THEMSELF: Confessions of an Open University Creative Writing student by James Kemp

3 out of 5 stars

Non-fiction, Creative Writing short articles

On Amazon UK HERE
On Amazon.com HERE
On Goodreads HERE

Reviewed by me as a member of Rosie Amber's Review Team

This is a sort of diary, originally produced via James Kemp's blog, of some of his exercises from his course.  It includes some pieces he submitted, and a few other random ones, and poetry.  At the back there is some information on editing, self-publishing and promotion from James's own experience. 

This would be of interest to the absolute beginner, as some of the initial exercises are elementary, the sort of thing one learns at school.  It's nicely written and laid out, and James's manner is honest, pleasant and helpful.

This book skirts the edges of the various subjects it explores, as James's experience in such things as editing and marketing a book via Twitter is limited.  The information is basic, but not unhelpful, though some is incorrect (the minimum price to charge for a book on Amazon UK is 99p, not 77p, for instance). 

To sum up, this is a book for a novice or another creative writing student, and I'd describe it more as an anthology of pieces to dip into, as there are some of practical use and some pieces of fiction.

GETTING BOOK REVIEWS: Easy, ethical strategies for authors by Rayne Hall

4.5 out of 5 stars

Book Marketing, non fiction

On Amazon UK HERE
On Amazon.com HERE

If you're a self-published or indie press published author who has contemplated buying reviews, joining reviewing groups or doing review swaps, or if you've been googling 'book bloggers' and are not sure where to start, consider spending 99p/$1.49 on this before you go any further! 

I've read a couple of Rayne Hall's other advice books, and what I like about them, this one included, is that she pulls no punches.  If you've been at the marketing-your-own-books game for a while, you'll probably cringe at some of it, thinking "Ouch, I did that" - as does Rayne; she tells you about the mistakes she made so you don't make them too.  This isn't theoretical advice; this is the real thing, from someone who's been there, done that, and bought the 'I've been scammed' t-shirt.

The book goes deep into the dos and don'ts of review-getting practices I knew nothing about, like review agencies and reviews via blog tours, though I imagine her experiences will be of great interest to others who have contemplated using them.  Best of all, she tells you exactly why you shouldn't join reviewing groups, swap with other writers, and pay for fakes ~ or even do unofficial 5* swaps with friends (you know, when Writer A thinks "I'll give Writers B, C and D 5* so that they'll all give me 5* back").

When Rayne asked me to contribute to the book, she specified that I should write about how I get reviews, rather than say what not to do, and when I read the whole thing I understood why; people buy books like these to find out how to get positive results, not just to be told all the things they're doing wrong!  There are plenty of good, practical suggestions, with positive action you can take.  As with all advice books I didn't agree with all of it; I don't like the idea of asking for reviews on social networking sites, whereas Rayne finds it works well for her; however, there are right ways and wrong ways to do it, and she advises you of the right ones.  I also felt that finding and building relationships with book bloggers could have been explored more - I love them, and often read several posts a day, as both a reader and a writer.

As with all works of this nature, there will be some advice within that doesn't gel with how you work, but you adapt to suit you, and I think you'll find some real gems; I am putting one piece of advice into action today!   If you've been looking at others' books and wondering how come they've got 40 reviews when you've only got 2, or if you're just starting to self-publish and haven't got a clue how to go about it, or even if you've got a fair number of reviews but would like more, I'd recommend this book.

Please note: I contributed to this book at the request of the author and confirm that I have no financial interest in it.  I was supplied with a review copy at my own request.

Twitter for Writers by Rayne Hall reviewed HERE

TWITTER FOR WRITERS by Rayne Hall

5 out of 5 stars

Non Fiction, Book Marketing

Originally posted on Amazon UK HERE on 10 July 2014
On Amazon.com HERE

If you've just started using Twitter to promote your book and don't know exactly what to do, BUY THIS BOOK NOW!

Right. I am not a Twitter noob. I have been using the site since 2011, have 41,000 followers, often get mentioned in those 'top influencers in my community' things, have found most of my regular readers through and thought I knew virtually everything about Twitter, even though I don't do all of it. However!!! I've just learned a whole bunch of new stuff. Okay, I shall never have a Twitter party, and can't be bothered with the construction of lists, but at least I know where to look if I ever change my mind. More than that, though, there are all sorts of little odd bits of information I didn't know, or just pieces of very sound advice. I've read this book over a period of 24 hours, and it's influenced my Twitter behaviour several times during that day.

I've written articles on Twitter and the indie published writer myself. I won't bother sending them to people from now on - I'll just tell people to get this book. It's written so accessibly, too. I don't agree with absolutely everything in it, but that's okay, because we all have slightly different ways of managing our Twitterly selves. The best thing about it? Rayne has told you EXACTLY why you should not use those 'contributed tweets are provided by @SomeDaftApp' things, why you shouldn't do auto tweets/DMs, how to identify spam and (ro)bot accounts, and how to keep yourself safe and unhacked. If you know someone who reckons they can create a buzz for their book simply by signing up for some app that does all the work for them, buy them this.

I know the danger with such an instruction manual is that it will date - for instance, this was written before the new profiles came into use - but it doesn't matter with this book, as the basics are still there. It will help you to make the most of your Twitter time, and not waste it on spam profiles. Forget all those books that promise to share with you the secrets of becoming an Amazon bestseller - If you're a writer, and you want to get yourself known, this is the book you should buy first. Now!

ps, it's worth getting just for the picture of Sulu the cat in the bird bath...

LET'S GET VISIBLE by David Gaughran

2 out of 5 stars

Non Fiction, Book Marketing

Originally posted on Amazon HERE on 31 July 2013

I've been independently published for nearly 2 years now and have read all the articles about marketing that I am ever going to want to read for the rest of my LIFE, and have worked other stuff out for myself. Having observed much over these nearly two years, I think that nothing works better than Amazon visibility - which is why I bought this book.

I've given it two stars because there IS some good advice in it. However, the actual information about how to become more visible on Amazon is not as plentiful as the information about how good it will be when you ARE (more visible on Amazon). One piece of the information, and a key one, at that, is actually incorrect. Gaughran claims that you need to identify the categories in which to place your book, and email Amazon asking them to place them there, giving the exact chain you have identified. I spent AGES working all this out, looking at other books, etc. I emailed Amazon who told me that I had been misinformed, and referred me to the form you get when you first publish, to select your categories and sub-categories. Furthermore, the categories in which you see other books are not necessarily those you can request to be placed in, but those that arise because of hits on your book via search terms entered by book buyers. This explains why my book You Wish sometimes appears in the genre chart for 'Occult', although I have never put it in that category.

I also wish I had read Lee's 3 star review first. I have since noticed (by looking at the Amazon ratings) that Mr Gaughran's fiction publications actually sell less than my books do. It does rather confirm my theory that the people making money via these 'how to sell books' books are mostly the authors of said books.