As part of the promotional blog tour for the book The Lyre Thief (The Hythrun Chronicles) , Jennifer Fallon was nice enough to write a guest blog post for MightyThorJRS today. I would like to thank Jennifer and Tor books for the opportunity to host this guest blog.

I would also like to apologize for this post being a little late! Life has been crazy and I have not been blogging for a while. I wanted to make sure this awesome Guest Blog got posted, even if it is late! Thanks again Jennifer and Tor books!

Make sure you check out The Lyre Thief (The Hythrun Chronicles) by Jennifer Fallon and Tor Books. OUT NOW!

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Why I believe there is no such thing as a bad review

by Jennifer Fallon

A couple of years ago, someone posted a 1 star review on Amazon for The Lion of Senet with the following dire (and wildly inaccurate) warning:

“Sex orgies, consensual sex, drug induced sex, prostitution, paedophilia, basically all kinds of sex and perversions pervade the text but it is not an erotic book. There are no explicit or arousing scenes. And then the drugs, euphoric drugs, sex drugs etc… Do not buy this book unless you enjoy reading about perverted sex as a state religion.”

To which I felt like responding: Hey, dude, wanna be my publicist?

The old adage “there is no such thing as bad publicity” is the truest the thing I have ever heard, particularly when it comes to books. Think I’m exaggerating? 50 Shades of Grey has almost 10,000 1 star reviews! The highest sales ranking I have ever scored on Amazon happened the day someone posted a review with the accusation that I was a “militant atheist”.

My favorite “bad” review of all time started with the line “I would rather host a telethon than read the rest of this book… ”

I still crack up every time I think of that line, partly because I’m not exactly sure what it means. Whatever the case, I first read that line a few years ago, and it still makes me laugh. I should probably hire him as my assistant publicist. At the very least, he has a creative turn of phrase.

The bottom line is nobody takes as much notice of reviews as authors do, anyway, and there are people out there who actively reject them. Amazon are the first to admit that books with pages and pages of 5 star reviews don’t do nearly as well as those with a mixture of positive and negative feedback. One looks like you’ve co-opted all your relatives to give you a plug, the other looks more like a balanced commentary from a wide cross-section of people.

The same applies to reviews in the media. I defy anybody to tell me what they read in a review six months ago. What you remember is you’ve seen the name somewhere, and when you’re standing in a bookshop 6 months later, wondering what to buy, you’re not thinking: ah, I remember, someone on Amazon said that author writes books “full of sex orgies, consensual sex, drug induced sex, prostitution, and basically all kinds of sex and perversions…”

You’re thinking “hmm.. I’ve heard of that author. Maybe I’ll give her a try”.

(On the other hand, you might remember someone wrote this author writes books “full of sex orgies, consensual sex, drug induced sex, prostitution, pedophilia, basically all kinds of sex and perversions… ” and be thinking “well, since I’ve finished 50 Shades… ”)

When I read a review (about my work or anybody else’s) that says “the best book I’ve ever read” I worry this might be the only book they’ve ever read, just as I sometimes I look at a review and scratch my head, wondering if they’re really talking about the book I wrote because I don’t remember there being anything about a prophecy, or the multiple rape scenes (huh?) or the Loch Ness monster (OK, so I now I’m exaggerating), that they claim they didn’t like about my books.

If good reviews were the only way to sell something, E.L. James would be a pauper, Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest would have sunk without a trace after its first weekend and nobody would ever have heard of the Wayans brothers.

Bad reviews don’t stop you selling books. They just help keep your feet on the ground 🙂

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About the author:

JENNIFER FALLON is the author of The Hythrun Chronicles, and one of Australia’s bestselling fantasy authors. She lives in New Zealand.

You can find her online at:

JenniferFallon.com

facebook.com/Jennifer.Fallon.writer

@JenniferFallon

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About the book:

BUY HERE: The Lyre Thief (The Hythrun Chronicles) by Jennifer Fallon

Series: The Hythrun Chronicles

The Hythrun Chronicles Hardcover: 448 pages

448 pages Publisher: Tor Books ( March 8, 2016 )

Tor Books ( ) Language: English

English ISBN-10: 076538079X

076538079X ISBN-13: 978-0765380791

Her Serene Highness, Rakaia, Princess of Fardohnya, is off to Hythria, where her eldest sister is now the High Princess, to find herself a husband, and escape the inevitable bloodbath in the harem when her brother takes the throne.

Rakaia is not interested in marrying anyone, least of all some brute of a Hythrun Warlord she’s never met, but she has a plan to save herself from that, too. If she can just convince her baseborn sister, Charisee, to play along, she might actually get away with it.

But there is trouble brewing across the continent. High Prince of Hythria, Damin Wolfblade, must head north to save the peace negotiated a decade ago between the Harshini, Hythria, Fardohnya, Medalon and Karien. He must leave behind an even more dangerous conflict brewing between his wife and his powerful mother, Princess Marla.

…And in far off Medalon, someone has stolen the music.

Their quest for the tiny stolen lyre containing the essence of the God of Music will eventually touch all their lives, threaten everything they hold dear and prove to be far more personal than any of them can imagine.

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