Self-Publishing Book Review of the Week

Self-Published Book Review of the Week: Stepping Into Joy

Stepping C3.inddStepping Into Joy
by Randall Green

This self-published Twelve-Step Programs book was recently reviewed on bookpleasures.com.

In Stepping Into Joy, Dr. Randall Green bears his own soul in order to make clear the path he and countless others have taken to achieve authentic joy. In these pages you will discover a refreshing approach to our endless quest for spiritual fulfillment. Using the Twelve Steps of Recovery as the core solution to mankind’s “quiet desperation”, Dr. Green adds the spices of real-life stories, pithy slogans, humorous anecdotes, and a few “old Kentucky sayings” just for the fun of it. Building on the premise that addiction is a physical disease with a spiritual solution, the Twelve Steps are offered as “guides to progress” in the journey to spiritual wholeness. Although Randy Green is unashamedly committed to his Christian faith, the spiritual principles he extrapolates are non-partisan in application. This is not a book on religion. It is not a book for or against religion. This is a book about true spirituality and how to experience it amid the real stressors and challenges of today’s post-modern culture. Regardless of the addictions, compulsive behaviors, or attachments that may plague our lives, we will be led closer and closer to the joy we all seek as we commit ourselves to living out these twelve spiritual principles one day at a time.

Read the full review here.

Choosing a Publisher, Self-Publishing

Writing for Self-Publishing: Ask the Book Doctor

E-Books

Q: I am working on formatting and editing a nonfiction book designed to be both an e-book and a published hard-copy book. I will also likely end up doing the work to get this work accepted by a publisher. Can you tell me, have e-books become popular yet, or is the core of publishing still in paper and not looking to move forward?

 

A: Most publishers I know that help authors produce e-books and printed books are not traditional publishers; that is, they produce print-on-demand books and do not stockpile books or distribute them to stores. They simply print one at a time when they are ordered, so there’s no major investment on their part and no advance on royalties to you. Basically if you sell a book, you get a percentage of the profit, but if you yourself don’t sell it, the printer won’t go to any trouble to sell it for you.

 

As far as the popularity of e-books, several companies have tried to produce machines (Kindle and others) to make e-books more attractive to readers, but still e-books lag far behind printed books when it comes to sales. Still, after an e-book is created, you incur no further cost to reproduce and distribute it when sold, so e-books can provide one-hundred percent profit to authors who have a client base and can promote their own books or sell them through their own Web sites. 

What would you like to ask a book doctor? Send your questions to Bobbie Christmas at Bobbie@zebraeditor.com. 

Book Promotion

Free Promotion for your Self-Published Book

When it comes to promoting your self-published book, nothing beats free! Here’s a quick little site where you can submit your book information for a free listing. There are a lot of these types of sites out there, but this one belongs to Dan Poynter, who promotes endlessly and drives many, many people to his website all the time. It will take about 5 minutes of your time. While you are on his site, I recommend exploring other options and opportunities he has available.

http://parapublishing.com/sites/para/resources/successstories.cfm

Good luck and have fun!
Kelly Schuknecht
selfpublishingadvice.wordpress.com

Self-Publishing Book Review of the Week

Self Published Book Review of the Week: Sammy the Panda’s World of Colors and Shapes

spwcs_coverSammy the Panda’s World of Colors and Shapes
by Haliyma Barrow
Illustrated by Danielle MacIndoe

READING LEVEL: ages 4-6

RATING: 5 stars

REVIEWED BY: Wayne Walker

Little Sammy Panda is sad. His cousins Milly and Tilly have misplaced the different colored shapes of his favorite toy set, “The Ship of Shapes.” His Mommy seems to know what will cheer him up, so she helps him look for the one gold star, the two green triangles, the three orange circles, and so forth. Will they find them all? And will Sammy be happy again?

What a neat idea! My wife and I homeschooled our children, and when they were little we were always looking for fun and colorful tools to help them learn their numbers, colors, and shapes. Whether you plan to homeschool your toddlers or prepare them for traditional school, this book is a great resource for accomplishing that very purpose. With striking full-color illustrations on every page that youngsters should find appealing, this is probably one of those books that they will ask to be read to them over and over. Parents who are interested in developing bilingualism will appreciate the added benefit that the text at each opening is in both English and Spanish. I give this book two thumbs up!

Visit the author’s website: www.sammythepanda.com