Self-Publishing Book Review of the Week

Weekly Self Published Book Review: Wally Wander

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 by Midwest Book Review:

 

wally

Wally Wander

NovaMelia

Publisher: Outskirts Press

ISBN:9781432779108

Reviewed by Paige Lovitt

“Wally Wander” by NovaMelia is the story of Wally. Precocious as a child, Wally grows up with a family who has a lot of issues. Her mother has Parkinson’s and believes that the refrigerator talks to her. A niece has Asperger’s Syndrome and has played a role in a huge family secret. Wally lives in her own world. No matter what situation her family hands to her, whether it is being shipped off to live with relatives as a child, or being put in a nursing home as an adult, Wally makes the best of each situation. Her perceptions of reality help hold her together during the times that most people would fall apart.
A family tragedy and family secrets have more of an effect on Wally’s life than she realizes. As an adult when pieces of a puzzle start falling into place, she gains a greater understanding of her family and realizes why certain things had to happen the way that they did. Wally’s own eccentricities show that she has inherited some of her family’s genetic predispositions. It doesn’t really matter to her because no matter what she will continue to go with the flow.
I enjoyed reading “Wally Wander” by NovaMelia. This novel is something out of the ordinary and I think readers will enjoy it for its uniqueness. The characters are eccentric but still likeable. There were many times where I found myself pitying Wally and the circumstances that life handed her, yet because of her strong character she didn’t let it hold her back. This perseverance gave me a great deal of admiration for her character. I think that “Wally Wander” would make a great selection for an English class or a reader’s group. I think that it will generate many interesting discussions and I would find it interesting to hear other reader’s perceptions about the story.

Kelly Speaks, Self-Publishing Week in Review

Self-Publishing Week in Review: 9/03/13

As a self-publishing author, you may find it helpful to stay up-to-date on the trends and news related to the self-publishing industry. This will help you make informed decisions before, during and after the self-publishing process, which will lead to a greater self-publishing experience. To help you stay current on self-publishing topics, simply visit our blog every Tuesday to find out the hottest news.

Tasha Harrison on self publishing: ‘I was sick of rejection’

After trying to publish her work through traditional routes for 10 years, Tasha Harrison decided to take control and self-publish. In this article, she talks about her books and her self-publishing experience.

Self-Publishing on a Shoestring

This article shares how to self-publish on a budget. This self-published author suggests writers can self-publish for as low as $5.

Amazon launches Kindle, Kindle Store and self-publishing platform in Mexico

Kindle is now available in Mexico. This allows authors to reach a broader audience and gives writers in Mexico the opportunity to self-publish books.

If you have other big news to share, please comment below.

ABOUT KELLY SCHUKNECHT: Kelly Schuknecht is the 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 at http://kellyschuknecht.com.
Book Marketing, Book Promotion, Book Signings

Book Stores, Book Signings, and Media Events for the Self-published Author

Successful book promotion involves both online and offline sales. There are a number of progressive online book marketing tools available for the self-publishing author today, but the tried and true book signing or media event remains quite viable and a lot of fun. Here we’ll take a look at a 3 part approach to promote your book through media events.

Media events and public appearances can fall into any number of categories and include any number of venues (bookstores, radio interviews, television interviews, writing group speeches, presentations, chat room interviews, public forums, and more).

First things first: identify possible venues. You may begin searching media events through your local bookstore. Local bookstores will often collect event calendars and maintain a list of contact people who provide those opportunities.

Media contacts often send announcements of upcoming events. Keep tabs on those listings and note if any relate in any way to your book content. It’s generally easy to develop correlations and tailor your approach to make your presentation applicable. When contact information is available take the first step and approach the organizer.

The art of selling—be prepared to promote yourself and your work. The true art of selling is bringing helpful and enriching information to people’s lives. In that light, sales takes on nobility. Be proud of promoting. You may not close the deal every time, but be sure to follow-up with every prospective media venue to confirm dates. Selling yourself and your book is a numbers game, and as any salesperson will tell you, the amount of contact is directly proportionate to the amount of sales. Be persistent without being annoying. If, after three or four unsuccessful attempts with a particular venue, move on to another prospect.

Finally, your self-publishing firm may offer assistance. Be sure to check with your representative.

