Features | Self-Publishing Review

$15 Gift Voucher For NaNoWriMo Authors Until November 30!

If you are taking part in this year’s NaNoWriMo, Self-Publishing Review has a gift for you: An absolutely free $15 gift voucher to use on all editorial and review products until November 30!

NaNoWriMo is a great way to get started on that novel. The goal is to write a 50,000-word draft of your novel without going back, editing or perusing your work. Using NaNoWriMo’s system to write on, you also have support from other writers in the same boat, as well as famous authors ready to get stuck into a pep talk or forum to help you get […]

Cate Baum2014-10-21T03:25:16+02:00October 21st, 2014|Categories: Features|

Self-Publishing Success Story: Lisa Genova

Lisa Genova is a trained neuroscientist whose debut novel, Still Alice, is about a woman with an early onset form of Alzheimer’s, who has to learn to cope with the way her life is changing. Genova self-published her book in 2007 with iUniverse, and it was picked up by Simon & Schuster in 2009, and published by Pocket Books. It spent over 40 weeks on the New York Times bestseller list, and has been translated into 25 different languages. There is also a film adaptation in the works, starring Kristen Stewart, Alec Baldwin, and Julianne Moore. Genova’s next two […]

James Grimsby2017-02-20T09:13:03+02:00October 19th, 2014|Categories: Features, Success Story|

Ten Ways To Use A Professional Book Review

Often at Self-Publishing Review, we are asked, “What can I do with my book review once I purchase it?” So here is a list of ten uses for your review to garner sales and exposure.

1. Editorial Review section on Amazon

The Editorial Reviews Section on your Amazon Author Central profile is an all-important showcase for professional reviews. Your review quote should be 600 characters or less, and your book must be sold on Amazon. To find out how to add a review, click here.

2. Goodreads

You can quote your editorial reviews in your Goodreads profile. To do […]

Cate Baum2021-10-28T05:12:57+02:00October 17th, 2014|Categories: Features|

Six Tips – How To Become A Writer

With all this talk of making millions from self-publishing, have we lost our writerly way?

1. Not all books have to be instantly mass marketable
Often advice is given to choose a subject to please the audience before we’ve even decided on a topic. If you want to be a self-published author, fine, go ahead, write genre fiction that follows the zeitgeist and make some money. But if you’re a writer, how about writing whatever you like? Maybe you’ll hit on something that is so damn original you’ll sell better than if you wrote for the masses. […]

Cate Baum2014-10-08T04:41:23+02:00October 8th, 2014|Categories: Features|

Self-Publishing Success Story: Hugh Howey

Hugh Howey, an American writer, started out his career writing as a side-project to his day-job as a computer technician, as well as a yacht captain.

What books has he written?
His smash-hit series follows a range of characters in an uncertain future, living underground in silos because the outside world is toxic. The original series is broken up into nine books, but a deal was signed with Simon & Schuster to distribute the books in 2 omnibus editions plus Dust, the stand-alone conclusion to the series. Despite having made several publishing deals and agreeing to both film and […]

James Grimsby2018-05-31T11:36:50+02:00October 7th, 2014|Categories: Features, Success Story|Tags: Articles about Hugh Howey|

Self-Publishing Success Story: E.L. James

Arguably the most well-known self-publishing successes, E.L. James’ 50 Shade of Grey trilogy started out as an erotic fan-fiction of the Twilight series. She posted it on fan-fiction sites while under the name “Snowqueen’s Icedragon” and her own website, and later developed it into an original trilogy. She then self-published the first book as an e-book and print-on-demand paperback through The Writers’ Coffee Shop, a virtual publisher based in Australia. The book spread quickly, emphasizing the growing popularity of erotica in women’s fiction. The trilogy was dubbed “Mommy P_rn” and became a worldwide sensation with a movie adaptation […]

James Grimsby2017-02-20T09:14:06+02:00October 5th, 2014|Categories: Features, Success Story|

Ten Reasons Why The Gatekeepers Of Self-Publishing Have Become… You

One of the biggest driving forces behind authors who self-publish has been the declaration that writing has become stifled by “the gatekeepers of the publishing world.” Many writers now go straight to self-publishing. Be self-published? Sounds great! Let’s do it! We can all help each other, right? Right? Guys?

The online self-publishing clique has become incredibly judgemental of its own kind. These didacts are scaring the heck out of those wanting a nice gentle, creative, inclusive experience. Simply, self-published authors have become dictators of their own industry. Here’s why.

1. Online Herdism
Thou shalt not pay for any kind […]

Cate Baum2014-09-30T11:39:05+02:00September 30th, 2014|Categories: Features|

Authors United May Have a Point

I’m a bit sick to death of the Amazon-Hachette dispute. Mainly because it’s a case of one corporate giant against another. Another thing that is troubling is the absolute cheerleading for Amazon that comes from the self-publishing side. While Authors United has made some egregiously overboard claims, Amazon isn’t entirely above reproach.

Today, literary heavyweights have joined the Authors United cause, including Philip Roth, Orhan Pamuk, Salman Rushdie, V. S. Naipaul and Milan Kundera.

Ursula K. Le Guin sounds a bit unhinged when she says,