Features | Self-Publishing Review

How To Fix Your Ingram Spark PDF – With Free PDF Fix Download

For many reasons, some authors decide to forgo the most popular path of publishing with Amazon’s Createspace and use the popular service at Ingram Spark/Lightning Source. However, guidelines given do not fully prepare an author for troubleshooting, and state that each time an author has to re-upload the file because it’s not correct, they will be charged $25. So it’s really important to get this right first time.

Update 2020 – LS/IS provide a full guide to preparing your PDF here.

There is in fact nothing wrong with the way that Ingram Spark needs you to present your file. The […]

Cate Baum2020-10-19T03:10:24+02:00March 3rd, 2016|Categories: Features, Resources|Tags: Book Formatting, Ingram Spark|

IndieReader and SPR Partner For Combo Deal For Authors

Self-Publishing Review and IndieReader team up to give indie authors 10% discount on editorial book reviews

Get a Combo Deal Indiereader and SPR Review and save 10%

Top indie book review sites IndieReader and Self-Publishing Review have partnered up to provide a combo deal for independent authors everywhere.

This deal saves almost $20 off the normal price for a standard IndieReader book review and an SPR Classic Book Review, and means the author makes one combined purchase instead of having to go to both sites to make the order.

Cate Baum, COO of SPR today said, “We’re pleased to announce this combo deal with IndieReader. It makes a lot of […]

Cate Baum2016-03-06T15:08:53+02:00February 23rd, 2016|Categories: Features, News|Tags: Book Reviews|

Paid Reviews – What Everyone Keeps Getting Wrong (Still)

Why does everyone misunderstand a paid review? Let’s get into the myths. Also, scroll down for real time proof that paid reviews do in fact sell books.

MYTH A paid review is any review you paid for

TRUTH There are three types of paid review. Here, I list 1 and 2 (good methods) and 3 (stay away).

Professional editorial review service (Kirkus, SPR, BlueInk, Foreword, Indiereader, Reader’s Favorite) The reviews you buy direct from a professional review service should only be posted in your Editorial Reviews section as provided by Amazon for this purpose. They are considered a boost to

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Cate Baum2019-02-03T09:31:50+02:00February 11th, 2016|Categories: Features|Tags: Book Promotion, Book Reviews|

Ten Ways To Take A Negative Book Review On The Nose

A mixed or negative review can be instrumental in development of an author’s career for many reasons, and even if published on Amazon it should not be regarded as a personal affront or an attack. Cate Baum outlines the main reasons your review could be surprisingly negative, and how can you deal with this?

This morning, two authors I worked with completely melted down at their (not at all badly rated) 3-star and 4-star review respectively. Full-on tantrums. Quite incredible. I understand they paid for their review, but this doesn’t mean they are entitled to a positive review, only an […]

Cate Baum2019-02-03T09:32:07+02:00February 4th, 2016|Categories: Features|Tags: Book Promotion, Book Reviews|

What Exactly Is Excellence in Editing?

Cate Baum laments the human condition of a humble editor and the unwavering indie author who demands 100%.

When I proofread for authors, sometimes, not often, (most of my authors are lovely) a client will come back to me declaring my gross ineptitude.

I ask what the issue is, and the answer always goes something like this, “After you edited my book I found x number of errors you didn’t catch!”

This accusatory tone, and the certain list of errors “I missed” lasts a few emails before I give a perfunctory nod of sorts, and try to explain proofreading statistics, […]

Cate Baum2016-02-01T16:12:57+02:00February 1st, 2016|Categories: Features|Tags: Book Editing|

Eight Ways To Start Research For Your Historical Novel

As an editor I see books that are ruined by the lack of research for their content all the time. Here are the top ways that you can ensure you’ve done your homework for your next bestseller.

1. Etymology

Etymology tells us about the birth of a word into common use. If you use a word that did not exist in the time period you are writing about, your book is going to sound pretty silly to the hardcore historical fans. You can check when a word came into usage with this handy online etymology dictionary.

2. Timelines

Here’s […]

Cate Baum2016-01-27T07:47:03+02:00January 27th, 2016|Categories: Features|

The One Obvious Reason Authors Get Rejected By BookBub

After a bit of research with BookBub, it seems one really, really obvious point for submission often gets overlooked when authors send their book to BookBub. It’s so simple that maybe in these days of e-books and percentages instead of page numbers we forget that page count is one of the main points of BookBub’s requirements.

All types books have different criteria, too, but the way this information is laid out, it’s easy to gloss over it (It’s in the paragraph “A full-length book”).

So in case you have been rejected, maybe it was as simple as not meeting […]

Cate Baum2020-02-21T04:35:00+02:00January 12th, 2016|Categories: Features|Tags: Newsletter Campaign|

How Not To Ask For A Free Review – From A Top 1000 Amazon Reviewer

As well as being a professional reviewer at SPR, I am also one of Amazon’s Top 1000 reviewers (no, you can’t have my moniker, sorry!) and I sometimes review books for free, depending on how I am approached. I am not one of the Vine or Top 100, so bear this in mind while I give you my perspective on how it feels to receive a request from an author to review – and imagine how in demand they must be if I am getting so many requests in the Top 1000.