Reader reviews

As I check out other self-published novels on Amazon, I can't help but notice some authors' blatant attempts at recruiting more readers. I want more readers too, but to have your friends and family write up multiple paragraphs about how wonderful your book is, well, that's just plain obvious. As a reader, I'm skeptical of those books. I'm more apt to read a book with a few bad reviews than one with 11 five-star reviews, especially if the book was just recently published. Sure, my mom and mother-in-law gave me five-star reviews on my books, but they have to! They're moms! I would do the same for my son or daughter. The rest of my reviews though, I want friends of friends or complete strangers to review my work. How else will I get better? What else will drive me to produce an even better novel? Oh, by the way, this next one is already better. I can't wait to share it!