My 30th Amazon UK review for “How I Conquered High Cholesterol”

April 4, 2016 Liz Dexter Conquering High Cholesterol, Reviews reviews

I will be the first to admit that any medical issue, and particularly cholesterol, can turn into a thorny subject and have rabid recommenders for and against various approaches. I’ve always taken the view that I’ve written a book based on my direct experience of how I reduced my cholesterol and kept it down (see my cholesterol update from this year’s blood tests). I’ve had some varying reviews recently – I don’t mind if people subscribe to a different way, but it’s hard to read someone’s opinion that your book, priced as low as you can while still making a small profit to make up for the time spent putting it together, is a waste of money, for example.

So I was really pleased to see that my 30th review for this book was a short but lovely five-star review:

Excellent. Very easy to read, straight talking … [read the whole review here]

My aim with all of my books is to help people. It looks like I’ve helped this person, and that makes me happy!

Read the rest of my reviews for this book here and you can visit my Amazon page to find out more, too.

Read more about How I Conquered High Cholesterol, including where to buy, here.

A lovely new review for “How I Survived my First Year of Full-Time Self-Employment”

March 16, 2016 Liz Dexter Business books, Full-Time Self-Employment, Reviews, Starting & Building your Business business books, reviews

A new review has come in for my first business book, “How I Survived my First Year of Full-Time Self-Employment“. I’m so glad that this reader has got the idea that the light-hearted bits on tea and cardigans, etc., are supposed to make it more fun and approachable to read, and I love that they say that it’s inspired their own career – exactly what I wanted to do. Hooray!

I get fewer new reviews these days, but every one still counts, even on the books that already have quite a few reviews. So just a reminder that if you read and enjoy a book – especially if it’s by an indie author – it’s always useful to pop a review on Amazon or wherever else you bought it.

This reviewer said,

“Insightful, informative and invaluable – a little gem! … Liz gives the reader sound, invaluable advice that has served to inspire my own fledgling career. The book is also interspersed with light-hearted insights that makes the reading a pleasurable experience … ” (read the whole review here)

Read more about “How I Survived my First Year of Full-Time Self-Employment” including how and where to buy.

A lovely new five-star review for “Running a Successful Business after the Start-up Phase”

February 28, 2016February 28, 2016 Liz Dexter After the Start-up Phase, Reviews business books, reviews

It’s slightly tricky when someone you know reviews a book you’ve written, in that Amazon often tries to suppress these, thinking they’re fakes. But I promise that this isn’t a fake review – it’s a lovely one written by someone slightly less far along the self-employed editor pathway that I’m on, too, and one that certainly made me very happy.

As I mentioned in my post about why I wrote my books, this book has never done that well, presumably because I don’t describe it adequately or haven’t done the best marketing angles on it. It’s packed full of useful advice I picked up once I’d got my business going, and is aimed at sharing what I learned and helping people to build their business, make more money, and get a work-life balance that’s acceptable and not exhausting.

Anyway, I was particularly chuffed at this part of the review:

I found the book particularly strong on how to develop a social media profile. I have read similar articles before, and have generally retired, convinced there is no part for a die-hard introvert out there. Liz has succeeded in convincing me that’s not true, and that you can manage social media, and not let it manage you.

… as well as this, of course.

This is an accessible and realistic book, which I found immensely readable.

You can read the whole review here and find out more about “Running a Successful Business After the Start-up Phase” here.

Thirteenth and Fourteenth Five-Star Reviews for “Quick Guide to Your Career in Transcription”

December 8, 2015 Liz Dexter Business books, Quick Guide to Transcription, Reviews business books, non-fiction, reviews

I’m so chuffed, especially after some not-so-great comments on my cholesterol book – I have received my thirteenth and fourteenth five-star reviews for my book on transcription careers!

In fact, I do worry that this set of reviews will look fake. People normally have a range of opinions, and my other books certainly have a range of star ratings. But only one of my reviews on this book is by someone I know personally, and she bought it herself and used it for her career, too – it’s just I have lovely reviewers for this one (I did work hard on making the book as good as it could be, too!).

