Dani J Caile - quirky, yet sardonic

Friday, September 4, 2020

Reviews of Gubacsi Dulu - 4 and so strange

This IS the strangest time ever for myself in book reviews. 4 reviews for Gubacsi Dulu worldwide and it looks like this...

The next few will show whether I was able to reach out and get some message across to those who are open to listen. How open are the Science Fiction community to something slightly different? Have readers been spoonfed for too long now? Are they ready to follow one line of thought which covers both story and character development? Will they see the multitude of social conventions being questioned? Am I banging my head against a brick wall or is there a readership out there willing to listen, think, and change?

The next few days, weeks will tell. Until then, I wait in anticipation for the next review, and maybe the next... and perhaps the next... to give me the inspiration to make 'Radnoti X', book 2 in the Humanity H2O series, the best it can be. Still looking for that 'perfect' sentence... which is a myth.

Thursday, September 3, 2020

Review No.4... 5 stars! And... Pre-Orders moving along for Radnoti X!

Another first! My first ever Pre-Orders for a book!

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B08H3KL9BX

I can't believe it, so many firsts in one week!

1000+ free downloads on one promotion

No.1 in all 3 subcategories (technically)

No.1 New Release orange banner

1 star review (yes, it's a first!)

Pre-Orders for my next book!

On the first item on the list, I got close with 'Manna-X', with over 900 free downloads, and the 1 star review... I once received an illegible review from an Indian gentlemen on a no-longer-existing website for authors saying my book (Man By a Tree) was religious and so therefore bad.... it is an ANTI-religious book.

As for the others on the list, truly firsts! Nothing has ever got close to this in 10 years.

And the same goes for this particular 1 star review from Australia. The review objects to the book being about drug and alcohol abuse - it is infact, ANTI-abuse, and the review which is only one line long is itself filled with errors (spelling, grammar and punctuation). This shows more about the reader than it does the book.

Maybe I should put a warning on my books...

WARNING: This book may trigger your fears, desires, insecurities and ignorance of the society you find yourself in.

This book...

https://www.amazon.com/Gubacsi-Dulu-Book1-Humanity-English-ebook/dp/B08FTJTYCD

Well, infact, all my books... and stories...

And here's global review No.4! Amazon.com... Thank you, whoever you are! You made my day! "Absorbing" is the word I love here, thank you! Closly followed by the others...LOL

Reviews are mixed... or are they? The UK vs Australia

Following my first 3 star review from Amazon.com for 'Gubacsi Dulu', I received 2 new reviews yesterday, one from the UK and one from Australia. Luckily, the UK one is seen across the Amazon sites and not the Australian one, which can only be seen there. Let's have a look at them...

The UK... a 5 star review, a reader who liked the book, the character development, etc. and will read more books.

Australia... a 1 star review, a reader who believes the book is about drink and drugs.

Mixed reviews (still an average of 3 stars) and my first 1 star review on Amazon in 10 years. People say you only know you're successful if someone says you're the worst, so... is that what this is? Because...

...in a way, the book shows how drink and drugs harm you and can change the way you see reality, so in fact, this book is an ANTI-drink and drug book... so this reader didn't get that message. I didn't expect that, but then... yeah, kinda. Not everyone can get it.

"A book is meant to be felt." (Dani J Caile, 1 September 2020)

BUT... Fantastic news! Can you see what I see?

Yes, it's a No.1 New Release orange banner! ...it won't be there for long, I guess, or can I keep it?

Anyway, it's a first for me and a great success!

Wednesday, September 2, 2020

Review Request for Gubacsi Dulu! (If you can...) #Amazon / #Goodreads

After three days of free promotion, there are now well over 1000 copies of Gubacsi Dulu spread across the globe, through Amazon.com (USA) and the sites in the UK, Australia, Canada, Germany, Spain, France, Italy, Brazil and India!

(UPDATE: Include Japan in that list! Thank you!)

I call this a HUGE success! (Though it's a lot of work without a cent)

And it's all thanks to you... and those who helped, Jasper T. Scott (successful sci-fi author), Chris the Story Reading Ape (incredible blogger), 'David' (free promotional Twitter service), my aunt in Australia(!) and many others!

Now comes the second phase... the reviews? At the moment I have a slightly strange 3-star review. Just one review. It says good things (except the first part) and then gives 3 stars...

