My publisher for my book “How to Move to Kona” suggested I send out an email to the folks who pre-purchased the book and ask them to review it on Amazon to encourage more sales. Before I did that, I went to check on the reviews that already existed, something I have been doing every few months and have been thrilled that everyone has given it a five star rating. Until today.

I received a review with TWO stars! WHAT!? Reading the comment from  “Mr. Avid” my first reaction was to be indignant. Then I read it again and he was right on some points. He said I did not mention how much it costs to ship a car from the mainland to Kona..(about $1000). Although you get varying costs RankingForReviewdepending on shipping companies. He really got me on real estate, though.

This is funny because I was hesitant about putting too much real estate information in my book as I did not want to step on the toes of our local Realtors if they were to buy the book for their clients. I wanted THEM to be the expert and my book to lead the reader to the agent. I thought my book was going to be snapped up by Realtors eager to give their clients a leg up on what was required to move here. But it hasn’t.  So this commenter gave me an idea to make my product better. He suggested specific things that I should include in the book about MOVING to Kona and that those things are specific to real estate. Duh.

So, I commented back, thanked him for his insight and sent a note to my publisher that I want to update the book and include a new chapter on real estate. This time I am going to get the input from two of my favorite Realtors in Kona (Lance Owens and Delania Branham) AND use social media to get input from other Realtors in the community and give them credit for their insight and information. I think my readers deserve to know not only the difference between fee simple and leasehold and how much our property taxes are, but also what Realtors advise about living in a condo vs a single family home when residents first arrive and other housing related information.

What started out as a rant on a rant, turned into looking deeper into constructive criticism and coming out with a better product. Thanks “Mr. Avid”.

Cost of book on Amazon

I DO hope someone buys it for $38.21…or the $94 it’s also listed as….no folks..it’s $15.