Tag: book review

Book Reviews, Self-Publishing Book Review of the Week

Self-Publishing Book Review of the Week: Blood Country by Dan Jewell

Book reviews are a great way for self-publishing authors to gain exposure. After all, how can someone buy your book if they don’t know about it? 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 let the community know about a great book. So, without further adieu, here’s this week’s book review:

Burned: A Tragic Mystery book cover

Blood Country

Dan Jewell

Publisher: Outskirts Press, Inc.

ISBN 9781432765835

Reviewed by: Kam Aures for Rebecca’s Reads

“Dan Jewell’s Blood Country: A Nashville Sideman Mystery begins in January in Nashville. Joe Rose, guitarist and private investigator, receives a call from his ex-wife Patty Hill, an Associate Math Professor at Vanderbilt. Patty had just been talking to her friend Roxanne Hamlin, a country singer, on the phone. Roxanne is trying to leave her husband Vern, also famous in the country music industry, but Vern is not allowing her to leave. Roxanne doesn’t want to involve the police so Patty thinks that Joe may be a good choice to help out.

The domestic situation actually turns into a job opportunity for Joe as he ends up being hired by Vern for a different matter. Vern had received a letter from an anonymous source regarding his father’s murder which happened twenty years prior. In the letter, it is suggested that the man who was accused of killing Vern’s father was not actually the person who committed the crime. So, Joe is sent to investigate and to try to unearth the truth as to who killed King Hamlin.

Jewell does a wonderful job with character development. The individuals we are introduced to throughout the novel are very memorable and intriguing people. The story itself is fast-paced and has many twists and turns. I recommend Blood Country: A Nashville Sideman Mystery for those who enjoy mystery and suspense, particularly those who are also fans of country music as there is quite the focus on the Nashville music scene. I am sure we will see more Nashville Sideman mysteries from Dan Jewell in the future.”

DISCUSSION: Are you trying to obtain book reviews as part of your overall book promotion strategy?

Self-Publishing Book Review of the Week

Self-Publishing Book Review of the Week: He Kan’t Kill Your Future by: Sharquent Webster

Book reviews are a great way for self-publishing authors to gain exposure. After all, how can someone buy your book if they don’t know about it? 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 let the community know about a great book. So, without further adieu, here’s this week’s book review:

Pearl book cover

He Kan’t Kill Your Future

Sharquent Webster

Publisher: Outskirts Press, Inc.

ISBN 9781432764456

Reviewed by: Carol Hoyer, PhD, for Reader Views

“The author has written an excellent book that tells the journey of her life while growing up in South Central Los Angeles. This is not a story that is filled with happiness or love, but one that tells what it is like to grow up in a large family where no one really cares. It is Sharquent’s own story of being abused, neglected, beaten, and living on the streets. Many readers will never know this type of life, but for thousands this is what is normal to them. Did they choose this life? Many will prejudge and say yes. But who among us want to be unloved, neglected, abused and raped?

Sharquent’s father disappeared when she was young. She lived with her mother and nine siblings in a dilapidated house filled with strange people, an older brother who took pleasure in sexually abusing her and her sister and a mother who lived for finding things in the dumpster, including food. When someone you love or think you love leaves you suddenly it seems as if there is no hope. However, with all things that happened to Sharquent and her siblings, their mother continued to believe.

Not doing well in school or even liking it, Sharquent finds fulfillment in other areas: drugs, unsafe sex, stealing and calling jail her home. In addition, she had two children and after they were born she was ready to run back again to the streets to get her high. Even though she found Phillip who actually cared about her, the streets loved her more.

Through watching others hustle, she learned various ways to earn money to get drugs. Mind you now, she had two young children, but really they were a problem. After spending time in jail she was sent to an in-patient program to clean up and learn new skills. But often you can’t teach someone from the streets new skills; they are often very mistrustful and feel they know more than anyone else.

Finally, after many crises, mistrust and just pain, she found people who actually cared about and loved her regardless. The most important thing she found in her life was Jesus. It took some time but she finally surrendered all her anger, drug abuse and revenge and left it in his hands.

From a psychological point of view, this book is many things.

For those in the helping field it gives a clear, unbiased view of what it is like to live a life like this. She is not a flowery writer, just tells it like it is. For those who are at risk or already living this life it is a story of hope. She is my kind of woman.

