Nina Amir and Writer's Digest Pair for Must-Have Reference for Writers

The Author Training Manual: 

SUBTITLE: Develop Marketable Ideas, Craft Books That Sell,
Become the Author Publishers Want, and Self-Publish Effectively
By Nina Amir
Foreword by James Scott BellAuthors Website: www.ninaamir.com
Category: Authorship
Paperback: 248 pages
Publisher: Writer's Digest Books (March 18, 2014)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 1599631458
ISBN-13: 978-1599631455
Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 7.1 x 0.7 inches
Shipping Weight: 14.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)

By Brian Felsen, President, BookBaby www.bookbaby.com

Among the myriad of books written about the business of writing and publishing, Nina Amir's The Author Training Manual is the first I've seen which combines all of the elements necessary to learn how to be an actual (rather than "aspiring") writer.  What makes this book special is its focus on how authors can view themselves and their art from a third person perspective to evaluate why someone might want to purchase or publish a book.  She recommends an analysis of the true size and demographics of a book's potential market, and she shows how to take the point of view of readers and publishers to assess how well a book's purpose matches the needs of its prospective audience.  With this foundation in place, the reader can begin an examination of how to sharpen a book's focus; how to structure a work so the content will match the excitement of the description; and how to write a proposal and build a platform.  The Author Training Manual presents a complete package which, if followed, will serve writers well with their professional careers and with their craft.

MORE ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Nina Amir 
Inspiration-to-Creation Coach
With Nina you... Achieve More Inspired Results
www.ninaamir.com

 
Author of these books for writers:
How to Blog a Book, 
How to Write, Publish and Promote Your Work One Post at a Time 
(Writer's Digest Books)
The Author Training Manual: 
Develop Marketable Ideas, Craft Books That Sell, 
Become the Author Publishers Want, and Self-Publish Effectively 
(Writer's Digest Books)
10 Day and 10 Ways to Return to Your Best Self 
(Pure Spirit Creations)

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The New Book Review is blogged by Carolyn Howard-Johnson, author of the multi award-winning HowToDoItFrugally series of books for writers.

Jim Cox Makes Midwest Reviews Easier for Indie Authors

I ran this--with permission of course--in my Sharingwithwriters newsletter and received more thank yous from grateful indie authors for doing it than most anything else I have run.  So thought I'd share it with my blog subscribers and visitors, too.

Midwest Book Review Assures Review for Deserving Books

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This good news from Jim Cox at Midwest Book Reviews is reprinted from the Midwest Newsletter with permission.

 

By Jim Cox

 

It's a new year and I've developed a new policy here at the Midwest Book Review that went into effect on January 1st. It all started a few weeks ago when I was doing some office work and received five phone calls during the morning from five self-published authors wanting a status report on the books they had submitted for review.

 

In each case I had the unfortunate responsibility of informing them that although their books had arrived safely and passed our initial screening process, they were unable to achieve a review assignment in the allotted time (14 to 16 weeks) simply because we had too many books being submitted for review consideration (an average of 2000 a month) and only 81 reviewers.

 

Then with the fifth of those phone calls I got a sudden inspiration. So here's the new policy based on that idea:

 

Any author or publisher who has submitted a book for review consideration to the Midwest Book Review and whose book passed our initial screening and simply did not get reviewed because of "too many books, not enough reviewers", that author or publisher can submit the MBR a review from any other reviewer or review resource, as long as they have that reviewer's permission to do so. We will run the review in our monthly book review publication "Reviewer's Bookwatch" on behalf of that author or publisher, under that reviewer's byline. (Of course, the reviewer retains all copyright and ownership rights to their review, just like any other contributor to the "Reviewer's Bookwatch".)

 

I'm making this policy retroactive, so if you have ever submitted a book to the Midwest Book Review in the past and it failed to achieve a review assignment from us, then this offer is open to you.

 

Here is a link to our "Reviewer Guidelines" that I provide anyone seeking to submit reviews to the Midwest Book Review -- feel free to use it if you are recruiting your own reviewers:

 

http://www.midwestbookreview.com/revinfo.htm

 

So now our online book review 'audience' of booksellers and the general reading public, including our network of libraries and librarians, is open anyone whose book was good enough to pass our screening process but didn't make it all the way through because of our limited reviewer resources.

