Resources | Self-Publishing Review

How To Choose An Author Name – Eight Easy Tips

Choosing an author name, often referred to as a pen name, nom de plume, or pseudonym, can be an exciting and creative process. Here are some steps you can follow to help you decide:

1. Consider Your Genre and Audience:

Genre Fit: Some genres may benefit from specific types of names. For example, a name for a romance author might differ from one for a science fiction writer
Audience Expectations: Think about what your target audience might find appealing or memorable

2. Personal Meaning:

Family Names: Consider using a name that has personal significance, such as a family name or

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Cate Baum2024-08-30T11:54:17+02:00August 30th, 2024|Categories: Features, Resources|Tags: Author Branding|

How To Rank in Amazon Kindle Categories

SPR’s Cate Baum takes a look at what methods work and don’t work this spring for ranking higher in Amazon’s Best Seller charts with your Kindle eBook.

Amazon has been messing about with its categories quite extensively, but does this mean ranking is going to become more difficult? Yes and no.

Genre is relevant

Now categories are expanded with search terms, it’s more important than ever that you stay in your genre and categories.

Indie romance books will still be able to gain very high ranking when they make sales due to advertising within a niche market. However, without […]

Cate Baum2023-09-27T10:54:59+02:00April 21st, 2022|Categories: Features, Resources|Tags: Book Marketing Advice and Tips|

Four Big Ways To Fail At Publishing Your Book

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Cate Baum2021-10-28T06:48:17+02:00October 28th, 2021|Categories: Features, Resources|Tags: Book Marketing Advice and Tips|

Infinity Publishing’s Authors FastPencil Issues – What to Do

There have been many authors complaining about not getting royalties since FastPencil took over Infinity Publishing. Here’s what we know, and what you can consider about the buyout if you are affected.

We reviewed the now-defunct company here back in 2011.

You Retained All Your Rights

On their website, Infinity’s FAQs stated:

“At Infinity Publishing, you own your copyright and all the rights to your book. If your book has movie potential, wouldn’t you want the right to make that deal? Many book publishing companies keep certain rights and can exercise these rights without your input or approval. Infinity Publishing

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Cate Baum2020-11-05T05:11:55+02:00November 5th, 2020|Categories: Features, Resources|Tags: Subsidy Publishing Articles|

The Best Twitter Hashtags for Book Promotion

The great thing about Twitter is that you don’t necessarily have to have a lot of followers to be seen. You can have ten followers, but if you use a hashtag like #horror or #sciencefiction, many other people will see the post as well, as there are a lot more visitors to hashtag pages than individual accounts.

However, having more followers means that your post has a better chance to land on the Top list, which is the first list users see, and where the post will show up for longer, as opposed to the Latest thread, where your post […]

Lysa Grant2022-07-14T00:24:31+02:00February 12th, 2020|Categories: Resources|Tags: Book Marketing Advice and Tips, Social Media|

Kindle Promotion Tips to Maximize Your Newsletter Marketing Campaign

The window for marketing is pretty small. Certainly, you should never give up on a book once it’s had its major marketing push, but Amazon only gives a 3-month window to end up in the Hot New Releases section, or to benefit from other ranking factors that fade over time the older a book gets. So it can make sense to put all your eggs in one basket and try to make a giant push all at once.

Think of movie marketing – there are a few weeks of heavy advertising leading up to a release, there’s an opening weekend, […]

SPR2020-02-21T04:34:42+02:00July 14th, 2019|Categories: Features, Resources|Tags: Book Marketing Advice and Tips, Book Promotion Articles, Newsletter Campaign|

Ten Steps to Format Your eBook

When it comes to uploading your eBook for KDP or even for selling it yourself from your author website, it seems like a really fiddly job. But there are ten easy steps to getting it right.

This is a very basic 101, and there are many other fancy things you can do. But these are the bare minimums you should aspire to.

You can click the images if you wish to see them bigger.

1. Use Word

1. There’s no point in using a PDF because it’s counter-intuitive to Kindle. Amazon’s system will automatically recognize chapter headings and paragraphs if […]

Cate Baum2020-02-21T03:45:36+02:00July 10th, 2019|Categories: Features, Resources|Tags: Book Formatting Tips|

20 Book Marketing Strategies for New and Experienced Authors

At SPR, we see a lot of books come our way, and we see some of the same mistakes being repeated over and over again. This is not just the case for a novice author, but for authors who have 10+ books out. Obviously, new authors should take heed most of all, so follow this book promotion checklist to make sure you’re doing everything you can – potentially for no cost at all.