This is a must read for all those who try to help others in her situation- we will never know all the details but what we do know is that it can happen. It is also for those who want to know how one gets in this type of situation and for those who feel they are better than anyone else.

I would love to use He Kan’t Kill Your Future in my Psychology college classes that I teach and have the students put themselves in the role of Sharquent and then in the role of a helper.”

Book Reviews

Should You Pay for a Book Review?

As an author in the self-publishing industry, reviews for your book are very important.  A book published by an unknown author has little chance of gaining attention, while the same book (and the same “unknown” author) with a number of positive reviews can begin to gain momentum.  Those positive reviews can help persuade potential new readers to buy the book and the word-of-mouth continues.

You may have already received reviews from some of your friends or colleagues, so what next?  There are some free review services where you can send a copy of your book.  These services are a great resource; however, because they are free, the reviewers get inundated with books and can’t review every book they receive.  Their services can also take several months and the reviews are not guaranteed to be good.

In addition to free review services, there are some services available where you can pay to be guaranteed a review.  That said, the review is still not guaranteed to be good, but if you are confident in your book (which you should be, after all you wrote and published it!), you shouldn’t need to worry about that.

Here are three pay-for-review services you can start with:

BLUE INK REVIEW

A Standard Review is $395 for the review to be completed in 7-9 weeks.

A Fast Track Review is $495 for the review to be completed in 4-5 weeks.

BlueInk considers for review any book that has been published (self-published and indie published).  They review e-books, on-demand books, printed books in any format, English translations and English-language submissions from outside the United States, as well as galleys. They do not review manuscripts pre-publication.

FOREWORD CLARION REVIEW

The cost is $305 and turnaround time is 6-8 weeks.

Open to all books and publishers, Clarion promises an objective 400 – 500 word review/critique with a quick six to eight week turnaround. The review will be posted on the ForeWord website (if the publisher desires), licensed to the three top wholesale databases, and made available to the book’s publisher. This service is ideal for books that haven’t received review attention elsewhere.

KIRKUS INDIE REVIEW

Standard review is completed in 7-9 weeks for $425.

Express review is completed in 3-4 weeks for $575.

The Kirkus Indie program gives independent authors a chance to obtain an unbiased, professional review of their work, written in the same format as a traditional Kirkus review. A book review can be an essential and powerful tool for promoting your book to literary agents, traditional publishing houses, booksellers, and, most importantly, potential readers.

DISCUSSION: What are your thoughts on pay-for-review services like these?  Do you have experience with any of the above?

ABOUT KELLY SCHUKNECHT:
Kelly Schuknecht works as the Director of Author Support for 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 Reviews, Self-Publishing Book Review of the Week

Self-Publishing Book Review of the Week: Burned: A Tragic Mystery by J.A. Nevling

Book reviews are a great way for self-publishing authors to gain exposure. After all, how can someone buy your book if they don’t know about it? 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 let the community know about a great book. So, without further adieu, here’s this week’s book review:

Burned: A Tragic Mystery book cover

Burned: A Tragic Mystery

J.A. Nevling

Publisher: Outskirts Press, Inc.

ISBN 9781432724436

Reviewed by: Betty Gelean for Review the Book

“Being burned is a very tragic event, especially when it is a baby who is badly burned, even through the efforts to keep this to a minimum by her father who is also burned. A tragedy which could so easily happen through a brain focusing on the wrong thing at the wrong time. An overtired brain, a stressed brain, or in this case, a distracted brain.

The big game is on TV and Jim, the father, is baby-sitting his nine month old daughter, Anna, who is currently sleeping, to give his wife, Sharon, some time out with her friend Katie. When he hears Anna fussing, he does all the right things, cleaning her, changing her, and putting her bottle on to warm. What he doesn’t realize is going to change all their lives in the next several minutes. A gas explosion is going to set the house on fire, not a small fire but a raging fire. Jim’s efforts to get the baby out of her crib are next to impossible. The crib is burning and as he tries to bring her out avoiding the worst of the flames surrounding her, she falls through the side of the fiery crib. He does the right thing to try to protect her, stumbles outside and passes out.

When Sharon arrives at the hospital she learns both that her husband will survive, but Anna has been so badly burned it will mean a long recovery at best, but they don’t know at this point if she will survive. Though the doctor does not want Sharon to see her at this time, she absolutely insists, and this action will clinch the effects that soon will engulf the whole family. Sharon will soon turn her back on her husband and they will be separated. The stage is now set for the mystery part of the book.