 

This new policy is in service to our overall goal of promoting literacy, libraries, and small press publishing.

  

All of the previous issues of the "Jim Cox Report" are archived on the Midwest Book Review website. If you'd like to receive the "Jim Cox Report" directly (and for free), just send me an email asking to be signed up for it.

So until next time -- goodbye, good luck, and good reading!

Jim Cox
Midwest Book Review
278 Orchard Drive, Oregon, WI, 53575
http://www.midwestbookreview.com

 

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The New Book Review is blogged by Carolyn Howard-Johnson, author of the multi award-winning HowToDoItFrugally series of books for writers. It is a free service offered to those who want to encourage the reading of books they love. That includes authors who want to share their favorite reviews, reviewers who'd like to see their reviews get more exposure, and readers who want to shout out praise of books they've read. Please see submission guidelines on the left of this page. Reviews and essays are indexed by genre, reviewer names, and review sites. Writers will find the search engine handy for gleaning the names of small publishers. Find other writer-related blogs at Sharing with Writers and The Frugal, Smart and Tuned-In Editor.

Pat Boone Fan Club is Finding Yourself Memoir

Title: The Pat Boone Fan Club: My Life as a White Anglo-Saxon Jew

Author: Sue William Silverman
Author's Website: http://www.suewilliamsilverman.com/

Publisher: University of Nebraska Press
Pages: 248 pages
Genre: Memoir
ISBN: 0803264852
Amazon Link

 Reviewed by Beth Tropp

The Pat Boone Fan Club: My Life as a White Anglo-Saxon Jew tells a universal story of a young woman trying to discover who she truly is apart from what her family, culture and surroundings have told her she is. What makes this memoir is unique is that author Sue William Silverman is simultaneously trying to find herself and run away from herself at the same time. It makes for a fascinating "Alice down the Rabbit Hole" feeling at times.

This memoir flits between Silverman's childhood and her young adulthood, weaving the events and feelings of her early family life with how she reacts decades later. Silverman's writing is very alive. As a reader you feel immersed in her world, not just seeing it but feeling, tasting and smelling it. She weaves ribbons from moments in her childhood to odd obsessions and reactions she experiences in later life. It's an eye-opening tale that will have you re-examining your own life, wondering how much of your life is not an independent choice but a reaction to your childhood.

 

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The New Book Review is blogged by Carolyn Howard-Johnson, author of the multi award-winning HowToDoItFrugally series of books for writers. It is a free service offered to those who want to encourage the reading of books they love. That includes authors who want to share their favorite reviews, reviewers who'd like to see their reviews get more exposure, and readers who want to shout out praise of books they've read. Please see submission guidelines on the left of this page. Reviews and essays are indexed by genre, reviewer names, and review sites. Writers will find the search engine handy for gleaning the names of small publishers. Find other writer-related blogs at Sharing with Writers and The Frugal, Smart and Tuned-In Editor.

Second Edition Reviews by Well Known Editor Dr. Bob Rich

The Frugal Editor
Subtitle: Do-it-yourself editing secrets for authors; From your query letter to final manuscript to the marketing of your new bestseller
By Carolyn Howard-Johnson
Second Edition: Newly formatted, updated, and expanded
Multi award-winning first edition
Purchase e-book
Genre: Nonfiction/writing, editing, marketing
Print edition is coming soon

Reviewed by Dr. Bob Rich, editor of "Bobbin Around"

Carolyn Howard-Johnson has sent me an invaluable resource: the revised, updated The Frugal Editor: Do-it-yourself editing secrets for authors; From your query letter to final manuscript to the marketing of your new bestseller.

One of the marketing tricks in this digital age is the elephant-size subtitle. Carolyn explains that it contains all sorts of keywords that will direct Internet searches to her book.

The conventions of grammar, punctuation, clear writing, and similar topics are not most people’s idea of light reading. Carolyn’s chatty style and clarity help to make such stodgy stuff more palatable.

This is not a book to read, but a reference book to study. It should be an essential part of any writer’s armoury.

