Today is launch day... more importantly; today is Rate & Review day.

So why should you take your precious time and write a review for The Life Engineered on Amazon? Because reviews are incredibly important to the visibility of a book and visibility is what helps a novel get into the hands of readers who will appreciate it and thus increase the chances that it will be a success.

Amazon’s system relies on certain milestones being reached before including certain books onto various levels of their platform. What the numbers are and how they impact visibility is a moving target, but what we’re aiming for is between 50 and 70 reviews. You can read more about why reviews are important in this awesome blog post on the subject, but trust me; reviews are extremely important. YOUR review is extremely important.

Here’s what you need to do:

1. Read the book
2. Go to the Amazon page for The Life Engineered
3. Scroll down to Customer Reviews and click on the ’Write a customer review’ button
4. Pick a rating between 1 and 5 stars (preferably 5, but I’m biased)
5. Write a review. This can be as in depth as you want, but if you don’t have the time or inclination, even just writing "I liked it!" is enough.
6. Submit the review and bask in the satisfaction of a job well done.

That’s it. That’s all you need to do. Congratulations; you’ve changed my life.

Oh! Hey, today’s the day of my Sword & Laser interview. You might want to leave me a question about The Life Engineered on their Goodreads thread for that very purpose!

Thank you.

J-F Dubeau

Hello Friends

As you may know, Inkshares is more than just a platform for authors to raise funds and get published; it is also a community where many aspiring authors share knowledge and support each other through the process of writing and finding a way to publish.

Inkshares launched recently a feature called Syndicates, which are groups of people with similar interests pooling their resources to help the efforts of a different author every month. By supporting an author, you also get a copy of their book!

Here is the description of Syndicates from Inkshares: 

“It is inspired by the syndicate structure on AngelList. Members can come in at the "electron" level for $10 per month, or the "atom" level for $20 per month. The syndicate lead then works with members to choose a book to support on the 15th of each month. Orders are then placed on behalf of each member. Electrons receive an ebook. Atoms receive a print-book.”

You can find full details in the FAQ section of Inkshares.

I think that a syndicate could be a great way to support LGBTQ aspiring authors and allies who feature characters breaking stereotypes. So I will start a syndicate called Write Out Loud.

I will be hosting an online Facebook event this Friday (cause they are the hot thing to do these days) previous to the launch of the syndicate to inspire friends a family to join. 

I want some of the work of other LGBTQ authors and allies currently on Inkshares. So if you think your work would be a good fit for this syndicate, let me know and I will share a link to your book (and maybe an excerpt from your book) during the event.

I kept the even private because I want it to be a safe space for all participants. Send me your e-mail address if you want an invitation ricardophenriquez@yahoo.com.

I will launch the Write Out Loud Syndicate On March 4th, at 6 pm, I invite you to join.

Facebook event here

Happy Saturday!

I wanted to share with you all a great video of Inkshares author Mike Sebby (The Inhabitants: An Unremembered Life) talking about what he loves about Blood Dawn and why it is a great book.

This is presently the trailer video on my page. It’s part of a larger trailer video project currently in the works -- more on that soon!

Hope you enjoy, and if you haven’t already pre-ordered Blood Dawn, I hope this video will inspire you to join the growing club of believers.

Exciting things are ahead in the next few weeks, so stay tuned. Have a great weekend!

John Robin