Falling’s second ever review

Well, this week Falling got it’s second ever official review, and as you’ll see if you click the link, it was gratifyingly positive.

Some time way back when I was in the midst of some drive to try and get it some attention, I came across a list online (I think from the Horror Writers of America) of book blogs and websites that review horror novels.

I duly drafted a form letter email, attached a link to the copy and sent it off to about 20 or 30 sites, not thinking much more about it. I don’t know how much action or influence I expected – I’d never heard of any of them and most were just personal blogs that looked like they were run by one or two dedicated but under-resourced book lovers.

In an era when books have never had so little cultural cachet, not even being the top of the New York Times bestseller list is enough to ensure you have a career (or even a decent income) as a writer, so a list of a dozen or so websites built on Web 1.0 technologies and full of broken links certainly weren’t going to make Falling a hit. After all, I had a review published in a title from News Ltd, one of the biggest print media organisations on the planet, and that resulted in exactly no sales.

But it’s always a bit of a jolt to your ego to hear that someone who has no investment in you or your book liked it.

…unless it was the guy I offered a hundred bucks to for a good review (kidding).