Getting reviews for self-published books is tougher than panning for gold. You have to ask for user reviews, even from your friends, over and over. When I finish reading a book, I feel like telling someone. I usually write something on Goodreads. But most people are reluctant to write reviews. I don’t know why.
Editorial reviews, from professional editors, critics, judges, and readers, are even harder to get. Those can be purchased, at high prices, with no guarantee of favorable results. I’ve never done that, but I have submitted my books to free review sites and contests and earned a few comments.
I’m happy to say that my reviews have been generally positive. Here is what I have so far:
In Alien Body (sci-fi, 80,000 words), Physician Dave Booker is shocked to discover an alien living in his summer cabin. Phane, the alien, is an anthropologist from another star system. His shuttlecraft has crashed, and he must regain it before the mothership gives him up for dead. But Dave is dumbfounded by the alien’s appearance, a large, green tennis ball with two eyes on tentacles above his head. What would it be like to have a body like that? Does one’s body determine how we think about the world, as the visitor claims?
Dave’s ambitious boss captures Phane but he escapes. In a wild chase, Phane flees determined pursuers including the military, but it’s not easy for a talking green tennis ball to hide. Dave realizes that Phane has much to teach humanity, but can he find his alien friend first and help him?
Alien Body is the first in the Phane series.
Ebook – Smash ISBN- 978-1-7322274-9-1
Ebook – Kindle: ISBN- 978-1-7338927-0-4 www.amazon.com/dp/B07VWKRH75
Paper – KDP: ISBN- 978-1-7338927-2-8 www.amazon.com/dp/1733892729
Five Stars! Readers Favorite.com
I was hooked from the beginning and invested in the story. …simply too amazing to forget. Brilliantly engaging and entertaining. — ReadersFavorite.com reviewer
Featured book on AmericanBookFest.com
Reader Review: Five Stars
Phane’s presentation as a little green man, shaped like a tennis ball when resting and a pretty close cousin to Vonnegut’s Tralfamadorians when awake, is one of the most likable aliens I’ve ever encountered. In many ways his humanity exceeds our own species. I hope this book finds a wide audience because in addition to the deep thoughts underlying it, it’s a ripping good yarn! – Stephen Russell, “Himalayas of Literature Course Creator at BookOblivion.com”
Booklife Review
The plot takes a simple concept and slowly branches it out into an epic tale. It’s lovingly paced with sensible twists that truly make readers think. The tone is delightfully thoughtful, light, and playful–even when things get dark. It makes the entire novel very readable and hard to put down. While the core concept is quite simple, the truly original risks the story takes are unexpected and enterprising… the overall character development is stellar. Each character has a distinct voice and perspective, and they are uncompromisingly themselves as they interact with the rest of their universe. — Critic’s Report, The BookLife Prize.
Don’t miss the Newcomers series:
Reluctant Android
Reluctant Android (Sci-fi, 80,000 words). Andy Bolton, a software engineer in Seattle, is horrified to discover he’s a robot. His boss, Lucy, wants to capture him and take him apart for study. On the run, Andy finds his creator and learns he is neither human nor straightforward machine. He reluctantly accepts that he is something in between, a sentient AI device. He needs to explain this to his nemesis, Lucy, but can a person ever believe in a machine with empathy?
Amazon Kindle: 978-1-7322274-1-5 (Mobi) bit.ly/RA-kindle
Amazon Paper: 978-1-7322274-2-2 (Paperback) bit.ly/RA-paperback
Smashwords Ebook: 978-1-7322274-0-8 (Epub) bit.ly/RA-smash
Writers Digest Honorable Mention: Best Sci-Fi Self-Published Books of 2018!
…a fast-paced morality tale, one that blends bleeding-edge science with deep philosophical questions for a high-throttle page-turner. — WD Judge, 5th Annual Writer’s Digest Self-Published eBook Awards.
Indie BRAG Medallion Award, 2019
The author deftly creates an android that we can care about and it teaches us some wonderful lessons about compassion and leads us to thinking of the future we will one day face. For those Sci Fi lovers and those interested in AI, I highly recommend this book. — Judge, 2019 Indie BRAG Awards.
