Wendy Speaks

What Book Reviewers Look For

Book reviews are a great way to boost your credibility and market your self-published book. However, a bad review can ruin your reputation and potentially damage your book’s success. So what do book reviewers look for in a good self-published book? Here is the answer.

Book reviewers aren’t just considering your plot or characters. They look at EVERYTHING, including the content, cover, grammar, writing style, plot, characterization, flow, clarity, consistency, and more. This is just another reason that hiring a professional editor is so important. You may have a great story, but a poorly edited book can result in a poor book review.

It is also important to remember that most books should follow the Chicago Manual of Style rules. These may differ from the rules your learned in school or see in newspapers and magazines. Book reviewers are often aware of these style issues and look from them in your book. If your book is not consistent with this style, it may be perceived as unprofessional.

Don’t worry. You don’t need to be an expert in Chicago style, although you should be familiar with it. If you want your book to appear professional, hire a professional copyeditor who is trained in Chicago style. You can find an editor online, through references, or through your self-publishing company.

 

ABOUT WENDY STETINA: Wendy Stetina is a sales and marketing professional with over 30 years experience in the printing and publishing industry. Wendy works as the Director of Author Services for Outskirts Press. The Author Services Department is composed of knowledgeable customer service reps and publishing consultants; and 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, Wendy Stetina can put you on the right path.
Self-Publishing Book Review of the Week

Weekly Self-Published Book Review: The Message

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:

The Message

JR Sellazzo

Publisher: Outskirts Press

“The Message” isn’t the easiest book to read because the pages are filled with sad endings. This fact doesn’t necessarily make it a bad book, but it’s not something I’d normally find myself having the urge to read and it won’t be a title that pops into my head when a friend asks if I have any book recommendations. I’d even go so far as to say you may not want to read this book unless you’re in a very happy state of mind because the content is almost a non-stop stream of depression.

In addition to the story being incredibly depressing, it’s listed as Fiction/Biographical, which seems to be an oxymoron to me. In my opinion, a story can be fiction that was inspired by true facts, it can be pure fiction, or it can be a non-fiction biography. There is no way of being both fiction and non-fiction at the same time. To add more confusion to this muddled classification, the ending, without a doubt, is a fiction. I don’t want to reveal any spoilers, so I’ll just leave it at that simple statement – the end is fiction.

While the end is fiction, a majority of the story does cover factual events with the 2006 Mother’s Day murder of Patricia Mery, known in the book as Aunt Pat. Two people in real life that had a hand in the murder are Anne and Carmela, while the two people in the story involved are Veronica and Carmen. Again, I’m left confused about what I’m reading. Biography or fiction?

Perhaps I’m wrong to focus so much on the classification when deciding on whether I like a story or not, but I feel it’s important to know if I’m reading a non-fiction or fiction story, and the inability to figure out something as simple as a classification takes away from how I approach a book.

I would’ve loved to find out more about the Mother’s Day murder, which does seem to be the main focus of “The Message” at times, but the facts are lost in fiction that I found uninspiring and depressing.

Kelly Speaks

Houghton Mifflin Declares Bankruptcy

It is becoming more and more clear that the publishing industry is seeing a major shift from traditional publishing to POD publishing. Traditional book publishers are also facing pressure from the online availability of published material, including e-books. Houghton Mifflin declaring bankruptcy is one event that is illustrating this shift.

Houghton Mifflin is a textbook publisher who has been struggling for various reasons. This isn’t a tiny company who is suffering. With a history dating back to 1832, Houghton Mifflin’s products serve 60 million students in 120 countries. They also publish legendary classics such Curious George and Lord of the Rings.

Houghton Mifflin recently declared Chapter 11 bankruptcy to eliminate $3.1 billion in debt. The publisher plans to restructure the company in hopes to again become a profitable business.

Despite the struggles among traditional publishers, non-traditional publishers are thriving and that is great news for self-publishing authors.

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.
Jodee Speaks

Save $200 When Self-Publishing With Outskirts Press This 4th of July

If you have been considering self publishing, now is the perfect time!  In honor of the July Fourth holiday, authors ordering their publishing package from Outskirts Press before July 5th can receive a twenty percent discount on each of two top-of-the-line publishing packages: the Diamond and Pearl package.

The promotion code is JULY42012, and the deadline is July 5, 2012. Happy 4th of July!

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.
Wendy Speaks

Are Titles Copyrighted?

I always tell authors to research their titles before choosing one to make sure there are no other books with the same title. Many authors want to know if titles are copyrighted. Titles are not subject to copyright the same way longer works are. However, titles can be trademarked. This is common for books in a series.

Although you could probably legally use a title that has been used by someone else, it is not recommended. When people search your title, you want them to only find your book. Take the time to come up with a unique, memorable title. It will help you sell your book.

ABOUT WENDY STETINA: Wendy Stetina is a sales and marketing professional with over 30 years experience in the printing and publishing industry. Wendy works as the Director of Author Services for Outskirts Press. The Author Services Department is composed of knowledgeable customer service reps and publishing consultants; and 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, Wendy Stetina can put you on the right path.