Features | Self-Publishing Review

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 Tips|

Eight Ways To Start Research For Your Historical Novel

historical research 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.

Why so many review request suddenly? It’s because […]

Cate Baum2019-02-03T09:30:40+02:00January 6th, 2016|Categories: Features|Tags: Book Promotion Articles|

Self-Publishing Review Names Favorite Indie Books of 2015

A list of our team’s favorites books published and reviewed in 2015

Workman’s Complication by Rich Leder

Off-off-off-off Broadway actress Kate McCall inherits her father’s New York private investigation business after he’s a whole lot of murdered in a life insurance company elevator. Henry Baum, owner of SPR wrote of this book, “In the seven years I’ve been reading and reviewing books for SPR, I’d put Workman’s Complication in the top five.”

What’s it like: Fletch meets Sympathy For The Devil

Blackcloak: A Man of his Sword by W. James Chan

A poetic exploration of the hero myth with strange

[…]

Cate Baum2015-12-31T14:04:28+02:00December 31st, 2015|Categories: Features|

New Survey Proves Editorial “Paid” Book Reviews Sell Books

A survey of over 300 indie authors worldwide from Kindlebookreviews.net proves unequivocally that while many self-published authors thrash out the “morals” of paying for a book review, the presence of paid editorial reviews on your Amazon book page will help sell your book – and only a quarter of authors are strongly against the idea of paying for a review.

The vast majority of authors greatly appreciate the value of honest book reviews, and believe they help improve the credibility of their book, and helps generate sales.
The majority of authors approve of paid review services as long as they

[…]

Cate Baum2020-02-21T06:34:11+02:00December 30th, 2015|Categories: Features|Tags: Book Promotion Articles, Book Reviews|

How To Sell Your Book In Person – A Step-by-Step System For Book Fairs and Signings

“Handselling books”, as it is known, is aggressive. Don’t tell yourself tales like “I just want to get ten signups to my mailing list today.” No, you don’t. You want to sell your book. You just can’t be bothered. You’d rather send an email and see if someone buys your book after they left.

So here’s how to handle the front line, the trenches, the living marketplace of book ownership. Author Elizabeth Sims says at Writer’s Digest, “Building a readership one person at a time, face to face, is incredibly valuable. And because unlike a juicy rack of […]

Cate Baum2020-02-21T05:52:03+02:00December 22nd, 2015|Categories: Features|Tags: Book Marketing Advice and Tips|

How Paid Reviews Sell Books – Facts and Figures

As one of the most trusted professional review services, and one of the first self-publishing sites around, it’s SPR’s job to make sure we are bringing books to readers with our paid review service, and we’d like to put the “don’t pay for reviews” myth being spread around by certain self-publishing pundits to bed with some hard, analytical, independent facts. The plain truth is, paid reviews do sell more books in the majority of cases.