amazon reviews, Book Reviews, Self-Publishing Book Review of the Week, Uncategorized, weekly self published book review

Saturday Book Review: “I Love Grass”

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, courtesy of the Midwest Book Review:

I Love Grass by Maria Boston

I Love Grass

by Maria Boston

Publisher: Outskirts Press

ISBN: 9781478725688

Synopsis:

Do you love grass?

There are so many things to love about grass. We can love the way it looks, the way it smells – even the way it changes its green from season to season! Read on to add to your experiences with grass.

Maria Boston has always written children’s stories. She pulls on her rich experiences from her own and her daughters’ childhoods. “I Love Grass” is her first published book. She lives in Virginia with her two daughters and their dog.

Critique:

I Love Grass is a textured, craft-filled, illustrated essay on grass for children age 6 and up. Carefully photographed works of textured needlecraft and carpet samples present colored illustrations of a gentle narrative description of grass, progressing through the seasons, exploring the rich colors, different flowers and plants that grow in grass, and living inhabitants of the grass such as bugs, insects, or even humans. I Love Grass is a multimedia celebration of grass, presented in fastidious portraits of creative craft and yarn needlework, incorporating joyous observations of each vision of all the different shades and kinds of grass.

[ reviewed on the Easy Reader Shelf at MBR ]

Here’s what some other reviewers are saying:

I just received this book and had to review it right away. I absolutely loved it. I review a lot of children books, so I think I know when I see a good one, and I have to say, this is a good one.

First, I have to say I really love the art work in this book. All the pictures are out of yarn. The houses, bench, grass, sky, ground, flowers, etc. It really adds to the creativity of I Love Grass. Each time the “grass” changes, you get to see from the different colors of yarn. I believe this will really hold a child’s attention when they see it. There is also a little grass design on all the pages with words. It is just a beautiful book.

Second, the story. It is just as cute as the book. You can really tell how passionately the author feels about grass and how much she really wants one to love it just the same. Her words are simple, so a younger reader can read it to themselves. One can also learn from it as the author explains the different changes and seasons and shows it along with the pictures in the book. The book isn’t very long so young children’s attention won’t be lost.

I really enjoyed reading this book. I think everyone should get I Love Grass for their kids. They will love it and want to read it over and over again.

– Amazon Reviewer Allergykidmom

I don’t have young children but saw this book on a friend’s coffee table and after reading it, I wanted a copy for myself. What caught my attention was the amazing imagery. It is absolutely beautiful!!! The author created all the images out of yarn. How creative! I couldn’t put it down.

So I read it to my cousin, who is more than 40 years younger than me (see how I didn’t give my age away?) She loved it! She asked me to read it a few more times that night so I’m thinking children really like this children’s book as much as I do.

If you are a fan of table books and or have young children, I don’t think you can go wrong with this book. As an adult, it inspired me to get my creativity on! (I hide it when my young cousins visit though. Don’t want icky, sticky children’s fingerprints all over it!)

– Amazon Reviewer Miss G

There are so many things to love about grass. We can love the way it looks, the way it smells – even the way it changes its green from season to season! Read on to add to your experiences with grass.  I Love Grass is a refreshing return to life’s simple pleasures. The book brings out the nature-lover in every child by calling their attention to this, and other, wonders of Earth.

I Love Grass returns young readers to a simpler time of wonderment over the marvels of the natural world. The newly released book by children’s author Maria Boston is published by Outskirts Press.

The first in a new series of children’s books, I Love Grass offers an alternative focus to today’s juvenile reader. The book draws their attention from the mind-numbing stimuli of electronics and computer-generated graphics back to organic things of beauty. It’s the story of one child’s excitement over something so simply ethereal – an oft-unnoticed and unappreciated patch of grass. Through this overlooked foliage, the young girl learns to appreciate the beauty of Earth’s abundance, and revels in the quiet presence of nature.

Parents will appreciate the lessons in I Love Grass, a book that inspires quiet introspection and helps lay the foundation necessary to build future generations of environmentally conscious adults.

