“Legends of the Plastic Chairs” Gets Its Very First Review!

There is a blog out there called The PODler whose soul function is to review self-published works, and to hand out their annual “International Print on Demand Award” to the very best POD book they encounter long the way.

Although The PODler specializes in reviewing “the independent novel,” they mention in the fine print that basically anything goes:

“I review the following: thriller (any: medical, political, techno, etc.), mystery, historical, suspense, espionage, sci-fi, fantasy, literary with any of the above genre elements, (for instance, a book along the lines of House of Sand and Fog.), literary (coming of age, growing up, immigrant) mixed genres (for instance alternate history detective as in Fatherland). Some YA adult novels are okay, as long as they are along the lines of Dragon Rider, that is fantasy/ sci-fi/ adventure. Please query if unsure. We also welcome non-fiction (memoir, biography, history, current events/politics).”

With great anticipation, I completed their simple submission instructions and began the wait for news. They do not promise your book will be reviewed. You just have to wait and watch. To my delight, it was only four days before my first official book review appeared in the glassy lights of The PODler's pages. The reviewer made a startling confession in the very first sentence:

“Legends of the Plastic Chairs is our first non-fiction submission and it comes from Patricia Curtis.”

Now think of it. Of all the gin joints in all the towns in all the world, my little book was the first non-fiction submission The PODler had ever received. That came as a bit of a surprise to me. Reading on, their unfamiliarity with non-fiction became evermore apparent.

(See entire review here.)

Even though I only scored a “C” on their rating scale, I rather enjoyed my first review. It was full of fascinating observations. At one turn, they called me a mystic and a Saint; at another, they claimed my ability to hear “The Voice” was an outright lie. (I wonder, would it have been more believable if I was writing it in a novel?)

Their main criticism of the book, however, was a lack of detail:

“Although I like the underlying story, I have some problems with the execution--one huge problem is the lack of more details; the author tells and summarizes too much instead of really getting into the moments of her life by vividly presenting events in form of scenes. This lack of detail makes the story seem thin and sometimes less than believable. This is too bad because the story is an important one.”

Now, I could take this personal, but I won’t. I will continue to bear in mind that this reviewer was stacking my one little inspirational submission up against a mountain of fictional submissions. Fiction relies on detail. We all know that. Fiction is detail. But my book does not need the details of my job at Kragen Auto Supply in order to get across a message of hope to persons who have been emotionally brutalized. I got my message across care-fully and elegantly. And even the reviewer admitted to that. (OK, not really, but I'm going to imagine they did.)

The bottom line is, I got a decent review from a reputable blogger and I am happy with it.

My little book that could is going to become a best seller someday. Mark my words.