They've made it easier to stockpile books, so those of us whose TBR (to be read) piles were already too high now have completely ridiculous digital versions.
More seriously, ebooks have made it possible to travel with a whole library in one's purse/pocket/backpack, which is a great boon to those of us who love to read. Add in audiobooks, which people can enjoy while driving/walking/biking, and we have more ways to spend more time reading -- a boon for authors as well.
The Link is a book I almost didn't write. I wasn't very much in the mood for NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month) that year. That may be why I had trouble making certain aspects of the plot work, and I'm not fully satisfied with my solutions.
I write rough drafts each November during NaNoWriMo, writing for anywhere from a few minutes to a couple of hours at a time. Then I take a break from that draft for a few weeks before spending much of the following year revising and editing.
Both are very important to catching many readers' attention -- one reason why a traditionally published author's lack of control, over covers in particular, can be a serious problem. The importance of these elements is seriously frustrating for those of us who struggle with finding the right title and have to hire those with the necessary skills to design a cover.
I read new reviews when I become aware of them. I relish good reviews and often contact the reviewer (where feasible) to ask for permission to quote the review in publicity and/or on a book cover. As for bad ones, the ones that most annoy me are those that include spoilers or get the details of the book wrong.
Don't let anyone discourage you by disparaging your talent! Keep writing and you'll improve, whether or not the naysayer was correct that you needed a lot of improvement.
I'm gritting my teeth right now as I think about companies that prey on inexperienced authors, selling greatly overpriced and/or largely worthless services, making their money off authors rather than off sales of their books. New authors or newly self-published authors should check such resources as SFWA's Writer Beware.
