Showing posts with label reviews. Show all posts
Showing posts with label reviews. Show all posts

Sunday, April 27, 2014

See book review: "Authorpreneur in Pajamas" by Geraldine Solon


Writers, be sure to click on the Book Reviews for Writers tab or click here, for a review of Authorpreneur in Pajamas. Author Geraldine Solon has published three novels, and this book focuses on what she learned in promoting those books.

If you recall my former Pajama Marketing blog, which resulted in the book: Blog Power & Social Medua Handbook, (published in 2011) you're already aware of some author marketing obligations.Solon's book will give your book marketing an edge by explaining how authors can use social media for greater exposure and sales.

If you're a new author in 2013 or 2014, take a look at Authorpreneur in Pajamas for some good resources. As you'll note in my review, though, her book needed at least one more edit before publishing. That serves as another fine example to all authors. Professional editing and proofreading is an essential step in publishing.
 

Thursday, March 13, 2014

"Still Writing"

Read Still Writing: The Perils of a Creative Life, by Dani Shapiro, (Atlantic Monthly Press, 2013)

Shapiro is a contributing editor at Travel & Leisure. Her one-page essays exemplify good solid writing in each issue. She is the author of two memoirs and five novels, as well as numerous stories and essays that appear in Granta, The New Yorker, and Vogue, among other prestigious publications. Now, in Still Writing, she writes for you. Every writer can admire Shapiro's swift skill stringing thoughts into words, but she also empowers us. She transports readers who hear her views on the privilege of being a writer, and the relentless need to put in the time! Still Writing refers not only to keeping at our craft, but also still writing... being still, getting out of your own way, to become open and aware.

“Everything I know about life,
I learned from the daily practice of sitting down to write.”
-- Dani Shapiro

Monday, May 21, 2012

How clever publishers are using ebooks

NetGalley logo request, read and comment on upcoming titles 
Net Galley is an exciting company distributing digital titles to the media and to reviewers. They delivers secure, digital galleys to professional readers. I'm able to log-in, request any galley from a publisher, and receive it. I also track what I have read, alert the publisher when I'm finished, and avoid the long delay receiving print galleys or ARCs by mail.



BEA BUZZ BOOKSNow, during Book Expo America, Net Galley has distributed an ebook with exciting excerpts from over 30 new works that will debut in Fall 2012. The book was put together by Publishers Lunch, and allows reviewers an opportunity to read excerpts and prep reviews now, well in advance of publication dates.Among the new works, I know you'll be glad to see a new Barbara Kingsolver title, Flight Behavior, and the fall-over laughing Does This Church Make Me Look Fat? by Rhoda Janzen. Those are definitely the first two I'll be reading, followed by, oh gosh... a dozen others!

The entire thing was conveniently made available via email, for a quick download to read on my computer or Nook. And how large is this Fall 2012 preview? It tops out at 624 pages; powerful yet weightless.

A fabulous use of digital books and technology.

Helen Gallagher


Saturday, July 30, 2011

Negative reviews


A bad review can seem devasting to an author, but in truth, it may not cause much harm. 

This is from a journal report in Marketing Science:
"Crunching data that cross-matched book sales against critics’ appraisals in The New York Times Book Review, they found that negative reviews of a new book by an “established” author hurt sales. 

“For books by relatively unknown (new) authors, however, negative publicity has the opposite effect,” increasing sales by 45 percent over their expected sales trajectory, they write. Evidently this boils down to increased awareness: the mere act of introducing something to a broader public — even by saying that it stinks — increases the chances that more members of that public will want it anyway."

So cheer up friends, and remember to offer to review books for fellow writers. 
I write book reviews professionally, and while my reviews are not always five-star winners, I almost always get a thank-you from the publicist, and often, from an appreciative author.

Tuesday, November 9, 2010

Book Review: The Nighttime Novelist: Finish Your Novel in Your Spare Time, by Joseph Bates

I posted this on BlogCritics yesterday -and NANOWRIMO is the perfect time to read it and get inspired to write a draft of your novel this month. Published by Writer's Digest, they were kind enough to tweet my review on their page, resulting in a huge number of Facebook updates.


























