reviews

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

Liz Dexter Conquering High Cholesterol, Reviews

How I conquered high cholesterolI 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”

Liz Dexter Business books, Full-Time Self-Employment, Reviews, Starting & Building your Business ,

How I survived my first year of full-time self-employment 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”

Liz Dexter After the Start-up Phase, Reviews ,

IRunning a successful business after the start-up phaset’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”

Liz Dexter Business books, Quick Guide to Transcription, Reviews , ,
quick guide to your career in transcriptionI’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!

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

Liz Dexter Business books, Full-Time Self-Employment, Reviews, Starting & Building your Business ,

How I survived my first year of full-time self-employment 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.

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

Liz Dexter Conquering High Cholesterol, Reviews , ,

How I conquered high cholesterolWhen 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!

Lovely book reviews make me happy

Liz Dexter Business books, Quick Guide to Transcription, Starting & Building your Business ,

I would say that pretty well all authors want to entertain and help people, maybe both. Yes, some people do write books just to make money, but I reckon that doesn’t do much for your sales, as it’s probably pretty obvious in the long run. I know quite a few authors of various different types of book, and what links us all is that we love hearing from our readers. I write to inform and help, and because I know there’s a need out there for advice on business and careers, because people contact me all the time asking for help. When I receive feedback that I have actually helped someone, that’s honestly the best reward, and I think it would be even if I made multiple millions a year from my books (I don’t).

Your guide to starting and building your businessSo, I’ve had two lovely reviews recently, the first on “Your Guide to Starting and Running Your Business“, which is my business omnibus, available in e-book only (until I get round to producing a print edition) and obviously read by someone with their eye on the transcription side of things …

A gem for wannabe transcriptionists. Wonderfully frank and informative. Liz has provided me with the confidence to give it a try … (read the rest here)

I don’t get many reviews on this one, so that was really nice.

quick guide to your career in transcriptionAnd then the second was on my “Quick Guide to your Career in Transcription” which does what it says on the tin (and might have been useful for that first reviewer, although this second reviewer could do with the above book as she moves forward from part-time work to more!):

An Inspirational Guide. This is a really helpful practical guide to setting yourself up as a transcriber. The information is clear, concise and current and Liz is generous with her tips and knowledge … As as result, and after some in depth typing practice to bring up my speed, I was able to confidently contact some professional transcription companies, and am now working for two of them on a part time basis along with my current day job! (read the rest here)

I know there’s plenty of transcription work to go around, and I’m so pleased that by writing about my experiences and pulling them together into my books, I’ve been able to help two more people with their careers.

A nice review for “How I Conquered High Cholesterol”

Liz Dexter Conquering High Cholesterol, Reviews

How I conquered high cholesterolI 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?

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.

“How I Survived my First Year of Full-Time Self-Employment” receives its 25th 4 or 5 star review!

Liz Dexter Business books, Full-Time Self-Employment, Reviews, Starting & Building your Business ,

How I survived my first year of full-time self-employment I was thrilled to notice I’ve had my 25th review (all 4 or 5 stars) on Amazon.co.uk (it’s got three more on Amazon.com) for “How I Survived my First Year of Full-Time Self-Employment“. I’m really proud of this book, and I’m enjoying rejigging it for the new edition purely for proofreaders and editors – I’m glad I shared my own experiences to write the book I wished I’d been able to read when I was starting out – everything was so pushy and risk-it-all or else wishy-washy without good worked examples and detailed information.

A really useful perspective … It has given me plenty to think about, but also boosted my confidence that I, too, can build a successful business. Thanks Liz! (Read the full review on Amazon)

I’m always glad to know when I’ve boosted someone’s confidence – that’s what I set out to do and it’s gratifying to know that it’s worked!

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

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

Liz Dexter Business books, Full-Time Self-Employment, Reviews, Starting & Building your Business ,

How I survived my first year of full-time self-employmentAuthor and editor Steve Dunham has posted a lovely long and detailed review of “How I Survived my First Year of Full-Time Self-Employment” over on his blog. We did a review swap – I reviewed his “Editor’s Companion” on my own book review blog but, just like doing competitions offering free books or giving physical copies to reviewers or any other of the myriad ways we try to get our books out there, you can never assume that a) you’re going to get a good review, b) you’re going to get more than a one-liner, or c) you’re going to get a review at all.

Steve really “got” what I was trying to do with the book …

Liz invites you to take a walk with her through the year, encounter the ups and downs with her, and learn the lessons as she learns them.

and has understood that I’m explaining my process as an example, not a prescription:

Liz describes her methods for scheduling work and keeping accounts, knowing that readers will need to devise their own ways of organizing pieces of a business, and simply offers her ways as an example. Her description of how she handles her bookkeeping will encourage you to do yours promptly and regularly, even if your system is different. If you’re self-employed, or thinking about it, just reading how she does things will probably give you ideas for your own business.

It’s not a puff piece – Steve makes the very valid point that I wrote this (partly unintentionally) for a UK audience, and I will address this issue in the version I’m rewriting specifically for editors and proofreaders, making sure I explain British terms and provide dollar conversions, so I’m glad he reminded me of this. It’s also true that different kinds of readers will like the different levels of detail on various topics in the book (I know some people who’ve loved the bits on tea; others have memorably criticised me for including too many cardigans!).

So it’s a very fair review, with a lot of detail and understanding – and that’s the best kind of review, in (of!) my books. Thank you to Steve, and I’m glad he found my book worthwhile.

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