Amazon – Page 6 – Jean's Writing

What is the first thing you see?

Published on March 22, 2017March 15, 2017 by Jean M. Cogdell18 Comments

When you choose which book to read how do you decide?

Me? I look at the name, cover, and the number of reviews. In that order.

Why in that order? Because a name can tell me a lot about a book and sorry, but I do judge a book by its cover. The cover doesn’t have to be a smashing, professional, polished job but the cover must match the name and pique my interest.

As for the number of reviewers, well I want to see how many have read the book and the ratio of star reviews. Because, yes quantity is as important as quality. The reviews need not all be four or five-star reviews, but if there are only a few, they should be glowing, knock it out of the park reviews to grab my attention.

Now I’m ready to see what everyone had to say. This may surprise you, but I read the lowest star review first, not the five-star.

Why? Because I want to see the reason someone would give a book a low rating.

Often I learn more from them than the high ones. And believe it, or not, the three or four-star reviews have on occasion enticed me to click buy.

So don’t be shy. You picked that book for a reason. Share your reasons for picking it, and reading it.

The author and other readers will be grateful.

How do you choose a book to read?

Do you always leave a review?

Do you at least click a star review?

Talk to me – I love comments.

Please head over and “like” my Facebook page at Facebook at jeanswriting . Or to connect with me, click the “write me” tab. Don’t forget you can follow me on StumbleUpon, on Twitter @jeancogdell , and Amazon.com.

Please stop by and say “hey!” I’ll leave a light on.

Do you need to know what to expect?

Published on March 16, 2017March 15, 2017 by Jean M. Cogdell4 Comments

When you ask someone to read your book?

Well, Evie Gaughan writes on her blog what to do and what to expect for writers.

Reviews: The Good, The Bad And The Ugly

I couldn’t agree more with her points. Begging for reviews is terrible practice but reviews authors must have.

So how do we keep our dignity?

Remember our manners. Say please and thank you.
Be gracious, we’re asking a big favor and may not always like the answer.
Tell the reviewer how important they are. Authors need reviews.
Agreeing to read our books is deserves our gratitude no matter what.
Let the reviewer know you value their time.
After going for the ask, let it go. Forget about it.

What do you think?

Are we becoming too rude with our expectations?

How do you find reviewers?

Talk to me – I love comments.

Please stop by and say “hey!” I’ll leave a light on.

Do you need to jumpstart after a dry spell?

Published on February 1, 2017March 16, 2017 by Jean M. Cogdell10 Comments

What to do, what to do?

That’s how I’ve felt for several days. Like Sisyphus pushing my writing up a hill only to have it roll back down again. It’s exhausting not to mention frustrating.

I don’t know about you but when I take time away from writing, for whatever the reason, the stories stop. It’s as if my characters go on vacation too. And when they show back up it is at a most inconvenient time, like in the middle of the night.

Writing my blog, my book, short stories, my journal… Whew! Sometimes it’s all too much but I love it! Crazy right?

However, if I stop the well runs dry. So how do I prime the pump?

I’ve had to get inventive to get my imagination going again. Believe me, it’s not always easy.

Here’s what I do to get my ideas popping.

Read!
- Any and everything, Facebook, Twitter, StumbleUpon, Emails (you get the idea)
- Favorite books, new genres, something different-uncomfortable
Watch a good movie
- Yes, good movies come from good writers
Make notes
- My memory isn’t what it used to be, sigh…
Send emails to myself when I find a good article
- See above note about memory
Write
- Anything, even if it’s gibberish, edit later
- write somewhere different, maybe outside

Still can’t write?

Well, here is one of my favorite exercises.

Open a book, any book. Copy the first paragraph. Now rewrite the paragraph making it your own. Change the character, the setting, the action, everything until it is completely different. This never fails to get my imagination going.

What do you do to keep the writing flowing?

To jumpstart your writing process after a break?

Please do share. I’d like to know. Tell me in the comments section.

Go here to “like” my Facebook page. Facebook at jeanswriting . To connect with me, click the “write me” tab or follow me on StumbleUpon, on Twitter @jeancogdell , and Amazon.com, stop by and say hey! The lights are on, and I’m waiting.

Please remember to share this post with your Twitter peeps and Facebook fans.

Want to know more about getting your writing groove back on? Keep reading!

When the Stories Have All Stopped By Kimberly Brock

25 WAYS TO GET YOUR CREATIVE GROOVE BACK AS A WRITER

How to Return to Writing After a Long Break

How to find the best keywords and tags

Published on December 9, 2016December 8, 2016 by Jean M. Cogdell12 Comments

The shopping frenzy has started.

If you’re like me, you’ve burned up Google and Amazon, searching for just the right gifts.

Late last night I was doing just that as I hunted for just the right gift. After a lot of junk popped up, unrelated to the item I wanted, a question began to germinate in my brain.

What pops up when someone Googles a subject I’ve blogged about? Or me, or my books?

If someone wants to know about ISBNs, will they find my blog?

Every writer hopes their books will appear on the first page of Amazon, and every blogger wants their blog to appear on the first page of Google search.

So how do we accomplish this?

Tag Words!

These little devils are more important than I ever realized. But don’t let the thought of the dreaded SEO scare you. Think of it more as waving at the internet shouting, “look, I’m over here.”

Picking the right keyword or tag for each blog and your book determines how quickly someone can find them.

After a lot of reading and research here’s what I’ve figured out.

Keywords and tags are the same things.
But categories are not the same as tags or keywords.
Tag your title. (If you’re writing about book reviews, make sure to use the keywords “book reviews.”
It’s important to research keywords. This doesn’t take a lot of work, simply use Google to see which words are busy or if your blog is popping. Or go to SEO Book Keyword Research Tool for more help.
Compound and plural words research different from simple and singular words. Such as, key word vs. keyword or keywords.

Now go Google yourself, your blog, and your keywords.

What did you find?

Are you set? Can people locate you easily?

Leave a comment or click the “write me” tab or look for me on Twitter @jeancogdell, Facebook at jean.cogdell and Amazon.com, stop by and say hey! The lights are on, and I’m waiting.

Please remember to share this post with your Twitter peeps and Facebook fans.