Book Reviews | Self-Publishing Review

Six Reasons Why Amazon is Not Banning Indie Authors

There has been a lot of panic recently with horror stories about Amazon banning indie authors en masse for promoting their books. Here’s why that’s fake news.

1. Amazon is a business that wants to make money.

There are millions of books on Kindle, something like 7 million. Around 10% of Amazon’s total book stock. There’s no way Amazon wants to ban indie authors from Amazon, who must account for at least a quarter of those books, just by pure common sense.

2. Getting reviews and promotion for your book is not going to get you banned.

If you do […]

Cate Baum2020-02-20T13:31:33+02:00October 18th, 2018|Categories: Features|Tags: Amazon, Book Promotion, Book Reviews|

How to Get Book Reviews in 2018 (Without Going Crazy)

So you want to know the best ways of getting book reviews for your book now it is finally written? Here are some ideas for those glowing reviews to come flooding in, updated for what works in 2018.

What Works in 2018

Use a Reader eMailing Service – Success Rate – 100% + 1- 5% quota met as advertised + high ranking and exposure on Amazon

It’s getting harder to get Verified Customer Reviews, which are the reviews that have most weight for ranking high on Amazon. The only true way to do this is to have access to lists […]

Cate Baum2019-07-01T16:21:20+02:00April 25th, 2018|Categories: Features, Resources|Tags: Book Promotion, Book Reviews|

Mythbusting The Amazon Algorithm Part III – Verified Customer Reviews and the New Amazon Guidelines

There are some home truths we need to examine that authors are not really grasping about the Amazon Algorithm since I started this series. So in this installment of “Mythbusting,” I’m going to get into what the algorithm’s new Machine Learning model and new Amazon Guidelines mean for Verified Customer Reviews.

MYTH 1 – By figuring out what keywords people search for you can get customers to find your book

TRUTH – Meh. Here we go again. My answer to this is “Are you a robot?” You would have to be Hal 9000 since the new algorithm came along. Let’s […]

Cate Baum2020-02-20T13:25:23+02:00February 23rd, 2017|Categories: Features|Tags: Amazon, Amazon Algorithm, Book Promotion, Book Reviews|

Amazon Reviews: How Readers Look At Them, And How To Sell Using Them

*This article on Amazon Reviews has been updated to reflect new guidelines!*

SPR has been working on a ton of resources to get you to shine on social media this week, and here we’re looking in detail at how book reviews will lead to sales.

Reviews are the only way to get those buyers to click that Buy Now button on your Amazon book page. As a culture, we have built up a respect for peer opinion, but it’s also important to remember that Customer Reviews on Amazon are the last port of call for a buyer before purchase.

And […]

Cate Baum2019-04-12T14:01:25+02:00January 30th, 2017|Categories: Features|Tags: Amazon, Book Promotion, Book Reviews|

Amazon Book Reviews – “Allowed” and “Not Allowed”

There still seems to be some confusion around what Amazon calls its Editorial Review section. Despite there being very strong evidence that it is a good idea to have editorial reviews for your book, authors are still, yes, still, muddling these up with the dreaded “paid” review. As COO of one of the major services delivering editorial reviews and mailout services, it’s about time I made yet another attempt to clear up this misinformation.

Paid Reviews are NOT Editorial Reviews – May this be your mantra

When authors talk about “paid reviews”, they are talking about individuals who offer […]

Cate Baum2020-02-21T06:34:05+02:00September 12th, 2016|Categories: Features|Tags: Book Promotion, Book Reviews|

How A Professional Reviewer Reviews Your Book

At SPR we’ve been reviewing books for nearly a decade. Here, we talk about how we review a book, and answer some of the most burning questions authors have.

Book Policy

When a book comes in for review, the first thing we check is that it meets our book policy. We do this by reading the synopsis and then scanning it for keywords that might flag up any issues against our guidelines. Since 2013, we have rejected books that titillate using triggers, such as harsh violence, hate crimes, religious or political hate, or child abuse outside of a survivor account. […]

Cate Baum2019-02-03T09:31:36+02:00June 2nd, 2016|Categories: Features|Tags: Book Promotion, Book Reviews|

Print Books Welcome! SPR Now Accepting Hardcopies For Review!

Here at SPR we have decided we will now accept print books for our Review Packages. You can submit here.

There’s been a resurgence in print book purchasing recently. Last September The New York Times reported that print was making a comeback due to strong negotiating between publishers and bookstores.

“As publishers renegotiated new terms with Amazon in the past year and demanded the ability to set their own e-book prices, many have started charging more. With little difference in price between a $13 e-book and a paperback, some consumers may be opting for the print version.”

Although e-books are […]

Cate Baum2016-05-02T10:35:25+02:00April 30th, 2016|Categories: Features, News|Tags: Book Reviews|

IndieReader and SPR Partner For Combo Deal For Authors

Self-Publishing Review and IndieReader team up to give indie authors 10% discount on editorial book reviews

Get a Combo Deal Indiereader and SPR Review and save 10%

Top indie book review sites IndieReader and Self-Publishing Review have partnered up to provide a combo deal for independent authors everywhere.

This deal saves almost $20 off the normal price for a standard IndieReader book review and an SPR Classic Book Review, and means the author makes one combined purchase instead of having to go to both sites to make the order.

Cate Baum, COO of SPR today said, “We’re pleased to announce this combo deal with IndieReader. It makes a lot of […]

Cate Baum2016-03-06T15:08:53+02:00February 23rd, 2016|Categories: Features, News|Tags: Book Reviews|