And yes, the book is gorgeous, as mentioned in the original review here.   The Nighttime Novelist

Monday, August 30, 2010

Lonely Planet review of the "Eat, Pray, Love" locations

I had the pleasure of seeing the "Eat, Pray, Love" movie with an assignment to then review Lonely Planet's travel guides to the destinations: Italy, India and Bali. The full review is posted on Blogcritics.org.




Wednesday, November 25, 2009

Motivation... whatever it takes

I'm delighted to have the pleasure of reviewing Maeve Binchy's newest book. It won't be out until March 2010 but you're sure to like it. The Maeve Binchy Writers' Club is a sweet series of weekly letters to the reader from Maeve. Along the way, she invites successful friends to share their point of view on some of the issues that are puzzling to all authors. Not surprisingly, her friends themselves are skilled writers, editors and publishers.

I thought you might enjoy a peek into her letter from Week 6, in which the author bribes herself to keep writing:

"If I get the first four pages of chapter seven done today, I will have a huge glass of Chardonnay...

...If I don't get four pages done, I will sit down and make three telephone calls I have been putting off for weeks."

She ends by saying "... We must remember this is where the losers give up. We will not be among them."

Hope this helps you whether you're slogging through the final hours of NANOWRIMO, writing in your journal, creating a blog post, or the next best-seller. Write on, friends.

Helen Gallagher
(excerpts from Advanced Reader Copy subject to change on publication March 2010.)

Sunday, July 26, 2009

Put yourself out there. It's the write thing to do...

As you may know, I write online book reviews. It keeps me reading, and writing, and lets me choose to share opinions on books with special appeal.

I happily reviewed "My Life in France," the memoir Julia Child wrote at age 91. In that review, and in my recent workshops to writers in the Chicago area, I explained the significance...
A girl named Julie Powell decided to "borrow" her mother's copy of "Mastering the Art of French Cooking."

In her small New York apartment, Julie fulfilled her commitment to cook every recipe in the book.

She blogged about it to friends.

An agent read her blog. That's right: An agent read her blog.

And next week, you'll be seeing Meryl Streep play Julia Child in the movie version of Julie Powell's book "Julie & Julia."

My review also earned this badge of honor at BlogCritics, so I'm sharing both the review and the incentive to write, so you'll continue to do as Julie Powell did, and get your work out into the world.

Wednesday, April 29, 2009

ObamaRama debuts on BlogCritics.org new site


BlogCritics Magazine launched a new site yesterday, loaded with great reviews and commentary on books, music, movies, culture and more.

BlogCritics publisher, Eric Olsen, compiled an long, thoughtful article here, with contributions from many of the BlogCritics.org team, looking at the relationship between President Obama and our popular culture. It's a fascinating article, including an analysis on how Obama affects book sales, contributed by Tim Gebhart. It's astonishing!

Especially for you writers, I'm pointing out my own contribution to the article here:
The Power of Words, Helen Gallagher

Tuesday, April 28, 2009

NPR audio on 3 inspiring writing books



Heard this on NPR and thought you might enjoy the audio essay by an author who succeeded in getting her novel published... Link

Friday, August 15, 2008

Seven ways to get your book reviewed

After the initial rush of praise for your newly published book, don't overlook the opportunities to continue getting reviews. Here are a few suggested options. Let me know what other ideas work for you.

1. Get reviews from midwestbookreview.com, bookpleasures.com and other firms that support independent publishing.

2. Ask a syndicated columnist for a review. Give them a relevant slant and you'll be doing them a favor by suggesting a fresh column idea.

3. Local newspapers

4. Associations: All the groups you belong to, including your college alum magazine

5. Bookstore newsletters

6. Your local library newsletter

7. Local media

Thursday, April 17, 2008

Good reviews need only a few well-chosen words


Here's an excerpt from a review of Release Your Writing: Book Publishing Your Way. t's posted on Boomer Women Speak and circulated in their worldwide newsletter. For you, here are my two favorite passages:

"Release Your Writing is written in a direct, no-nonsense fashion and is a valuable tool for anyone striving to publish their work. Topics are indexed in this small hand-held guide that fits neatly in a purse, a laptop carrier or alongside your desktop PC."

