The Word on the Words

I didn't think it was possible, but two people actually have reviewed The Wild Roses on Amazon.  I believe that the official response is "Whoo-hoo!"

One may think that writing a novel is difficult.  Trust me, it doesn't compare with trying to get people to review the freaking thing.  In fairness, the book has only been out for a little less than a week (thank goodness, apparently, for speed-reading classes), but I'm speaking in part from the experience of my last book, but also from talking with other writers.

To be clear, I don't have any expectation that anyone will review the book.  Hey, just the fact that they bought it is stunning enough.  And then picking it up to read -- and making it all the way through -- that's almost more than one could ask for.  Except...well, you do ask for the reviews. 

You don't ask from any sense of validation (after all, you have no idea what the response will be -- and unlike going to a movie theater or being in the audience of a play, where if half the people hate it, that still means that half enjoy it.  But with reading, that person's reaction is 100% of your audience...).  However, the reason is because readers are wary about buying a book until they've read other people's comments.  Not just wary about buying it, but spending the time to read it.

So, all the more reason it was so nice and appreciated to see the two reviews.

No doubt John Grisham feels the same when he gets his second User Review on Amazon...