New Release: Mommy's Black Eye

Author and Blogger William Bentrim maintains the Azure Dwarf Blog and Review Site (which posted a great review of Super Zombie Juice). He just released his 5-star book "Mommy's Black Eye: Children Dealing With Domestic Violence" as an ebook. It's a picture book designed to help kids understand this complicated issue. It's great for pre-school to middle school children. It's available in either print or color ebook with the  introductory price at just 99¢!

Here's an except from one if his Amazon Reviews:

Author William Bentrim is forging a reputation for having the courage to tackle difficult questions facing kids today and applying a gentle, yet unflinching approach to seeking solutions.
Following his book "Daddy Goes on a Trip" about parent-child separation due to military deployment, Bentrim's latest work takes on domestic violence.
Bentrim does a good job highlighting typical concerns kids have when dropped into such confusing and frightening circumstances.
In a world awash in information overload, Bentrim provides a simple but candid framework for children to understand and acknowledge domestic violence as well as ways they can get help to cope with it.

The Great Name Change

Okay, maybe it's not quite so great, but it's a fair amout of work anyway.

When I first started writing, I wanted to go by my nick name MJ Ware. However, the domain was already taken by someone that wanted to sell a line of Michael Jackson clothes. I opted to add an A to my name making it MJA Ware. I realize that two middle names comes off as a little pretentious to some. Or that some search engines would have trouble with "M.J.A. Ware" versus "MJA Ware."

Fortunately for me, red-leather Michael Jackson jackets with matching sequined gloves didn't prove that popular. So I was able to pick up the domain at auction (for cheap). Now comes the hard part, changing everything over to MJ: manuscripts, books descriptions, book cover, and social media.

The covers were the hardest, but my limited Photoshop skills proved just keen enough to get the job done. I've updated Amazon and most of my titles on Barnes and Noble, but haven't tackled Smashwords yet.

It's going to take a little while for me to get everything moved over, so in the mean time, please bear with me. There's really nothing for readers to do (though if you've reviewed one of my books on your blog you could update the name); this message is mostly just to let everyone know what's going on.

Fake Reviews--Are they really a problem? Yes, Here's Proof.

Not all sock puppets are funny. 

I woke up with morning with an e-mail from the good folks over at Freebooksy letting me know they are promoting my free ebook (today and tomorrow only) Zack & Zoey's Alien Invasion.

Cool, I promptly sent them a short thank you and then checked out the link. Wow, only four books listed, I guess I was lucky to make the cut.

One of the books had a nice looking cover so I checked it out. Only 17 pages, not for me, but I noticed it has five-5-star reviews. Hmmm, maybe I can find a new kidlit reviewer, so I checked out the reviews.

Wait a second, I thought, something isn't right here: Every one of those 5-star reviews is by a reviewer who has only reviewed other books by this same author. Every single one! And none of them have reviewed anything else, by anyone else.

Now, I'm interested. I moved on to the next book. The reviews looked real here--oh, wait, the author has reviewed his own book, never mentioning he wrote it, and in the third person as if it's a real review. Geez.

One more book to go, do I even dare check it out? Of course I did. This one had a terrible cover and eight glowing 5-star reviews. But were they real? Well, seven of the eight haven't reviewed anything but this one book. The other one has reviewed one other item in 2004 and lives in the same state as the author. Is it possible that he happened to get 7 random reviews from people who loved his book so much that for the first time ever, they decided to leave reviews? Yes.

Is it likely? I'll leave that one to you.

Now, you may be saying, I didn't realize this is so persuasive, but why do you care? After all your book was listed. Yes, this time, but not the last time when Zack & Zoey only had one solitary review. Was it bumped by books with fake (or really suspicious) reviews? What other struggling author was bumped this week in favor a books bloated with fake suspicious reviews?

Don't get me wrong, I don't think Freebooksy did anything wrong--they are doing a great service by listing books for struggling writers like myself. And I don't know which of these reviews are fake, but some of them are, you can judge for yourself. 

I gave 400 books out to get my two reviews for Zack and Zoey. Legit reviews take a lot of work and every author has to determine where they draw the line on reviews. For example, one of my two reviewers sent me the review ahead of time to "check out." I politely declined, but asked them to post it "as is." Yet, I did glance make sure it was positive. If they panned my book, let's be honest, I probably would have told them they didn't need to post it.

I've asked my family not to post reviews of my books. But I think there are a couple from relatives, should I track down the owners and make them remove them? I haven't. Perhaps this is why we are so reluctant to call this sort of thing out (you'll notice I didn't post an author or book names); we all own a piece of this.

As you can see, there's lots of shades of gray here. But one thing is for sure, the problem of fake reviews is greater (see The Telegraph and JA Konrath's take) than any of us would like to admit (don't get me started about big publishers sending out ARC's to blogs that only leave 5-star reviews on Amazon) and it's not going away anytime soon.

Update: A reader notes that fake and illegitimate reviews aren't the same thing. Reviews left by friends aren't fake, just illegitimate. I've marked all my additions in blue.
Additionally, some of the reviews have already been removed since I posted this. I think they've been reported to Amazon (not by me, though).

