Henry Baum | Self-Publishing Review

About Henry Baum

Author of three self-published novels and one traditionally published (Soft Skull Press, Canongate, and Hachette Littératures). Recipient of Best Fiction at the DIY Book Festival, the Gold IPPY Award for Visionary Fiction, and the Hollywood Book Festival Grand Prize. He lives with his wife Cate Baum in Spain. He's the founder of SPR.

How to Link a Kindle and Print Edition

Sometimes when you create a Kindle edition, it is posted separately from the print edition so it is appears to be an entirely different book, with two distinct pages. There’s no rhyme or reason why this happens to some books and not others, but it can be a real problem – especially when you’ve cultivated a bunch of reviews for one edition. But even if you haven’t, it’s a good idea to have both editions in one place so buyers don’t have to hunt around for different options.

To link two books together, take these steps:

Email kdp-support@amazon.com and give

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Henry Baum2011-12-05T15:06:29+02:00December 5th, 2011|Categories: Resources|

Do Self-Publishers Need to Lighten Up? [Updated]

First off, I didn’t wade into the Penguin self-publishing controversy because I took some days off work to work on my novel and I was keeping to that. I agree that it’s a rip-off as illustrated by David Gaughran:

Book Country offer a range of options to self-publish your work, all vastly over-priced.

The premium package costs a whopping $549. To be clear: there is no editing or cover design included in this package (the two biggest expenses for self-publishers). There is also no marketing or promotion included in this package, aside from a “Publishing Kit” with “tips” and

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Henry Baum2011-11-23T11:39:17+02:00November 22nd, 2011|Categories: Features|

Beware of Free

There’s a really interesting note in a post about Kindle sales on the Self-Published Author’s Lounge:

First of all, free does attract a lot of negative reviews. I’m not the only author who’s noticed it and neither is this author. I have another author friend who is shying away from putting anything else out for free because she doesn’t want to get the negative reviews. Free does attract a heavy dose of criticism. I still use free, though, because my skin really has gotten thick enough where I honestly don’t care anymore (this takes time to develop) and because

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Henry Baum2011-11-14T12:41:33+02:00November 14th, 2011|Categories: Features|

Self-Publishing & Luck

I’ve had my problems with JA Konrath in the past (in the comments of that post). His position used to be that writers needed to be traditionally published in order to prove their mettle – the measure of a writer was if publishing professionals were willing to invest some money in a book. He’s obviously had a change of heart because now he advocates for self-publishing daily – also because of money changing hands: self-publishing is legit because writers can turn a profit. To be honest, I don’t find this the greatest endorsement either because it’s still saying money is […]

Henry Baum2011-11-14T13:03:14+02:00November 14th, 2011|Categories: Features|

The Next Big Thing: Kobo?

David Gaughran has a comprehensive post about Kobo’s recent buyout by a Japanese firm. In the U.S., Kobo doesn’t get a lot of love – sales are slim on Kobo compared to other outlets, and the Kobo reader doesn’t really stack up to the Nook or the Kindle. Plus, there was the recent discount fiasco, where Kobo discounted Smashwords prices below the 99 cent threshold on the Kindle, causing Amazon to remove titles from the site (this happened to me, right at a time that I hit the top 100 via a Kindle Nation promotion). That’s since been cleared up. […]

Henry Baum2011-11-09T14:50:36+02:00November 9th, 2011|Categories: News|

Self-Publishers are Dorky

Really interesting post in The Millions about self-publishing – which to me is kind of watershed compared to yet another post about self-publishing in the Washington Post or New York Times. The Millions is an established litblog on the high-brow edge – the kind of site that might have never given self-publishing a second look 5 years ago, but now is finally seeing self-publishing as increasingly necessary for an increasing number of writers.

It also falls in line with the discussion we’ve been having about “indie” credibility. Self-publishing has already cemented its commercial credibility, but it has yet to […]

Henry Baum2011-11-10T10:49:11+02:00November 9th, 2011|Categories: Features|

Smashwords Accepting New Formats in 2012

This is pretty huge news. The biggest mark against Smashwords is their meatgrinder – it’s necessary to submit a bare bones files or else the meatgrinder will convert it with myriad formatting problems, and the file won’t be eligible for distribution. That has been the main way that Smashwords can distribute the same file to many different outlets, as each retailer has different requirements. Now that ePub is becoming standard (except at Amazon) it only makes sense to allow direct ePub upload. In 2012 you’ll be able to submit your already-formatted ebook to Smashwords, which can then be submitted to […]

Henry Baum2011-11-09T11:36:31+02:00November 9th, 2011|Categories: News|

The Memory of Trees: An Interview with Mick Rooney

Mick Rooney is an author, editor and publishing consultant from the Republic of Ireland. He has published nine books since 1990, through his own imprint, using author solutions services, and he has also published through mainstream publishers. Several years ago he began researching the publishing industry, and in particular Independent, POD (print-on-demand) and subsidy/self-publishers. Many of the findings of his research can be found at his site, The Independent Publishing Magazine together with his own experiences in the world of writing and publishing. He is the author of To Self-Publish or Not to Self-Publish? A Seriously Useful Author’s Guide. […]