by John Bowers
It usually doesn’t take a lot of effort to determine if an artist has talent. Walk into a gallery and observe the paintings, and chances are you will know right away whether you like the work. For painters, photographers, and sculptors, it only takes a glance to determine their ability. For musicians you can usually judge talent within thirty seconds just by listening. For actors, maybe a few minutes.
It’s different for writers, and novelists in particular, because it takes some effort for the target audience to decide if we are any good at our craft. The sad truth is that perhaps 90% of the population never picks up a book, and for those who do, every novelist in the world is competing for their attention.
So…when someone does actually read a book, the author really wants to know how it was received. Did you like it? Did you hate it? Can I do it better? Should I do it differently? Should I just forget it and do something else?
Good books take a long time to write. An author can spend weeks, months, even years getting a book written, edited, rewritten, edited, marketed, and finally published. Then, assuming anyone actually reads it, if no one leaves a review, other book shoppers may decide to pass it up. Five or six positive reviews might change that.
Obviously the author wants to see 4 and 5-star reviews, but even negative reviews can have benefit, if only to encourage the author to do a better job on the next book.
Reviews are important. When you finish reading a book, by anyone, why not leave a note of feedback. It only takes a couple of minutes in most cases, and it will encourage the author to keep on telling great stories…or if he really sucks, maybe to find an “honest job”. Either way, the world of books will be better for it.
About the Author
Born in the Arkansas Ozarks, John Bowers came to California at the age of two. His parents had no job prospects, but as lifelong farmers, found work as migrant labor in the San Joaquin Valley (in the 1950s, most of California’s migrant labor was done by “Arkies” and “Okies”, many of whom had come West during the Great Depression). Some of his earliest memories include sitting on a pallet under a grape vine playing with toy trucks while his parents harvested grapes or picked cotton.
By the time Bowers started school, his dad had found work on a turkey ranch, and continued to work in turkeys for the next 15 years, moving from one job to another almost every year. From first grade until his senior year in high school, Bowers attended ten different schools, including three high schools. “We moved almost every year,” he recalls, “usually in the dead of winter” (when agriculture was dormant). As a result, Bowers remembers lots of people, but few of them remember him: “I simply wasn’t there long enough to be remembered.”
When he was four years old, Bowers’ mother began studying with what later proved to be a religious cult. She didn’t actually join the cult for several years, but Bowers lived under its influence from an early age. By the time they started attending “church”, Bowers was also convinced it was the true religion. “My mom said she had proved it,” he says today. “Mom was the smartest person I knew, so I believed her.”
Forty years later, when Bowers saw evidence the organization was corrupt, his eyes were opened and he made his escape. “Unfortunately, I had subjected my own kids to several years of cult indoctrination,” he says, “but I think we got out early enough for them to have a somewhat normal life.” Today, neither Bowers nor his children are involved in religion. “I spent forty years in the wilderness,” he laughs. “I think I’ve paid my dues.”
Bowers discovered a love for writing in 7th grade. In high school his English teachers considered him a prodigy, expecting him to become a great success as a novelist. But the “church” had other ideas, and went to great lengths to squelch his talent. “They called it vanity,” he says. “I defied them for a while, but you can’t fight against God forever, and I finally stuck a pin in it.” But he never gave up the dream, and at age 44, when he finally seized his freedom, he started writing again. Revolt on Alpha 2 is his 18th novel on Amazon, and in spite of the wasted years, he swears he is only getting started.
Bowers still lives in Central California, and hasn’t moved for 27 years. As for his cult experience, he has this to say (with apologies to the United States Marines who served on Guadalcanal):
“And when he gets to Heaven,
“To St. Peter he will tell:
“‘Another cult member reporting, sir…
“I’ve served my time in Hell.’”
