Features

Cate Baum of Self-Publishing Review attempts to put some of the myths to bed about what it means to buy a book review.

I have seen too many forum posts where self-publishers vow to never pay for a book review. It’s still seen as sinister and icky, and somewhat dishonest. But there’s a touch of herdism about all of this naysaying. Let’s look at the facts.

There Are Two Types of Paid Review

There is a huge misunderstanding in the community about what paying for a review really means, and it’s about time the publishing community understood the differences. Not […]

It’s time again. Cate Baum, SPR Editor is back to enlighten writers everywhere on how not to drive their editors up the wall.

Here, I have listed my top bugbears uncovered editing self-published works from around the world. Enjoy, learn, share. If you want to find out more about our editing services tailored to the needs of self-published authors, have a look here.

1. The word “OK”/Ok/Okay

The most overused word in most books I see today, especially from American writers. The most common spelling it seems, for some unknown reason (I’m blaming texting and tweeting) is “Ok”. I have […]

An interesting exposé (that takes some digs at self-publishing) covers the new crop of academics going the self-publishing route for many of the same reasons as other authors.

Many scholars – particularly supporters of the open-access movement, which argues that scholarly research should be available for free online — have grown increasingly frustrated with academic publishers in recent years, Weller said.

“Mostly publishers are making an economic decision (will this book sell?) rather than an academic one (does it add to the field?),” the educational technologist said in an email.

While fiction writers want to eschew the gatekeeping process and […]

When browsing through books on Amazon or Smashwords it is pretty striking that so many more books have subtitles these days. Why is that? Six reasons halfway to explaining this trend.

1. A self-published book has to explain itself

While bestselling books by authors we know come on reputation, such as “The Goldfinch” by Donna Tartt (could be about birds, actually is about the life of a boy with PTSD) or “Big Brother” by Lionel Shriver (could be about politics, is actually about morbid obesity), it is more difficult to make a new reader stop and read your synopsis if […]