Reviewed By: Melinda Cianos
http://www.nabbw.com/list_bookreview.php?book_id=73

Sunday, March 30, 2008

"Release Your Writing" praise & endorsements

From: Beneath the Cover

from BeneathTheCover.com

Over at Release Your Writing with Helen Gallagher, there’s an outstanding
article on self-publishing, also taken out of Publisher’s Weekly. For those who
are not yet aware, Publisher’s Weekly is the 800 pound Gorilla in the room.
Being mentioned in their esteemed pages can create enough attention to
drive mountains of sales. Helen notes that an interview with J. Kirby Best,
the CEO of one of the largest POD companies in the world, Lighting Source,
shows how Print-On-Demand is truly taking off in the new millennium. He’s
quoted as saying, “It took us seven years to print
10 million books…This year we published 10 million in the first 11 months.”


Another “Wow!” from this publisher. I recommend a visit to Helen’s blog to
read the whole post, and to consider her book,
Release Your Writing: Book Publishing Your Way.


I was particularly fascinated by her Book Tour link. We do Virtual Book Tours
(you can see ours at www.ahablog.com) at WME, but what I discovered at the
Book Tour link on Helen’s blog is really outstanding. Finally, a place online that
can help drive traffic and book sales, and is freely managed by the author.
You should check it out, here.


******************************************

"Gallagher examines the changing publishing industry and advocates
self-publishing and/or POD (Print-on-Demand) for those whose work is
unlikely to attract the attention of a large publisher. "Attract a publisher
if you can, but if not, don't wait your life away." -- M.M.S.



******************************************


SPAWN: Small Publishers, Artists, and Writers Network review

by Patricia Fry... yes, it's "the" Patricia Fry:


Excerpt: " This book includes a section on the writing process and offers a
lot of tips and techniques related to computer use for writers. Again, this
author includes charts, diagrams and examples to help readers understand
the concepts and make good choices. She also provides resources to back up
her message and where readers can get additional information. The

resources appear throughout the book and also in a separate section

toward the back of the book. And she includes a couple of chapters on

book marketing. I especially found her information on website

strategies interesting and useful."
Read full review at SPAWN.org



******************************************


My yellow highlighter was flying off its 200 pages while I noted

valuable tips on how to move forward with the publishing process.

In fact, by the time I was finished reading this gem, nearly the

entire book was highlighted. Furthermore, the book is written in such

a down-to-earth tone that you'd better set an extra place because you'll

feel as if Gallagher is sitting across from you at your kitchen table.


So whether you're in the preliminary outline stage, in the midst of

writing your manuscript, or giving it a final edit, read Gallagher's

book before you launch yours. You'll be grateful you did.

-- F. F.




******************************************

" Gallagher's book includes everything you need to know to decide
whether POD is right for you, and provides a wealth of information
about how to choose the right POD publisher (love the side-by-side
comparison chart of the top 10 POD firms) as well as tips on writing
and marketing the book." -- K.J.E.


March 19, 2008

BNET.com is the go-to place for management. I'm proud to

see a nice write-up on Release Your Writing on their site:

http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m0SFC/is_2008_Jan/ai_n24217516

January 4, 2008

Midwest Book Review: midwestbookreview.com

Excerpt: Effectively organized into three major sections, 'Release

Your Writing' covers contemporary changes in the publishing

industry, the self-publishing option, Publish On Demand (POD)

companies; and ebooks. 'You, The Word Processor' includes

The Time to Write; The Writer's Toolbox; and 'Computer Power

Tools'. The third section is devoted to the 'Business of Being a

Writer' by focusing on book marketing and promotion, and keeping

a book in print and available to the reading public. It should be noted

that Helen Gallagher's writing style is conversational and engaging --
making it an ideal format for presenting her observations, ideas, and
advice. Enhanced with an appendix listing writing resources, a
glossary, and an index, "Release Your Writing" will prove invaluable

and instructive reading for aspiring writers who have become published

-- either on their own or through an independent publisher.


