Slightly Off the Mark: Writers Live On Reviews and Caffeine, and Sometimes Sales

So, I have a request for all of you out there. Well, those of you who read. Well, those of you who read my stuff. Well, those of you who like reading my stuff.

Or even if you don't, what the heck.

As all of you know--well, some of you--we just re-released my first published novel, Storm Chaser. Thanks to Emily for doing ...

Everything. My wife did everything. Every now and then she'd toss me a proof copy, I'd leaf through it, and she'd go back to doing all that stuff she did. I did nothing, I admit it. Happy now?

Anyway, there's what it looks like. Yes, Emily put the cover together, based on the old one. But there's one thing she couldn't do: transfer all the reviews of the original edition onto this new one. Which is here:

https://www.amazon.com/Storm-Chaser-Mark-Hunter-ebook/dp/B0C7MB95NH

According to Goodreads, Storm Chaser collected 15 reviews and 27 ratings, which isn't great but beats the heck out of how many reviews I've gotten for Summer Jobs Are Murder (which hasn't been published yet). The problem is, according to Amazon I now have exactly three reviews. Which, at least, is easy to count. (Why those three stayed, I have no idea.)

So I'm asking everyone who has or does purchase the book, on Kindle or in print, to leave me a review. I don't know if Amazon will allow reviewers to post on the new book if they bought the old book, but if it doesn't you could at least leave yours on Goodreads, or the review place of your choice, up to and including bathroom stalls.

Just don't put my phone number there.

In return for your help I will ... hm ... dance.

No. No, that's a terrible idea. It's asking for another month of ice and ibuprofen. But I will be very grateful, because online reviews really do matter, especially on Amazon. No one really knows how Amazon's algorithms work, and I don't really know what an algorithm is, but I'm told the more reviews you have, the more likely you are to be seen.

People who see, buy. If enough people buy, I can write more. It's the circle of write.