J.A. Nevling certainly knows how to write emotion. He also knows how to write a sequence of awful proportions in a way that the reader knows what is going on, but is not horrified to the extent that he/she will find the book so upsetting it will be impossible to read further. The reader instead will stay focused on the story as it unfolds and will have trouble putting it down. This book is meant to be read. It will be emotional by its nature, but there is so much more than the fire and its results. Once Sharon has moved away, Anna is going through her various treatments, and Jim is dealing with his feelings of guilt, remorse, and the loss of Sharon, the mystery portion of the book begins to unfold.

Sharon has found a small apartment and a good job at Prescott Industries, a new life she can not quite separate from the old. When a marriage is based on real love, it doesn’t separate easily. Yet soon it becomes apparent that a transition has happened in Sharon’s personality. She can’t understand it, she often sleeps too much and feels strangely different. She seems to lose time, her ability to focus has changed, and she has some memory lapses. When she is run off the road as a car rams her from behind, she begins to feel someone is out to kill her. The detectives she talks to have some doubts but decide they should look into it. This is a real mystery, and there are several suspects, but the ending is shocking, and at the same time satisfying. This book is a definite adventure in reading. It speaks to the fallibility of people, love in its truest form, runs the gamut of several emotions, and is well worth the read. I enjoyed the book, which seems strange in light of the difficulties involved, but that is how well-written it is.”

DISCUSSION: Are you trying to obtain book reviews as part of your overall book promotion strategy?

Self-Publishing Book Review of the Week, Uncategorized

Self-Publishing Book Review of the Week: Pearl by Darlene Cox

Book reviews are a great way for self-publishing authors to gain exposure. After all, how can someone buy your book if they don’t know about it? 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 let the community know about a great book. So, without further adieu, here’s this week’s book review:

Pearl book cover

Pearl A Life Too Short: A Death Too Long

Darlene Cox

Publisher: Outskirts Press, Inc.

ISBN 9781432766368

Reviewed by: Midwest Book Review

Pearl is Darlene Cox’s third self-published novel. Other books written are A Little Bit of Larceny and Web of Deceit. A fourth novel will be out in November 2011 and is the sequel to Web of Deceit.

Faircloth, Virginia was a small and peaceful town where everyone knew and trusted each other, so it seemed, until a young beautiful woman was found by two young boys beaten to death in Jacobs Gully partially buried under a pile of leaves. Her name was Pearl and she was 28 years old. Possible suspects in her murder would prove to be many. Faircloth’s Sheriff Atherton and his small staff of deputies would have their hands full.

Pearl was a free-spirited woman who was married to a much older man who owned a Cadillac dealership and she was well taken care of by him. She drove around often at night in her Cadillac convertible with the top down, hair blowing in the wind, anytime and anyplace she felt like it often speeding down the highway. The authorities were perplexed about her death. They wondered if she may have had a flat tire and someone gave her a lift, or maybe she picked up a hitchhiker. She was a kind person and they figured she might have known her killer.

The investigation is most intriguing as the cast of characters lure you into the plot keeping you guessing as the clues unfold.

In addition, to the brutal death of Pearl, the charred remains of an unknown young woman were found in an abandoned house adding more suspense, more secrets, and more questions. The story gets complicated, picks up speed, and authorities believe these two murders may be connected as many townspeople became suspect.

For a small town, the investigation was an exhausting task with only a few deputies and a medical examiner’s office. The search for the murder weapon that killed Pearl had been determined to be a small rock with possible blood splatters on it that would become a grueling chore to find in the woods surrounding the crime area. And, the medical examiner was a well-known drinker who would be too slow in giving the results of his findings regarding the DNA and autopsy reports. Onlooker’s footprints and tire tracks ruined valuable evidence that could have been helpful to the forensic team. Hours and hours were spent on the road and in the woods looking for a bloody rock and Pearl’s Cadillac which had been missing since the day she died. Most interesting, her car was a valuable clue needed to help solve the crime.

To add to the mysteries, a third woman was found on the shoulder of the highway badly beaten and left in a ‘catatonic state.’ The plot gets murky and leads become dead ends.

Darlene Cox has once again created a classic “who done-it” tale pulling the reader along guessing at every turn, with a surprise ending. This book is highly recommended.

DISCUSSION: Are you trying to obtain book reviews as part of your overall book promotion strategy?