Reviewing stuff + Cinco de Mayo+ Madonna

May 09, 2021

May I recommend

Leaving a book review (or any review, really).

One of my big takeaways about starting to think about publishing is how hard it is to market a book and how important reader feedback is. This is important not just for sales (very important) but also for the author’s fragile little ego (all authors have fragile little egos, like newly hatched hummingbirds).

Book reviews are super important for sales, so if you like a book, take the time to go on Goodreads, Amazon or wherever, and leave a review (or at the very least, rate it). This will directly help the author you just enjoyed.

You should do that even for the big name authors. Literally, unless they are JK Rowling, leaving a review will help them. Writing a book is tricky because you don’t often get to see audience reaction to it. It’s super helpful and affirming to hear from people who liked the thing you worked so hard on.

When I read a book I enjoyed I now make a point of posting about it on social media and tagging the author. This is helpful for the author professionally because it raises the book’s profile and on a personal level it’s nice to hear about how their book moved someone. I used to be very shy about this, thinking that fancy big name authors wouldn’t want to hear about me/care about my opinion, but I have learned in my very brief time in this world that that is simply not true…

What if I hated that stupid, book, Amy? Well, you can leave a horrible review, of course, but I would tend not. Unless the book truly offended you or could cause harm, your negative review will just be crapping on someone’s hard work and isn’t there enough negativity out there in the world? I would put a similar caveat around tagging the author on social media if you didn’t love the book and were being critical … A lot of people have trouble with reviews and deliberately don’t want to read them, so it’s less helpful to tag them on something unpleasant - essentially you’re shouting in their face that you didn’t like the thing they’ve probably worked on for years.

Anyway, this reviewing thing isn’t just for books. Podcasts, music, movies, TV shows. It honestly is incredibly helpful to leave a review (especially if it’s positive) for the stuff you love. Even more important if you’re getting that stuff for free, like with podcasts.

Oh, now after that little lecture, here is the self-serving portion of the post (what a fun newsletter this week, AMY). My publisher has asked me for a list of names of people who would leave my book a review before it’s released. This builds buzz, apparently. If you’re interested, we would be sending you an Advanced Reader Copy (fancy) for free in August-September and we’d ask that you read the book and (IF YOU LIKED IT) leave a nice review on the review site of your choice/post about it on social media.

If you’re up for a fancy, free book - let me know in the comments or DM me on social media or email me and I’ll hook you up.

What’s your approach to reviewing? Did my sanctimonious lecture inspire you to leave a review, or are you just going to unsubscribe from this newsletter? Leave a comment below!

Napoleon III Content - what what!

Shrimp and beer and the new tequila and tacos this Cinco De Mayo

Here’s a yummy looking recipe in honour of Cinco de Mayo (late). Who knew that the Cinco de Mayo holiday was created to commemorate Mexico’s defeat of Napoleon III, who is an important historical figure in my forthcoming novel…. whaaaaaat?

(Also, sidebar, as a Canadian, I had never heard of Cinco de Mayo until I moved to Belgium and was invited over to a Texan expat friend’s Cinco de Mayo party where I was bewildered by the whole thing, but happy to scarf up obscene amounts of nachos).

Cinco de Mayo, the commemoration of a victory by the Mexican army over Napoleon III in 1862, is more popular in the U.S. than it is south of the border. Since there are no official dishes that accompany the holiday—although tacos and tequila invariably loom large—as with everything else in 2021, it’s a good year to rethink traditions.

This rekindled my love for Madonna

An Oral History of Madonna’s Truth or Dare

Her interaction with Harvey Weinstein is particularly satisfying

Brown: We were at a test screening of the film. Harvey began to talk to her about his ideas for the film, and she just lays into him: “Listen, I put up the money for this movie. I don’t care what your point of view is. I never want to hear it. Who the hell are you to tell me what kind of film I should be doing? This is mine and Alek’s. Shut up and I don’t ever want to hear another one of your ideas about it.” He just crumpled.

An excellent Timewaster

100 Best Sitcoms of All time

Hard disagree about the placement of Derry Girls and Golden Girls - both deserve to be much higher.

Also, Frasier ahead of Arrested Development? Nopeeee!

But, while I haven’t watched it in years, I can’t argue with #1.

I do NOT like the title of this article

Burn All The Leggings: What to wear to the reopening of society

I am never going to wear hard pants again, I can tell you that much.

Pestilence has a long history of influencing how people dress. The bubonic plague killed as much as half of Europe’s population in the 1300s, leaving survivors with hefty inheritances and higher wages. Some historians credit the plague for sparking demand for finely tailored clothing and luxury goods—clothes became tighter, decorative features like buttons and fur trim became more common, people got really into grand headdresses. In this way, the plague gave rise to the Italian fashion industry, which still helps set global trends.