Why Paper Books Are Better Than eBooks--It's All In Your Mind

Last year I wrote a post titled: Timeless Wisdom from Buffy, “Books Smell.”
In it I compare Giles' love of books and disdain for technology with the growing ebook revolution. It's still one of my most popular posts; if you haven't read it, you might want to check it out.

Last night, while editing a scene that just didn't feel right, just didn't draw the reader in, I remembered part of the quote from that post. In it Rupert Giles is explaining why books are better then computers and says, among other things, “Smell is the most powerful trigger to the memory there is...” That made me realize what the scene was missing: the smells.

Once I started thinking about it, I expanded the idea to printed books themselves. When we read a book, the faint smell of paper is picked up by the brain. The perception of smell triggers the limbic system, a very primitive part of the brain, and is connected not just with smell but also with our memory and emotions. If you're an avid reader who finds reading books to be a way to shred stress, it wouldn't surprise me if just the smell of books starts to make your feel more relaxed.

Additionally, the texture of paper and sound of turning pages work to solidify the experience in the brain. These subtle but critical signals just can't be reproduced with ebooks. It's possible that for some readers the only way to truly "immerse yourself in a good book" is to read a bound copy.

This is just one reason why I believe ebooks will never totally replace paper. Others include the ease of finding a favorite passage; there's no way to flip through an ebook (while you can highlight your favorite passage, doing so takes you out of the book). I even read an article a while back (that I can't find now) which said kids prefer to read paper books over ebooks.

While paper books and ebooks both have their drawbacks and advantages, in the end the thing that draws us into a book--the sights, the sounds, the smells of another world--might just be the same things that draw us to books in the first place.

Happy Release Day - Zack & Zoey Free on Amazon & 1 More

Zack & Zoey's Alien Apocalypse was released on Amazon today (late evening yesterday actually) and it's free on Amazon today. Even if you don't have a kindle, you can read it right in your browser with Amazon's cloud reader.

I'm pleased to say, thanks to a great LibraryThing member who read the ARC, it's already had its first review, 5-stars:

""Zack and Zoey's Alien Apocalypse" by MJA Ware is the ideal book if you want to grin from ear to ear while reading something. This was a charming, delightful story of an alien invasion, with buffoonery by the adults and heroism by the children....
 I recommend this book, but ONLY for readers between 8 and 80, give or take a couple years. By any means possible, you need to get Zack and Zoey's Alien Apocalypse for the reading pleasure of yourself, your children, your grandchildren, your god-children, and any other youngsters you happen to know!"

It will be free for the next two days, so grab a copy and let your friends know!

If you aren't into middle grade books (shame on you), I have something for you too. For the first time ever, I'm putting my Novelette, The Little Wooden Chair free as well. It's a heartwarming story about a little girl who's favorite possession is a rocking chair that somehow learns to return her love.
It's the only thing I've ever written for adults and at 13,000 words is a quick read.

I hope, at least one of those titles will tickle your fancy.

New Book Release: Zack & Zoey's Alien Apocalypse

I thrilled to announce the release of my newest ebook: Zack & Zoey's Alien Apocalypse.

It's about kids fighting off a band of hungry-- human eating--aliens armed only with umbrellas and toothbrushes. The ebook will be available on Amazon right around 8/15 and on other ereaders about 90 days after that.

If you'd like to get ARC for review, just drop me an e-mail and I'll be glad to send one in any format you'd like.

Unlike Super Zombie Juice, which is more upper-MG, Zack & Zoey's Alien Apocalypse is solidly Middle Grade, and is illustrated with over 50 full-color images. It's a kid safe book with lots of alien fighting action, but no foul language and no blood or guts.

Here's the marketing blurb, as well as several images from the book, enjoy:

When hungry aliens begin their 'rain' of terror, break out the umbrellas—the aliens can't eat you with an umbrella shoved in their huge mouths.

Looking for yummy human tenders, Admiral Nact-bauk invades the local school. Zack and Zoey lead the counterattack armed with rulers, protractors, and dodge balls. 

They might have a chance, if Nact-bauk didn't gulp down the only teacher brave enough to stand up to him. Even worse, he forces Zoey onboard the alien vessel for dinner — along with a bucket of honey-mustard sauce.

Zack will do just about anything to save her. If Principal Blathers won't help, Zack sees no choice but to 'borrow' the principal's car. Chasing the alien saucers, he meets up with a wrinkly WWII hero who thinks he knows the alien's weakness: electric toothbrushes.

Wielding only umbrellas and battery-powered dental weapons, things look grim. Even if the pair manage to rescue Zoey, there's the small matter of escaping a spacecraft flying at over two hundred miles an hour.

Can you say, Jetpacks?

Radio Interview Tonight & New Book Review

Tonight, I'll be doing an interview for a small station in North Carolina at 8:50 EST (5:50 PST) you can listen via Blog Talk Radio. If you miss it, I think you can listen later using the same link.

I only slept 3 hours last night, so hopefully I won't sound like a zombie =-)

Last week, Squiggles Reviews checked out Super Zombie Juice - "This was a really fun book to read. It was amusing, entertaining and silly but still had a great story line that kept me hooked." Read the full review on their website: