Henry Baum | Self-Publishing Review

Decay by Mark Lingane

Decay by Mark Lingane is the second book in his YA steampunk/science fiction series, “The Tesla Evolution.” Set in a war-ravaged dystopian future, Decay follows Sebastian, his friend Melanie, and others fighting off a cyborg threat to kill off humanity once and for all. Sebastian, along with some other survivors, find that they have enhanced psionic abilities.

Dubbed the “Teslas,” they now need to fight off embittered and terrified humans suspicious of their powers, as well as the cyborgs. Like other effective dystopian novels, Decay offers good commentary on contemporary society. The cyborgs who are hunting down Sebastian seem to […]

Henry Baum2022-04-28T07:34:20+02:00November 21st, 2014|Categories: New Releases|Tags: Mark Lingane, Science Fiction|

Lost Library by Kate Baray

Lost Library by Kate Baray is the first novel in the “Lost Library” urban fantasy romance series, which so far comprises three novels and three short stories. That investment in world-building is very evident in these pages: the book is both carefully detailed and fast-paced, which will appeal to more readers than those interested in romance.

The book follows Lizzie, a 36-year-old woman who’s at once engaging and fairly bored with her life. That is until a mysterious book bound in leather arrives on her doorstep. She soon discovers that the writing on the pages changes whenever she opens it, […]

Henry Baum2014-11-21T06:11:42+02:00November 21st, 2014|Categories: New Releases|Tags: Fantasy|

Review: Truth Insurrected by Daniel P. Douglas

Truth Insurrected by Daniel P. Douglas is a highly effective science fiction thriller about the charged topic of UFO disclosure. Down on his luck private investigator, William Harrison, becomes embroiled in a worldwide conspiracy of the UFO coverup after witnessing a UFO. As he learns more and more people attached to the conspiracy have been murdered, Harrison must unravel this conspiracy that spans the globe, and make sure that he’s not another one of the victims.

Harrison is a great protagonist and springboard for the action. Injured on the job as an FBI agent, Harrison is bored with chasing after […]

Henry Baum2014-11-20T08:26:29+02:00November 20th, 2014|Categories: Book Reviews, Lead Story|Tags: Science Fiction|

Supernatural Hero & The Witches by Eran Gadot

Supernatural Hero & The Witches by Eran Gadot is the follow-up to the award-winning Supernatural Hero. The first book follows Andy, a protypical nerd, who is bullied mercilessly by seemingly everyone in his life. When his beloved grandfather dies, Andy’s gifted with the power to see and talk to the dead. Andy uses his supernatural abilities to win the girl and go from zero to hero.

Now in book two, Andy’s the school hero with his girlfriend by his side, as well as the ghost of his grandfather who helps him along the way. This time he needs to […]

Henry Baum2014-11-21T06:04:57+02:00November 18th, 2014|Categories: New Releases|Tags: Horror|

Barnes & Noble Offers Print on Demand for Nook Titles

Barnes & Noble is a very confusing company. Their website is basically a mess – a terrible commenting system and search often doesn’t work. With stores closing and the world going digital, you’d think they’d put more resources into the web. Now they’re jumping into the print-on-demand business to compete with Amazon and it also falls short. Far from competing with Amazon’s Createspace, it’s a more-or-less unnecessary service that doesn’t provide any distribution.

From the press release:

NOOK Press provides authors with simple tools such as:

• Instant Access: The “Quick Start” option lets writers try out the tools

[…]

Henry Baum2014-12-02T09:06:20+02:00November 11th, 2014|Categories: News|

Goddess by Dakota Kemp

Goddess by Dakota Kemp is part one of The Shrike Chronicles, introducing the colorful character of Samuel Shrike, a mercenary, lover of dive bars as well as a good fight. When space pirates, mob queens, and his desire for an alien mercenary collide, he might have found a battle he cannot survive. Goddess is part romance, part science fiction, and an exciting introduction to the series.

If this sounds like a strange (and bold) first sentence of a romance, you’d be right: “The whole place stank of piss to him – piss and refuse and poverty.” That’s because Goddess[…]

Henry Baum2014-10-21T00:51:41+02:00October 21st, 2014|Categories: New Releases|Tags: Science Fiction|

“I don’t want to read your self-published book”

Fighting words, but Ron Charles at The Washington Post has a point.

At The Post, we’re getting about 150 books a day. A day. And these are books that had to find an agent. And then a publisher. And then were professionally edited. And now are being professionally marketed by people with money on the line. Many of these books, of course, are bad, but many — far more than we can review — are interesting, engaging, informative, moving, timely and/or newsworthy for various reasons.

…

Are there great, truly great self-published books being produced — and ignored —

[…]

Henry Baum2017-09-13T15:20:21+02:00October 2nd, 2014|Categories: Member Blog|

Amazon Releases Details on New Crowdsourcing Platform

Details have been revealed about Amazon’s new crowdsourcing platform. It’s for romance, mystery & thriller, and science fiction & fantasy books. From their email:

Thanks for subscribing to receive updates on Amazon’s new publishing program! We’re excited to announce that we’ll be opening for submissions in a couple weeks. We’ll be welcoming submissions for English-language books in Romance, Mystery & Thriller, and Science Fiction & Fantasy genres.

Any adult with a valid U.S. bank account and U.S. social security number or tax identification number is eligible. It only takes 15 minutes to complete a submission.

Here are the things that

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