I got my first 4-star review

[JoeMitchell]

The other three reviews are 5 stars.   Anyway, check this out:

"I really liked this book. The characters were well developed and the writing was excellent. There were a number of grammar errors (lack of apostrophes being what I noticed most often) but they do not take away from the writing too much. I won't go into the plot or anything because other reviewers already have and it's in the product description. I just wanted to say that I really enjoyed this book."

Lack of apostrophes?  Lack of...apostrophes?  This will keep me up at night.  Apostrophes?  Was it the its?  Its doesn't always have one, if it's an inanimate object, it's just 'its', or something like that.  Lack of apostrophes?  if you can substitute 'it is', then it gets an apostrophe.  Lack of apostrophes?

See how I fixate on that, almost ignoring "The characters were well developed and the writing was excellent."  This does make me very happy, but what about those apostrophes?  I'll be thinking about this for days, maybe weeks, maybe until I do another full edit.

I'm sure some of you can relate.

[Daphne]

Your writing is excellent and your characters well developed and you have four extremely good reviews to prove it - even if the odd apostrophe did slide off the page, I think a drop of your favourite tipple is called for...

[kcmay]

I happen to LOVE 4-star reviews. Maybe it's my hard-a$$ed approach to reviewing, but to me, 4 stars means This was a very good book that I recommend to others who love the genre.

Four stars is an awesome review! Be happy! 

[P.A. Woodburn]

I think a four star review is just fine. I have two of them. You are spoiled with four fives. The thing is if everyone gets fives all of the time--it becomes totally meaningless. Even bestselling writers do not get all fives. I would pay attention to those apostrophes though, at least for the next book. I don't know if you dropped them or not, but I think we Indie writers should do our very best to correct all grammar and puncuation errors. I know I have at least two, and the reason I have not yet corrected them is that I had such a problem with formatting that I don't want to risk messing it up again. But please enjoy your four, that is a fine review.
Ann

[G.L. Douglas]

I also think 4-stars are a great benchmark for a new writer. I would think that it would take several novels and years of honing your skills to reach a flawless 5-star status. Still, it's nice when someone likes your work to the point where they feel there is no room for improvement (even when we know there is).

Regarding the lack of apostrophes...now that's just odd. But, best to check it out. I find when reading my own manuscripts that I already know what's coming, and my mind easily misses errors because I've skimmed over them.

At least your reviewer said, "excellent" on your writing and that your characters were well-developed. Huge kudos to you for that!

[Sandra Edwards]

all in all, that's great review. Whether or not there's anything to the apostrophe thing or not, I cannot say because I haven't read your work.

Sometimes, there are hard*sses out there who look for any little thing they can use to keep from giving "perfect" scores. I once had a contest judge tell me that she had to "nip-pick" in order to avoid giving me a perfect score. Yep, she actually said that on the scoresheet.

Sandy

[◄ Jess ►]

Well if I end up reading your book (it sounds good, I'm just trying not to spend any money right now), I'll look out for those apostrophes and let you know what I find (assuming you want to know, so you can fix the problem). Those sorts of things tend to jump out at me (except in my own work!). But really, that's not the biggest problem ever.

[M.R. Mathias]

The other three reviews are 5 stars.   Anyway, check this out:

"I really liked this book. The characters were well developed and the writing was excellent. There were a number of grammar errors (lack of apostrophes being what I noticed most often) but they do not take away from the writing too much. I won't go into the plot or anything because other reviewers already have and it's in the product description. I just wanted to say that I really enjoyed this book."

Lack of apostrophes?  Lack of...apostrophes?  This will keep me up at night.  Apostrophes?  Was it the its?  Its doesn't always have one, if it's an inanimate object, it's just 'its', or something like that.  Lack of apostrophes?  if you can substitute 'it is', then it gets an apostrophe.  Lack of apostrophes?

See how I fixate on that, almost ignoring "The characters were well developed and the writing was excellent."  This does make me very happy, but what about those apostrophes?  I'll be thinking about this for days, maybe weeks, maybe until I do another full edit.

I'm sure some of you can relate.

Joe your book (what i've read of the sample) is well writen and deserves these 4 and 5 star ratings.    Don't sweat the apostrophies.  Several other people will thinking the same thing and will probably buy the book to see what the reviewer was talking about!  lol

[JoeMitchell]

Thanks for the replies, everyone.  I do love the review, and I'm not upset in the least about only getting 4 stars.  4 stars is good!  It's those unknown apostrophe errors that are nagging at me.  I'm sort of a perfectionist, and knowing that they exist makes me want to find them and remove them.  I've already proofread it four times, my wife three times, and my sister once.  I don't doubt that the errors are there, I'm just a little surprised and embarrassed that I missed them.  I don't want anything to take away from people enjoying the book.

Thanks for the offer, Jessica, I'd really appreciate that, if you'd send me a note on any errors you find.  Please feel free to PM me if you'd like a free copy, no obligation.  I'll extend the offer to any other authors here with books in their signatures.  You don't even have to review it, but a simple PM telling me your thoughts on the story would be great.  I'd love to hear more opinions from other writers.

[Brendan Carroll]

We do tend to fix'ate on these things and I, my'self, get all cold and shuddery inside when someone points out obvious typos or slight grammatical errors to me.  For'tunately, I have learned that np matter what we do, w'ell still have mis'placed apostrop'hies. That's a fine review.  Congratz.

[Valmore Daniels]

Rule #1: Don't sweat the small stuff.
Rule #2: Its (it's) all small stuff.

  I have heard nothing but rave reviews of your work on the Amazon forums, on goodreads, and on these forums, and not a single one of those comments mentioned anything about lack of apostrophes. 

[kcmay]

There are plenty of people who believe that an apostrophe is needed for plurals. Then there's the comma. Even writers who are critiquing my WIP place commas where none are needed. <shrug>

[scififan]

peoples who needs apostrophies shouldnt be reading anyway?!':"[]_=    

[P.A. Woodburn]

all in all, that's great review. Whether or not there's anything to the apostrophe thing or not, I cannot say because I haven't read your work.

Sometimes, there are hard*sses out there who look for any little thing they can use to keep from giving "perfect" scores. I once had a contest judge tell me that she had to "nip-pick" in order to avoid giving me a perfect score. Yep, she actually said that on the scoresheet.

Sandy

I once had a university English professor tell me she envied me because I was married and pregnant and that influenced her grading. People have all kinds of strange motives for what they do.
Ann

[Edward C. Patterson]

Congratulations on your 4-Star review. 4-stars are wonderful to have.

Ed Patterson

[tsilver]

I would kill for a 4-star review.  Well, at least I'd jump up and down :-)

Terry