Monday, December 2, 2007

SPAWN: Small Publishers, Artists, and Writers Network review

by Patricia Fry... yes, it's "the" Patricia Fry:


Excerpt: " This book includes a section on the writing process and offers

a lot of tips and techniques related to computer use for writers. Again,

this author includes charts, diagrams and examples to help readers

understand the concepts and make good choices. She also provides

resources to back up her message and where readers can get additional

information. The resources appear throughout the book and also in a

separate section toward the back of the book. And she includes a couple

of chapters on book marketing. I especially found her information on

website strategies interesting and useful." Read full review at SPAWN.org


Monday, October 8, 2007
Get Your Book Into Print: A Review

Computer consultant Helen Gallagher, author of Computer Ease, has
written a new book, Release Your Writing: Book Publishing, Your Way
(Virtualbookworm, 2007).

She presents a practical, businesslike, common-sense approach for getting
your book published, mainly through self-publishing or POD
(Print-on-Demand).

Gallagher examines the changing publishing industry, pointing out some
interesting facts: "A few companies, just five or six, control over 80 percent
of the industry. Most books in bookstores come from those few firms. Only
one to two percent of unsolicited submissions are purchased for publication."

What's more, it's usually a long journey of up to two years or more from
manuscript to publication for traditionally-published books, and most have
to sell at least 1,200 copies for marginal success, over 7,000 to sustain
interest. Even then, there's no guarantee of financial success, and most
book promotion is still left to the author.

The author points out, "self-publishing is not settling for second best.
It's the right choice if your book won't likely capture the attention of
a large publisher and you don't want to spend years waiting to see your
book in print." Gallagher is writing for a wider audience, but it seems to
me that most of my fellow senior writers or would-be writers need to
heed her words. "Attract a publisher if you can, but if not, don't
wait your life away."

Through her considerable experience both as a writer and as a consultant
who helps clients through her firm, Computer Clarity, Helen Gallagher is
well qualified to give extensive advice on both word processing techniques
and on the business aspects of being a writer. From organizing material to
establishing a contact database to promoting your book through a web site
or blog, she covers all the bases, and she adds an appendix of writing resources.

For a writer either beginning or just finishing a book, Helen Gallagher's
Release Your Writing should prove to be a valuable tool.
This book can be ordered at http://www.releaseyourwriting.com/.
Copyright 2007 by Marlys Marshall Styne




“Helen Gallagher's new book Release Your Writing has just stripped

you of your last excuse for not writing that book that's inside you
and waiting to be released. She has an answer for every question
you've ever had about birthing a book into the world and covers
every step you need to take it from beginning to end. Helen's grasp
of the subject is comprehensive and her style of communicating is
friendly, accessible, and inspiring. If you follow the steps that Helen
suggests, you can be the author you've always wanted to be.

She's one of the best guides out there on the pathway to publishing!”


Jan Phillips, author of

The Art of Original Thinking,

Marry Your Muse
















Wednesday, February 13, 2008

Seeking book reviews

It pays to solicit book reviews from your readers. Amazon uses the number of reviews and the ratings to boost your book in the rankings. They even showcase a book once it has in excess of six reviews, and votes indicating a reader found a review helpful.

You'll find several helpful review sources in Release Your Writing, and I've received a very nice review from an enthusiastic reader in the U.K. You can read her full review here at Book Pleasures, but I'd like to share my favorite sentence from her comments:

"There is nothing to stop you now after reading this brilliant guide."

Isn't that great? Okay, I know some people in the U.K. use the word "Brilliant" like we say "yea," but it's still fun to see.

Thursday, February 7, 2008

Visit "Beneath the Cover"

We're pleased to have a nice mention in the powerful "Beneath the Cover" site today. You'll note the site is packed with great articles and book industry resources. Our thanks to Yvonne DiVita for the mention. Enjoy!

Helen Gallagher
www.releaseyourwriting.com