Alien Talk (sci-fi, 80,000 words): As millions of people become mute in a spreading pandemic, android Robin Taylor discovers that language is an intelligent virus that infected early humans and ultimately enabled modern civilization. Now the virus is enraged by the false language of talking technologies. But Robin is a talking gadget herself. Anyone she communicates with is stricken mute. Can she warn humans and stop the plague?
KDP Paper: https://www.amazon.com/dp/1732227454 bit.ly/AT-Paper
Kindle: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07LDJ4CHF bit.ly/AT-Kindle
Smash: https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/886758 bit.ly/AT-Smash
…a gripping thriller that sucked me in from page one and kept me reading until I finished it. … a page turner that sparks thoughts and ideas. And Noam Chomsky, too! Highly recommended. – Online Reader
American Fiction Awards: Finalist!
Award Finalist in the Science Fiction: General category, The 2019 American Fiction Awards
Intelligent Things (sci-fi, 80,000 words): Engineer Jennifer Valentine releases advanced AI assistants online to revolutionize the internet of things. But her softbots, called NODs, go rogue, and she must save the national power grid from disaster. With her consciousness uploaded online, she searches for the leader of the NODs and finds much more than she expected. Back in her lab, she must decide: erase the entire NOD world to protect the human world?
Ebook – Kindle: ISBN-13: 978-1-7322274-7-7 (Mobi) bit.ly/IT-Kindle
Amazon Paperback: ISBN-13: 978-1-7322274-8-4 (Paper) bit.ly/IT-Paper
Ebook – Smashwords ISBN: 978-1-7322274-6-0 (Epub) bit.ly/AT-Smash
Readers Favorite.com
The characters are realistic and show valid concern for life and sentience on multiple levels. All in all, this is a great sci-fi thriller that brings the future straight to today. A must for fans of the genre! –Four Stars!
Holy prophet Chalmers, excellent! — Prof. David Chalmers, New York University
…all three stand-alone novels in the Newcomers Series ground the potentially overwhelming mind-body question in an entertaining story about Robin and Andy, two androids—don’t use that term to them! – Online Reader
…a wondrous, clever, unique, insightful book! You pose all of the big life questions in such organic ways. You make us fall in love with a simple piece of code, wow!… My mind was blown … What a pleasure to read! – Judge, 27th Annual Writer’s Digest Self-Published Book Awards.
Publish Your Novel Online for Under $500: A Step-by-Step Guide for Writers
Self-publishing is the most practical way for a novelist to find readers, and with today’s technology, it’s affordable. Find out what it takes to get your writing online with this step-by-step guide from a novelist who did it. You’ll learn what you need to get started and how to see the project through. You’ll be able to decide whether to do it all yourself or to purchase some professional services to assist. A section on marketing gives advice on how to sell your book once it’s published. Your novel doesn’t do anybody any good if it sits in a drawer. You have to get it out there. This guide shows you how to do it.
Kindle: 978-1-7338927-1-1 (77,000 words, illustrated)
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07VYLVVTT
KDP Paper: 978-1-7338927-4-2 (285 pp. illustrated)
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07VYLVVTT
Booklife Prize:
Usable and reader-friendly, this step-by-step guide targets unpublished as well as published writers, tapping into current industry trends while adapting traditional techniques. The book explores every aspect of publishing for authors who wish to remain independent and prefer to establish an inner circle. By providing writers with practiced tips that eliminate unwanted outside interference and mandatory editorial influence, the author provides an empowering resource… Extensive and well-researched, practical and versatile, this conversational textbook uses a concept-to-product method to edit, format, and market a novel. Like manufacturing, each phase of this publication process has a strategy.
Reader Review (Five Stars):
I strongly recommend the book–an honest and straightforward discussion of publishing and eBook without any of the promises of making millions that so many other similar books and websites seem to indulge in. If you just want to publish an eBook, this book will tell you how.
