The wait is over!

After over two years, I am so happy to let you all know that The Art of Forgiving and This Crazy Life, book 2 of the Picture of Love Series and book 3 of the Crazy Mountain Series respectively, are finally finished!! I don't have release dates as yet as I have three novellas to release in October and November.

That means much editing is in my very near future.

I also have a rather interesting and potentially exciting project that I'm beginning, but I shall refrain from saying more until I have some solid information rather than hopes, dreams, and speculation.

So, you'll want to return here for news of release dates for the Green brothers (think early 2018) and you'll want to be aware of my next three releases:

Reclaiming Peace ~ a Peace Series Novella

Seeking Peace ~ a Peace Series Novella

Deep Winter Fire ~ a young readers history of Velania (written as C. K. Brewer)

#PeaceSeries #SHPrattRomanceAuthor #ContemporaryRomance #GreenBrothers

Guilty! Guilty as charged!

I have mentioned on many occasions that the indie world is in love with incessant drama. Each week, each day, each hour brings new instances of some sort of drama. It's exhausting. Often it's without full disclosure. He said. She said. They said. A whole lot of conjecture without much by way of proof or complete stories from all parties. This sort of thing brings out the mob mentality with shocking speed. Lines are drawn, sides chosen and bystander be damned, there will be an all out melee. And, sadly, once those pitchforks and torches are in hand, the factions are loathe to put them down.

A recent bit of drama via Facebook-land revolved around piracy. A common and frequently waved theme among the indie world. It's no secret that 98% of the authors who are independently published never recoup the money spent on publishing a book. Therefore pirating, or the theft of an author's book and sale of said book on a platform that is not one the author sells on, is always a hot-button topic... ALWAYS. The allegation of piracy in this most recent event was that of an author stealing the works of other authors and distributing the stories at will.

NOTE: I state ALLEGATION because NOTHING has been proven, full disclosure of ALL facts in the situation has not happened, and there is much conjecture on all sides.

When I first heard of this latest drama I was physically ill - sweating, stomach churning, a bit dizzy - at the thought of an author doing such a heinous thing. I admit that I immediately jumped onto that mobster, Al Capone mentality of "OMG! Death to the one who betrayed the family!" I'm not proud of this. It was a knee-jerk reaction that I know better than to partake in... yet, I am so, so guilty of it.

I don't know if the allegations are true that an author did such things. I don't know if that author's assertions that the whole thing was a vendetta played out publicly on Facebook to destroy her career are true. Simply put, I DO NOT HAVE THE WHOLE STORY. I feel like shit for having jumped to the Al Capone mentality. But until more facts are given, full disclosure is achieved, and the drama has played itself out, I shall simply sit back and watch, neither judging nor participating, for it is not my battle to fight. I'll just watch for the ripple effect that will inevitably begin and see just how it'll affect me.

Until then, I'll stick to my bubble of invisibility. It keeps the shit from hitting me and leaves me largely out of the drama zone. I'll also work to remind myself that the Al Capone mentality is never a helpful one. A lesson the indie world as a whole should consider learning.

#indieauthors #Facebook #Books #SHPrattRomanceAuthor #Drama

♪♫ And another one bites the dust...

Somehow when Freddie Mercury wrote that line I doubt he realized how much it would be used and how appropriate it would be to so many situations.

In this case, the situation is Amazon and its overzealous, hyper-obnoxious tendencies to target honest bloggers, suppressing their reviews and harming blogger, reader, and author in one fell swoop. It begins with the single review that takes forever to post after several back and forth emails in which Amazon says the review cannot be posted because it violates the Terms of Service (TOS). How does it violate? Well, that's anyone's guess. Amazon will not tell so it is up to the blogger to figure out what is offending on that particular day. Swear words? Slightly spoilerish words? Unacceptable phrasing? Sometimes it takes several people speculating to find that needle in the haystack.

But in the end the review gets posted and all is well... or not. The blogger can be hit at any given moment in time with the dreaded email from the Amazonian machine. You know the one...

"A Message From Amazon Review Moderation

From: review-appeals@amazon.com

Hello,

We have determined that you have violated our Customer Review Creation Guidelines. As a result, we have suppressed all of your reviews and you will no longer be able to post reviews on Amazon.com.

We made the decision after carefully considering your reviewing account. The decision is final.

Review Moderator, Amazon.com"

THE DECISION IS FINAL

The words are haunting and they are devastating in the extreme. Now, the blogger who, more than likely has never intentionally violated anything in their life, much less an Amazonian rule, is now without recourse. Their reviews are gone. The readers cannot benefit from the review. If the reader is a follower of the blog then they no longer have that trusted source for whether the book stands up to their standard. The author suffers because now, one of the reviews that they value so intensely is gone... just gone. No warning, nothing... just gone.

For big name authors, one review here and there means nothing. But to the little authors, struggling to swim in this overflowing sea of other authors, one review can mean the difference between 49 and no help from the Amazonian algorithms and 50, where a tiny glimmer of help from Amazon begins to exist. One review can make the difference between a good day and a bad because believe me, losing one single review can tarnish a day so thoroughly that recovery may take days.

When one blogger's reviews are suppressed, some authors lose multiple reviews. When a blogger recently got nailed by Amazon (again no warning whatsoever), I personally lost 9 reviews. NINE! I have eleven books currently available on Amazon... nine of them lost one review. Crushed, heart-broken, utterly devastated... these words simply don't cover the emotions that slam an author when these things happen. Bloggers... they lose hundreds of reviews. Hundreds of hours of writing reviews for authors. I can only imagine the emotional devastation.

Now I understand that Amazon had... has a rampant problem with dishonest reviews and reviewers. I get that. But penalizing honest reviewers because the algorithm targets them one day is ridiculous. That there is no way to appeal the decision is beyond unreasonable. At what point do authors, bloggers and readers finally say 'F*** you, Amazon, we're going to take our business elsewhere... where we don't have to live in fear of your big damn thumb crushing us on your whim.'? At what point does Amazon's choke-hold on this industry become a fight-able monopoly?

As independently published authors, bloggers, and readers, we are in this battle together as it affects all of us. And we are only as strong in this battle as we are strong together. Is it time to stand as one and take on the great Amazon machine?

#indieauthors #Books #SHPrattRomanceAuthor #BookLovers #Amazon #AmazonReviews