SJ had a quick look and here are a few thoughts from an avid reader
who is always happy to pick up complete unknowns:
1. Like Nashelle says it's too expensive for a paperback,
especially for a debut novel which is self published.
2. Without being able to read an excerpt I will not buy a debut
novel, especially not a self-publisheded one. (I read excerpts
before I buy almost any book, fiction and non-fiction these
days.) Of course there's an excerpt for the Kindle edition, which
is also far too expensive IMHO. However, not many people go
looking for Kindle versions if they want to buy the paperback. In
the Kindle excerpt the layout looks terrible and there are more
than five typos/spelling mistakes/formatting errors in the first
50 lines - not the best way to showcase your writing.
3. I always look at the reviews and unfortunately, the pattern
with self-published books is too predictable - five star reviews
from friends and family whether they hide their connection or
not. Your book has a five star review from someone sharing your
last name - puts me off straight away. I don't care what friends
and family think of your work, I really don't. That's not to say
your book isn't any good, just that the decision to part with my
money is based on price, author, whether I like the subject,
whether the blurb draws me in, whether the reviews are genuine
and what they say about a book. Btw I always go to the negative
ones first because frequently what that reviewer hates is exactly
what I'm looking for in a book.
Would be interesting to hear how you get on, but I would
recommend editing the Kindle edition asap.
