.

Are Kirkus Reviews worth it? Would the prestige of one be likely or unlikely to improve my sales of a highbrow book (PIP AND ESTELLA)? I guess the worst-case scenario is the reviewer happens to be a snot who's like, "how dare you retell Dickens," & I'll be out a couple hundred.

@MrRPLewis It's concerning that libraries often require them. I've been planning to approach libraries about all of mine after my upcoming releases.

There seem to be libraries which, by matter of policy, only purchase if Kirkus has a review blurb for it. It is what it is. I may be an outlier, but as a reader I don’t care about endorsements from review sites. Often, I don’t even look at reviews on GoodReads or Amazon unless I’m leaning towards an early DNF. I only really care about the endorsements of authors on my “must buy” list. If @YuvalKordov calls it spooky, or @Chronodendron says it’s great mythology, or @GSJennsen or @EJFisch say it’s a great space opera thriller/mystery… that’s what will urge me to make a purchase.

@LuckyTPUB Ugh, that's a frustrating situation!

It might technically but I also know that Kindle Reads are tracked and I can see if anyone has read it and the one unverified comment I have was not read. This is the problem even a kindle unlimited should count as verified because you did it through the system. Amazon allows hate bombing of products which is what happened to me.

Paid "customer" reviews are the problem, being both unethical & against Zon rules. Paid editorial reviews are considered differently, & there's even a Zon section for them. The big publishers use Kirkus & others, & they give exactly one review clearly labeled as coming from them.

@justcastellon I wouldn't even know which review sites hand them out easily. Kirkus, for example, seems to go either way from what I've heard authors say. For my first couple books, I got BestThrillers to review them, but w/ them also, I have no idea how easily they give 5 stars.

Hot take: why are some indie authors chasing 5-star reviews from review sites that hand them out like cheap candy? Literary critics are supposed to scrutinize your book regardless. That ‘express fee,’ by the way, is just a hook to drum up business.

@LuckyTPUB It's all a mess for sure. The unverified reviews, though, include our KU reads since those are borrowed and not purchased. And they do allow ARC reads, which aren't verified, & that's considered ethical by the majority.

its is also unethical for amazon to allow people to leave unverified purchase reviews which can tank a books mobility. Its hard enough to get traction in an oversaturated market and now with AI and big foot erotica truly unique visions are stifled all because others need to make a buck shilling things to get ahead.

@Hart_Horrors That's interesting and not really even surprising. It probably depends so much on the particular reviewer you happen to get. It seems to go the other way too, and I've heard a couple of people w/ well-written books got torn apart by them.

@CJSimone333 I’m in two minds on these. I’ve seen a few books of questionable quality receive high praise from Kirkus.

@livfreelivrich I mean, we are kinda desperate.😂 I think if I sent my books to content creators, I'd be ignored. You just pick books you're interested in & review them?

@CJSimone333 That and the whole "ARC" craze where indies desperately send "free books" to every self-proclaimed "content creator" who uploads "reviews"(which wasn't a thing back in the early 2010's). I write editorial reviews, but I don't accept freebies or money from authors or publishers.

@livfreelivrich If you don't feel right about editorial reviews or ARC sites, it definitely seems best to avoid them.🙂

@CJSimone333 It may be fine according to the TOS, but I will never co-sign on this kind of behavior, because there's still too much conflict of interest involved. Why should I allow Kirkus or Netgalley to be the arbiters of what gets discovered, read, & reviewed? I will find books my own way.

@justcastellon @GaiusKonstantin Thanks. Oh, yeah, I'm sure it's super pricey to do production, but I've been avoiding AI as best I can.🙂

@CJSimone333 @GaiusKonstantin Sorry, placements mean boosting or ad insertion, etc. AI is way cheaper than actual production. Even McDonald's with millions of ad budget is into it.

@livfreelivrich We are our own publishers, & it's considered the same as a publisher paying it (Kirkus invites both). If you take a self-publishing class, they'll tell you the same. Editorial reviews, whoever pays them, are not considered the same as other reviews & the Zon encourages them.

@CJSimone333 I feel like we've already been down this road, but yes I understand that some editorial reviews are technically paid for by the publisher. In that case it's a matter of how the money is received, because the author usually doesn't have anything to do with it.