Reviews
If you are like me, you’ve spent your life helping others while eschewing help for yourself. I think this comes with the survivor territory. Be strong. Be independent. Don’t expect anything from anyone lest we be disappointed or, worse yet, betrayed. So, this year has been a learning experience as I’ve relied on so many good people from Dissociative Writers to support me emotionally as well as pick up many of the technical pieces of my book launch of Crazy: Reclaiming Life from the Shadow of Traumatic Memory.
And support me they did! I can’t begin to thank them enough simply for being there! The gifts of expertise they shared were mind blowing! Who would’ve thought people would do this for me? I climbed through that “I’m not good enough” hole to receive and accept the gifts they gave. All this is to say that’s it’s hard for me to ask for help, but I’m going to ask you for help now.
When I wrote my memoir, I was writing it for myself, to make meaning out of my crazy life. As I got further into it, I realized it could be helpful for other people with DID, their therapists, and the people who loved them. Further still, my editor suggested it could educate the general public about DID and help erase the stigma attached to the diagnosis. If my memoir is to reach these audiences, it needs to receive reviews from lots of people. Only with reviews will the online bookstore algorithms push it onto the screen for other readers to see.
If you have bought and read my memoir, please consider writing an honest review of it. It can be one sentence long or ten sentences long. It can be on one site or on many sites. Here are some tips about writing reviews for Crazy: Reclaiming Life from the Shadow of Traumatic Memory.
Tips for Writing Book Reviews
Amazon is the largest vendor of books and the most influential to potential readers. Currently, Crazy has 14 global ratings on Amazon and nine reviews. I’m told that Amazon will not promote it through their search engine without 50 reviews, so that’s my goal. 50 reviews on Amazon! Amazon is also the pickiest of the book vendors. Because the first few reviews Crazy received were from people who had advanced reader copies (and had not bought it from Amazon) they are now limiting reviews to people who have bought from them, called “verified readers.” If you bought your book from Amazon, please click here to write your review. If you did not buy your book from Amazon, you might check back in a week or so to see if they’ve lifted the restriction. Whether they have or they haven’t, never fear! There are other vendors who would be happy to have your review!
Don’t forget Amazon ratings! You can rate a book (click how many stars) without writing a review. Stars count!
Barnes and Noble and other online book vendors do not have the tricky restrictions that Amazon has. They will record your review whether you bought it from them or not. To leave your review on Barnes and Noble online, click here.
Goodreads is not a bookseller but a fantastic online site for book reviews and book conversations. To leave a review, you have to sign up for free. You will not get emails from them unless you request them. By becoming a member, you have access to thousands of book reviews and recommendation. It’s a powerhouse for people who are readers! To sign up for Goodreads, click here. To write a review for Crazy, click here.
Most online vendor review sites allow reviews to be posted under pseudonyms. If you’re concerned about your privacy, you can us an alter name, system name, or totally made up name.
As I said in the beginning of this blog post, I am very uncomfortable promoting myself, especially to people I know and love. Today, I jump that hurdle and invite you to promote me, not for my own gain, but for the benefit of other people with DID. When you write a review of Crazy, you’re promoting an authentic story of DID and accurate information for the public to consume. Ultimately, this helps all of us who use this brilliant coping strategy by encouraging the world to take one small step toward de-stigmatization.
Thank you for considering!
Self-Care
Honestly, this suggestion is not self-serving!
If you’re stressed out or otherwise feeling challenged, find a good book to read, go to the most comfy spot in your home, and curl up and disappear into the world of someone else.
Usually, we dissociate to get away from our troubles. Now, you can get away from your troubles by reading a good book. Let someone else’s story give you inspiration. When you’re done, you can get up and tackle a new day!
Buy the Book
If you haven’t bought your copy of Crazy yet, click here to have it delivered right to your door!
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Memoir is about handing over your life to someone and saying, this is what I went through,
this is who I am, and maybe you can learn something from it.
~ Jeannette Walls, author of The Glass Castle