– Blogger Apple Blossom of The Blended Blog

Book Trailer:

saturday self-published book review

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

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Conversations with a Self-Publishing Writer, Holidays, Royalene Speaks, Uncategorized

Conversations: 1/15/2016

IT’S A NEW DAY! NEW MONTH! NEW YEAR!

Audience Expectations Are Running HIGH

 

Lots of authors I know expound on the concept that there is a “very thin line” between writing for yourself and writing for your audience. Every time I hear this I challenge that thinking. I’ve come to understand that there is NO LINE AT ALL and I suggest to my writing students (and clients) that they constantly weave the two perspectives together. This allows for authenticity to resonate within lives of every character no matter how many developing stages they pass through. It also sets the stage for writers to add the intrigue of unexpected reactions when the plot turns against a favorite character. C. S. Lewis wrote: “When we lose one blessing another one is often most unexpectedly given in its place.” This is an excellent writing perspective that enhances both Reader and Author expectations of exceptional writing.

cs lewis

Have you ever heard of an old theater drama called the Saturday Afternoon Serial? They were designed to leave their audience “dangling off a cliff” of excitement at the end of that Saturday film segment so they’d come again the next Saturday to discover what happened next. Often the writers themselves had no idea what might happen next—which is the perfect picture of writer/audience expectations woven tightly together. How did they do it?

FIRST—they had to know their characters inside and out—especially the odd, quirky things each character might do in a crisis. Wikipedia gives excellent definitions of the consistent characters audiences could expect to find in these mini-stories and if they weren’t there, the theater lost patrons. These character types exist in every book and film in existence. It is up to each writer to make them into unique individuals that today’s audience will love.

  • “The saddle pal or sidekick was the helper or assistant of the hero or heroine. That person was most often a bumbling comic or a more serious, steady assistant.
  • The brains heavy was the man (or, on occasion, woman) who issued the orders to his henchmen. He often wears a suit, and pretends to be an upright, lawful member of the community. He usually has little to actually DO until the last chapter except talk, snarl, grind his teeth in anger or grimace.
  • The action heavy is the assistant or second-in-command to the brains heavy who usually wore workmanlike duds, did the physical labor, and often had more brawn than brains. He went from one chapter to the next trying desperately to kill the hero with fists, knives, guns, bombs, or whatever else was handy at the time.
  • The oldtimer was the man that (a) owned the ranch, (b) was the father of the hero (or heroine) and often had a short film lifespan, as well (3) those who wore the badge of a Sheriff, Marshall, or Ranger.
  • The middle-aged and older performers who were judges, lawyers, storeowners, wardens, owners of the local newspaper, attorneys, judges, scientists, executives, or professors.”

 

Does any of this sound familiar in the books and films your reading/watching today? This is how Charles Dickens wrote the famous novel/film OLIVER. This is how Sir Arthur Conan Doyle developed the adventures of Sherlock Holmes. This is how the TV “serial” LOST was written by J.J. Abrams. They are cliffhanger authors whose work has withstood the test of time—AS yours’ will—while you enjoy the process of weaving audience expectations together with your own. And, as you fall in love with writing like this, publishers and readers will fall in love with you! ⚓︎

 

RoyaleneABOUT ROYALENE DOYLE: Royalene has been writing something since before kindergarten days and continues to love the process. Through her small business—DOYLE WRITING SERVICES—she brings more than 40 years of writing experience to authors who need “just a little assistance” with completing their projects. This is a nice fit as she develops these blogs for Outskirts Press (OP) a leading self-publisher, and occasionally accepts a ghostwriting project from one of their clients. Her recent book release (with OP) titled FIREPROOF PROVERBS, A Writer’s Study of Words, is already receiving excellent reviews including several professional writer’s endorsements given on the book’s back cover.  

Royalene’s writing experience grew through a wide variety of positions from Office Manager and Administrative Assistant to Teacher of Literature and Advanced Writing courses and editor/writer for an International Christian ministry. Her willingness to listen to struggling authors, learn their goals and expectations and discern their writing voice has brought many manuscripts into the published books arena.
elizabeth speaks, Goals, in your corner

In Your Corner : Resolutions for 2016 That Every Aspiring Author Should Make (pt 2)

 

Last week, I opened a new series of blog posts with a simple question:

What’s your goal for 2016?