ABOUT JODEE THAYER: With over 20 years of experience in sales and management, Jodee Thayer works as the Manager of Author Services for Outskirts Press. The Author Services Department is composed of knowledgeable customer service reps and publishing consultants; together, they all focus on educating authors on the self-publishing process in order 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, Jodee Thayer can put you on the right path.
Conversations with a Self-Publishing Writer, Royalene Speaks, Uncategorized

Friday Conversations With A Self-Publishing Writer 8/30/13

From my perspective—over 50 years of living with the writer-within—I’ve come to greatly appreciate the freedom that self-publishing offers.  When ideas, plots, characters and scenarios flow so quickly, there are literally flying pages circling around you.  That is the time to slow down and find a home for at least one of your favorite pieces; the time to develop a relationship with a publisher or self-publishing press; the time for readers to have access to your best work.

The majority of writers I know seem to possess an extra DNA molecule, a dominant genetic inclination to create volumes of pages that literally bleed their ideas onto paper.  Yet only a few—within this circle of friends—are published.  Instead, most have a large file of politely phrased reject letters.  For some, this file has created a trapdoor in their minds; when they fall into it, they wonder what—if anything—will ever happen to all those masterpieces.

Enter the self-publishing press—stage right.  Gone is the stigma of self-publishing.  A new pride now comes to the authors who take that step and release their books to the readers of the world.  The doors are now wide open to every author in every field of writing.  And, other creative industries are watching, especially agents looking for the next Stephen King, Ted Dekker, Dan Brown or Debbie Macomber.

Sometimes when I talk with writers I hear a slow release of energy as they express their doubt that their particular project(s) will ever be published.  Then we leave the topic of publishing behind for a while and share the stories: the stories of their writing lives, the development of their manuscripts and the heart behind the imaginings that push them to write the stories.  Once a writer realizes that their works are meant to be published, the progress to reach that goal becomes much easier.

Personally, I enjoy working with new authors or writers whose lives took a turn and they are just returning to their projects—writers who present me with artistically written materials in the genres of children’s books, young adult fiction, historical fiction, science fiction and especially Christian fiction and nonfiction.

Have I ever had to respectfully decline a project?  Only twice.  The gift of writing does not come to everyone in spite of the old saying that “every living soul has a great book manuscript in their desk drawer.”  The words, phrases, sentences, paragraphs, pages, must flow and offer the reader either excellent information or a moment of vision into another perspective, another life, another world.  What a gift to the ghostwriter who can be part of that!

Royalene ABOUT ROYALENE DOYLE: Royalene Doyle is a Ghostwriter with Outskirts Press, bringing more than 35 years of writing experience to authors who need “just a little assistance” with completing their writing projects. She has worked with both experienced and fledgling writers helping complete projects in multiple genres. When a writer brings the passion they have for their work and combines it with Royalene’s passion to see the finished project in print, books are published and the writer’s legacy is passed forward.
Kelly Speaks, Uncategorized

Back to Writing: Publishing Challenge

August is here and as summer is winding down, it’s time to get back to your writing and publishing goals.  Each week this month I will present you with a writing challenge for the week.  Come back every Wednesday to join the challenge and get back into the habit of writing on a regular basis. As Desiderius Erasmus once said, “The desire to write grows with writing.”

Over the past three weeks, I hope I’ve been able to help you get back into writing by completing the poetry challenge, short story challenge, and 15 minute challenge.

Now that you are feeling motivated and inspired to write, perhaps you have started thinking about publishing. Have you been working on a book you want to publish? Or have you always wanted to write and publish something, but haven’t started yet?  This week, your challenge is to set mini writing goals to get you from where you are now to where you want to be: I call this the publishing challenge.  

Let’s say you want to be a published author by the end of the year and you are about half finished with writing your book.  Imagine what you have left to write and set goals for each week in September, October and November (if necessary).  Give yourself some room the last couple of months as the publishing process can take several weeks.

The more you have left to write, the more aggressive your goals may need to be, but challenge yourself to write a chapter a week (or a certain number of pages or a certain number of words) to get you to your end goal of publishing a book by a reasonable date.  Then, discipline yourself to meet your goal each week and be sure to review your goals often to be sure you’re on target.

Good luck and happy writing!

 

ABOUT KELLY SCHUKNECHT: Kelly Schuknecht is the 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 at http://kellyschuknecht.com.