Goodreads. What gives?

[Droflet]

So, what's with Goodreads. My first book got over 200 reviews. In the last two months my second book has got a grand total of nilch. Zero? Really? Surely it isn't that bad? Or am I missing something? Dazed and confused. Thoughts?

 

[Jo Zebedee]

I have no idea, to be honest, but I suppose the big question is how comparable are sales, and if there has been a similar dip in Amazon reviews? (I do find people tend to support book one more than subsequent ones, though, because it's a novelty. But your first book did so well people may not feel they need to support you so much now.)

 

[Stephen Palmer]

The publishing world is much more random than you realise Droflet. 95% is luck, and your unfortunate stats reflect this. The only way up is to keep going.

 

[Overread]

It might also be a difference in how you marketed your second book or on its position in the series and its story pace.

If its part of a traditional trilogy then the middle book "tends" to be slower going than the first and last. In longer series the middle section tends to slow or it might have a few peeks and troughs (depends how many books the series is). In general very few series can maintain high pace; high change and high action through every single book (some manage by having huge casts of characters or by shifting around the time that things are happening etc..).

So it could just be its a slower book that generates less "buzz" than the first; but which would be expected to pick up in the final novel.

It could be your marketing focus changed so you put less pressure on getting release reviews.

It could be that the book is a slower going book and many readers are left in limbo until the next publication to really get a feel for the story. If its a very tight story such as like the Lord of the Rings where each book very much requires the preceding ones to make sense then many might be on the fence at this point until the story finishes

 

[Jo Zebedee]

It occurs to me, too, that it depends if book two's marketing reached book one's readers (this is where the big guys use their mailing lists so well). Do you have an author's fb page for people to follow you and did they after book one? Or did you capture them on your personal fb page (I use twitter as my direct of choice) Did you get anything out to eg sffworld to say it was coming out? Or on the Goodreads page for book one?

Also - one of my writer friends linked all my Abendau books into one Goodreads page for me yesterday and it looks great (Inheritance Trilogy by Jo Zebedee)
- really makes the consistently high review ranking hit like a brick.

So, yeah, I'd be looking to ensure my marketing was in place to pick up your existing readers - otherwise you're back to being just another book on Amazon.

 

[Droflet]

Okay, thanks everyone. The mystery deepens. Amazon reviews are steady but Goodreads? Nothing in two months is driving me nuts. Yeah I've got plenty of 'hey, I love it' which is nice but last time I had reviews within 48 hours. My publisher says it selling well so I'll just have to sit back and hold my tongue. Very uncomfortable.

 

[Jo Zebedee]

Silly question - but where is the Goodreads listing for book two? I can only see Uncommon purpose and Explorations. You will need to add FCD to your profile before anyone will review it

 

[Droflet]

Oh, really? Didn't have to do that for book one. I'll give it a try. Thanks Jo.

 

[Droflet]

Ah, it's coming up on my Goodreads page. Comments, but no reviews. Hmm, I'll try to contact Goodreads and see if I can get some answers. As a few folks have said, it could simply be suffering from second book syndrome.

 

[Brian G Turner]

Ah, it's coming up on my Goodreads page.

I only see two books coming up under your name: P.J. Strebor

 

[Cat's Cradle]

Hey Droflet. I don't use Goodreads normally, but I looked under your last name, and perhaps the problem is the way your initials are entered against the book listings? The Uncommon Purpose listing with all of the reviews is at Goodreads as:
P.J. Strebor . (As is your listing for Explorations: Through the Wormhole.)

The First Comes Duty listing (the one with 41 ratings but no reviews) is there as:
Pj Strebor .

Could this be the problem? Just a thought, CC

 

[Droflet]

Thanks guys. At this stage I'll try anything.

 

[Brian G Turner]

Thanks guys. At this stage I'll try anything.

Have you set up a Goodreads author account? If not, do that and you should be able to get the issue corrected.

 

[Droflet]

Thanks Brian, set up an account the other day.

 

[Brian G Turner]

Looks like you may need to ask Goodreads to merge authors, before you mess things up.

Btw, this looks like your 2nd book? First Comes Duty (The Hope Island Chronicles Book 2)

 

[Droflet]

Merge authors? I did nothing with the first book so will give this a go. Ah, how do I do that?
Yes, my second book.

 

[pambaddeley]

I'm seeing all your books on one page PJ - Books by P.J. Strebor (Author of Uncommon Purpose)
Did you sort it out? The books aren't on a series page though or there would be a hash symbol before the number.

 

[Droflet]

Like I said, Pam, I did nothing for book one and had no problems. The trouble is, even though I recently joined Goodread, I just don't understand it. How do I mark it as a series? My E mail is giving me grief so I can't contact them. Sigh. So frustrating.

 

[Nick B]

Drof, join the group 'librarians' then post a request that someone looks at the problem (give em lots of detail of exactly whats wrong and what you want done) and a librarian will sort it out for you. May take a few days but they are a helpful bunch.
Hope that helps

 

[Droflet]

Thanks. And congrats on the book. Going gang busters.