Member of Word Weavers and ACFW
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My husband and I decided from day 1 to name whereever we lived, "The Hahn Hunting Lodge." We aren't rich enough to own a hunting lodge, but we take our que from the English. They name their homes. It creates a different atmosphere to all who enter.
My husband and I love guns. We love the outdoors. We love hunting. We love coffee. We love you. The friends I have encountered over the years online have richly added to my character. I am grateful that God brought us in contact. My ministry is in mentoring and helping broken families/broken people.
I asked Jesus into my life the same time as my husband in 2002. It's been a wild ride since then and a great adventure, too.
Book Reviewing Policy
If you are a publishing company or author, I take into consideration the heart the author puts into the book. However, I will give honest reviews. If you do not want an honest review, please do not ask me to review your novel or book. I can’t with any integrity advertise your book on my website or blog without giving an truthful review. The only exception I make to this policy are to my friends. I have given a bad review to a friend who has self-published, but to honor our friendship gave the person a choice to have me take their book off of my website, mentioning no more about it, and not publishing the review. To date, I have not had any of my friends say no to a less than stellar review. Recently, I have felt the need to write down my book reviewing policy.
a) The maximum rating you can have is five-stars. Five-stars is like getting an A. The book must be free of errors and unique. Perfect. Four-stars is a B. It means it was still very good, kept my attention. Three-stars is a C. It means I may not read it again, did a lot of skimming, there were errors, or maybe it just didn’t swing my attention. Two-Stars is a D. I never give one-stars. In the rare case of a one-star I contact the author and give him or her the choice of breaking our agreement for me to review the book. Five and four star reviews are fantastic regardless. Feel free to comb through my Goodreads and compare the ratio of two to five-star reviews.
b) With the exception of two-stars, I strive to use the sandwich method taught in Word Weavers (the bread equals the positive and the meat the more critical review). You can read my thoughts of the difficulty of reviewing here.
c) I always strive to be kind in my reviews. I am a writer, too. Lest we forget, we are on the same team. I always treat every person I meet online as if I live next door to them. I care about you and want you as a writer to succeed. It is also in my best interest that a publishing company succeed. I am also a reader.
Reviews are difficult to write with the frame of mind that each person is not just a faceless, electronic shadow that I will never meet in person, especially bad reviews. Those give me no pleasure. I review as a reader and a writer. Just because I don’t like a book doesn’t mean someone else will share my opinion. One day if my novel is published I expect there will be some people who won’t like it and some that will like it. The best advice I ever received came from an agent who said if you are going to self-publish, invest in a good editor. Another piece of good advice came from a friend. She told me take every criticism and throw away what is waste and keep what is useful. Whatever side of the aisle you land in whether self-publish or traditional, always get involved in a critique group that is not comprised of family and friends. Word Weavers and ACFW have always given me valuable feedback on my writing. As a writer we never stop learning or tweaking our trade. It is an art form and it is always evolving.
Thank you for allowing me to critique your work and for trusting me with your heart. If you have any questions, please feel free to contact me at nikolehahn@thehahnhuntinglodge.com.
Nikole Hahn
