Reviewing reviews

A publisher told me recently that it looks suspicious if all the reviewers of a book have given it five stars, because it looks as though only friends and family have logged their opinion (and perhaps without even reading the book). Apparently, a mix of scores looks more authentic. What do you think? Is this true?

My prize-winning short story 'Scoring an Own Goal in Tennis' is free to download from the Amazon Kindle store for the next five days. I hope you like it - and if you do, please leave me a review. How many stars you give it is up to you.

Phew!

Let's give a big round of applause to the customer service team at Amazon who have managed to sort out my problem, sanitise my account (whatever that means) and put a stop to any potential damage. Access has been restored.

I thought it was fixed yesterday, but when I went to my Kindle account it was saying I didn't have anything published, which was a bit worrying. I've only got two things there, but even so... I had a long conversation with an operative, who was very patient and, well, I don't know what she did behind the scenes, but everything is now back as it should be.

It's a bit of an odd day today. I have stopped teaching yoga on a Monday morning and this is the first week when I didn't have to rise at the crack of dawn in order to eat and digest my breakfast before class. I still woke up very early, though, so I've already written an article for Smallholder, broken the back of a monthly subbing job for the Chartered Institute of Logistics and Transport, and polished and posted a competition entry - and it's barely lunchtime. I may have peaked too soon.

Accepting feedback

I sent a selection of stories that I've written to two of my friends for their opinion. They are both keen readers and they have each been a source of advice and inspiration in their own way over the years. I trust them and value their honesty. Even so, it was a bit of  a 'gulp - here goes' moment when I posted the envelopes.

Well, the results are in and I know what I have to do to improve what I've written. What I found interesting was that while Reader 1 gave me some honest feedback on the actual writing from a technical perspective, Reader 2 had a much more emotional response. As a result, while there was a clear favourite with both of them (the same story), the ones they didn't like so much were different. On these grounds it gives me comfort that the reason I have varied success in competitions is not always because what I'd submitted wasn't any good: it could just be that it wasn't to the judge's taste.

This week's task is to rework as necessary. I was going to publish on Kindle again. However, I had an email from Amazon this afternoon informing me that the email address linked to my account has been changed. Not by me it hasn't! Amazon has frozen my account while this is investigated, which is reassuring, but not a little annoying. I just hope the rogue who has invaded hasn't ordered anything embarrassing in my name.

Maytime celebrations

Welcome to this week's celebration of small things. Today, I'm celebrating the honesty of friends. I sent my writing buddy Elaine a story I'd written that I knew needed some work. Elaine has gently pointed out all that was wrong with it - quite a list, as it turns out - and I've heeded her advice. A revised version will be heading her way soon.

Also on the writing front, I'm celebrating finally getting my backside in gear and publishing a story in the Kindle store. It's the one that did well in the H E Bates comp, Scoring an Own Goal in Tennis, so I thought I'd give it a wider airing. I'm not expecting it to make my fortune, but at least it's out there. The link is here if you'd like to take a look, please and thank you.

Finally, this afternoon I've taught my first outdoor yoga class of the year: a one-to-one session with a lovely lady with a house in the country. It was glorious to do some Salutes to the Sun actually in the sunshine.

Have a lovely weekend, folks.

Celebrate the Small Things  is a blog hop. Visit Lexa's Blog for the rules, and then post every Friday about something you're grateful  for that week. Originated by VikLit) and co-hosted by L.G. Keltner @ Writing Off The Edge and Tonja Drecker @ Kidbits Blog.   

Feeling like a writer

I had a lovely meeting (OK, tea and macaroons) with my writer friend Elaine on Friday. We thrashed out a few ideas for a forthcoming joint publishing venture: more on this anon.

Yesterday, I went to an excellent short story writing workshop organised by the county council's Adult Learning Service with a wonderful lady, Morgen (with an 'e') Bailey. As well as being a tutor, she is also a writer, editor, blogger and speaker. She packed masses of information and advice into six hours without making us feel under pressure to produce anything - though we did, and lots of it. There were only three of us, so there was nowhere to hide, but the small group also made it feel very friendly and informal.

I don't know about my fellow students, Anna and Lauren, but I came away with my head buzzing with ideas. I feel quite inspired today! Thanks, Morgen, for being so generous with your resources.

One topic we touched on very briefly was e-books. I have one available for the Kindle already (The Little Guide to Teaching Yoga in A Gym), but am wondering what to do with my next one, which will be another non-fiction title. Should I venture into Smashwords? Anyone have an opinion on this?

A new publishing venture

It's been a while since I've posted anything, but I've been really busy with work and stuff. I've had time for some fun, too, though.

Last Sunday I stroked an owl's tummy and flew a Harris Hawk and a barn owl at the Raptor Foundation near St Ives, Cambridgeshire. And last night I went to see the musical comedian Boothby Graffoe. Two great occasions but for different reasons.

On Friday afternoon I spent a lovely but tiring afternoon teaching yoga to about 60 primary school children. Their approach (and consequently, mine) is completely different from that of my adult students. They just throw themselves into it.

But I've also been busy with my first e-book. I have published a booklet for the Kindle, called: The Little Guide to Teaching Yoga in a Gym, which is aimed at teachers who are facing the challenges that this very particular market brings. I can't believe how easy it was to upload. It really is just a case of following the on-screen instructions, click, click, click and it's done! Of course, now comes the tricky bit: selling it.