This one came in November:

Excellent guide! … Massively massively helpful with ideas I would not have thought of, useful tips and hints, and realistic perspective on this kind of work … Get to Starbucks, order a toffee nut latte, get your notebook out, and go through this book in one sitting (as I did), and then review it and your notes as they will be packed with good stuff. Thanks to the author! (read the whole review here)

and this one a few days ago, short but sweet:

Five Stars. Everything you need to know to set up as a transcriber. Helpful tips and advice.

The author of the first review has got in touch with me to ask some questions, too – I love it when that happens, and really enjoy hearing how people are getting on and learning about what they want to know next.

Especially if you read books published by independents, please do pop a review on your book blog and Amazon, Hive, etc. – it really makes a difference!

Find out more about “Quick Guide to your Career in Transcription”. Now available in print and e-book formats.

Another lovely review for “How I Survived my First Year of Full-Time Self-Employment”

August 18, 2015August 18, 2015 Liz Dexter Business books, Full-Time Self-Employment, Reviews, Starting & Building your Business business books, reviews

You know what? I really am going to have to take the bits about tea and cardigans out of the new versions of my books specifically for editors and transcribers … although then what would people have to write about in their reviews? This reviewer has also been in touch with me for further information – I, like all authors, I’d imagine, love it when that happens. It’s all been either nice comments or questions, so far, however!

Anyway, there were some lovely comments in this review, and I really appreciate all reviewers who take the time to publish their thoughts on my books!

A field of gold, full of treasures … I loved and appreciated the fact that she is so willing to share the wealth of information that has enabled her to be where she is now, this is truly worth emulating for all whether business owners or not … All in all a great, practical book and I would wholeheartedly recommend it. It is to be read over and over again. (You can read the full review here.)

If you’ve read this one, what do you think? Should I take the tea and tracksuit bottoms out of my new omnibuses or tell it how it is, fleece and all?

Read more about “How I Survived my First Year of Full-Time Self-Employment” including how and where to buy.

I’m up to 13 five-star reviews for “Quick Guide to your Career in Transcription”

August 10, 2015August 10, 2015 Liz Dexter Business books, Indie authors, Quick Guide to Transcription, Reviews business books, indie publishing

I was thrilled to find my thirteenth five-star review (twelve on Amazon.co.uk and one on Amazon.ca) for my book, “Quick Guide to Your Career in Transcription”, from a lady who’s now read three of my books (even better!). I have been popping reviews onto both my review blog and Amazon for books I’ve read lately, as I know how much it helps authors to get feedback on their books – especially when they’ve helped and/or entertained people, of course.

Here’s an extract …

A lot of helpful information in a relatively short book … it was definitely worth reading to find out what is involved, and what skills and tools are needed. There are plenty of useful tips about how to make life as a transcriber easier (both in terms of doing work and getting work). Plus, there are some very useful reminders about office ergonomics for all home office workers that spend a long time behind a keyboard. (read the whole review here.)

This book has obviously struck a bit of a chord, as I get more emails and contact about this topic than any of the other ones I talk about in my books and on my blog. With that in mind, I’m trying very hard at the moment to work this into a full-length book on transcription careers, based on my “Your Guide to Starting and Building Your Business” to add to the special editors’ edition I’m also putting together. These will be available in print and e-book versions automatically from publication, as I’ve found that the popularity of my print books is growing.

Do you prefer to buy non-fiction, informational style books in print or have you swapped to e-books for those? I’d love to know!

For more information and how to buy, visit the “Quick Guide to your Career in Transcription” page.

And this is why I’m glad I put my email address in the back of my books …

June 24, 2015 Liz Dexter Business books, Indie authors, Quick Guide to Transcription, Reviews business books, indie publishing

I had an email enquiry in the week from someone who had read “Quick Guide to your Career in Transcription” but wanted to ask for a little more detail on a couple of points (one of which was more about general business stuff, one of which was about how to check your typing speed). I was very happy to hear from her, as I’d always much rather be able to fill in any gaps myself and have a happy customer.

I did mention in my reply that it would be great if she could pop over and add a review for my book on Amazon – and she did!

Great easy to read product – It was very informative. [I] emailed the author with questions to which she responded promptly. I would highly recommend it … (read the whole review here)

So if you’ve written a book and you’re wondering whether to include contact details, I think it’s a good idea. And if you’re considering emailing an author, I’d say do it – we always like to hear from our readers (even constructive criticism, as happened with one of the reviews on this very book) and I always like to take the opportunity to help someone.

