This week, I'd like to celebrate ratings--both good and "bad."
On the good side, I got my first five-star review on my first independent book that isn't a children's book on Well Water Woman. In fact, it is on the Kobo Top 100 at #83 in Nonfiction, Religion & Spirituality, New Age, Reincarnation!*
Another thing I'd like to celebrate is receiving the lowest review on one of the books I've written under one of my pen names. Having received an average of four-star ratings under another pen name, receiving such a low-star rating for this one pen name allowed me to feel immunity. If I hadn't received the higher ratings I did from the prior pen name, then I'd for certain feel crushed. However, reading the low-star reviews by authors outside of my genre made me see that these fellow writers had little experience with my genre. One of the authors I truly appreciate, whose name I cannot recall at the moment, said it this way: If you get a one-star rating, that means the wrong reader found your book. I'm inclined to agree, because a fellow author in my pen name's genre raved about my book and said it was some of the best stuff she's read in our genre.
The contrast tells me I'm on track toward growth in skill, readership and eventual sales numbers. If you run, you feel the wind--you feel resistance. So of course, I'd see the other end of a five-star review. I'm glad I can see that now--both the up side and the down side and feel equanimity instead of the roller coaster of emotions I used to feel before.
Plus, what also helps is being proud of my own work. I got awesome feedback from an editor about a piece I adapted from Well Water Woman for a WaterAid anthology that is coming out in December 2014. The creative process excites me, and I'm so glad that I have finally learned that life is about moving forward, beating to your own drum and making a mark unique to you. We each come with our own mission to accomplish and I am in the midst of mine. I'm on the path, and that's what I'm most grateful for.
*Note to aspiring authors: One thing I learned early on from my Amazon Kindle bestseller, Mama Gloria's Sunflower Garden, is that just because our works earn the title credit of "bestseller" that it does not necessarily translate to amount of sales in that particular category. In other words, some categories sell faster or more than others. So even though I can rightfully claim "bestselling author of" on the front covers of any books I henceforth publish, the credit does not feel legitimate until I've actually achieved the sales numbers to match the title credit. In the meantime, this categorical spin makes a nice twist to the adage "fake it until you make it."
Find Me Here:
Website: GloriaNg.com
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/GloriaFanPage
Twitter: https://twitter.com/fengshuigal
Google+: https://plus.google.com/+GloriaNgAuthor
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/6562436.Gloria_Ng
On the good side, I got my first five-star review on my first independent book that isn't a children's book on Well Water Woman. In fact, it is on the Kobo Top 100 at #83 in Nonfiction, Religion & Spirituality, New Age, Reincarnation!*
Another thing I'd like to celebrate is receiving the lowest review on one of the books I've written under one of my pen names. Having received an average of four-star ratings under another pen name, receiving such a low-star rating for this one pen name allowed me to feel immunity. If I hadn't received the higher ratings I did from the prior pen name, then I'd for certain feel crushed. However, reading the low-star reviews by authors outside of my genre made me see that these fellow writers had little experience with my genre. One of the authors I truly appreciate, whose name I cannot recall at the moment, said it this way: If you get a one-star rating, that means the wrong reader found your book. I'm inclined to agree, because a fellow author in my pen name's genre raved about my book and said it was some of the best stuff she's read in our genre.
The contrast tells me I'm on track toward growth in skill, readership and eventual sales numbers. If you run, you feel the wind--you feel resistance. So of course, I'd see the other end of a five-star review. I'm glad I can see that now--both the up side and the down side and feel equanimity instead of the roller coaster of emotions I used to feel before.
Plus, what also helps is being proud of my own work. I got awesome feedback from an editor about a piece I adapted from Well Water Woman for a WaterAid anthology that is coming out in December 2014. The creative process excites me, and I'm so glad that I have finally learned that life is about moving forward, beating to your own drum and making a mark unique to you. We each come with our own mission to accomplish and I am in the midst of mine. I'm on the path, and that's what I'm most grateful for.
*Note to aspiring authors: One thing I learned early on from my Amazon Kindle bestseller, Mama Gloria's Sunflower Garden, is that just because our works earn the title credit of "bestseller" that it does not necessarily translate to amount of sales in that particular category. In other words, some categories sell faster or more than others. So even though I can rightfully claim "bestselling author of" on the front covers of any books I henceforth publish, the credit does not feel legitimate until I've actually achieved the sales numbers to match the title credit. In the meantime, this categorical spin makes a nice twist to the adage "fake it until you make it."
Find Me Here:
Website: GloriaNg.com
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/GloriaFanPage
Twitter: https://twitter.com/fengshuigal
Google+: https://plus.google.com/+GloriaNgAuthor
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/6562436.Gloria_Ng
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