In Search of Aimai Cristen by Phillip Good does not begin with the page above, but with this personal ad on page one:
1. The Ad
Young attractive girl, 24, searching for
love, compassion, joy from a man who can
provide financial security. Write Aimai
Cristen, Box 3689, Barb Office, 1234
University Ave, Berkeley CA 94709.
The ad is enough to pique my curiosity: a woman seeking what, I suppose, […]
As a self-published POD, I think I may be in a good place, considering. Just got into two bookstores, and I am awaiting a blurb from someone I hope is influential enough to convince more people to read my book.
I learned today, however, that having a book in a store, on a shelf, doesn’t necessarily place me above pod (lowercase) status when compared to the Published butterflies.
I’ve been trying to schedule a reading at one of the stores that currently has my book, but the woman who schedules the events has yet to return […]
I began reading this page intrigued. I don’t read much fantasy and never have, but that doesn’t mean I don’t like it. I can’t really explain why I never read much of it—when I was younger, Archie comics took a lot of my time, and by the time I was one of those kids who never went anywhere without a book, I was reading mysteries (starting with ten Nancy Drews per week, followed later […]
Page One Review is a review of a self-published book’s first page. Read the first installment here.
First: This looks like two pages, but it equates to one full page of text. And it’s a cropped cut; Eric Rohr didn’t begin his book with the sloppy look of no top margin. There is, in fact, plenty of top margin on Rohr’s first page, which is why I snagged a shot of a one-and-some page.
Second: I don’t know how I feel about the cover. And because this is Page One Review and not Cover Review, I’m not obligated (nor […]
If you submit your book for review at SPR, you should understand that means the possibility of having the first page of your book critiqued in this column.
Don’t misunderstand: “critique” does not (only) mean “to criticize.” I make no promises that some work won’t be criticized, but for the purposes of this column, “critique” means exactly what Webster says it means: “A critical review or commentary.”
As the first post in this column, before I get started on the page you see copied below, allow me to explain what this is:
This column’s purpose is to offer critiques of […]
Having been told more than once by reviewers that the cover for Homefront leaves much to be desired (one of them even said she passed over reading my book several times just because of the cover), it’s becoming increasingly clear that a book cover can have an enormous impact on potential readers.
It’s certainly possible to make your own cover using photo-imaging software, but according to cover designer Cathi Stevensen, owner of Book Cover Express, that’s not always – rather, is very rarely – a good idea.
Cathi discusses what every cover should have and why you really shouldn’t […]
