What a nice way to kick off a new book launch than to have my first Amazon Kindle edition rating at five stars. That's very encouraging especially coming from a paying customer.
The Value of Free Stuff
175 readers took advantage of the free Kindle promotion but none of them has, as yet, returned to leave a review. There is a paradox in giving away things for free as I learned from a dear friend, Baruch ben Daniel. The paradox applies whether it's the latest greatest mousetraps, usb chargers, or books.
I had purchased a number of the Aramaic English New Testaments (AENT) to distribute to family, friends and acquaintances. When my supply ran out I looked to order more. I mentioned to Baruch what I was doing which inspired a conversation about "the value of free stuff". Baruch said, "When you give away books, people are less apt to read them. When you go back to the recipients six months later, you will discover that few, if any, even opened the cover of the book. But, when people purchase a book, they have a vested interest, a committed financial interest in reading the book. My advice is not to give away any more books if you want people to read them."
After checking with all the people I shared the wonderful news and insights of the AENT with, and gave free copies to when they showed interest, not a single one of them had even opened them. "I've been meaning to get to that...", "We have been so busy we haven't had time to look at it...", "It's on my list to read next..." were the typical excuses I was told. Only one couple said, "We haven't read it. But our son picked it up out of curiosity and took it to his room. I think he's reading it."
I reluctantly did the free Kindle promotion for the sake of new author exposure. And true to the words spoken by my friend, Baruch, out of 175 downloads not one single review.
The Priceless Value of One Comment
And that's what makes the first purchased copy even more valuable. Someone with a vested interest actually read the book and gave it a five star review. She found great value in the book and took the time to write a review. And that tells me, as an author, that the reader felt it was money well spent.
Eventually there will be more Amazon reviews. But I do not have any allusions that they will all be five star reviews, or even favorable. The cliché is so true, "Beauty is in the eye of the beholder". We do not all come from the same reference point; some people are easily offended; some people misinterpret what another person is speaking or writing; and we do not all pull things together in the same order. Half of what I know today, I could not accept or believe fifteen or twenty years ago. Life is a process of learning. Some of us learn faster than others. My father said on occasion, "When I get up in the morning, my first thoughts are, 'What will my Creator teach me today', then I say the Lord's prayer. Everyday I expect to learn something new."
What Rating Would You Give?
To find out why the reader gave a five star rating to "Exposing Lucifer", click here to get the Kindle Edition, or click here for the Paperback Edition from Amazon.com. Whether you like the book or not, please be sure to leave a review after you have read it. The links pop up in a new window. If you have pop up blocker activated for this web site, the links will be inert (they won't work). In such a case, turn off pop up blocker for this site, or go to Amazon.com and type "exposing lucifer" in the site search box.
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