On Ratings – by Matthew Quinn Martin, NIGHTLIFE: NIGHT TERRORS
Book Ratings
Sigh… I see it all the time. I love a book. LOVE it. Then I happen upon some reader reviews on Goodreads or Amazon, and my jaw hits the floor. People are mean. And unreasonable. And sometimes, reviews make no logical sense to me. For example, I recently looked up TWILIGHT (a book I dearly loved) on Goodreads and was shocked to find a barrage of hateful reviews–attacking the writing, attacking the story, attacking the FANS. I wanted to bust out the brass knuckles, unsheathe my sword, and fight back the endless parade of stupidity splashed across the interverse. <– Yeah, I made that up, and I’m still holding my sword. Dare you to send me some snark about it. 😉
And now I’m wondering how it will feel to find a spectrum of feelings posted about my own book when it’s published. Of course I’ll read the reviews, which is exactly what the wise say NOT to do. But I can’t help it. I crave approval.
I always wondered what some of the great authors thought about reviews and ratings, so I was elated when the awesome Matthew Quinn Martin swung by to share his writerly wisdom. His book, Nightlife: Night Terrors, hit Amazon in July, and I can’t wait to read it. Here’s what Matthew had to say:
On Ratings by MQM
Perhaps the most horrifying thing I’ve found out since embarking on the journey to writer-hood is what could be described as “the existential angst of the average.” While cruising around Goodreads, I discovered that even the most popular and/or well-respected authors’ “Average Rating” usually fell just below four stars. Mine is currently at 3.78. But here’s a snapshot of a few others:
Stephen King: 3.97
Ernest Hemingway: 3.80
E.L. James: 3.82
Homer (the one who wrote The Iliad, not the dad on The Simpsons): 3.73
Stephanie Meyer: 3.64
Mark Twain: 3.82
James Patterson: 3.95
Emily Brontë: 3.80
Michael Crichton: 3.74
Toni Morrison: 3.82
Sue Grafton: 3.88
William Shakespeare: 3.85 (…and please look at that list again to see who rates higher than “The Greatest Writer In The History Of The English Language”)
While there are some authors who crack that “4 star” mark…it’s nice to be in the same ranking as (at least a couple of) the folks up there.
About the Book
Nightlife: Night Terrors
by Matthew Quinn Martin
Release Date: 07/07/2015
Pocket Star
Summary:
Three amazing horror tales in one chilling bundle…the only thing you won’t fear is the price!
Enter a world where the streets crawl with unimaginable demons, and a monster can lurk behind every friendly face. Matthew Quinn Martin first terrified horror fans with Nightlife, the captivating story of two unlikely monster hunters determined to save the city of New Harbor from the Night Angels—bloodthirsty creatures that feed on the forgotten. Jack Jackson and Beth Becker are among the few who can see these creatures for what they really are, but as they hunt the creatures, a mysterious organization known only as The Division is hunting them.
In the novella Hazardous Material, we get a glimpse of The Division’s origins and aims when a young man stumbles onto a long-abandoned video arcade—which three decades ago was the site of the largest mass shooting in New York history—and unwittingly uncovers a relic of unimaginable power and mind-altering terror.
And in the never-before-released As the Worm Turns, Jack and Beth are back, along with their faithful dog, Blood. For months they’ve been keeping just one step ahead of The Division, whose enigmatic leader has been pursuing them with the single-minded obsession to capture them by any means necessary. But as Jack and Beth continue their quest to rid the world of the creatures once and for all, they find themselves facing off against something even more terrifying than the Night Angels––something that could hold the key to humanity’s salvation…or its doom.
Praise for Nightlife: Night Terrors
“Thrilling, edgy, and scary as hell, Nightlife is an outstanding debut and one of the most original takes on the vampire novel I’ve ever read.” – Jason Starr, International Bestselling Author of The Pack
“Nightlife completely creeped me out. Martin is a master of suspense. Keep me up all night again soon!” –Nancy Holder, New York Times Bestselling Author, The Wicked Saga
“Doesn’t get any darker than this; you can actually feel the blood spatter. Nightlife is the gutsiest debut I’ve read in a long time.” – James Patrick Kelly, Hugo and Nebula Award winning author of Think Like a Dinosaur.
About Matthew Quinn Martin:
Matthew Quinn Martin was born in Allentown, Pennsylvania and raised in New Haven, Connecticut. It wasn’t until he moved to Manhattan that he realized he was a writer. These days, he lives on a small island off the North Atlantic coast of the United States where it gets quiet in the winter…perhaps too quiet.
Social Media Links
Website: http://www.matthewquinnmartin.com/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/matthewqmartin
Book Links
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