To steal a line from Spiderman’s playbook, “With great power comes great responsibility,” and with great optimism I think you’ll find a great capacity for willpower and determination to see your New Year’s resolutions through.  When it comes to self-publishing, I realize that I have a bit of a vested interest––alright, I definitely have an extremely vested interest––in that I both work professionally as an advisor within the parameters of the self-publishing industry and I personally believe in the mission of self-publishing, and in recapturing the rights and privileges that come with calling the shots on your own manuscript.  But despite my proximity to the issue, I think I’m being fully objective when I say that self-publishing this year is not “too much” or somehow “beyond” your ability to make happen.  You can publish in 2016, and I hope to provide you with some resources here in this series that will help you make that happen.

Last week, I examined four goals to get you started down the path to self-publishing this year.  They were to:

  1. Set goals.
  2. Facilitate goals.
  3. Make writing a priority, and
  4. Read, read, read.

parkour goals

This week, I’m going to take a close look at three additional goals, and challenge you to:

  1. Master at least the basics of social media.
  2. Research deeply, and
  3. Connect with other authors.

 

So, how does one become a social media guru overnight?  Well the short answer is, you can’t.  Or I should rather say, I couldn’t.  Not easily, anyway.  As with so many tips and tricks of the trade, mastery of social media platforms doesn’t just require proficiency––it requires significance.  Because social media is selling a product and that product is you, self-publishing authors have to be careful to create extensive social media presences without sacrificing what makes platforms like Facebook and Twitter and Goodreads so attractive in the first place: personality, presence, and authenticity.  (And a side note: it’s always better to pick up new social media skills slowly and incorporate them into a sustainable long-term strategy rather than burning yourself out on producing new content at a breakneck pace all of the time.)  Given all of the hassle of setting up a dozen separate accounts with their own quirks and password combinations, is it really worth going through the trouble?  Short answer: YES.  If you want to publish your book, you need to connect with your readers, and you need to stay up-to-date on the ways in which they discover and respond to their favorite stories.  If you’re strapped for time, you can always turn to a hybrid self-publishing company like mine, Outskirts Press, to take care of this part of the process for you.

And what’s this about “research”?  I thought I’d left all that behind when I graduated from school.  But research, when push comes to shove, is what elevates a book from being “interesting in theory” to “convincing and immersive.”  This isn’t to say you should stifle your impulse towards creative license, but it is to say that you should always be intentional about your digressions from fact––you should alter reality, not out of ignorance, but rather out of ambition, curiosity, and cleverness.  Says author Robert McKee,

“Do research. Feed your talent. Research not only wins the war on cliche, it’s the key to victory over fear and it’s cousin, depression.”

But “research” can look like many things, including visits to your local library to grill the staff on duty or, yes, even the occasional perusal of Wikipedia pages.  These are not the only options, however!  As Roman Payne writes,

“Who’s to say what a ‘literary life’ is? As long as you are writing often, and writing well, you don’t need to be hanging-out in libraries all the time.  Nightclubs are great literary research centers. So is Ibiza!”

Speaking from my own personal experience, boots-on-the-ground research is every bit as invaluable for the writing process as is amassing a databank of all of the relevant facts which circle your piece like electrons around the nucleus of an atom.  Research is not, however, the end goal: The end goal is to write and publish your book.  Never forget, in the immortal words of Dune author Frank Herbert:

“Highly organized research is guaranteed to produce nothing new.”

Which is to say, research alone won’t write your book for you.  Only you can actually bring a world to life on the page!

And while there are many ways to motivate yourself to leap (back) into the writing process, none has proven so valuable as the chance to connect with other writers.  Ultimately, no one knows the internal life––and struggles, and strengths, and successful strategies––of a writer than … you guessed it! … another writer.  This year, I recommend that each and every one of us involved in the indie, hybrid, and self-publishing industry should resolve to use social media or in-person or even online writing groups to connect with these rare global citizens, these other writers.  The relationships we build will prove invaluable, and provide us with opportunities to share publishing tips, encourage and inspire each other, and transform the “solitary life” of a writer into a journey that feels less lonely and more part of a greater collective effort to move forward.

