Book Reviews

Getting your self-published book reviewed

A standard procedure for book promotion is mailing copies of your book out for book reviews. You can conduct a search on Google for “freelance book reviewers” to find reviewers, sometimes categorized by subject. Freelance reviewers often have writing assignments for larger media venues and it is often more successful to contact them directly than through larger magazines or newspapers.

As you seek out reviews on your own, remember that some magazines are more inclined to only review books that have not yet been published while others will want the chance to review it immediately after publication, so it is in your best interest to start this part of the process right away.

If you are serious about getting book reviews, you should send out copies to these publications sooner rather than later.

Also, ask yourself what the specific market is for YOUR book. Once you know your answer, ask yourself what sort of magazines, newspapers, websites, or periodicals those people read.  The more you narrow down your audience, the more efficient and cost effective your book marketing campaign will be.  Send a review copy to every magazine, newspaper, website, blog, or newsletter your potential audience may read.

When you send out a book for review, always include a complimentary copy of the book, a professional cover letter, and a sales sheet and/or a press release.

To get you started, here is contact information for a syndicated book reviewer who is known to write reviews for self published books:

Gary Roen

Syndicated Reviewer

1600 Hull Circle

Orlando, FL  32806

Book Marketing, Book Promotion, Choosing a Publisher, Self-Publishing, Uncategorized

4 Myths about Book Publishing Today

There is a lot of confusion, controversy, and questions surrounding the terms self-publishing, vanity press, print-on-demand, etc. As you decide the best publishing path for you, let’s clarify some misconceptions some may have propagated.

1. MYTH: Whoever owns the ISBN owns the rights.
FACT: This used to be true. Nowadays, it is no longer true. Good self-publishing options assign the ISBN for the authors’ convenience, but still allow authors to keep 100% of the rights to their books. Be sure to check the contract.

2. MYTH: Independent self-publishing is different from publishing with an established organization because that publisher owns the ISBN.
FACT: It is true that the ISBN identifies the publisher of record. With reputable options, authors can supply their own ISBN as an option. Of course, if an author prefers the publisher to assign an ISBN for them, that should be an option too. And that’s what self-publishing is about – author choice and author control.

3. MYTH: New York publishers promote and market all their books.
FACT: New York publishers usually devote the lion’s share of their marketing budget to the top 1% (Harry Potter, for example) of the books they publish. The other books published during that season are victims of the sliced marketing budget. The majority of traditionally published authors are referred to as “mid-listeres” and don’t get much support from their publisher at all.

4.MYTH: Printing a book with an off-set printer is the same as self-publishing it.
FACT: Printing a book is one facet of publication. Before a book can be printed, it needs to be designed. Then it needs to be printed. Then it needs wholesale distribution through Ingram and availability online with retailers like Amazon and Barnes & Noble. Then it needs fulfillment of orders and invoicing.

Printing a book with an offset printer accomplishes one of those steps. Publishing a book with a leading self-publishing option accomplishes all of them. Almost anyone can “print” a book, but what about all the other stuff that is required?


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Book Marketing, Book Promotion, Choosing a Publisher, Self-Publishing

Self-publishing, On-demand, Espresso, and a look at what’s in store

“We knew there’d be a mix of self-publishing, of out of print and in-copyright books. But actually the bulk of it at the moment is the self-publishing which is more than we expected,” commented Gareth Hardy of the Espresso Book Machine.

The BBC Click featured a story late last week entitled, “Budding authors publish own work online and in print.” The write-up introduces a topical and promising perspective on the self-publishing industry. It’s worth checking out. If nothing else, consider the final quote in your self-publishing endeavors (but don’t be discouraged by Harris – self-publishing sees plenty of titles doing just fine).

Self-Publishing Book Review of the Week

Self Published Book Review of the Week: The Adventures of PJ and Split Pea

The Adventures of PJ and Split Pea, Vol. 1: Fine Feathered Friends

by S.D. Moore

This self-published book was recently reviewed by www.readerviewskids.com:

“The Adventures of PJ and Split Pea, Vol. 1: Fine Feathered Friends” begins with a boy named PJ trying to decide what kind of pet he wants to get. After not being able to decide he hears a voice say hi to him. He sees that it is a bird named Split Pea. Nobody has wanted to bring Split Pea home because his feathers look like they have splits in them, so the pet shop owner just gives him to PJ.

Cayden: “In the beginning of the book it said they were going to the pet shelter to get a pet that was lost or that someone got rid of but then on the next page they were in a pet store. A pet store isn’t the Humane Society. We went to the Humane Society and brought the dogs treats and other stuff, remember? I liked that he got a bird that no one else wanted though. That was good that they gave it a home. It was funny when PJ tried to fix Split Pea’s wings. I liked that the bird could talk to him.”

Parent’s comments:
I agree with Cayden that there was a little bit of an inconsistency in the beginning about stating that “his mom was going to take him to the pet shelter to adopt a lost and abandoned pet” and then three sentences later it says that “PJ and his mom arrive at Mr. Peppy’s Pet Store.” However, they do end up with a pet that no one else seems to want so it all evens out in the end. The story of PJ and Split Pea was a creative one and we enjoyed reading about all of the “solutions” to the split wing problem. I also liked the great lessons taught in the story of self-acceptance and of accepting others the way that they are. We recommend “The Adventures of PJ and Split Pea, Vol. 1: Fine Feathered Friends” by S.D. Moore.

For more information or to buy the book, visit the author’s webpage: www.outskirtspress.com/pjandsplitpea


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Self-Publishing

Self-publishing and Harlequin Kicking-up Dust

A mass of heated discussion is being shouted around the publishing world in the wake of recent announcements by Harlequin and Thomas Nelson to step in the direction of self-publishing.

Responses have exploded across the industry from the New Yorker to Publisher’s Weekly. Crotchety, curious, and shocked are among the many opinions swirling about, with the resurgence of the term ‘vanity press’ included in the semantical outcry of the literati.

Shocking at best. Inevitable indeed. Masturbatory? Opinions will be opinions. While I cannot fault traditional publishing houses from offering genuine detraction of these decisions – they are business too, after-all. As authors we must be wary of drinking the cool-aide. Not an easy thing to do. Writing is a personal, often intimate endeavor, which propagates a natural to desire for validation – something agents and traditional publishers have a monopoly on.

If writing is an art, publishing is a business. In business, components such as, ingenuity, creativity, evaluating risk, and (gulp), diversification have a proven track record. Those elements should be considered on the micro and macro levels – the success of your own book along with the industry in general.

Agent Richard Curtis provides a rather pragmatic perspective on the subject worth taking a look at on his site E-Reads. What are your thoughts?

– Karl



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