I May Never Buy a $2.99-or-Less Book Again

A few readers who have known me longer than the 3 or 4 months of the life of this blog have asked, when did you developed such varied tastes in literature?  You see, I have been largely a Lee Child, Preston & Child, Michael Crichton, early Tom Clancy, John Sanford type of reader.  Now, they are seeing Vampire romances and kinky Christmas tales on my book reviews.

Actually, I haven’t changed.  What I have done, however, is realize that indie authors, like me, try to help each other out, and writing reviews is one way to do so.

Sounds bad, right?  Big conflict of interest? 

Well, maybe some, but not as much as it might appear.  First, reciprocal reviews are frowned upon.  Too much of a chance to get into a ‘scratch my back, I’ll scratch yours’ situation.  Then, there are credibility issues.  Who listens to anyone who hands out all 5-star ratings.  I don’t.  And finally, I am not sure that all 5’s would be that meaningful anyway.  Sure, all authors have egos, and would like the strokes, but rating activity may be as important, or maybe more important than rating magnitude.  What would an all 5-star book be, anyway?  A fad?  On the other hand, lots of people, giving ratings toward the positive end, with the occasional 1 or 2 (you cannot please everyone) is what I look for.

So, in the Indie world, where rating frequency (mostly positive) is king, we read each other.  In the process, I have found myself way, way outside my normal reading sphere.  But guess what – it is interesting.  I am reading books, and enjoying large parts of them, in realms I never expected. 

Additionally, and importantly, authors offering their usually $2.99 ebooks for free, in exchange for an honest review, is quite common, for other authors and readers alike.  (And there are some more expensive books in there too.)  Just check out Goodreads, if you don’t believe me.  So, some day, when I stop writing (you know, when I am too old to form coherent sentences), I’ll still be looking for my inexpensive book fix from the authors who are more than happy to give me one, if I’ll just share my opinion with the world.  No problem there; I’ve never been short of opinions.

Happy Writing,
BmP