SPR | Self-Publishing Review

An Interview with Suzan Denoncourt: Author of Heaven’s Debris

It was at the height of her career as a business executive that Suzan chose to pivot away from the corporate world and embrace a totally new chapter. Literally. Gravitating toward the mystery/thriller genre, she completed the first two manuscripts in the Cisco series before pursuing publication of her debut novel, The Burden of Truth, which was a finalist for Best Crime First Novel in the Crime Writers of Canada 2025 Awards of Excellence. Heaven’s Debris followed four months later.

The third installment from this Montreal-based, married mother of two is expected in early 2026, with more novels in […]

SPR2025-07-28T20:14:18+02:00July 28th, 2025|Categories: Interviews|

Typesetting 101: A Beginner’s Guide for Self-Published Authors

For independently published authors, writing a well-received book is about more than the story. As an indie author, you’re responsible for everything from commissioning a cover to formatting your book. The font you choose for the text inside and out has to be readable and fit within the margins and gutter. Professional-looking typesetting can make your book stand out and enhance the story.

When you’re just getting started, figuring out what font to use, its size, and how it translates for digital books and hard copies can seem overwhelming. Fortunately, knowing a few basics can drive your success.

How to

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SPR2025-07-18T18:20:30+02:00July 18th, 2025|Categories: Member Blog|

How to Build Pacing in Your Fiction

Have you ever picked up a book and found yourself unable to put it down? Or maybe you’ve started reading something that felt like slogging through mud? The difference usually comes down to pacing.

Pacing is the rhythm and speed at which you tell your story. It’s what keeps readers turning pages at midnight or what makes them abandon your book after chapter two. Good pacing feels natural and keeps readers emotionally invested from the first page to the last.

Hook Readers Right Away

As a new writer, you could make the mistake of starting your story too slow, by […]

SPR2025-06-17T13:17:47+02:00June 17th, 2025|Categories: Member Blog|

The Enigma of Vitamin B12 by Anthea V. Hayes

A scathing takedown of a modern myth, The Enigma of Vitamin B12: Nature’s Only Mistake? Fear and Marketing of the Deficiency Myth by Anthea V. Hayes is a passionate plea to rethink our relationship to an essential nutrient. Presenting a critical overview of Vitamin B12 (cyanocobalamin), the author poses a broad challenge to readers and the medical world at large – is the contemporary worry over vitamin B12 deficiency justified? What follows is a detailed and intense analysis of the vitamin – its place in popular medicine, its increase in visibility due to veganism/vegetarianism, its hidden effects on health, and […]

SPR2025-06-16T16:47:14+02:00June 16th, 2025|Categories: Editorial Reviews|

How Self-Published Authors Can Take Inspiration Without Copying Creative Work

As a self-published author, worrying about accidentally copying someone else’s creative work is natural. You are not alone in this fear, and it is a smart instinct to be cautious. However, taking inspiration is natural and necessary for your growth as a writer. Every great story draws from the author’s emotions and the creative works they admire — the key is to handle that process ethically.

Instead of mimicking plots, characters, or exact phrasing, focus on how a piece makes you feel or the broader theme it explores. Then, channel those insights through your voice and perspective. When you approach […]

SPR2025-07-18T18:12:15+02:00June 16th, 2025|Categories: Member Blog|

An Interview with Kenton J. Moore: Author of Vallen

Kenton J Moore is a Canadian multi-genre author living in British Columbia. He is an avid consumer of stories, a comic collector, a video gamer, and a tabletop role-playing gamer. He is best known for his fiction work that spans genres from action to thriller, suspense, and horror as well as science fiction and fantasy.

Kenton’s writing journey began in high school with a love of writing screenplays for film. He continued to write screenplays and short stories until 2013, when he released his first indie novella, Legend of the Sunlight Prince.

He currently publishes under his own independent […]

SPR2025-06-03T13:15:50+02:00June 3rd, 2025|Categories: Interviews|

The Pystead Group: Daring to Be by James Pryor

A sharp-tongued satire on progressive utopias and species salvation, The Pystead Group: Daring to Be by James Pryor is a thought-provoking prophecy for the coming generation.

Thirty years in the future, the foundations of global society are fracturing, but a secretive cabal of researchers, dreamers, and futurists working for The Pystead Group has a plan for humanity’s redemption. Philip Russell unexpectedly lands a job with this enigmatic organization on its Caribbean island base, plunging him into a conspiratorial tangle of allegiance, advancement, and the intellectual dishonesty of American culture. Navigating the high-stakes battlefield of this philosophical playground and pseudo-utopia, Philip […]

SPR2025-05-20T09:53:14+02:00May 19th, 2025|Categories: New Releases|Tags: Science Fiction Book Reviews|

An Interview with Anthony Lee: Author of Toxic Minds

Anthony Lee has a unique background in medicine. After graduating from medical school, he switched from clinical medicine to health technology assessment, analyzing new medical tests and treatments in a career spanning over 15 years.

As a writer, he found inspiration in a variety of literary works, both contemporary and classic. He has especially discovered the excitement of thriller novels, including medical thrillers by authors like Robin Cook and Tess Gerritsen, crime fiction by Michael Connelly, and Ian Fleming’s James Bond novels. After years of brainstorming his own story ideas, he finally wrote and self-published his first medical thriller novel, […]

SPR2025-05-07T12:41:27+02:00May 7th, 2025|Categories: Interviews|