BLOGGING WITH BEVERLEY: Linda Burson Talks About Reviews and Her New Book

This week we’re going to find out a little about author Linda Burson. Linda will be talking about reviews. She’ll also tell us a little about herself and her writing, and answer some fun questions.

Linda is an author from Connecticut. After years of writing and editing for others, raising a family, and over twenty years of running her own businesses, Linda decided to tackle her first fiction novel entitled Rage, which began as a single book. Eventually, the novel became a trilogy, and finally a much longer series. All the books are a part of The Marcy Series, a romantic suspense series.
There are currently five novels in the series.

Beverley: How important are reviews for your book?
Linda: Reviews are most important. Having reviews can make the difference between the success and failure of a book. Many potential readers will peruse the available reviews before they decide to purchase your book.
Beverley: How do you get reviews?
Linda: Now, this is a difficult question to answer. If I had a really good answer for it, I’d have more reviews than I do. Some readers don’t even think about writing reviews. They may not realize the importance, or they get side-tracked and just don’t do it. Usually the ones who do reviews on books they read are the avid readers—the ones who read multiple books in a week. I try to request reviews on social media. I request a review from anyone purchasing a book directly from me. I also request those who may have won one of my books from a contest to please do a review. This doesn’t necessarily mean I’ll get those reviews.
Beverley: Do you pay for reviews?
Linda: No, I do not believe in paying for reviews. I did pay for one years ago at the beginning of my writing career from what I thought was a reputable company that’s well-known. All they did was rehash the plot and didn’t say much of anything else. There was one personal comment made by the particular reviewer that wasn’t beneficial one way or the other for anyone.
Beverley: How many reviews does an author need? Why?
Linda: As many reviews as one can get. The more reviews we acquire, the better chance of having Amazon, in particular, move our books up in the ranks. If someone is interested in your novel and they see there are hundreds of reviews, they tend to take more notice and feel more confident in their purchasing decision.
Beverley: If you get a bad review, how do you handle it?
Linda: There isn’t much I can do. I try to remember that it’s personal opinion and maybe my story just wasn’t for them. It doesn’t mean my novel and/or my writing is bad; it just means that particular person didn’t feel connected to it. Unfortunately, there are some people out there who give bad reviews on purpose. They may have a grudge against an author and decide to do the most harm they can—that’s to rate the author’s story poorly. If we were to take an unfavourable review to heart, we’d never want to publish another novel. I’m not saying it’s easy to read a negative review, but as long as it’s not written in a mean spirited way, but constructively, it’s easier to handle.
Beverley: Anything else you’d like to add on the importance of interviews?
Linda: Just to remind all the readers out there to please write reviews for every book you read. It’s not only helpful to the author, but it’s also helpful to a potential reader.
Beverley: Which genre or genres do you write or prefer to write?
Linda: I write romance-thriller/suspense and mysteries at this time. That doesn’t mean I may not try my hand at something else in the future.
Beverley: What prompted you to write in the genre/s you do?
Linda: I felt the most connection to them. I had storyline ideas already swirling around in my head. It may be because those types of books are my favorite to read.
Beverley: What genres do you enjoy reading?
Linda: Well, I suppose I just answered this in the question above. I mostly like romance, romance-suspense, hysterical romance and mysteries.
Beverley: I’d love to hear what you think of the present genres, how they’ve been affected by self-publishing and where you think they might be headed.
