First, let me apoligize for not keeping up with the blog challenge. No excuse other than I've been doing other things and really haven't had anything interesting to say.

Next, let me apologize for any toes I might step on or feelings I might hurt. First, this is just my opinion, and second...it's my blog. If you don't like it, don't read it. Sorry if that hurts but that's the way it is.

Now on to my post for today. 

Remember back years ago when John Locke got caught paying for book reviews? The whole publishing world went bezerk. And so did all the readers. They were totally crazed. It was the worst thing that had ever happened in the book world.  I don't know all the details, I try to avoid drama most of the time, but apparently he paid for "fake" reviews and even paid some people to buy his book and review it.  Shame on him.

Now, however, it's okay. An author can pay Kirkus  $425 for a 250 word review or $575 for a 500 word review.

Or, pay $225 to IndieReview for a 300 word review. 

BlueInk Review charges $395 - $695 for their review depending on how soon you want it. 

Self-Publishing Review is a bargain at $149 for a 500 word review. And you can pay $299 and get your review posted as a "Lead Story" on their site.

Now, all these say they can't guarantee a positive but here's the thing. If I'm paying for a review, especially several hundred dollars, I want one I can use. I want a review that will help me sell my book. If I know I'm going to get a negative review, or a not so great one, then I'm not gonna pay.  I think as shoppers you'd have to agree. Why buy something you might not be able to use. These reviewers know this too. Too many negative reviews will hurt their income. And that's not a good thing for them. Especially when most of their income is made from the selling of reviews.

So, what's the difference in paying for one of these reviews and what John Locke did? Well, obviously, his reviews were fakes. But...if  you get a glowing review from Kirkus, for example, and your book sucks - is that not a fake review also?  

And yes, it does happen. I personally know someone who received a wonderful review from Kirkus and his book is full of typos, errors, grammar issues, and just plain unreadable.  Which makes me seriously question any review from a paid site. I'm not sure what the answer is though.

I mean, Amazon won't let anyone I'm connected with on social media review my books because it might not be an honest review.  But is a review that's been paid for honest? 

I understand it takes time to read a book and review it. I totally get the time involved. And I get that reviewers should be compensated in some form or fashion for that time.  Again, I don't have any answers. I'm just tossing this out for discussion.

So, when is it okay to pay for a book review? How do you feel about the subject? 

And, just why is it so hard to get readers to review a book? I mean, Amazon makes it real simple when you finish a book on Kindle. How long does it take to comment that "I loved this book." or "Couldn't put it down, had to read all night until I finished it."?  And yeah, that punctuation is probably wrong. 

Do you review books you've read? All of them or just the ones you love?  Honestly, I don't review every book. I'm trying to be more diligent about it though. 

Let me know what you think...I really do want to know. :-)

Yep, that's right. There is no "day 3" post. And I'm cool with that. I might make it up later, I might not. We'll see.

So, today is the 4th of July. Later, Mom will come over, we'll do burgers on the grill, and maybe play some mahjong.

Speaking of mahjong...I can't figure out how to pick which pattern to go for. I always manage to pick the wrong one. My daughter says just to see what tiles you have in your hand and pick the pattern that you have the most of. HA! Like that really works.  Maybe one of these days I'll figure it out. I'm not holding my breath though.

Now, Spoons...I excell at Spoons. I'm a master of sneaky spoon aquisition.  I just slip that spoon from the center of the table while passing cards like crazy. I love it when someone happens to notice a spoon is missing and freaks.

I'm pretty good at Dominoes too.  In fact, hubby won't play Dominoes with me.  He did teach me to play Backgammon when we were first married. I got pretty good at that too.  Thing is, when you teach someone how to play a game, especially one of strategy, you teach them your strategy most times. It's been a long time since we played Backgammon...maybe I'll challenge him to a game. :-)

So, what's your "game" plan for the day? Whatever you do, enjoy your day with family and friends. 

My youngest daughter has finally found her "thing." I knew she would sooner or later and yep, she did.  Art. More specifically digital art. She is doing all sorts of art stuff and tries to tell me about it but I just nod and tell her not to art at me. I love that she's doing what she loves and even getting paid.  So far, she's illustrated four books for kids and is working on another. She'd also done covers for them. In fact, she's even done a cover for one of my projects. Here's a preview...

The doghouse and owl will be the  front cover and the fence/trees will be the back.  And yes, the dog is translucent...he's a ghost, afterall. 

Here are a couple more examples of her work. 

If you need an illustrator, I know she'd love to work with you. You can see more of her work on her facebook page, just search for Rebekah Lauzier.  You can connect with her there if you have a project you'd like to discuss.

Welcome to another "ultimate blog challenge. I'm off to a not so stellar start since there are only 2 1/2 hours left of the first day and I'm just now getting a post up. 

Things have been super busy the last couple months.  Bodhi is growning like crazy. He's still very much a heathen, but I totally love him. We've officially started training, and he's doing well.  In fact, my youngest daughter has taught him to bring the mail from the front door to me. Naturally, I've helped with the process by having treats ready to reward him for his work. :-) He's very pleased with himself.  He's a recent picture taken while working at Petco. 

Isn't he just the cutest thing! Today, he turned 7 months old.  Hubby originally wasn't thrilled about another dog, especially a Malinois, but yesterday he told me in a couple years he wants to get a female...and she is to be his dog. :-) 

I'm really excited about our training. It's going well. I'll share more pictures later.


My oldest daughter and I are getting serious about learning Spanish. I had two years of Spanish in high school and loved it but that was a LONG time ago. We are using a couple apps so if you want to join us, that would be awesome. Right now, we are using Drops, Memrise, and Duolingo.  We'd love to have some folks to chat with so join us. 

Summer is in full swing in Texas. Yesterday it make it up to 100 for the first time. It's gotten close a couple times though. Mom lives at an apartment that has a pool so we've been making use of it. I really enjoy "exercising" in the water.

Oh, and I've recently started eating Keto. I'm sure I'll be posting about that this month too. It's made a big difference already.

And, since Bodhi can tell time and is ready for his evening walk, I've got to get this posted and do the walk thing.

Hasta mañana.