Resources | Self-Publishing Review

Search Engine Optimization (SEO) Basics for Authors

Whether you’re self-publishing or you went the traditional route, you’ve likely been told that you need to have a blog and a website. But, if you’re like a lot of authors, independent and otherwise, you don’t get many visitors to your site.

Leaning a little about search engine optimization or SEO can help.

SE-what, you ask? Some strange computer virus?

No, nothing so scary. Let’s take a look at the basics.

What Is SEO?

Search Engine Optimization is the art of making your site/blog seem particularly useful and important to Google, so it’ll list your pages higher than those of […]

Lindsay2011-10-02T10:03:47+02:00October 2nd, 2011|Categories: Member Blog, Resources|Tags: Author Blogging, Book Promotion|

How Writers Can Use Readability

Readability is a service which turns web pages into a clutter-free reading mode. In times when more and more people suffer from Internet distractions it seems to be helpful solution for readers – as well as writers – of web content.

I’ve covered Readability a couple of times already. In this post I’ll list ways in which writers can benefit from this great tool.

Earn money

Readability offers an honest and, in my opinion, a revolutionary model of compensating writers for writing interesting articles. Readers – if they want to use all features, including save for later and mobile […]

Piotr Kowalczyk2011-09-20T12:35:18+02:00September 20th, 2011|Categories: Resources|

Crowdsourcing with PubSlush

This looks promising – a Kickstarter, but only for books. Or: a kind of Authonomy, but where people actually put down money instead of votes.

The process is simple. Just as it’s done in the publishing world, we ask authors to submit ten pages and a summary of their book. We then let you browse the submissions based on your preferences. You read a brief overview, and if it strikes your fancy, you click through to read a more in depth description. If you’re still interested, you read an excerpt. And if that leaves you wanting more, you

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Henry Baum2011-09-16T13:26:32+02:00September 16th, 2011|Categories: Resources|

“Look Inside” for Kindle Books – 3 Tips for Authors

Recently Amazon added to Kindle Store a new, very useful feature – Look Inside. It is the same feature as Look Inside for printed editions but it’s showing the content of the relevant Kindle book. More details about the this functionality you can find in this post and now I’d like to focus on how writers can benefit from it.

First of all, Look Inside is conveying for Kindle books the same task as a free sample. In fact it is a free sample. Comparing to the older method (sending to the device) it is much better – as […]

Piotr Kowalczyk2020-02-21T07:45:43+02:00September 13th, 2011|Categories: Resources|Tags: Amazon|

Kindlegraph is the Newest Bestseller Among IndiePub Authors

This past week I wrote a column for the blog, ‘Starved Writer’, on the topic of innovations in eBook technology and already I have to take back my words My column posted just days before the newest innovation in eBook technology went viral. My bad. Kindlegraph, developed by Evan Jacobs on the DocuSign platform is the latest game changer in ePub technology. This exciting innovation makes it possible for eBook authors to dedicate and sign personal notes to their fans on a pdf image of their book covers which are delivered to the fans Kindle, or eMail account.

Unlike […]

Emily Hill2020-02-21T05:59:51+02:00September 6th, 2011|Categories: Resources|

A New Author Resource: Pay-With-A-Tweet

Raise your hand if you’re guilty…

I’m raising my hand, both actually, because I’m totally, 100% guilty…

…of wanting free stuff. Free gift with purchase? I’m so there! Free samples at Sams? Get in line. Free reads? You know it!

I’ve discovered an awesome way to share digital content with readers in a way that doesn’t cost them a dime and yet gives the author the promotion and recognition they deserve. Did you read the “doesn’t cost a dime” part?

As the website says: Get it for free! In exchange we just ask you to post a Tweet about it.[…]

Selena Blake2011-09-01T12:34:04+02:00September 1st, 2011|Categories: Resources|

What Are You Talking About?

Authors need to know about book publishing, especially if they intend to have their books published. Going into publishing your book based on perceived misconceptions is what leads to mistakes that can sometimes be costly in dollars and your book’s success. Trying to get your book released without learning anything about publishing is like trying to bake a cake without bothering to learn the basics of an oven. If you’re not careful, you’re liable to get burnt.

First, let’s start with the basics.

Publishing Terms

Below are a list of words used when discussing publishing that every writer hears all […]

Lauren Carr2011-08-22T10:36:52+02:00August 17th, 2011|Categories: Resources|

A Spotify for Books

I’ve been using Spotify pretty religiously recently, and it’s amazing. So amazing that it sort of seems like it should be illegal. What is Spotify? If you’ve ever used iTunes, it’s like that, but with access to everyone else’s iTunes library at once – including your own. Yep, it’s like having access to all of the world’s music for free. Yes, it doesn’t have everything, but it has plenty. Unless you’re the type of person who needs to physically own an album, you can have access to it immediately, whenever you want. I used to be that person – […]