Always remember: you are not alone. ♣︎

ElizabethABOUT ELIZABETH JAVOR: With over 18 years of experience in sales and management, Elizabeth Javor works as the Manager of Author Services for Outskirts Press. The Author Services Department is composed of knowledgeable publishing consultants, pre-production specialists, customer service reps and book marketing specialists; together, they all focus on educating authors on the self-publishing process to help them publish the book of their dreams. Whether you are a professional looking to take your career to the next level with platform-driven non-fiction or a novelist seeking fame, fortune, and/or personal fulfillment, Elizabeth Javor can put you on the right path.

 

Book Marketing, Kelly Speaks, Marketing Your Self-Published Book, search engine optimization, Social Media Marketing, Uncategorized

Marketing BASICS : Building an Online Presence

As I mentioned in last week’s post, I’m taking Wednesdays back to the B.A.S.I.C.S. of marketing for your self-published book.  And step one of every really effective marketing strategy in the silicon age requires us to tackle the “B” in B.A.S.I.C.S.: Building an Online Presence.  Given that you’re reading this blog post on the web, I’m going to assume you have already been initiated into the manifold wonders of the internet age, but I’m also going to assume that you’re starting your latest book marketing campaign from the ground up––which is to say, you’re looking to begin with that all-important keystone of any such strategy: motivation.

SIDE NOTE

I’m not going to lie: marketing your self-published book is hard.  Really hard.  It will requires a lot of time, energy, and trust––trust in yourself and your own capacity to make wise choices that fit your own project.  Without this trust, authors risk losing focus as they get sucked into a whirlpool of self-doubt and second-guessing.  I recommend skipping this arduous process entirely by embracing your own insight and the sometimes radical notion that you really can make good choices.  I know that you can, and I’m a perfect stranger!  Just think: you may be fixating at present on some of your own limitations, but you also have a front-row seat to your personal portfolio of strengths and skills!  Let’s put them to work in marketing.

BACK TO THE PROGRAM

The real reason to begin your book marketing campaign with a strong web presence is the simple fact that a comprehensive bundle of platforms––such as an author website, a blog site, as well as accounts on Facebook, Goodreads, Twitter, and even Instagram or Snapchat––is both an effective and inexpensive way to reach new readers.  We’ve written about many of these platforms before here on Self Publishing Advisor, in last year’s Social Media Primer and as far back as 2013 with Wendy’s discourse on improving blogs, but the fact remains that authors are presented with something of a moving target.

New platforms are becoming available all of the time, while less popular ones or ones that have outlived their usefulness are archived or excised from the web altogether.  This is why I used the key phrase “comprehensive bundle of platforms” above: to indicate that an effective presence requires a flexible, adaptable set of options––and above all, the freedom to experiment with emerging technologies as well as the courage to abandon unhelpful ones.  My own recent experiences with Twitter and Snapchat make for a good illustration; I’ve found a healthy and important niche for my Twitter use in broadcasting updates and news about my current work and upcoming publications, but I haven’t quite found a marketable use for Snapchat.  I tried, enjoyed it for a spell, and could even see quite a lot of potential there … but I could never quite invest in it the creative energy required to make it a success.  So I shut my account down in order to spend that time more effectively on platforms that better fit with my personality and web usage.

TWO TIPS

  • Your websites and blogs should be streamlined and easy to navigate; they must both catch a visitor’s eye and capture a visitor’s interest in regards to content, as well as make it easy for even the most unfamiliar of visitors to learn about and buy your book.  In building your websites, you can choose from among a whole host of free services, including WordPress (which is what we use), or Blogspot, or Tumblr, but whatever route you take you ought to consider purchasing your own domain name.  Make it something intuitive and easy to remember; many authors choose to use either their pen-names or the titles of their books as domain name inspiration.
  • Consistency is key.  Whether we’re talking about blog posts or social media updates, creating a sense of routine and reliability is important.  It both makes you more findable (especially if you integrate the tricks of SEO or Search Engine Optimization into your postings) and more trustworthy.  You  might even work up a schedule of what sorts of materials to post on which days of the week, as we do here at Self Publishing Advisor.  You know from following this blog in the past that every Monday we run through the major self-publishing related news items of the week, and every Saturday we run a book review compendium of a self-published book.  Because you know this, you already know that a) you can trust us to post new material on a regular basis, and b) which days of the week you’re most interested in spending some quality time on our website.

