Reading by numbers...

I wonder what the numbers mean.

I'm an Amazon Top 1000 Reviewer! It sounds great, but I'm really not sure how I got there or how long I'll stay--or even how to stay. Rumors abound about reviews by authors disappearing.  If my reviews vanish willI stop being in the Top 1000? Or does being a Top 1000 Reviewer help my reviews stay where they are?
Of course, being a reviewer of any sort on Amazon involves numbers. I can't just post a review on its own without adding some kind of rating, and I hate rating books. I'd much rather let the reader decide if they'd like the book or not. Should the rating tell if I liked the book (or hated it)? Is it really so personal? Or is it meant to be some global scale where everyone knows exactly what 3, 4 and 5 mean? And is 5 "perfect"? If so then, as a mathematician, I should never rate anything 5.

Come to that, is 3 negative or average? I gave one book 3 stars and another reviewer accused me of trying to sabotage the author's career. But I've given others 3 stars and been thanked for my efforts.

Then there are ranks. Psalm Stories is ranked #2 in Amazon's Hot New Releases in children's religious efiction, but what does that mean? It was #1 in kindle free children's religious efiction for a while. But does that really make it a best-seller? Does it make me a top-ranked author? A best-selling author?
Nearly 1,000 people have downloaded Psalm stories so far, but it only has 2 reviews on Amazon. Does that mean only 2 people actually read it? I guess not, since I know more than 2 of its readers personally, but you see what I mean.

And now Psalm Stories is "ranked" 170,393 in the kindle store, but my question remains--I wonder what the numbers mean.

Psalm Stories... "contains a whopping 75 delightful Five-Minute Psalm Stories… one for each Psalm. And every one of them consists of a short but thought-provoking question, a marvelous story that illustrates a moral lesson, a closing observation or comment, plus a short, meditative prayer to wrap things up. Like every volume in the Five-Minute Bible Story™ Series, it will leave your children begging for 'just one more!'" Find it on Amazon at: http://www.amazon.com/Psalm-Stories-Five-Minute-Bible-ebook/dp/B00AQS1N0M/ and see what you think.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

How to Connect those Connections

Taken from a talk I gave on Sunday at the Writers' Mill. This is a very low-level approach to getting connected, from one beginner to another... Internet Writing, Marketing and Networking If you’ve got an email address you’re on the internet. If you’ve got a book out or an article in a magazine, you’re into marketing. If you’ve got friends, you’re networking. And if you use Google, you can do almost anything. Google Google is your friend. Google “how to join facebook” “How to join goodreads” “How to join Twitter” etc… Google “facebook badges” “blogger widgets” etc… to spice up your pages. Anything you want to know, a nice simple question to google will almost certainly tell you. But keep safe . Don’t just click on the first link you see. Make sure it looks vaguely genuine. “F*@!book.com/badges” might take you somewhere you don’t want your computer to go. “Facebook.com/badges” tells you all about badges. Why would you want to join all these interne...
Read more

Eternal curse might hide a blessing too.

Image
Today is the official launch day for Toi Thomas's paranormal romance, Eternal Curse, and I was lucky enough to be offered a free preview copy some while ago. The novel creates an intriguing mythology of angelic beings and the Fall, binding it nicely to modern day characters in search of meaning for their lives. There's an interesting blend of the paranormal, faith and science, and the story has a nicely old-fashioned feel with separate underlying tales taking center stage on the way to resolution. So... here's the cover, the blurb, and my review: ABOUT THE BOOK 'You have plenty of time to change your mind. You have not yet seen the monster I can be.' Giovanni has been waiting his whole life to meet someone like Mira, someone from the outside world who might be able to help him. He wonders if there really is help for him as he continues to hold tightly onto dark secrets and even darker memories. Giovanni wants to be hopeful and he wants to accept Mira...
Read more

Author or transcriber, reader or visitor, greatest or least? Meet Kathryn Elizabeth Jones

Image
 Today I'm delighted to welcome Kathryn Elizabeth Jones, author of " I walked with Jesus ," to my blog. I very much enjoyed her short stories retelling miracles from the life of Christ - we clearly have faith and short fiction in common with each other.  I loved how historical, real, and relevant Kathryn's stories felt. You can find my review here:  https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/4904771188 . I'd love to meet the author and chat in person, but inviting her to my blog is the next best thing, so I asked her to let me and you how she finds her audience. Here's what she told me. Why I think my audience is beginning to find me by  Kathryn Elizabeth Jones One of the hardest things to do as an author, other than writing or marketing a book, is to find that often illusive audience. It’s easier with mysteries or children’s picture books, probably because you know who reads them; adults and teens who love sleuthing and children and their parents who love reading....
Read more