When I started out on this crazy publishing journey, I had a few goals for my book.
1. To have 5 people love my book as much as I love/worship/adore the books of Linnea Sinclair, Julia Quinn, Patrick Rothfuss, etc. So, a lot of you like my book. I guess some of you love it as much as I love the books of my favorite authors? Seems so presumptious to think that. I’ll just leave this one unchecked for now.
2. To have Felicia Day* read my book. Why Felicia Day? Well, take a look at her Goodreads account. She loves the same type of books I love! Meredith Duran, Patrick Rothfuss, Joanna Bourne, etc. And look at her most recent updates! You seeeee it! She read The Shadow Reader! And, so what if she wasn’t totally in love with the book. That’s perfectly okay – my book isn’t for everyone – but she read it! Front to back, she read it! Achievement Unlocked!
3. My 3rd goal I won’t even speak of. It’s way too farfetched, so I’ll keep it to myself. Unless I get to unlock the achievement. 🙂
Speaking of Goodreads, totally love that site. I love reading reviews. The good reviews are awesome, of course, but the bad reviews? I’m so surprised by how much I like reading them, too. I haven’t had one that hurts my feelings yet. Most of them make me laugh! The only ones that make me go “Whaaaaaat?” are the ones that compare the characters in TSR to characters in Twilight. (Kyol = Edward?????? Huh?????) (Don’t think I’m a Twilight basher. I enjoyed the books (Except the last one, which I think might have been becaused I listened to the audiobook and didn’t read it.).)
Anyway, gotta get to work on revisions. I have my edit letter for The Shattered Dark and a ton of work to do. Oh, and there’s this thing called Christmas coming up. I should probably start thinking about that. Are any of you finished with Christmas shopping? If you are, I might hate you a little. 🙂
* Felicia Day is an actress. She does The Guild web series. She was also in Dr. Horrible’s Sing Along Blog with Neil Patrick Harris and Mal Nathan Fillion.
Haha, awesome about Felicia Day reading your book!! I think you can say you unlocked another achievement: Having the word “vagina” mentioned in a review about your book. I seriously laughed out loud here at work when I read that she wrote that McKenzie was “vagina motivated” throughout the book (which I disagree, btw). Seriously freaking cool!!!! Congrats!
I know, right? Totally awesome! hehe Nope, #3 doesn’t have to do with anyone reading my book or making the NY Times bestseller list or anything. 🙂
Oops. Meant that previous reply to be to your other comment. Yeah, I laughed at the v-word, too. You should really follow Felicia’s reviews! She’s very funny and I bet you’d get a lot of great recs from her updates.
Now you make me curious as to what your 3rd goal is. Does it have to do with the number of books sold? Money? President Obama reading your book? How far-fetched are we talking? BTW, he probably won’t have time until his Presidential term is over, so you might have to wait a while to unlock that achievement. 🙂
I’m a french reader and I love your book so much !
Thanks for this, it’s a great discovery =)
I want the #2 now pleeeeeease ^^
A french reader? Awesome! Glad you enjoyed it, but sorry to say the next book isn’t due out until November. 🙁 I know how you feel. I always hated waiting for the next book in a series. Now that I’m on the other side… well, I still hate it. I want you guys to be able to read it as soon as it’s all finished and polished. 🙂
Felicia Day’s Goodreads reviews are hilarious and I’d be happy if I wrote a book and she reviewed it. I was really surprised by her reactions to the choices McKenzie made though. I thought McKenzie’s choices were based on being exposed to a different side of things that made her question everything she’d been told by everyone, including the man she loved. She may have been more receptive because she was attracted to Aren, but I didn’t feel like that was the only reason she did what she did. I thought you wrote an excellent book and I look forward to reading the next one! Thank you so much for writing it! 🙂
Hi Erica! I think if McKenzie had chosen the other guy, Felicia may have enjoyed the book more. It seems like that’s one of the things that make people love or hate the book – McKenzie’s choice at the end. Which I totally understand. I love, love, love the other guy (and the guy she chose!), so I can understand why people feel this way.
Glad you enjoyed it! And thanks for reading!
That Felicia Day review is hilarious. “Vagina motivated.” LOL!!!! That’s so awesome that she read and enjoyed your book!
Also? You can check off one fan for your #1 goal above. 😉
heh I think she has a whole shelf devoted to “vagina” motivated heroines.
Wow, you’re a braver woman than I. I quit logging on to Goodreads and Amazon after the first day. I took everything way too personally. One reviewer said my book would have been better if my MC would have died at the end. I guess I did sort of chuckle, but holy crap. Harsh. I’m so glad that you’ve been able to hang around Goodreads. I miss that site. A lot. :'(
Glad you’re seeing the light at the end of the tunnel for book 2. I know you’ll knock those edits out of the park! Add me to your super fan list as well. You’re an amazing writer! <3
I think even if my negative reviews bothered me, I still couldn’t stay away from Goodreads. I’m completely addicted. You’re a much more stronger willed person than I am!
Also *hugs*.
I gotta say I heard about your book while surffing my usual sites. I thought I might check it out when I had time . Then I came across three differnt blogs in a row who had good things to say about Shadow Reader. I bought it this morning and I’m done. I couldn’t put it down! That doesn’t happen to me very often anymore when I think a book will be just okay and then I fall in love with it. Thanks for giving me that experience again. I look forward to the next book in the series and anything else you might release along the way.
Thank you for reading, Gwen! And thanks for sharing how you heard about The Shadow Reader. I’m grateful so many reviewers decided to give the book a chance, and even more grateful they liked it enough to share it with their readers. 🙂
I absolutely love your book, it is completely awesome and you can definitely count me as one of the people from your first achievement.
I love both Aren and Kyol, so im kinda lucky. No matter how it ends up, I wont have that nooo! feeling. Although I still feel really bad for Kyol, maybe he can fall in love with someone too.
The entire plot was fast paced and amazing. I sat and read every single page and I’ve just finished. I still have that awesome feeling that comes after finishing an amazing book and I dont think im going to survive waiting for book 2.
Thank you so much for sharing this, It is… amazing. Seriously.
Woohoo! Another checkmark. Thanks!
I’m glad you love by Kyol and Aren! I love them both, too, and feel just as badly as you do about Kyol.
Thanks for reading!
I just finished Shadow Reader last night (I was up until 1:30 am reading it because I couldn’t put it down) and I loved it. I think wanting Felicia Day to read and review your book is a great goal. I love her reviews, whether they are good, bad or somewhere in between.
Congratulations on such a great debut and unlocking those achievements. Here’s to unlocking number 3 on your list and to book 2 coming out soon. I cannot wait!