renkeeling's reviews
150 reviews

Self-Publishing and Email Marketing: How to Create and Optimize a Reader Newsletter to Find New Fans, Gather More Reviews, and Sell More Books by Bryan Cohen

hopeful informative fast-paced

4.0

this is by far one of the most informative, organized, and enjoyable books to read about self publishing and email marketing. I usually don’t care for nonfiction that leads into the motivational speaker type, but I loved how Cohen weaves in stories from his coaching student to illustrate the concepts in the book! Definitely would recommend for any author or aspiring author!

Self-Publishing: The Secret Guide To Becoming A Best Seller by Richard McCartney

informative relaxing fast-paced

4.0

this was hands down the most informative book I’ve read about Amazon! It covers everything you could think of - categories, rankings, best seller lists, Amazon ads, and more. Definitely a must read for any self publisher - whether a new or vet in the industry. Knocked it down one star because of HP references, but other than that a very informative read! 

Never Have I Ever by Stephanie Alves

lighthearted relaxing fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

I really wanted to like this book. I loved the second and third books in this series, but this book really fell short for me. While I liked Rosalie and Graysons characters and how they go together, their romance was a little instalovey for me, and I noticed quite a few writing errors. I was also really disappointed to see that the subplot with Rosalie’s fashion career didn’t go anywhere after a major offer, it was mentioned in one chapter and then never mentioned again. 

Self Publishing To Amazon KDP In 2023 - A Beginners Guide To Selling E-books, Audiobooks & Paperbacks On Amazon, Audible & Beyond by Brian Chessen

informative fast-paced

4.0

Super informative read for anyone looking to self published! I learned a TON from this book. My only complaint is there were a few chapters about outlining, drafting, & editing, and I think it would’ve made more sense to focus on the publishing side of things. But regardless was packed with a bunch of info. Definitely a must read in my book for anyone wanting to self publish 

Saving Mia by Anna Stone

relaxing fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

absolutely loved this book! Anna stone writes some of the best lesbian smut I’ve ever read. Anything she writes is an automatic yes for me!! And I loved the other conflicts going on in the book with both characters & how they grow together. truly a beautiful story 

Spin the Bottle by Stephanie Alves

emotional inspiring lighthearted medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

Stephanie Alves is quickly becoming my favorite author! I’ve already read would you rather & spin the bottle was amazing!! I love both MCs they compliment each other so well and I loved the representation with Leila being plus sized - I haven’t read a lot of books with plus sized rep and it was done amazing in this book. Only issues were a few minor grammar errors and places where I feel like the writing could be a little better, but otherwise a great read! Would recommend :) 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Eating disorder

Moderate: Body shaming, Fatphobia, and Alcohol

Minor: Addiction

Would You Rather by Stephanie Alves

funny hopeful lighthearted relaxing medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

AMAZING romance book, easily some of the best 🌶️ scenes I’ve ever read. Definitely going to be checking out the other books in the series! 

Published by Chandler Bolt

informative inspiring

3.5

Overall, I think published is objectively one of the best self-publishing nonfiction books out there. Whether you’re a newbie or well versed in author business and marketing, you’ll probably take something away from this book. Writing has been my passion since I was eight, so I’ve spent the past decade researching writing, publishing, and marketing. It’s pretty rare that I read a book about self publishing that teaches me a lot I didn’t know, and while I knew a lot of information in this book, I still learned a TON. I found the sections about an author platform, the psychology of marketing, and the launch chapters to be the most helpful and I learned the most from those parts of the book. My only critique about this book is the obvious bias to self publishing (the author makes it sound like traditional publishing sucks while self publishing is the obvious choice which isn’t the case for everyone) and the focus on rapid release/write to market tactics like $0.99 sales. I went into the book expecting this since I’ve read some of the authors other books, and it’s pretty obvious what his preferred business models are. I also found myself skimming through a decent amount of the book, as I feel like a decent amount of this book falls into the category of nonfiction where it’s like “you can do it!” and imo if people are reading the book we KNOW we can, we’re here trying to figure out the how. 

All in all, I would recommend this book to anyone interested in self publishing, especially if you don’t know anything about the business or marketing side of being an author (indie or trad) 

The Self-Publishing Planner by J. Sharpe

informative

2.5

All in all I think what this boils down to is I wasn’t the target audience for this book. If you’re looking for a beginner friendly guide to marketing and publishing with a rapid release/write to market focus, you’d probably enjoy this book and find a lot more use out of it than I did. For someone like me who already knows a LOT about marketing and publishing this book didn’t offer much that I didn’t already know, although I will say all the information in this book (to my knowledge) is accurate and easy to digest. The section about book promo sites was the only section I didn’t know the topic, so I still learned something new from this book. It wasn’t a total waste of my time, I just wish the author had focused less on information that was obviously geared to rapid release/write to market authors without making that clear in the cover or blurb. 

Prisoner of the Witch Queen by Edie Marr

dark tense medium-paced

1.0

I’m so disappointed because I LOVED the premise of this book but it really fell through in the execution. From the cover and blurb I was expecting a lot of spicy scenes and there were only two scenes and both of them were pretty poorly written and very short. The characters were one dimensional and the “romance” made no sense to me. There’s virtually no chemistry between the leads and were made to believe that they’re in love but the princess has no reason to be in love with the Queen, and other than the queens obvious lust for the princess it made no sense why she was “in love”. I will say I loved the worldbuilding in this book, and honestly this book would’ve been better served as a fantasy standalone with a romantic subplot.