E-galleys of THE EIGHTH DAY were recently released via Edelweiss and NetGalley, and I believe the physical ARCs will be mailed out soon, if they haven’t been already. I started seeing THE EIGHTH DAY appear on To-Read lists on Goodreads tagged with egalley or for review and other similar tags.
I believe I’ve mentioned before that I tend to avoid reviews on Goodreads — or at least, that I only read the ones from friends or ones that my husband points out to me as especially good to read.
But that’s not entirely truthful.
I definitely reach that point, after I’ve seen a few reviews and I know what readers, in general, think. But it’s really, really hard to resist stalking the first reviews for a new book. There are 153 text reviews for THE CAGED GRAVES on Goodreads, and I’ve only read only a small percentage of them. But when that first review for THE EIGHTH DAY appears, you can bet I’ll read it. And the second. And the third.
Waiting for them to appear is scary. And it feels even more so this time than for my previous books because the reviewers will be much older than my target audience.
Evangeline, one of the characters in THE EIGHTH DAY, lives only on a secret, hidden day of the week, skipping over 7 days at a time every midnight. This makes for a lonely and unhappy life, but right now I envy her a little. I’d like to skip over some time myself — and land in that future where I already know what people think of the book and I don’t feel compelled to read all the reviews!
I’d be nervous too abut the reviews, but you’re such a great writer that I’m not worried at all for you. I’m auto approved for e-books by Harper on Edelweiss so I’m planning to download yours over the holidays in case I don’t get an ARC. I’ll have to wait to read it closer to your interview (big sigh) because of all the other books ahead of it.
I’ll second Natalie.
Psst… The Eighth Day is currently on pre-order for me!! (Along with a few Geronimo Stilton books for the 10 year old.) I can’t wait to read it!
I’m learning pretty quickly to avoid Goodreads. Trolls are starting to rate my book. I know she was a troll because she tagged the book as YA. It’s definitely not YA. Plus, she’s rating books that aren’t available yet. She just reviewed my CP’s book, and my CP is still WRITING the book.
Yay, on your book being on NetGalley, Dianne.
I agree with Natalie – you are a tremendous writer so I wouldn’t fret about the reviews ๐
I read reviews my publisher tweets or posts on FB about because I know those are safe. ๐
I hope you get raving review, Dianne.
Wahoo! Good luck with the reviews – I’m sure they’ll be great!
Good luck with reviews. I wouldn’t worry though. I can see how it would be hard, I have a hard time with crits. ๐ It’s going to be great!!
Hi Dianne .. sounds as though all will be well – as I feel certain the book will be a great read. Reviews are just another challenge to get around .. but so exciting for you ..
Good luck with The Eighth Day … and The Caged Graves looks good – I’ll get to it over Christmas ..
Cheers and keep breathing while you hold your baited breath! Hilary
I can’t wait to read this book. I love the concept.
Try not to worry about reviews. (Easier said than done, I know.)
I can’t even imagine trying to read reviews of my book (that you know, still needs to be published ๐ I’m so proud of you working and writing so hard. It’s definitely inspired me this year! Merry Christmas – have a great holiday. I can’t wait to read this book! p.s. My sister just read The Caged Graves from the give-away we did and really liked it. Well done!
Waiting is never easy. I can only imagine the excitement/stress/joy of this moment and the ones to come soon. So exciting!
It’s normal to be nervous about reviews! Your book sounds fascinating, and I’m sure the reviews will be overwhelmingly positive, Dianne. I don’t know what I’d be doing in your situation, though. Eating a lot of chocolate for sure. I probably wouldn’t want to look either. I’d make my husband or sister or someone else look for me!!
Happy reading and writing! from Laura Marcella @ Wavy Lines
Reviews are a hard part of writing. (What part is easy?) I read the reviews because even one I disagree with might have a good point or two. I think we can always learn something new if we keep an open mind.
That seems a nice balanced approach to reviews. At the moment, I have so few I know exactly when a new one has gone up! Good luck with the early reviews ๐
That’s the way to do it, I think. Read the first ones, get an idea of what people think, and move on. Of course with my debut novel out, I’m eating up everything–absolutely everything. We all do it, right?
That sounds smart. Get an idea, but don’t obsess over it. Can you imagine if we responded to every single one? We’d never write at all. Or worse, we’d be those people who send nasty messages for every negative word.
I can imagine that reviews are a huge source of anxiety to authors. If I was ever in the place of having reviews, I don’t know what I’d do- read some, read none? Read all?! =) So excited for TED- the more I hear of it, the more awesomesauce it sounds!
Waiting can be quite nerve wracking, so I completely understand.
I know exactly how you feel. It’s really hard to ignore the first reviews. Curiosity is such a killer!
I’ve heard people say that you should avoid reviews but it seems like that would be so hard! Here’s hoping you get some fantastic ones ๐
I love the idea for The Eighth Day. I’m going to bet you get great reviews.
Anticipating the comments definitely must be scary! I don’t know how writers can resist looking up the feedback for their work! I cannot wait to read THE EIGHTH DAY. I’ve loved the sound of this book since I first heard about it on your blog. Fingers crossed that you will get amazing, glowing reviews!!
hi miss dianne!
for sure you don’t have to worry. youre a terrific writer and the
8th day is fantastic and exciting. it was a great read and i couldnt put it down. thanks for letting me be your critter. and…its for my age so my review is the most important. ๐
…hugs from lenny