Features | Self-Publishing Review

When is the Best Time of Year to Release a Book?

In Hollywood, there’s a pretty set calendar for when movies are released: horror movies are usually released around Halloween, high-concept blockbusters in the summer, Oscar movies start in November, movies that aren’t blockbusters or Oscar contenders in February. Does the book trade follow the same release schedule? The answer is, more or less, yes.

Peak reading and buying season is very much tied to the weather. February and March are generally good times to release a book because the weather’s not great, so people will be stuck inside, browsing the web and looking for something to read. Generally, people won’t […]

SPR2019-03-22T07:04:00+02:00March 22nd, 2019|Categories: Features, Resources|Tags: Book Promotion Articles|

Self-Published Vs. Trad Publishing? It’s not a choice, stop saying it is.

There seems to be a tide of “Trad Publishing Vs. Self-Publishing” posts out there at the moment. As if it’s a choice. I’ve taken a real umbrage to this. Because honestly, it’s not. Here’s why.

Traditional publishing – The Process

To get your book published by a so-called Big-Five publisher, i.e., Hachette, HarperCollins, Macmillan, Penguin Random House, Simon & Schuster, or one of their imprints — or honestly, any niche trad publisher, you’re going to need to go through a long and painful process. Here it is:

1. Get an agent. Various ways of getting an agent involve first, […]

Cate Baum2025-05-12T17:51:20+02:00March 2nd, 2019|Categories: Features|Tags: Publishing Tips and Advice|

Book Promotion Services: What Works for Immediate Sales?

A lot of the advice you’ll find about book marketing is frustratingly vague. You’ll find a lot of blog posts touting “Top Ten Book Promotion Strategies” with advice like:

Be Active on Social Media
Blog Regularly
Build an Email List of Readers

While these things may help build a readership, they won’t sell books in the short term…or even the long term. A lot of social media is tweeting into the wind, and blogging can sometimes gain a following of five loyal followers, three of whom live in your house. The same goes for email lists: you can only run […]

SPR2019-03-01T13:40:21+02:00March 1st, 2019|Categories: Features, Resources|Tags: Book Promotion Articles|

Self-Publishing Review’s Author Manifesto for 2019

We asked authors what they want this year. It’s a really simple list: Personal customer service, something to help set up on Amazon, flexible pricing, tons of shares on social media, to sell books, Amazon Customer Reviews, free advice, leave disinformation behind, and have the freedom to publish without shame. How will we deliver this in 2019?

Personal customer service

To be a service provider to single-person businesses, i.e. authors, is a specialist concern in any industry. Dealing with highly fragile confidence and high impact delivery – i.e. big fail or big win – should be the overreaching priority. One […]

Cate Baum2019-02-22T07:52:48+02:00February 22nd, 2019|Categories: Features|

Self-Publishing Review is Ten Years Old! An Interview with Founder Henry Baum

Today, SPR is ten years old! Founder Henry Baum is a Manhattan-born Los Angeles musician and writer who currently lives near London, UK. He has been traditionally published in three countries, and has written several indie books, of which one has been made into a short film by Ruben Fleischer (director of “Zombieland” and “Venom”) starring Kevin Corrigan. He founded SPR in 2008 as a blog for authors to connect and share tips. Since then, the company has become a major startup in the the self-publishing industry, and employs several staff in the UK and USA.

What made you think […]

Cate Baum2018-12-19T13:54:42+02:00December 19th, 2018|Categories: Features, Interviews|

Best Christmas Gifts for Authors 2018

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Cate Baum2018-12-18T17:42:16+02:00December 18th, 2018|Categories: Features|

3 Essential Apps for Self-Publishers

I’m a big believer that the vast majority of apps ‘talk the talk’ more than they are able to ‘walk the walk.’

This is understandable. Have you ever been let down by a major company? Anyone who ever purchased a Microsoft Zune can tell you how that feels. If even the major companies such as Microsoft fail to deliver on your expectations, you start to expect that even the smaller organizations will similarly disappoint.

Thankfully, there are many apps out there that buck the trend. Apps that over deliver on your expectations and truly make a positive difference to your […]

Dave Chesson2020-02-08T15:59:13+02:00December 17th, 2018|Categories: Features, Member Blog|Tags: Dave Chesson Articles|

Why Do So Many Publishing Services Fail?

Traditional publishing professionals think they can jump on the indie bandwagon and make a mint from applying the same techniques they learned in that industry to self-published authors. This is the big error. The world of publishing and assisted publishing are two different beasts entirely.

And here’s why:

1. In assisted publishing, the author is the client.

This is confounding to many new services because in trad (traditional) publishing, the publisher holds the puppet strings. New services who don’t take the time to spell out deals and what the author will get on their service descriptions and websites feel like […]

Cate Baum2018-11-18T10:02:25+02:00November 18th, 2018|Categories: Features|