For more information on this book (with its 11 five-star reviews!) and how to buy, visit the “Quick Guide to your Career in Transcription” page.

Pushing down the bad review for “How I Conquered High Cholesterol”

June 7, 2015June 7, 2015 Liz Dexter Conquering High Cholesterol, Reviews cholesterol, indie publishing, reviews

When I got a bit of a bad review on my single health-related book,* “How I Conquered High Cholesterol“, (well, everyone has to have at least one one-star review, right?) I was chuffed when two readers leapt to my defence, meaning I didn’t have to do that ill-advised thing of replying to a review (the only review I’ve ever responded to publicly is one on this book that complained the images aren’t visible. As this book has no images, it seemed pertinent to mention that as an addition to the review).

Anyway, I moved on from that, but as reviews for all but the most wildly successful (or terrible?) books are not that quick to come, I’m always extra glad when a nice new one appears and pushes the mean one down the list of most recent reviews. So I was very pleased to see this short but sweet one …

Packed with useful tips. … covers all aspects of the necessary changes to diet and exercise very clearly and concisely. (read the full review here)

And with 22 reviews now, this, my book with the highest sales (although not this month so far, as “Quick Guide to your Career in Transcription” has surged past it), is now catching up with “How I Survived my First Year of Full-Time Self-Employment“, which has 25. I assume all writers are obsessed with this stuff? I hope so, anyway.

Edited to add: I’ve just found out that if you go into Amazon and enter “high cholesterol” into the search box, this book comes up top of the search results! Hooray! If you’re an author, it’s worth checking if this happens for your books, too.

* After having apparently cured the lady who does my cleaning’s IBS (Irritable Bowel Syndrome) with what can only be described as “one simple tip”, I am considering doing a book on IBS. Do you think this would be a useful addition to my stable?

Find more information about “How I Conquered High Cholesterol” here. And if you want to find the mean review, it’s on the Amazon UK page for this book!

A lovely new review for “Running A Successful Business after the Start-up Phase”!

May 25, 2015May 25, 2015 Liz Dexter After the Start-up Phase, Book marketing, Business books, Indie authors, Reviews business books, indie publishing

I’ll be honest here – I’ve never quite marketed this book correctly. First of all, I called it “Who are you Calling Mature?”, a title which I had tested on people but which, it turned out, made people think it was a book about ageing disgracefully (oops) – even though it had the same cover as you can see here, but with the title and sub-title reversed. So I rejigged it all, got the cover re-done, re-did all the versions on the various platforms where I sell it, and tried again.

I still think I’ve got the title wrong, though. It’s all about social media, building your business, knowing when to say no and when to say yes, picking your customers, etc. – which is actually useful for start-ups as well. Anyway, whatever’s happened, it’s always lagged behind my other books, although it does better when it’s part of my omnibus volume, “Your Guide to Starting and Running your Business“.

What all this is leading up to is the fact that I was thrilled to get a lovely new five-star review for this book, especially, as – you guessed it – the poor thing lags a little in the review numbers, too.

Another useful and insightful review from Liz … Even if your business isn’t anywhere near mature, there is still plenty of information in there that may help you to think through, and potentially avoid, some issues without having to go through the pain of experiencing them … (read the whole review here)

I know I labour this point, but this is why reviewing books you read, especially those from small presses and independent authors, is so important – it cheers us immensely, for a start, and this review, with its explanation that it’s useful for all stages of business life and talking about social media, too, helps other readers to find the book and make use of it.

Read more about “Running a Successful Business after the Start-up Phase” here or pop straight to its page on Amazon.

A nice review for “How I Conquered High Cholesterol”

May 5, 2015 Liz Dexter Conquering High Cholesterol, Reviews reviews

I haven’t been seeing many new reviews appear recently, so I was pleased to find this one on my book on how I reduced my cholesterol …

Useful. Informative and friendly. Plenty of practical guidance although the book is very short. I would recommend it to anyone trying to reduce cholesterol without drugs.

Yes, I will admit that the book is short, but there’s no filler and it’s got all the information that I used to get my cholesterol down and keep it down – and if I’m looking for information, I’d always rather read a short thing than a long one … wouldn’t you?