On the surface, the first few words, and the number of stars given aren't so good, but I'd still call this review a success! Do you know why? Because I wrote it this way - imperfect, as we all are - it is as true to life as I can possibly get it, we live in only one Point of View, and our lives move in twists and turns, and there's no way to guess the end. The reviewer 'hit the nail on the head', though as one friend once said to me about my first ever book... "I can feel there's something I'm missing, I know it's good but something's telling me it's better. But I don't know what it is." Exactly. Maybe one day...

So if you were so kind as to download the book, please take the time to review it - that is, if Amazon allows you to! I've also downloaded freebies and found I can't review... so what do you do? Find the book somewhere else, on Goodreads, for example, and leave a review! I really need the feedback, to know whether someone actually got the message, whether what I am doing is getting through and appreciated.

(UPDATE: Received a review on Amazon.co.uk... 5 stars and said great things! Thank you!)

On Amazon...

https://www.amazon.com/Gubacsi-Dulu-Book1-Humanity-English-ebook/dp/B08FTJTYCD

On Goodreads...

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/55054905-gubacsi-dulu

...here's my Goodreads Author Page if you'd like to see what other people thought of my other books...

https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/5621386.Dani_J_Caile

Now, onto the next book! Pre-Orders are available...

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B08H3KL9BX

HumanityH2O Series together! #FREE Gubacsi Dulu STILL available 1000+ FREE downloads!

Amazon put the series together! ...damn, if only they'd done it a few days ago...

AND...

Over 1000 FREE downloads of Gubacsi Dulu! Which is an excellent number for me, little 'ol me!

The FIXED numbers (for only a second, and then 'poof'...gone)

AND...

There's still time to get a copy! (If anyone wants the book in another format, message me here on the blog)

https://www.amazon.com/Gubacsi-Dulu-Book1-Humanity-English-ebook/dp/B08FTJTYCD

Working on Book 2, getting it ready for publishing... going well!

Tuesday, September 1, 2020

#FREE Gubacsi Dulu - Last Day of 3!

Yes, the book has done so well in the free downloads, excellent, thank you all!

Still time to download if you already haven't! A whole day to go...

https://www.amazon.com/Gubacsi-Dulu-Book1-Humanity-English-ebook/dp/B08FTJTYCD

Hopefully I'll get some more reviews, and hopefully some 4 and 5 stars (well, that's really up to you, put down your honest feedback, that's what I really want)

One thing that got me on the Amazon ranking was that I got to No.1 on Children's Steampunk, and No.2 on both Science-Fiction Adventure and Steampunk Science-Fiction (my book has slipped down to No.4 now, so the chance is lost)... and it was the same book which stopped me from getting the No.1 slot. And it wasn't even FREE.. it was the MOST EXPENSIVE KINDLE I'VE EVER SEEN! ($22.90!!!!!!)

Let's have a look at that...

The author has been writing for many years now, has tons of good reviews, holder of many writing awards, and sells their books at heavy prices. If you can do it, why not? So, I read some of 'Knocking on Heaven's Door' (terrible ripoff title, by the way), and then I ignored the 5 and 4 star reviews because obviously they were seeing something I wasn't. The 2 star reviews were describing what I saw: boring, slow, chaotic. Funny thing is, the book starts with a cat, like my 'How to' series! The dialogue, one of my favourite things to look at is the typical, sparse fantasy talk...the first four lines of dialogue strewn across the first couple of pages (yes, description, description, description for those readers who have no thought of their own)...

Anyway, to have the No.1 FREE Ebook slot to be taken away by a $22.90 boring book just sums up life, really. Like when 'Golden Brown' got stuck on the No.2 slot and couldn't beat a terrible cover of 'The Lion Sleeps Tonight' (which is a great song but that cover was awful and was brought out to make sure The Stranglers didn't get a No.1 - conspiracy theory there)

I've sent a message to Amazon and also Tweeted to the book's publisher because the author is... nowhere. But nobody cares. My free promo will be over, I won't be able to get that nice little screenshot with No.1 in all three categories, poor little ol' nobody me... so I 'fixed' it (Photoshopped) to how it SHOULD HAVE BEEN WITHOUT a HIGHLY PRICED Kindle in the TOP 100 FREE list! POS Amazon.

Update: I jumped over the HIGHLY PRICED BOOK, only for 3 other FREE books to jump me.. so my 2 second chance of glory is lost forever... BUT the book is still available to download for free (see above :-))