Wanting to clear some things up, I get about it. I appreciate everyone’s interest in my remarkable new book Wild Willful Heart. I lived it, would not want to go through it again, and am glad I did, but the story is all 100% true. As to the veracity, I make mention in the text, “that God is my witness”, and more than twice tell anyone to polygraph me on the details. You pay for the examiner, those are the rules. Too, until the examiner arrives and you get the shocking results, you could simply read and pray for the Lord to tell you the truth about the very controversial Wild Willful Heart. I was prepared for some of the reactions I would get from this work even before publishing, but I will remind you of one of my favorite original quotes, “If you can see to believe, then you will believe what you see.” Some of you are so conditioned by the material life, organized religion, bad parenting, learned behavior disorders, etc., that cynicism has become your God. You pacify with restaurants, pubs and shopping, rarely ever considering the spiritual. I know what goes on. I will ask you to read my book, take me out of it, put yourself in my place in the story, then see what happens as you enter the world of miraculous possibility. I guarantee you it will change your life. So packed with information, you will want to return to the story and reread as to not miss anything. One of a zillion reasons I wrote this was to reach the hardest hearts out there, something that has been part of my life mission all along. I wrote this to help people like yourself, but the bonus round is that every type of reader benefits beyond their comprehension, and the Holy Ghost has planted gifts like a Fibonacci sequence.
Next item. Here are some of the incredible things that continue to go on with my world! I got a call from someone very important to me that was in a crisis financially. I sent a large sum of money to them the end of March to alleviate the problem. I paid for overnight shipping with our Mickey Mouse postal system we have in this country. Two days. Then a week with no arrival! Furious, I run the package down and it shows delivered on March 29. Ridiculous! No one cashes it. I am informed that in a couple of months if not cashed by my party or stolen, a refund would be issued back to me. I had been through this before in the last year so I knew the ropes. My troubled friend gets through the crisis by other means, without too much undue stress, but the problem remains delayed. I get a call from this friend at 3pm on Good Friday that the money arrived right at 3pm in their mailbox! Two weeks late, hmm better late than never. It was then I realized something remarkable, this was my Easter miracle, for 3pm on Good Friday is the accepted general hour when Christ died for mankind’s sins on the cross. It was also testimony to this person of that very item. I had been working with this person for years about realizing the power of Jesus! Perfect! These are the things I believe and expect from my life and you can do likewise!
Next subject. This message is for authors on Twitter—
I can understand in the Twitter social media author community that if you are a busy bestselling author you need to use canned DMs, but since many are not I would suggest using a short automatic DM for follows. Some of you utilize these long canned messages that are over the top and very impersonal. Write a personal DM when possible, follow another person back, or even RT their book as the greatest sign of respect, in lieu of these tomes. Those of you that want DMs, be sure to respond to obvious live queries. Be responsible. It is just like the common rule of a decent thinking reasoning human —-all phone calls and emails, etc. get answered in 2-24 hours, unless impossible. Each one of us is known by how we roll. Not doing the right thing is making the beast rise from the sea of nations LOL, and you Boomers especially should know better, you are the last bastion of wisdom and directive for the younger that seem to believe good communication is whatever man. It ain’t.
Next. How to properly read a book—
Authors of nearly every level of personal expertise and training work hard to produce these works of art. That should be respected. Art is the solace of our hands in imitation and honor of our Creator. When a reader buys a book and finally sits down to read, this book should be read from end to end as quickly as possible to get the full effect of its art form and contextual message, and always remember to write a fair review on appropriate sites. It is common sense. Because common sense seems to not be so common, I know I have to say this. I don’t mind one bit. One of my professional book marketers told me that people that always claim they are busy and have not had time to read your book— are busy with what they are busy at, and ideally should MAKE TIME. In other words you are not their priority, even if you should be. There is nothing to be done about it. New authors should also realize to be patient not to take it personal, unless you know it is. Careful though, as you start to spread your work among family and friends as a new author at the beginning point of marketing, realize many people are not readers. Realize this is not a country full of rocket scientists any longer. Since all of us are empathic on some level be sure to feel your intuition about that aunt that never liked you anyway —don’t push your product on her. The situation could be rigged to blow.
Next. Readers writing reviews for authors—
Take into consideration that a fair review means finding something good to say in every review. I recently read a book with subject matter I was familiar with, but not particularly liked or agreed with. I had to focus on the brilliant writing and beautiful editing. I found a couple of themes in the work I liked that were expounded the best I will likely ever see them. The author got a 4 out of 5 stars on Amazon, though I wanted to give more, but could not. It was a fair review, and I come from a generation that believes all the little kids in class don’t get gold stars for participation. On the other hand, there is absolutely no reason to give any author 1-2 stars for their hard work, as it merely goes back to if you can’t say something nice then be silent (don’t review the book). Books are not vacuum cleaners (mere products actually deserve 1-5 star ratings), they are art as an emanation of the soul of the writer, but hey, that’s just how I see it. Everything we do is sowing for the coming reaping.
Ultimately, don’t worry or respond to negative reviews as an author. Stop caring what others think and roll on. I had enough faith in my art to submit it to Kirkus and it paid off, something you may want to do. A few good words from a major review house will trump any bad reviews from the public anyway. You cannot please everyone and just stop attempting. Your book is just like a painting where everyone sees it differently.