Buy it now and use the free app from Amazon to install it on readers other than Kindle.

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The New Book Review is blogged by Carolyn Howard-Johnson, author of the multi award-winning HowToDoItFrugally series of books for writers. It is a free service offered to those who want to encourage the reading of books they love. That includes authors who want to share their favorite reviews, reviewers who'd like to see their reviews get more exposure, and readers who want to shout out praise of books they've read. Please see submission guidelines on the left of this page. Reviews and essays are indexed by genre, reviewer names, and review sites. Writers will find the search engine handy for gleaning the names of small publishers. Find other writer-related blogs at Sharing with Writers and The Frugal, Smart and Tuned-In Editor.

Nancy Famolari calls Sublime Planet "A Celebration of Earth"

Sublime Planet
By Carolyn Howard-Johnson and Magdalena Ball
The Celebration Series of Poetry
Celebrating Earth and the Universe
Genre: Poetry/Nature/Science
Photography by Ann Howley
Available e-book and paperback

Reviewed by Amazon Vine Reviewer Nancy Famolari Our world is both magnificent and terrible. These poems celebrate both aspects. I delighted in the lush images of places I've loved seeing them through the eyes of someone who loved them, too: Santa Ana winds, poppies, the plains of Kansas. There are also harsh poems like "Trash Tree" that show us the dark side of ourselves and the world. My favorite is "The Man I Love and the Writing Spider" because it's so close to my own experience. I watch the spider build a web of silver threads delighting in the intricacy. But when it leaves the web and wants to come inside, it becomes the enemy. I want to squash it, but I'm grateful when some kinder person rescues it and gives it another chance at life or death. The poems not only invite you to relive sensuous experiences, but they make you think about the world, how important it is, and how we need to care for it. The book is a wonderful gift for Earth Day. A good time to meditate on the magnificence of the world.

ABOUT THE REVIEWER

Nancy Famolari splits her time between her farm in the Endless Mountains of Pennsylvania and a smaller farm near Ocala, Florida. She and her husband love riding their Paso Finos in the Endless Mountains and in the Goethe Forest near Ocala. She is the author of the Montbleu Murder series. The Endless Mountains, a lovely rural area with many small towns dating from the early 1800s provides the background for the novels in this series. She also writes romance novels about her experiences racing, breeding, and training Standardbred horses for harness racing. Her most recent mystery  is Yellow Diamond Caper,  http://www.amazon.com/Yellow-Diamond-Caper-Nancy-Famolari/dp/1480151181/

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The New Book Review is blogged by Carolyn Howard-Johnson, author of the multi award-winning HowToDoItFrugally series of books for writers. It is a free service offered to those who want to encourage the reading of books they love. That includes authors who want to share their favorite reviews, reviewers who'd like to see their reviews get more exposure, and readers who want to shout out praise of books they've read. Please see submission guidelines on the left of this page. Reviews and essays are indexed by genre, reviewer names, and review sites. Writers will find the search engine handy for gleaning the names of small publishers. Find other writer-related blogs at Sharing with Writers and The Frugal, Smart and Tuned-In Editor.

Saucy Cover Attracts Attention, Story Keeps Up Interest

TITLE Instant Whips And Dream Toppings.
SUBTITLE: A true-life dom rom com
AUTHOR Jacky Donovan

GENRE Memoir / romance / erotica / humour WEBSITE http://www.InstantWhipsAndDreamToppings.com

ISBN 978-1909869691

WHERE PUBLISHED Amazon

REVIEWER RATING  5 stars

 

 

 Reviewed by John and Adam originally for Amazon

 

 

Jacky is like Marian Keyes with a BDSM twist

I don't normally take the time to review books (shame on me) but this one is so outstanding that I feel I should spread the word.

It was the saucy cover that first caught my eye, but the narrative made me devour the book in one sitting. Jacky is like Marian Keyes with a BDSM twist - she takes a female character, some pretty depressing subjects including being a battered wife, depression, addiction, throws in a dollop of submissive clients and their crazy fantasies, and turns it into a terrific comedy read with all the angst of a love affair as an added twist. This is truly a 'must-read'!

