Resources

How to Get Book Reviews in 2018 (Without Going Crazy)

So you want to know the best ways of getting book reviews for your book now it is finally written? Here are some ideas for those glowing reviews to come flooding in, updated for what works in 2018.

What Works in 2018

Use a Reader eMailing Service – Success Rate – 100% + 1- 5% quota met as advertised + high ranking and exposure on Amazon

It’s getting harder to get Verified Customer Reviews, which are the reviews that have most weight for ranking high on Amazon. The only true way to do this is to have access to lists […]

Cate Baum2019-07-01T16:21:20+02:00April 25th, 2018|Categories: Features, Resources|Tags: Book Promotion Articles, Book Reviews|

Three Ways To Offer Discounted CreateSpace Paperbacks

There is no doubt that the best way of being able to offer discounted paperbacks Print On Demand is still with CreateSpace. While KDP have offered paperbacks, and companies such as Ingram have been market leaders, the fact still stands that these other services do not give authors the opportunity to print really discounted copies on demand, while the author can retain a fair array of distribution and profit.

You won’t make the Amazon ranks with these methods, as they do not count towards your sales numbers on Amazon, but if you are concerned with an institution or other group […]

Cate Baum2020-02-21T05:43:29+02:00April 21st, 2018|Categories: Features, Resources|Tags: Amazon News and Tips|

All the Browser Categories for Amazon KDP Fiction

Here they are! Free! You can also download this Amazon Kindle Categories List FICTION PDF.

Want more categories? Join SPR as a free member and get NON-FICTION and JUVENILE FICTION AND NON-FICTION too!

Make sure when you use them, you check Categories With Keyword Requirements.

The sub-levels are listed: Blue>Orange>Red

Try to list as deep as you can in your KDP account. If this is not possible, choose the highest category, then add the rest of the categories as keywords, e.g.:

African American as your chosen category
Then add the keywords (note keywords are also key phrases): Historical, Mystery &

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Cate Baum2018-06-13T10:37:47+02:00February 9th, 2018|Categories: Features, Resources|

Best Free Book Marketing Sites

Most know that BookBub is very expensive, as well as very difficult to get into. SPR’s own BookBub alternative (starting at $199) has no barrier to entry, but it’s also expensive if your budget is…zero. There are a number of BookBub-style newsletter services that allow for free submissions. These submissions aren’t guaranteed, and many offer a paid option to guarantee inclusion, but it’s still helpful if you really have no budget for book marketing, or you want to pad out your paid efforts with some other services.

As with pay sites, it’s best to spread out these listings over 3 […]

Lysa Grant2022-09-11T15:55:06+02:00July 19th, 2017|Categories: Features, Resources|Tags: Book Marketing Advice and Tips, Book Promotion Articles, Newsletter Campaign|

15 Places for Authors to Write a Guest Post

Blogging is an essential part of book marketing. It’s always a bit mystifying to hear authors say, “I don’t know what to blog.” You’re a writer! It’s part of the job. If readers like the way you put together a post, they’ll be more likely to check out your book.

However, blogging can also feel like writing into the wilderness, especially if your site gets scant traffic, which is usually the case for new writer’s sites. If your blog (or book) is hurting for viewers, a good practice is to post on a blog with a built-in audience.

CreativIndie has […]

Lysa Grant2018-05-10T06:45:25+02:00June 30th, 2017|Categories: Features, Resources|Tags: Author Blogging, Book Marketing Advice and Tips, Book Promotion Articles|

How To Get The Best Paperback Cover You Can With CreateSpace

Many authors have bemoaned their CreateSpace paperback quality, i.e. print cover results in forums. But there are certain tricks of the trade that are right in front of your nose that would have given you a perfect result. Here’s a quick rundown of some easy to grasp techniques when choosing your print options with CreateSpace.

Do your interior first

Remember that you need your page count before you do your cover, because you need to know how wide your spine is! When you download your template, you will need to input the exact number of pages. Remember the interior is […]

Cate Baum2020-02-21T05:43:40+02:00June 22nd, 2017|Categories: Features, Resources|Tags: Amazon News and Tips, Book Cover Design Tips|

Seven Steps To Maximum Exposure For Your Self-Published Book

It’s a very competitive market out there. Here are some more direct tips from SPR’s marketing team to get your book sold and seen.

Good cover design

The one greatest tool for your book marketing is a professional book cover. Without it, you will fail online, you will fail on a book stand. People do judge a book by its cover. A professional cover won’t break the bank, but it will cost a few hundred dollars. It’s essential you budget for this expense in your marketing costs. This expense, plus editing, should be the absolute essentials when self-publishing. Frankly, people

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Cate Baum2020-02-21T05:53:07+02:00June 13th, 2017|Categories: Features, Resources|Tags: Amazon News and Tips, Book Marketing Advice and Tips|

35+ Alternatives to BookBub – UPDATED

This post was first published in February 2016. Because Amazon clamped down on affiliate-linked services using free or discounted books to garner affiliate fees from Amazon in May 2016, we have added a new column below that shows which services use an affiliate tag to profit from the book’s sale and could affect your book’s campaign. Note this is probably only affecting free books, as then Amazon was paying out on a loophole into the negative, but we advise to proceed with caution with any service that uses an affiliate tag system.

So let’s move on to the information.

As […]

Lysa Grant2020-02-21T04:34:55+02:00June 23rd, 2016|Categories: Features, Resources|Tags: Book Promotion Articles, Newsletter Campaign|