SPR | Self-Publishing Review

How Authors Can Help Other Authors

Another author’s success can sometimes sting. But remember: we’re all in this together – that’s why something like #WritingCommunity exists. If a writer is successful, that’s a success for everyone, as books are the underdog in the media landscape.

It can feel counterintuitive to support another author’s book, as they can seem like a competitor in your own field, and you may feel like you should be spending your time only on your own book. However, self-promotion is not normally as effective as word of mouth, so if you spend your days wondering why you’re not receiving enough attention, the […]

SPR2020-02-21T06:49:14+02:00June 3rd, 2019|Categories: Features, Resources|Tags: Book Marketing Advice and Tips, Social Media|

An Interview with Camden Mays: Author of Shattered Shield

Camden Mays is the author of the Cameron Cole thriller series. He finds the most fascinating stories to be those where an everyday person is placed in extraordinary circumstances and rises to the challenge. He loves aviation, football, and good music – just don’t ask him to dance.

Tell us about your book.

It’s the story of a disillusioned CIA officer contemplating his future as he gets swept up working to stop terrorists’ attacks with the help of an interagency team. Along the way he falls for the FBI liaison agent. However, as the team pursues their enemy, they come […]

SPR2019-06-04T03:27:49+02:00May 31st, 2019|Categories: Interviews|

An Interview with Sheldon Charles: Author of Blood Upon the Sands

Sheldon Charles is a decorated Air Force veteran, whose career has taken him around the globe, and given his writing a unique international flair. He is the author of Three Paperclips & a Grey Scarf, Blood Upon the Sands and From Within the Firebird’s Nest. His last book (From Within the Firebird’s Nest, the third book in the Evan Davis Trilogy) held the Number One Bestseller spot on Amazon for Russian Historical Fiction, and was in the Top Ten for War Fiction, for 2018. Sheldon currently resides in Michigan, where he is a member of Michigan […]

SPR2019-05-29T12:45:44+02:00May 29th, 2019|Categories: Interviews|

The Best Premade Cover Designers for Indie Authors

In this day and age, there’s no reason to have a bad book cover. Though there are more tools available to make your own book cover, that doesn’t mean you should, as designing a book cover takes as much finesse as any creative art, so if you all you can draw are stick figures, you have no business getting into graphic design.

This is especially true because the cost of book cover design has come down a lot in recent years, while the quality has gone up. This is true as well for premade book covers. You supply the […]

SPR2019-05-23T11:55:07+02:00May 23rd, 2019|Categories: Features, Resources|Tags: Book Cover Design Tips|

Review: Can’t Forget the Motor City… by Joseph Nicks

The tradition of travel writing in America is a long and proud one, but travel poetry doesn’t have the same mainstream following. However, in Can’t Forget the Motor City…, a new collection of poems from Joseph Nicks, the genre gains a strong voice that anyone who has longed for the open road will appreciate.

These poems span four decades of a life spent wandering and wondering, always looking for something new and invigorating. From musings on repetitive youth in the Great Lakes to the sluggish, sunny pace of California, these poems exude a hunger for elsewhere, with the poet […]

SPR2020-08-24T09:10:53+02:00May 20th, 2019|Categories: Book Reviews|Tags: Poetry Book Reviews, Travel Book Reviews|

An Interview with Ottavio Lepore: Author of The Fractured Mind

Born in Mola di Bari, Italy, Ottavio moved to America with his family in 1996 and now resides in New York. Ottavio has had a passion for writing from a young age which he developed from his love of reading books. Ottavio published his first novel The Fractured Mind in 2019.

Why did you want to write a book?

I began writing as a child, I fell in love with the construction of stories and different worlds which could be anything I wanted. Once I had my plot in mind i wrote and passed it to some friends who gave […]

SPR2019-05-17T09:41:16+02:00May 17th, 2019|Categories: Interviews|

An Interview with Eyad H. Yehyawi: Author of Crimson Arrows

Eyad H. Yehyawi has been bowhunting for nearly thirty years, traveling across the United States, Canada, and Africa. A naturalist long before he was a bowhunter, Eyad’s passion for the outdoors dates as far back as he can remember. While majoring in biology at Quincy University, he worked in conservation and wildlife management before deciding to pursue interests in health care. Many of these stories and photos have appeared in magazines including Bow & Arrow Hunting, Bowhunter, Bowhunt America, and Outdoor Life. Eyad currently lives in Iowa with his wife and children, where he practices optometry.[…]

SPR2019-05-13T13:59:45+02:00May 13th, 2019|Categories: Interviews|

Review: Snapshots: Say Cheese! The World is Watching by Cara Cilento

Poems and short prose pieces are mated with vibrant photos in the emotive collection Snapshots: Say Cheese! The World is Watching by debut writer Cara Cilento.

The two dominant themes are Cilento’s acceptance of herself as a lesbian, and her decision to adopt two boys, a bold move, especially as both children are African American. Cilento is of Italian descent, this made clear as she describes messages (“The Facts”) from her upbringing: