Ancilla's Awards and Reviews

A Dreadful Review From IndieReader

I wish I hadn't paid five hundred dollars for it, including $150 on the contest that site sponsors. A 2.9 star review (which is mediocre, by IndieReader's own rubrics) means I am not going to stand a chance in that contest. I also will not be a featured book on IndieReader's monthly promotional email. I could buy myself an IRIS and Eidelweiss listing, which would put me on the radar of Barnes & Noble and every indie bookshop that uses Ingram's catalog to stock its shelves, but that damning 2.9 star review, complete with comments, will be visible as well, which I'm thinking means the bookstores will give me a hard pass. So maybe I'd better save myself that expense.

Basically, 2.9 stars was the kiss of death, and I paid megabucks to receive that kiss.

On the other hand, now I know that paying several hundred dollars for a Kirkus review (Kirkus is about as official as it gets) is not something I should prioritize highly, not unless I come into a large sum of money that I feel like burning. 

I'm posting this here despite it being nothing to brag about because 

1. It's an official review from an official paid professional (a professional who does not like BDSM, from the tone of the review. "Aberrant sex acts." Those three little words say so much...)

2. My reviewer made some fair criticisms. This is not the first reviewer to say I get bogged down in detail, or to say they find my lack of characters claustrophobic. The latter was a deliberate choice on my part - I wanted Ancilla to feel slightly claustrophobic, in a way that the sequels will not - but the "bogged down in detail" criticism is something I will need help working on. This is what professional free-lance editors are for. I could not afford one when I wrote Ancilla, and it shows. 

3. It's proof that Ancilla is not porn. I actually highlighted that comment. Although I have no idea how the reviewer knew the difference between erotica and porn - clearly he hasn't read enough erotica to know that Ancilla is actually rather sparse on the sex scenes. This really is not his genre.

4. It told me, however inadvertently, who my audience is. I wrote Ancilla without an audience in mind - I just had a story that needed telling, and I told it - and the reaction of a reviewer who clearly has no interest in BDSM (or even any idea of how it works), no interest in dark academia (anybody who has read Donna Tartt, M.L. Rio, or the Dyachenkos knows academic discussion is part of the genre, and is one of the main attractions - it's not just about pretty aesthetics and privileged settings) and no interest in Western esotericism or the occult in general showed me that I need readers who are interested in at least one out of those three things. Two or three out of three would be better. I've foisted Ancilla on some friends who aren't keen on any of those genres, and they seemed to enjoy themselves, but that's friends for you.

So. Now I know my audience. 

I have to wonder if my critic/reviewer was chosen by BISAC listings. Ancilla has three BISAC listings. First, it is BDSM erotica; second, it is LBGTQ - Bi; third, it is mystical/metaphysical fiction. Which one category out of the three did my reviewer not have a problem with? LGBTQ. If I got someone who was hoping for a MxM romance or coming out story, let's face it, Ancilla is not that. My readers are mostly women anyway, according to the metrics on both Wattpad and Inkitt. That's another way Ancilla failed to fall into the right reading hands. 

Wattpadians, if you think you've ever had negative feedback on this platform, unfairly hurtful, feedback that's the literary equivalent of what Gordon Ramsey screams on Kitchen Nightmares, buckle up, buttercups. You don't know what you've been missing. Read. 

And keep in mind, this is not a bad review. This is merely a review that points out that Ancilla is flawed, mediocre, and not to the reviewer's taste. 

2.9 stars. Not 2 stars, which is bad. Not 3 stars, which is good, if not outstanding. Oh, no. 2.9. This reviewer knew what he was doing when he gave me a star rating. He is trying to prevent readers from developing any interest, even morbid interest, in my novel. 

Chef's kiss...

You can read it in larger print here, if squinting or controlling-and-scrolling isn't your thing: https://indiereader.com/book_review/ancilla/