12 Aug Building an Author’s Platform with Help from Self-Publishing Review
Five Star SPR Review
In my blog of July 4, I mentioned submitting Hattie’s Place for review by Self-Publishing Review. SPR is a professional reviewing and editing service. The wait time was about thirty days. However, the review exceeded my expectations.
The editor seemed to understand the various themes that I was attempting to address in the novel. She described the book in a way that would appeal to readers who appreciate women’s historical fiction. See Building an Author Platform.
The service promises to deliver a fully rounded and honest, impartial review. SPR rates books on a scale of one to five stars, based on the design, content, and editing of the book. Though the final review cannot be changed, the author can opt not to publish a negative review. Needless to say, the five-star rating given to Hattie’s Place delighted me.
Review Shared Through Social Media
SPR posts the 500 word summary and review on social media through their website, Facebook page, and Twitter account. And, Hattie’s Place will appear in the lead story box on the website for one month. SPR will also list the book in its online book store
The service included an Amazon edit which I can add to the review section in which Hattie’s Place appears on Amazon.com. It also came with the five-star badge displayed above. The review and the badge can also be used for promotional material on my personal blog and other social media sites. http://www.selfpublishingreview.com.
I found the SPR editors to be helpful and professional. However, there was a slight lag in response time due to their offices running on Central European Time. The services are much more reasonable than that of Kirkus Review, whose editing package I used earlier. They also seem to be of equal quality. See Editing My Novel.
Author’s Platform Requires Marketing Budget
I’m finding that any serious effort to establish an author’s platform requires a marketing budget. As I’m committed to doing as much of this as I can on a shoestring, I am looking for free and low-cost opportunities to promote Hattie’s Place to readers who enjoy the genre and brand of fiction that I am writing. Among the various budget-friendly services I have explored, SPR is the best outlet I have found for that purpose.
The proof will be in the increase in readership of Hattie’s Place. (Purchase at https://amzn.to/2OpQB3g)
I’ll keep you posted on the results and on new strategies, as I come across them. And, if you have any great ideas for first-timers trying to establish their authors’ platforms, please share them in the comment section above.
Kristen Steele
Posted on 23 September 2015Reviews are a huge factor in getting more sales for your self-published work. If you are not an established name in the book industry, people are going to do their research, and written reviews could be the difference in whether or not somebody purchases your work or not.