Features | Self-Publishing Review

What To Do When Your Book Is Pirated Online – 5 Easy Steps

Every author should read this article!

Pirating is a massive issue right now and one that all authors should be aware of. Like movies, as soon as your book is made publicly available you are facing someone making it into a FREE PDF and sticking it on one of the many download systems available, with thousands of readers downloading your content. Here’s what to do, following the example I have here for my husband Henry Baum’s book, “Oscar Caliber Gun” – out now for its 25th Anniversary!

1. Check your book title for piracy on Google

Search for […]

Cate Baum2016-06-12T11:17:59+02:00June 11th, 2016|Categories: Features|Tags: Copyright for Authors|

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 Articles, Book Reviews|

How To Build A Perfect Amazon Book Page

Once you have taken the plunge with Amazon KDP and opened your account, the front end (what the customer sees) is going to be incredibly important to sales. In this article, we go into the look and feel of your Book Page and what some of the sections are and how to maximize their potential selling power.

Book Description

The book synopsis on Amazon KDP is basically the product description field for any other product on Amazon
It should be less than 4000 characters long by Amazon specification, and should describe succinctly the product. If you think about that, we

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Cate Baum2019-02-03T09:34:34+02:00May 27th, 2016|Categories: Features|Tags: Amazon News and Tips, Book Promotion Articles|

Mythbusting The Amazon Algorithm Part II: Amazon Lists, Products, and Sales

There has been a fair outrage from certain authors and bloggers who claim that my last piece about the Amazon Algorithm did not consider the way lists (often referred to by the author community as “poplists” although this is not an Amazon term) work. There has also been some whispering about BookBub’s sales being left out of Amazon results, and a high misunderstanding perpetuated by crowd mentality and myth online.

I called myself a “search expert” in the last post. Clarification: my entire adult working life has been spent in publishing, marketing, and search for multinational banks, automobiles, telecommunications […]

Cate Baum2019-12-16T08:35:48+02:00May 7th, 2016|Categories: Features|Tags: Amazon News and Tips, Book Promotion Articles, Mythbusting Amazon For Authors|

Mythbusting The Amazon Algorithm – Reviews and Ranking For Authors

How to get the best out of your reviews and sales to rank high on Amazon without the myths from former search expert and COO of SPR, Cate Baum.

Despite many educated guesses that seem to have passed into urban legend in self-publishing communities online, there are no secrets to the Amazon ranking system.

I have spent the last few months tracking down programmers, algorithm experts, and reading technical documentation about Amazon’s algorithm, and the documentation that is provided online by Amazon at Amazon Seller Central and KDP. What I didn’t do was talk to any authors or bloggers, because […]

Cate Baum2019-12-16T08:36:06+02:00April 30th, 2016|Categories: Features|Tags: Amazon Algorithm Tips for Authors, Amazon News and Tips, Book Promotion Articles, Mythbusting Amazon For Authors|

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|

Writing Characters: How To Use a “Hinterland” To Develop Backstory (With Free Resources)

You may have heard of the word “hinterland” to suggest something mysterious or hidden. In German, it literally means “land behind.” However, many writing schools teach potential novelists to use a “hinterland” to develop characters off the page before writing the words that will end up in your book.

Using a hinterland will give readers the sense they have just stepped into your novel at a point in time before the events unfold. It enriches your characters in terms of speech, foibles, and reactions because you the writer are in possession of these facts.

However, not everything you write down […]

Cate Baum2018-05-31T12:30:44+02:00April 29th, 2016|Categories: Features, Resources|

Amazon KDP Pre-Orders – Worth It Or Not?

Often authors ask, “Is it worth it for me to stick my book on pre-order?” Here’s why it’s worth it, and not worth it, depending on where you are with your book, your series, and your goals for ranking and sales on Launch Day.

What’s KDP Pre-Order?

Amazon gives authors the opportunity to put their book on pre-order when they upload their title details. “You can make your new books available for pre-order in Kindle Stores worldwide. Setting a pre-order allows customers to order your book as early as 90 days before your book’s release date.* When you make your […]

Cate Baum2020-02-21T04:32:45+02:00April 24th, 2016|Categories: Features|Tags: Amazon News and Tips, Book Promotion Articles|