Book Reviews | Self-Publishing Review

Review: Showdown at Shinagawa by Bill Zarchy

As sardonic as it is poignant, hilarious as much as touching, Showdown at Shinagawa: Tales of Filming from Bombay to Brazil by Bill Zarchy is a truly interesting collection of anecdotes and expositions by a man who has been there, eaten that, and even gotten the Corregidor T-shirt.

His long and illustrious career as a freelance director of photography, as well as a teacher, a writer, and occasional bowler, has taken him across both America and the world over the past 40 years. Zarchy, who can boast being a blogger before “blogger” was even a word, has kept his on-the-road

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James Grimsby2014-06-13T11:50:43+02:00February 19th, 2014|Categories: Book Reviews|Tags: Book Reviews, Memoir|

Review: The Book of Supplement Secrets by Tim Mielke

The Book of Supplement Secrets: A Beginner’s Guide to Nutritional Supplements is written by Tim Mielke, a bodybuilding expert with years of first-hand nutritional supplements experience under his belt, and a body to prove they work.

Did you know your body stops producing essential amino acids under stress? How about that multivitamin pill you take every day – does it really deliver all you need? What type of weight-loss supplement truly works? What about Omega Oils? Are you sure you know what sugars are in your weight-loss shake? A lot of us sheepishly wash down a handful of various pills […]

Cate Baum2019-08-21T04:02:34+02:00January 31st, 2014|Categories: Book Reviews|Tags: Book Reviews, Health, Non-Fiction|

Review: Between Eden And The Open Road By Philip Gaber

An unusual train of poetry and prose, this stimulating and raw work from Philip Gaber is compelling and almost dangerous to read – dangerous because it touches so many nerves in the reader that it becomes both painful and addictive to carry on.

This is not quite a collection of shorts and not quite a poetry book – more a slice of modern psychology into the lonely hearts of those around us. Set on subways, in homeless shelters, whorehouses, streets, the cloying sense of being alive and flailing in doing so is steeped in these words throughout as we travel […]

Cate Baum2014-05-05T21:42:53+02:00September 10th, 2013|Categories: Book Reviews|Tags: Book Reviews, Poetry, Short Stories|

Get Reviewed At SPR from Only $109!

Do you need your book reviewed to improve sales and publicity? Or maybe you’d like an honest opinion before you self-publish? Then why not submit your book for review by a professional reviewer from only $109?

Go here to learn more about our services![…]

Cate Baum2014-01-08T13:43:29+02:00August 19th, 2013|Categories: Lead Story, Resources|Tags: Book Reviews|

Review: Roan – The Tales of Conor Archer by E. R. Barr

Many years ago, the Tinkers went into exile. Hailing from Ireland, the men had dalliances with the shape-shifting Roan. These sea-wives appeared as seals with their pups. As soon as the pups touched the land, they changed into human children. The Tinkers called these offspring the ‘dark ones’ and took on the duty of raising them. Once they arrived in the New World, they settled where two rivers converged and steeped in mythology. For 150 years the Tinkers hid the ‘dark ones’ and their town never divulged their secrets.

In present-day Chicago, Conor Archer is experiencing one of the weirdest […]

T B Markinson2013-08-19T05:13:46+02:00August 19th, 2013|Categories: Book Reviews|Tags: Book Reviews, Fantasy|

Review: Breakfast with the Dirt Cult by Samuel Finlay

Breakfast with the Dirt Cult is a vivid and raw look into a young man’s term serving in the U.S. Army. It takes place over the span of his arrival into the army and his time spent serving in the war in Afghanistan. Reading from a non-military perspective, having never served before, I was very eager to dive into this book and see from what perspective of the war it would be written. The story is Samuel Finlay’s writing debut and it follows the life of Tom Walton, an American around the age of 20 who recently graduated from college. […]

Cate Baum2014-05-05T21:48:53+02:00July 31st, 2013|Categories: Book Reviews|Tags: Book Reviews, Memoir|

Why One-Star Reviews Matter

The most trusted form of criticism for consumers on the internet is now the consumer review. Hailed as SEO gold by Google, these reviews are popping up all over the joint due to rich snippets, which I will explain in my next post in more detail.

In fact, 63% of consumers now buy products not based on the review, but on the rating. Which is scary news for us self-publishers.

However, I am thinking Amazon, Google, Goodreads, Kindleboards and all the rest of them need to be reviewing their reviewers. With one-star reviews being added to books due to […]

Cate Baum2019-02-03T09:28:57+02:00February 13th, 2013|Categories: Member Blog|Tags: Amazon, Book Promotion, Book Reviews, Goodreads|

The Myth of Self-Publishing, Part 1

I can only comment as someone who writes to get people to read what he writes, but doesn’t do a good job of selling his writing. Reading about the great success of Amanda Hocking should make me jealous, but it has the opposite effect. I read about her success, and wish her well, the way I wished Jennifer Anniston well when Brad left her for Angelina. Amanda has become unreal to me, a celebrity among other celebrities, while I’m still all too real for my own good. Brad may leave Angelina for Amanda for all I know. It is so […]