Reviews are for readers, not the authors, but I like to take a peek in and see what my readers are feeling. Not all authors want to or feel comfortable reading reviews, so this is just a personal preference for me.
When I noticed a theme in the constructive feedback of Only, my free introduction to the Creature Cravings series, and found I agreed with it...I decided to call in my super powers as an indie author to do something about it.
A few weeks ago I shared I was working on an expansion of Only to address those concerns, and here is an update on how it's going!
1️⃣ Common Feedback: It's too short!
🤔 My Initial Thoughts: Yes! This is a series of novellas. All of the books are under 50K words, mostly between 30-45K. It's getting close to short novel territory, but still mostly novellas.
At first, I didn't think this was a bad thing for Only, but in comparison, it's the shortest by a lot. The original version of Only was 19K words, far shorter than the second shortest book (Bite, at 30). Now I understand what the readers meant, it was their way of saying it's so short that it's unsatisfying.
😘 My Response in V2: Only will be closer to 30K words (same size as Bite), with expanded descriptions, character development through more chapters (two new ones so far, but there could be more as I work on the project), and some new spicy scenes. Oh yeah, there is more spice.
2️⃣ Common Feedback: Astoria shouldn't go from a panic attack to wanting to date (and screw) a guardian angel so quickly!
🤔 My Initial Thoughts: Hm... (re-reads book) Okay, I see what you mean. The change in tone is really abrupt.
😘 My Response in V2: More chapters! While Astoria does still decide to be with Cole quickly (in all of my books, the characters get together within the first few chapters, basically fast burn), there is a bit more emphasis on helping her calm down, acknowledging her feelings, conflicting in being happy, nightmares, and more scenes that focus on the danger of her stalker and Cole juggling now a role as protector with the role of boyfriend.
I want to extra emphasize that readers don't owe positive feedback to authors in their reviews. Reviews are their own opinions! Thank you to all the readers who pointed out where Only could be improved. Not all authors need to (or should) take that feedback and change an already published book, that is not possible or not wanted by all authors. This just made sense for me and I was happy to do it. Thank you for the interest and love in the Creature Cravings world, so glad you are here!
So, what do we think? Ready for more? The new version of Only is available to download now.
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