Linda: A lot of the genres I see available now are the futuristic-type writings and other-worldly type books which I think goes into the sci-fi category. The advent of the dystopian trilogy that became a big hit geared many in that direction. There are numerous fantasies also being written which I think is attributed to the success of the Harry-Potter phenomena, and after Fifty Shades of Grey, there are many more erotica/BDSM books being written. The biggest affect is there are more and more available in all these genres because of self-publishing, whereas before, we had to wait for a large publishing house to accept a novel for release—now, every and any book can be made available to the public. Sometimes, this is a good thing and a bad thing. It’s a good thing because there are many talented authors out there that are getting noticed that didn’t have the opportunity in the past. The bad part is “anyone” can self-published and that means even those that shouldn’t be writing can publish a book which makes it harder for those who have a good story to make it known. These good stories and talented authors can get lost in the maze of books that are being promoted. I think if anyone could determine where certain genres might be headed, we may all have a best-seller because then wouldn’t we all try to write it?
Beverley: How long have you been writing?
Linda: Most of my life, but I didn’t write to publish until four years ago.
Beverley: Who influenced you the most in deciding to become a writer?
Linda: I’ve been thinking about this for a while and the answer may be my maternal grandfather. He always asked me to write his life story. He probably asked me this numerous times a year. That may be when I thought I could do it especially since English and spelling was always my favorite subject in school.
Beverley: What obstacles did you have to overcome to begin creating your work?
Linda: When I decided to actually sit down and begin writing full-time over four years ago, fortunately, there were no obstacles.
Beverley: What gets your creative juices flowing?
Linda: My quiet time and long drives out in the country.
Beverley: What will stop your creative muse the quickest?
Linda: Distractions – noises, people talking and the television. I prefer peace and quiet.
Beverley: What do you have for breakfast?
Linda: I always have a protein of some kind and berries or fresh fruit. Sometimes I’ll have oatmeal with walnuts as well if I’m really hungry.
Beverley: What do you wear when you are writing?
Linda: If I know I don’t have to go out anywhere during that day, I’ll usually wear comfortably pants, such as sweatpants in the winter with a sweatshirt, or shorts in the summer with a tank or tee shirt.
Beverley: Where do you do most of your writing?
Linda: Generally, I write at the kitchen island. There have been times I’ve situated myself on the couch in the family room with an adjustable table. One day, I’d like to fix up a specific room just for me where I have everything I need in one place, and have a large desk with a perfect chair for sitting for long periods of time.
Beverley: Do you have a favorite cartoon character? Why?
Linda: No, not really. I may have as a child, but I do not anymore.
Beverley: Who would you love most to meet 'in person' and why?
Linda: I’ve been asked this question a few times in the past. I believe I even answered it by naming someone, though I cannot remember who. So, if I were to choose one now, I’d have to say Jane Austin. I’m curious why she chose to become a writer. I’d like to ask her where her inspiration came from and if she ever thought her books would become as popular and classic as they are now. I’d even like to ask her some of these questions I’ve been asked.
Beverley: If you had an unexpected free day what would you do with it?
Linda: It depends on the weather. At this time of the year, I love to put the top down on the convertible and take a drive on two lane road out in the country—maybe found a spot to have lunch or browse a store I never get the opportunity to visit.
Beverley: What are you working on now?
Linda: My sixth book in my MARCY SERIES is due out in a couple of weeks and I’ve been collaborating with the book cover artist for my cover and choosing a tag line for the cover. I’m also writing a novella and hoping to find two other authors who would like to join me in putting our stories together for a new novel. I finished a murder mystery that I’ve been working on for the last year that I hope to be presenting to my publisher soon.

Blurb for The Colors of My Life:

When Caylie Lyon finds herself taken hostage during a bank robbery, a scary situation ends up with her forming a close relationship with Cole, one of the robbers. When the five criminals are caught during another robbery, Caylie returns to a different life from the one she left because of Cole.

Eventually, Caylie reunites with Cole when he is released from prison who is set on revenge against the company he worked for since they were the reason he turned to robbery. They destroyed his construction business and murdered his only brother. When the owners of the company find out Cole’s plan, Caylie seems to find herself in danger.

Buy Link: Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Colors-My-Life-Linda-Burson-ebook/dp/B071Z6833Q/
Paperback available exclusively from the publisher’s website: http://www.classactbooks.com/cat-romance/the-colors-of-my-life-7982017-05-12-21-48-13-detail

You can find Linda at: