The Reviews are In!
One of them was NOT what I expected.
It’s been just over one week since launch, and The A-Z of Rotten Uncles reached #31 in the Children’s Humour category (12th Dec).
I’ve received great feedback from the readers I know personally. It really gives me a kick knowing friends are reading this book with their kids or gifting it to niblings. So much more fun than my oh-so-serious literary fiction.
Before launch I was worried. I was highly concerned that the book wouldn’t get many reviews, but as you can see, we’ve garnered 21 Amazon reviews in just 10 days. Amazing. Most of these reviews have come from ARC readers of this newsletter, supporters in my Multilingual Writers’ Community, and people who have bought and read the book already.
We’ve also had several reviews from Caterina’s children’s book network in Italy. I can’t wait until the book is out in Italian (Jan/Feb 2025) so we can reach more little readers.
What the reviewers are saying
Feel free to peruse the reviews on Amazon. If you’d like to add one, please do!
This review came from copywriting legend
and her daughter, J.(J actually gave the book 4 and three-quarter stars due to some imperfections in the ARC copy. Fair enough!)
Next came some some short, sweet, and hopefully honest reviews from the USA…
I actually love getting 4-star reviews. There are so many great children’s books, who is to say the A-Z of Rotten Uncles will be a favourite for everyone? Whenever an ARC reviewer asks me what to write in their reviews, I say the same thing. Read the book and be honest!
Here are some of the reviews coming in from Italy. Molto grazie!
There’s still time to order before Christmas!
(unless you live in the Canary Islands, where books take 2-3 years to arrive)
With all these rave reviews, you might be wondering why the book is rated at 4.6 out of 5.
Allow me to draw your attention to our first bad review. Two stars.
Again, I really don’t mind bad reviews (as long as they are honest).
I’m always happy to hear about typos and typesetting issues (so I can fix them). I still haven’t seen a physical copy of the book, but I’m confident there are no major errors with formatting, punctuation, and typos.
It’s possible this reviewer saw a digital ARC copy, this review is not a verified purchase and was posted one day after launch. In fact the book isn’t ‘a story’ (cute or otherwise). It’s a set of 26 character profiles.
I’m not really sure why someone would choose to post a fake review, but people are weird. Maybe ‘Stephanie the Amazon Troll’ will make it into my next book, The A-Z of Awful Aunts.
Anyway, I don’t want to leave on a sour note. 4.6 out of 5 is all right by me. I’m truly grateful to all those who left a review (even smelly Stephanie).
Finally, I’m doing my part to spread the work of other authors.
Want more books? Check out these links:
Free adventures in Sci-Fi and Fantasy
Middle Grade & Children’s Books
Thanks for reading.
Be nice to your niblings, and have a swell December.
Phil
Well done Phil! 4.6 is amazing!
4 stars and even 3 stars are great! Congrats, and keep on making th elittle ones happy with your work.