Book reviews are a great way for self-publishing authors to gain exposure. After all, how can someone buy your book if he or she doesn’t know it exists? Paired with other elements of your book promotion strategy, requesting reviews is a great way to get people talking about what you’ve written.
When we read good reviews, we definitely like to share them. It gives the author a few (permanent) moments of fame and allows us to let the community know about a great book. Here’s this week’s book review:
The High Effective Habits of 5 Successful Authors:
How They Beat the Self-Publishing Odds
(and how you can too)
by Outskirts Press
Publisher: Outskirts Press
ISBN: 9781432760915
Synopsis*:
Meet five successfully self-published authors and discover in their own words what contributed to their success.
How did Gang Chen earn over $100,000 in 180 days? How has Sally Shields transformed herself from a stay-at-home mom to a #1 Amazon.com bestselling author and book marketing dynamo? How did Ronnie Lee become one of the most prolific published authors in the world? How has Charlotte Endorf turned personal hardships into life-affirming successes? How did Andrew J. Rafkin find the motivation during a boating trip to write not one, not two, not three, but four award-winning novels?
Regardless of whether you are just starting to write your book, or exploring all your publishing options with a completed manuscript in your hands, the personal stories and effective habits of these five authors will surely inspire you!
Here they are:
Andrew J. Rafkin is a San Pedro native, a successful entrepreneur, and the current president of Palos Verdes Security Systems. Rafkin has received numerous awards for his books, including the EVVY literary award for Red Sky Morning and a gold, silver, and bronze “sweep” of the Action/Adventure category in the Readers Favorite Awards for his Madness trilogy: Creating Madness, Mediterranean Madness and Mexican Madness.
Charlotte Endorf was recognized as “Toastmaster of the Decade” and is a two-time winner of the coveted “Distinguished Toastmaster” award through her 10-year affiliation with Toastmasters International. She inspires and educates audiences with her professional talks designed to complement each of her many books, including By Train They Came, Plains Bound: Fragile Cargo, and Unsung Neighbors.
Gang Chen is a LEED AP BD+C and a licensed architect in California. He is also the internationally-acclaimed author of Architectural Practice Simplified, Planting Design Illustrated and several LEED exam guides including LEED AP Exam Guide, LEED BD&C Exam Guide, and LEED GA EXAM GUIDE.
Sally Shields is an award-winning pianist, composer, speaker, and author. She is also the #1 Amazon.com bestselling author of The Daughter-in-Law Rules: 101 Surefire Ways to Make Friends with Your Mother-In-Law! as well as The Collaborator Rules: 101 Surefire Ways to Stay Friends with Your Co-Author!
Ronnie Lee is a Chinese poet and philosopher. He has lived and studied in the United Kingdom, but now resides in Hong Kong, where he is working to establish greater awareness of modern philosophy and poetry. As one of the most prolific published authors today, his tomes include The Philosophy of Life, The Genius of the Metropolis, and The Meaning of Life, among many others.
* courtesy of Amazon.com
Here’s what some other reviewers are saying:
This book means a lot to me even though I have written 8 books of my own on important subjects such as philosophy, politics, religion and science. Beyond my theories and experience, I realize there are some very kind people in this World. In this book, I can see four authors beside myself that are dedicated to success. This success from all five authors seems to be motivated by four different purposes, one money, one fame, one awards, one personal and one spiritual. Yet it is not what any of us really expected in our early childhood years, but whether this was an accident rather than a destiny seems to be the underlining theme of the lives of us all. We all show signs of some greater path that we reached beyond our own consciousness of our childhoods and we all succeeded in reaching high levels of honor and gratitude in our ambitions. Each path is interesting and each path has its own merits. Throughout the hardships of life, each has a moral and each has a strategy and each has a result. All these morals in this book may seem determined, aggressive and even established, yet throughout the memoirs of each author, there seems to be a single drive that was not supported by any major institution or financial backer, so each success was an independent movement and work in its own right. This shows that anyone can succeed, even if you are individuals with a rejected history. The emphasis of each author shows the cost of experience and the hope of success for others who may learn from the obstacles faced by each author. Each one has an experience that contended with social ignorances of some sort and each wants to open the truths to their specific subjects. The kindness is shown by the motivation and outcome of each author and Outskirts Press has allowed that to be known. Although each author is clear on his or her own success whether in profit, honor or happiness, it is still the process and result of how each came to succeed that makes him or her value their experience and that is through patience, learning and acting on wise decisions. They kept their faith of goodness and acted according to the needs of life so that success was not just for themselves but for society as a whole. Outskirts Press has chosen five authors that seem to resemble a success through low odds, almost as underdogs of this World. It has chosen five successful authors who were not rich to start with but ended up rich with their writings and books. These five authors represent hope in many ways. Mr Chen with an educated background. Ms Shields with a family background. Mr Rafkin with an agricultural background. Ms Endorf with a welfare background. And myself with a business background. This book shows anyone can succeed with a book in any field of living. It is a book that will be seen as an advertisement, not just for the five authors, or for Outskirts Press, but maybe for a rememembrance of a time in history when things took off, not just in books but in fields of information, love and hope. It is a book of intense dedication to following dreams and ideas, for the betterment of life.
– Amazon Reviewer Ronnie Lee
This book is very motivating. It shows you that anyone can publish their book-and be very successful at it. Although the 5 featured authors each start with different goals, the outcome is similar-they learn ways to effectively market their books and have reaped the benefits from doing so. This book is very moving and you come to appreciate the determination of these 5 authors to follow their dreams.
– Amazon Reviewer Elizabeth
Thanks for reading! Keep up with the latest in the world of indie and self-published books by watching this space every Saturday!
Self Publishing Advisor
Self Publishing Advisor 