So that’s the “B” in B.A.S.I.C.S. … or at least, that’s a place to start!  There’s so much more to come.

Thank you for reading!  If you have any questions, comments, suggestions, or contributions, please use the comment field below or drop us a line at selfpublishingadvice@gmail.com.  And remember to check back each Wednesday for your weekly dose of marketing musings from one indie, hybrid, and self-published author to another. ♠

KellyABOUT KELLY SCHUKNECHT: Kelly Schuknecht is the Executive Vice President of Outskirts Press. In addition to her contributions to the Outskirts Press blog at blog.outskirtspress.com, Kelly and a group of talented marketing experts offer book marketing services, support, and products to not only published Outskirts Press authors, but to all authors and professionals who are interested in marketing their books and/or careers. Learn more about Kelly on her blog, kellyschuknecht.com.
from the archives, Kelly Speaks, Self-Publishing, Uncategorized

From the Archives: “Self-publishing’s Strongest According to Inc. Magazine”

Welcome back to our new Tuesday segment, where we’ll be revisiting some of our most popular posts from the last few years.  What’s stayed the same?  And what’s changed?  We’ll be updating you on the facts, and taking a new (and hopefully refreshing) angle on a few timeless classics of Self Publishing Advisor.

∗∗∗∗∗

[ Originally posted: August 13th, 2009 ]

Inc500Cover2Inc. Magazine released its annual top 500 fastest growing US businesses yesterday. Outskirts Press, Inc ranked #268 on the list, and exclusive among full-service self publishing firms. With on-demand publications up 132% over the previous year, Outskirts Press finds itself the fastest growing provider in the fastest growing segment of the book publishing industry. Congratulations Outskirts Press.

Author Solutions – the only other self-publishing related provider recognized, came in at 3266 among the top 5000 companies.

Congratulations self-publishing.

– by Karl Schroeder

 

Six years later, Inc. 500 has morphed into the Inc. 5000 but the list remains a stellar launch point for discussions about what industries are seeing success in a mostly-post-recession USA––and not just for the men and women who walk Wall Street.  It remains a fantastic resource for indie and self-publishing authors, too.

Inc. 5000

But first, the bad news: This year, no self-publishing providers made the list.  The good news is that this is because the self-publishing industry has begun to stabilize, diversify, and revisit its offerings in order to better tailor them to the end user.  Because the Inc. 5000 only lists the fastest-growing companies, a stable market fast reaching its maturity just doesn’t quite fall within its purview.

And while indie, hybrid, and self-publishing companies may not have made it into last year’s list in the Inc. 5000, they continue to occupy headlines over at the Digital Book World (see here), Publisher’s Weekly (see here), and one of my personal favorites, Library Journal (see here).  We’ll be following the news within the industry as it emerges this year, and while indications seem to be present that e-book sales remain down from this time two years ago, it may very well be that Hachette’s battle with Amazon and the resulting price hike has driven readers back to print.  That’s a profitable (and surprisingly cheerful) piece of information, I think!  Watch our Monday morning posts for more statistics as companies head into their Spring quarter. ♠

KellyABOUT KELLY SCHUKNECHT: Kelly Schuknecht is the Executive Vice President of Outskirts Press. In addition to her contributions to the Outskirts Press blog at blog.outskirtspress.com, Kelly and a group of talented marketing experts offer book marketing services, support, and products to not only published Outskirts Press authors, but to all authors and professionals who are interested in marketing their books and/or careers. Learn more about Kelly on her blog, kellyschuknecht.com.