How do author's feel about their books? One point of view

I've encouraged you to write meaningful reviews in previous post here.  Meaningful reviews can be good or bad.  But how does the author feel about it?  Ever wonder after you click on submit or post a comment to their Facebook page how they feel about their work?  Well, check out the blog link I'll give you below.

I got the webpage link from another author's Facebook page, K. Bromberg.  Here's what Ms. Bromberg said:

"THIS post. You may like Pepper Winters' books. They might not be your style or genre. Regardless, if you ever wondered what it felt like to be an author...the insecurity, handling criticism, being your own worst enemy... then you need to read this post she wrote because she could have stolen the words straight out of my mouth!
Thank you, Pepper, for your honesty."

It's a long and, as Pepper puts it, epic post.  Go read it here.  Complete reading Ms. Winters' post first then finish mine.

By the way, Pepper gets huge KUDOS for loving the Princess Bride.  I loved it since my freshman year in high school.  And, its the best read-out-loud book.  Okay, now back to the post.

I recently wrote my first one star review.  I felt bad about it.  I mean, did I really need to do that?  The more I thought about it, the more I realized - walk the talk.  I asked you to find a trusted reviewer to follow to get recommendations just like movie reviews.  If I truly didn't like this particular book and if there is one person out there like me, shouldn't I tell them "This book wasn't for me"?  In the end, the answer was yes.  I only posted to my Goodreads as I didn't feel the need to spout my unhappiness all over social media.  I had a trusted friend, D, who knew I was feeling bad about writing such a review. She read my review and expressed it was fair and honest.  (My problem with this box set was with the editing and continuity.  And thank goodness that is not Pepper or Kristy's problems.)  I did post a link on how to write reviews.  Pepper touched on this theme in her blog post and WritingWorld.com said it here:

"Review the book you read -- not the book you wish the author had written."

After reading Pepper Winter's post, do you have a better understanding of how an author feels?  Does it make you understand why they might not be as enthusiastic as you are? Does it make you re-think any negative reviews that you may have been too harsh in 'not your reality'?   Please let me know in the comments below.

Joys of Whispersync

I read books.  Okay, stating the obvious there.  In addition, I listen to audiobooks on my commute.  Why oh Why has no one ever explained the Joys of Whispersync?!?!  Truly I had no idea how it worked.  Me, oh Wise One with all objects with a lower case i in my personal geek arsenal, had no clue how this worked.

My commute consists of periodic long car drives, airplanes over many miles, and frequent subway rides.  So audiobooks are the perfect solution to tune out the world and enjoy the stories I love so much.  I've been known to also do social experiments where I'll listen to an audiobook out loud in public.  #MattoutloudinLA or #UncivilizedOutLoudinLA  are two of them you can see me document peoples reactions to me listening to my romance novels sans earbuds on Twitter.  Next up is Woolf's turn. 

I digress.  Back to the blog post. 

I begin reading Grey by E. L. James.  As I started the novel, another reader draws my attention to the review of the audiobook version.  I give the sample a listen - oh my that voice actor - and promptly purchases.  I finish reading the chapter on the eBook, download the audiobook to my phone and head to the subway.  I put in my earbuds, press the play button and a magic pop up window appears: "Last heard on location ## from Karen's iPad at 6:40 AM on June 18. Go to that location?"  Huh, that's where I left off on my iPad. You mean my iPhone Audible app knows where I left off?  Does this now mean that wherever I leave off on one it picks up on the other?  I don't have to fast forward, go to the table of contents? 

Hallelujah!!! 

Now, not all eBooks are available on Whispersync.  (Boo)  But for those that do have it available and  for those who attempt to multi task and fail more often than not - You have your own personal reading assistant.  Now do not confuse this with sync between your audible app devices - such as your iPad and iPhone.  No, Whispersync does that PLUS connects to the spot on the book in your eReader device.  Pure genius.  They have an icon with a cute pair of headphones I can just click to switch.  I love this.  Okay, okay, again with the obvious.  Now I look it see if an eBook will have the option.  Why looky there Go Set A Watchman does. One-click and I'm done. 

What do you think about audiobooks? Do you listen to them?  If not, why not? If you do, did you know about Whispersync? Do you use that feature?  Let me know in the comments.