Stars - what do they mean?

No, I'm not referring to the Oscars last night.

My science fiction group, The Minnows Literary Group, now has four anthologies that benefit Doctors Without Borders (Out of Time, In A Land Far Away, Centauri Station, and Still Out of Time), and the combination of the four sell around 100 copies per week. We appreciate that people leave reviews, but, occasionally, the stars given don't seem to match the reviews.

Amber over at WANATribe once posted a blog post about the rating system difference between Amazon and Goodreads, but I can't seem to find her post. So, I thought I'd give a quick recap here.

On Amazon:
1 star = I hate it
2 stars = I don't like it
3 stars = It's okay
4 stars = I like it
5 stars = I love it

On Goodreads:
1 star = did not like it
2 stars = it was okay
3 stars = liked it
4 stars = really liked it
5 stars = it was amazing

As you can see, Amazon's scale is more extreme on the Dislike end, while Goodreads allows for a more extreme Like rating. Therefore, 5 Stars on Amazon is really more like 4 Stars on Goodreads. Keep that in mind when I love your book but only give it 4 stars on Goodreads. ;)

"I may not have gone where I intended to go, but I think I have ended up where I needed to be." ~ Douglas Adams

Happy 2015!

I've not been able to shut down comments without deleting my Disqus account (which, then, deletes all the wonderful comments I've gotten from all of you, and I can't bear to do that). I'll see if I can have the commenting option shut down a day after the post appears, so people can just come peruse and not have to leave a comment.

I thought I had a post ready for today, but it was not meant to be. So I'm just going to go with a bit of news and a promise to be less lame for my next post. :)

Firstly, it's the First Birthday of KidLit411, the brainchild of my genius picture book critique buddy, Elaine Kiely Kearns, along with her partner in crime, and also my PB critique buddy, Sylvia Liu. To celebrate, they are having an awesome bash, offering tons of great prizes. Go check them out!

Secondly, The Minnows Literary Group is pleased to announced our fourth e-anthology in support of Doctors Without Borders. Centauri Station is a collection of stories about the adventures and perils of space travel. At 99 cents, it is a bargain and goes toward a great cause.

Now, go forth and have a great week!

"I may not have gone where I intended to go, but I think I have ended up where I needed to be." ~ Douglas Adams

We're featured on Rhonda Hopkins' blog!

The wonderful and talented Rhonda Hopkins has a blog feature called Authors Give Back and my fabulous critique group is showcased today! Check us out. :)

"I may not have gone where I intended to go, but I think I have ended up where I needed to be." ~ Douglas Adams

Time travel, you say?

The media/writing guru Kristen Lamb once advised writers not to just blog about their writing. Readers are interested in all aspects of a writer's life and one would be well-advised to write about all the different aspects of one's life instead of solely about writing or reading or books in general or publishing.

I don't know if I've just not read enough writer's blogs out there, but nearly all the ones I have read talk pretty much about writing. I feel like I'm the only one wearing red at a little-black-dress cocktail party. It doesn't bother me to be different because I've always liked not following the crowd. But, I do wonder if that's the reason why I don't get visits from a lot of writers, besides a handful of writer-friends.

Well, today, I'm going to talk about writing! Sort of.

My talented Science-Fiction critique group, The Minnows - comprised of writers who have been published by e-zines and paper 'zines, won awards, as well as an author who has several books published by Samhain - has put together an e-anthology of time-travel tales called "Out of Time."

Each of us has written a time-travel tale inspired by unique perspective and sensibilities. This was an effort to challenge ourselves to write to a theme as well as to write for a charity. "Out of Time" is now available at Smashwords for 99¢ and all proceeds will go to Doctors Without Borders.

If you like reading science-fiction, especially for a good cause, hop on over to Smashwords to get a copy!

To learn more about some of the other members of my critique group, check out the following links:
Janet Guy
K.P. Hornsby
Russell James
or find us on the Facebook page.

"I may not have gone where I intended to go, but I think I have ended up where I needed to be." ~ Douglas Adams

A note about my last post

I think some people may be under the mistaken impression that the Doctors Without Borders site only accepts donations of $35 or higher. That is not the case. There is a blank line below all the suggested donation amounts that allows you fill in whatever amount you feel you can afford. I've noticed that many charities do that: suggest some mid to higher amounts but leave you a line where you can fill in any amount that you want.

Anyway, I suggested DWB because I know they are trustworthy; I've researched enough about charitable organizations to be suspicious of many of them.

"I may not have gone where I intended to go, but I think I have ended up where I needed to be." ~ Douglas Adams