Find the author on Twitter at ‏@Instantwhips  

 

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The New Book Review is blogged by Carolyn Howard-Johnson, author of the multi award-winning HowToDoItFrugally series of books for writers. It is a free service offered to those who want to encourage the reading of books they love. That includes authors who want to share their favorite reviews, reviewers who'd like to see their reviews get more exposure, and readers who want to shout out praise of books they've read. Please see submission guidelines on the left of this page. Reviews and essays are indexed by genre, reviewer names, and review sites. Writers will find the search engine handy for gleaning the names of small publishers. Find other writer-related blogs at Sharing with Writers and The Frugal, Smart and Tuned-In Editor.

Wine Guru Whispers His Secrets

TITLE:            Secrets of the Wine Whisperer

AUTHOR:      The Wine Whisperer – Jerry Greenfield
PRICE:            $17.95
PUBLISHER:  Creative Book Publishers International
FORMAT:      Trade Paperback
PAGES:          313
ISBN:             978-0-9818222-5-9
PUB. DATE:  June 15, 2014
DIST:             Creative Projects International Ltd.
Purchase at www.thewine-whisperer.com and Amazon.com

The Wine Whisperer Loves Wine Out Loud
Reviewed by Jan Kaplan

Marketing expert and wine guru Jerry Greenfield offers a riotous memoir of an ordinary couple’s seduction into the world of fine wine.  Even if you have only a passing interest in the subject, Mr. Greenfield’s recollections and “secrets” will make for a delightful read.

Secrets of the Wine Whisperer is subtitled “How I Learned to Drink Wine and Found Ecstasy, Joy, Peace, Happiness, Life, and Salvation.”  And indeed, the author carefully traces the journey taken by him and his wife as they educated their palates, discovered how to find those “bargain bottles,” and learned to understand how the juice in the bottle connects with the cultures and places that produce it.

He also details (with some regret) their impulse to spend beyond their means as they pursue their travels to faraway winegrowing regions, three-day tasting events that cost thousands of dollars, and the compulsion to build a refrigerated wine cellar in their home.  Then, there was the necessity to accumulate all the accessories that go along with fine wine collecting and tasting:  corkscrews of every description, hilariously fragile glassware in a different shape for each variety of wine, special soap to wash the glasses, and so it goes.

There’s another regret, as well…though it’s humorously told.  As Greenfield and his wife Debi became more deeply immersed, relationships with their friends started to change.  He writes, “I felt worse every time I thought about it, in a conscience bothering sort of way, but we had, over the past year or so, basically eliminated from our social lives anyone who didn’t enjoy wine. Shame on us, but, in our defense, we weren’t really aware that it was happening.  Since wine lovers enjoy sharing, it was disappointing to open something nice and relatively elevated in price for some dinner companions who didn’t understand it, appreciate it, or who (heaven forbid) wanted to put a few ice cubes in it.  We’d built our circle of friends outward from people who shared the passion and gradually drifted away from people who didn’t.”

 

The author’s humor is a special joy of the book.  While Greenfield knows that he and his wife have gotten in way over their heads, he views their situation with just the right touch of clever irony and self-deprecation.

Mr. Greenfield makes sure we understand that he is not a sommelier or any kind of wine professional, though his self-education in the subject led him to the position of Wine Director of a major charity wine event.  He writes in the wondering voice of an ordinary person who discovered an interest that became a passion, and finally an obsession.  He captures the journey through the world of winemaking with clever wit, quirky anecdotes, and unique meanderings.  Secrets is a must read, whether you’re interested in beginning a similar journey, or already an accomplished wine aficionado.

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  The New Book Review is blogged by Carolyn Howard-Johnson, author of the multi award-winning HowToDoItFrugally series of books for writers. It is a free service offered to those who want to encourage the reading of books they love. That includes authors who want to share their favorite reviews, reviewers who'd like to see their reviews get more exposure, and readers who want to shout out praise of books they've read. Please see submission guidelines on the left of this page. Reviews and essays are indexed by genre, reviewer names, and review sites. Writers will find the search engine handy for gleaning the names of small publishers. Find other writer-related blogs at Sharing with Writers and The Frugal, Smart and Tuned-In Editor.