Dianne Harman Talks Numbers

Please welcome my guest, Dianne Harman, who addresses the topic of a writer's self-worth. Morgan Mandel

ABOUT DIANNE HARMAN

Dianne Harman draws her stories and characters from a diverse business and personal background. She owned a national antique and art appraisal business for many years, leaving that industry and opening two yoga centers where she taught yoga and certified yoga instructors. Dianne has traveled extensively throughout the world, most recently dividing her time between Huntington Beach, California and Sacramento, California, where her husband was a Senator. A gourmet cook, she has entertained Governors, Congressmen and numerous other political figures in her homes. An avid reader, Dianne brings the richness of her life experiences to her novels, Blue Coyote Motel, Tea Party Teddy, Coyote in Provence, and Tea Party Teddy’s Legacy.

Web Site http://www.DianneHarman.com

Blog: http://dianneharman.com/blog/

Letting Go of Numbers

Do you start your day by checking to see how many books you sold while you were were asleep or what your author rank is on Amazon? Not to mention Kobo and Smashwords!

Often when we see the numbers, we know whether it’s going to be a good day or a not so good day. These numbers often determine our mood for the whole day! We become reliant on numbers to tell us how good we are as authors! And if we wake up and see that someone has given us a 1 * review? That can definitely affect your mood, particularly if you’re a first-time author. The first time it happened to me I felt like someone had just told me my firstborn was ugly. How dare they? What right do they have to do that? Don’t they know the hours I spent writing, re-writing, polishing, etc?

Now I’m a little more seasoned. I’ve published four books with another coming out in the next few weeks. I’ve learned not to judge my self-worth by numbers, be they author ranking, sales, or reviews. It’s kind of like some people say about the weather in certain places. If you don’t like it, come back in an hour. Ranking can change that quickly. For example, one of my books, Tea Party Teddy, was ranked 475,386 this morning and up until an hour ago. When I happened to look at it an hour ago it had gone to 93,461. I know it will change again in a couple of hours. That comes with some experience.

Let’s spend a moment on reviews – particularly the dreaded one and two star ones. I’ve learned that bad reviews may have absolutely nothing to do with the book or the author. I’m always amazed when a reviewer gives book a low review because they don’t like that genre. Why they would review a book in a genre they don’t like is beyond me? And if a book is well written I don’t think it matters what the genre is. It can be dystopian or romance. A good book is a good book. I’ve often wondered if these people want their fifteen minutes of fame as Truman Capote once wrote. Seeing their name in print may be the only time they achieve any kind of notoriety!

Certainly, there are certain things authors can do to keep the low numbers at bay. With all of the tools available today there really is no reason for a book to be sloppily edited. I highly recommend www.hemingwayapp.com. It points out when sentences are too long, if there’s too many adverbs, etc. Another important aspect of a book is the cover. Get a professional person to do it or ask for feedback from a number of people of you’re doing it yourself. Ask people for reviews. Get as much publicity for the book as possible. It doesn’t have to be paid publicity. Bloggers are always looking for people to interview or make their job easier. Book clubs and libraries actively seek authors. I’ve been the featured author at several book clubs and never went there. I did it via the telephone. I’m a firm believer that no one is going to look for my books under a rock. Give readers a reason to read your book.

I’ll close with one of the most important things you can do to insure that your books will be read and you won’t have to play the numbers game. Write, write, and then write some more. The more books you write, they more chances you have that someone will like one of your books and want to read other books written by you. If you’re like me and you find an author you really like, you’ll probably read at least one or two more by that author. I recently discovered Sandra Brown and so far have managed to read eleven of her books. On the flip side, I’ve read wonderful books and been very disappointed to find out that was their only book. Readers are fickle. If I can’t find more books by that author, I’m off to another one and the first one I liked will be long forgotten.

So, write, believe in yourself, and most of all, have fun! This has to be the best job in the world - the ability to create worlds!

ABOUT BLUE COYOTE MOTEL 

You'll never look at motel air conditioning the same way after you read Blue Coyote Motel.

Blue Coyote Motel is a suspense filled thriller about six travelers who stop and spend the night at a remote California desert motel. Each of them leaves the following morning "feeling good," but unaware that they have inadvertently become addicted to a gaseous drug piped into their rooms.

Jeffrey, the owner of the motel, is a scientist who was recently fired by a prestigious Southern California drug manufacturer for giving an anti-aging hormone he discovered to his beautiful Latina wife. Spinning slowly into the depths of insanity, he decides to test the effectiveness of another of his drug discoveries on unsuspecting motel guests. He calls the drug Freedom because it frees people from depression, anger, stress, grief, and aggression. Jeffrey has grandiose plans to make Freedom available throughout the world in order to bring about peace and harmony, but instead it causes grief and chaos in the lives of the motel guests. The cast of characters includes a defrocked priest, a Native American pediatrician, a wealthy widow, a Brazilian couple who owns gold mines and a salesman intent on finding himself.

Blue Coyote Motel presents an engaging look at the human frailties present in all of us.

Amazon: http://ow.ly/s6pN5 

Smashwords: http://ow.ly/u4Fb2 

Please leave a comment to welcome Dianne Harman to Book Beat Babes.